Vietnamese Buddhism: Difference between revisions
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| contribution = Vietnamese Buddhism}}</ref> The Vietnamese tendency to absorb cultural influence and create their own synthesis is essential to understanding the country. Vietnamese cuisine is recognizably Asian, but has French influences, as with a delicately baked cake flavored with a scent-tamed [[durian]] custard. In a more serious vein, one cannot understand the governing pattern of [[Ngo Dinh Diem]] until one understand his Vietnamese minority Catholic outlook had a strong Confucianist influence. | | contribution = Vietnamese Buddhism}}</ref> The Vietnamese tendency to absorb cultural influence and create their own synthesis is essential to understanding the country. Vietnamese cuisine is recognizably Asian, but has French influences, as with a delicately baked cake flavored with a scent-tamed [[durian]] custard. In a more serious vein, one cannot understand the governing pattern of [[Ngo Dinh Diem]] until one understand his Vietnamese minority Catholic outlook had a strong Confucianist influence. | ||
==Politics== | ==Politics== | ||
A major area of conflict was that [[Ngo Dinh Diem]], president from 1954 to his [[overthrow of Diem|overthrow in 1963]] was a Catholic, and gave preferences to the Catholic majority. Even so, there were later events such as the [[Buddhist crisis of 1966]] involving activist Buddhist groups, even though they were protesting against a government whose leaders were primarily | A major area of conflict was that [[Ngo Dinh Diem]], president from 1954 to his [[overthrow of Diem|overthrow in 1963]] was a Catholic, and gave preferences to the Catholic majority. Even so, there were later events such as the [[Buddhist crisis of 1966]] involving activist Buddhist groups, even though they were protesting against a government whose leaders were primarily Catholic. | ||
In 1966, 11 of 16 Buddhist groups formed a coalition to influence the government. While [[Tri Quang]] wanted the political post in the coalition, it went, instead, to [[Tam Chau]], originally from the North, and known for strong anti-Communism rather than Quang's more neutralist orientation. In the [[1966 Buddhist crisis]], Gen. [[Nguyen Khanh]] met with both Quang and Chau. Khanh made a cash payment to the Buddhist alliance, which wanted a veto power over government decisions.<ref name=Karnow>{{citation | |||
| first = Stanley | last = Karnow | |||
| title = Vietnam, a History | |||
| publisher = Viking Press | year= 1983}}, pp. 339-340</ref> | |||
===Tri Quang=== | |||
Perhaps the most activist major faction was led by [[Tri Quang]]<ref>Often written Thich Tri Quang; "Thich" is an honorific roughly translated to "venerable"</ref>. Arguably, he maintained the largest political organization in South Vietnam, other than the [[Viet Cong]].<ref name=Time1966-04-22>{{citation | Perhaps the most activist major faction was led by [[Tri Quang]]<ref>Often written Thich Tri Quang; "Thich" is an honorific roughly translated to "venerable"</ref>. Arguably, he maintained the largest political organization in South Vietnam, other than the [[Viet Cong]].<ref name=Time1966-04-22>{{citation | ||
|title = Politician from the Pagoda | |title = Politician from the Pagoda | ||
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| url = http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,899139,00.html | | url = http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,899139,00.html | ||
| journal = Time}}</ref> | | journal = Time}}</ref> | ||
In March 1966, he allied with vorps commander Gen. [[Nguyen Chanh Thi]]. Premier [[Nguyen Cao Ky]] replaced Thi with [[Ton That Dinh]]. When Karnow interviewed Quang, he found him less a politician than seeming to "personify a form of fudamentalism in his passionate effort to preserve Vietnam's venerable values, which both the Americans and the Communists were contaminating...implicitly, too, he was a xenophobe..." The Communists banished him to a monastery in 1975. <ref>Karnow, p. 448-449</ref> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist|2}} | {{reflist|2}} | ||
Revision as of 12:52, 17 December 2008
- See also: South Vietnamese Buddhist crisis and coup of 1963
- See also: Buddhist crisis of 1966
While Buddhism is the majority religion in Vietnam, different Buddhist factions were critical in the political processes of the Republic of Vietnam (i.e., South Vietnam).[1]
The factions were less differentiated on theological, but rather on ideological, grounds. There also were political and religious groups based on variations of Buddhism, such as the Cao Dai.
Theology
Even though the Vietnamese factions were more politically differentiated, Buddhism itself had its own mainstream Vietnamese version, as well as new sects that were spinoffs from Buddhism, such as the Cao Dai and Hoa Hao.
The core of Vietnamese Buddhism comes from the Mayahana (Greater Way, Ðài Thừa in Vietnamese) rite, but with influences from Confucianism and Taoism. [2] The Vietnamese tendency to absorb cultural influence and create their own synthesis is essential to understanding the country. Vietnamese cuisine is recognizably Asian, but has French influences, as with a delicately baked cake flavored with a scent-tamed durian custard. In a more serious vein, one cannot understand the governing pattern of Ngo Dinh Diem until one understand his Vietnamese minority Catholic outlook had a strong Confucianist influence.
Politics
A major area of conflict was that Ngo Dinh Diem, president from 1954 to his overthrow in 1963 was a Catholic, and gave preferences to the Catholic majority. Even so, there were later events such as the Buddhist crisis of 1966 involving activist Buddhist groups, even though they were protesting against a government whose leaders were primarily Catholic.
In 1966, 11 of 16 Buddhist groups formed a coalition to influence the government. While Tri Quang wanted the political post in the coalition, it went, instead, to Tam Chau, originally from the North, and known for strong anti-Communism rather than Quang's more neutralist orientation. In the 1966 Buddhist crisis, Gen. Nguyen Khanh met with both Quang and Chau. Khanh made a cash payment to the Buddhist alliance, which wanted a veto power over government decisions.[3]
Tri Quang
Perhaps the most activist major faction was led by Tri Quang[4]. Arguably, he maintained the largest political organization in South Vietnam, other than the Viet Cong.[5]
In March 1966, he allied with vorps commander Gen. Nguyen Chanh Thi. Premier Nguyen Cao Ky replaced Thi with Ton That Dinh. When Karnow interviewed Quang, he found him less a politician than seeming to "personify a form of fudamentalism in his passionate effort to preserve Vietnam's venerable values, which both the Americans and the Communists were contaminating...implicitly, too, he was a xenophobe..." The Communists banished him to a monastery in 1975. [6]
References
- ↑ Minh Chau, A brief history of Vietnamese Buddhism
- ↑ , Vietnamese Buddhism, Viet-Nam: Land of Legends and Dragons
- ↑ Karnow, Stanley (1983), Vietnam, a History, Viking Press, pp. 339-340
- ↑ Often written Thich Tri Quang; "Thich" is an honorific roughly translated to "venerable"
- ↑ "Politician from the Pagoda", Time, April 22, 1966
- ↑ Karnow, p. 448-449