The Three Teachings’ Founders with three similar halos equally sharing a lotus throne.
V. VIETNAMESE FOLK LITERATURE REFLECTING THE VIETS’ SYNTHETIC
BELIEF
The Vietnamese Three Teachings started their long history from the
first and second centuries onwards. Thus, the Three Teachings could not only
deeply impact intelligentsia who mastered Chinese characters but also implant
moral thoughts in the minds of illiterate common people. With such genres as
legends, folk songs, folk poems,
proverbs, etc., Vietnamese folk literature (or literature handed down orally)
gives obvious proofs of the Three Teachings’ impressions on Vietnamese culture
and ethics. Buddhas and immortals always appear in legends to teach people to
cultivate their virtues by doing good deeds and avoiding wrongdoings.
1. THE IMPRESSION OF CONFUCIANISM
Such moral categories of Confucianism as Tam Cương (the Three Bonds, namely the state and citizens, parents
and children, husband and wife) and Ngũ
Thường (the Five Constant Virtues,
namely benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity) were
Vietnamized in form of simple and sincere ballads in rural areas:
As a man who follows the sages’ teachings,
You should follows the Three Bonds and
the Five Constant Virtues.
Or:
As a man who observes the Three Bonds,
You should be filial to your parents,
loyal to your country, and faithful to your wife.
Ngũ Luân (the Five Cardinal
Relationships, namely the ethical relationships between the state and citizens,
parents and children, husband and wife, siblings, and friends) and Ngũ Thường (the Five Constant Virtues)
are also called luân thường for
short. In those five relationships, an individual must be filial to his parents
and yielding to his elder siblings. Such filial piety and yieldingness are
explained as follows:
With all your heart, honour your parents,
That is your filial piety,
one of the moral principles.
Yieldingness is also your good manners.
Yield to your elder siblings and seniors.
Never fail to bear in mind,
You, a child or a junior,
should comply with such principles.
Zeng Cen said, “Of all virtues so sublime is filial
piety.” [1] His saying has been
Vietnamized in the following ballad:
Of all constant virtues from ancient times,
Filial piety is the first one of any child.
Or:
The sublime of all virtues is filial piety.
A river has its source, a tree its roots,
And a man must pay homage to their ancestors.
The Chinese words “Visiting
parents at dawn and at dusk” [2]
from Confucian books has been Vietnamized in a ballad as follows:
In a thatched hut lives my old mother.
At dawn and dusk, I always visit her.
It seems to be mistaken if
saying that the Vietnamese have a strong sense of filial piety as a result of
Confucian learning. With their brilliant moral tradition, the Vietnamese revere
filial piety naturally. However, when Confucianism was introduced into the
country, its moral principles suitable for the Vietnamese mentality had an
approriate environment for development.
Vietnamese ballads emphasize
filial piety. For instance:
- Father’s merit is as great as mount Thái,
Mother’s love is as immense
as overflowing water from the source.
Devotedly serving parents is the filial piety
of all children.
- Father’s merit is like a skyhigh mountain,
Mother’s heart is as immense as the East ocean.
The parents’ love for their children is
as great as high mountains and immense seas.
Always keep that in mind, oh my child!
- To lead a religious life,
nowhere is better than home,
Devotion to your parents is the true way
of practising the Dao.
Thus, performance of filial
piety also means self-cultivation. The
Great Learning, a Confucian book, says that if a person has cultivated himself, his family is regulated.[3]
This saying is paraphrased by the Vietnamese as follows:
Cultivate yourself before regulating your family,
Not caring whoever has distorted
your true heartedness.
2. THE IMPRESSION OF BUDDHISM
Buddhism has a strong impact
on the daily life of the Vietnamese, especially the beliefs in karma,
reincarnation, and cause-effect relation. The theory of karma is expressed as
follows:
Drifting through the Thần Phù estuary,
Only he who well cultivates virtues can live.
Situated in Yên Mô district,
Ninh Bình province, Thần Phù was the estuary of Chính Đại river, which flew
into the Gulf of Tonkin
Buddhist humanism also
permeates through the feelings and morals of the Vietnamese. Śūramgama Sūtra says that to serve sentient beings devotedly in the
secular world means to requite Buddha’s favours.[4]
Similarly, a Vietnamese
ballad says that to save a person is better than to build a stupa for
worshipping Buddha:
Building a nine-story stupa is not so good
as saving a person.
3. THE IMPRESSION OF DAOISM
According to the cosmoslogy
by Laozi and Zhuangzi, the Way (Đạo, Dao)
道 is the primordial principle or the Absolute whereas the
Power (Đức, De) 德 is the manifestation of the Way in human beings. For the common
people, this philosophical concept may be too abstract to understand. However,
since the unknown time, the terms đạo and
đức have been popularly used with a
strong ethical connotation in the Vietnamese people’s everyday language.
Accordingly, Đạo (the Way) simply
refers to the moral standard or principle in human behavior. Thus, the
Vietnamese often advise one another to live in harmony with the Way or
Principle, say to behave morally, which later result in such expressions as đạo làm người (the principle of
humanity), đạo vợ chồng (the
principle of married couples), đạo thầy
trò (the principle of teachers and students), đạo làm con (the principle of children), etc.
Don’t neglect the principle of children.
Be respectful to honour your parents.
For the Vietnamese, biết đạo (knowing the Dao) means knowing how to behave properly
towards the family, clan, neighbors, society, and nation. A single peasant who
wants to select his life-partner also highly values this moral standard, so he
sings as follows:
This piece of crystal which shines
has been saved for a long time
to make a wedding ring of thine.
Even though one insists to buy,
I won’t give it until the day
I find a girl who knows the Way.
Immoral persons can be
scolded as vô đạo, thất đức, which
literally means “losing the Way or virtue”.
Contrarily, a moral person is praised as ăn ở có đức, which literally means “leading a virtuous life”. In
Vietnamese, the term đức is also used
as an honorific (equivalent to His / Her Holiness) before the names
of deities, national heroes, and reverend figures, for example, Đức Chí Tôn (the Supreme Being), Đức Mẹ (Holy Mother), Đức Chúa (the Lord), Đức Thánh Trần (Saint Trần Hưng Đạo), Đức Bồ Tát (Bodhisattva), etc.
Đức (virtue) becomes a spiritual
value with supernatural power which can support human life. A family of
morality does not regard worldly wealth as perpetual property handed down to
many generations of offspring. On the contrary, only đức or âm đức (quiet
virtue) is an invisible property which is worth being handed down forever.
Thus:
- The foliage of an evergreen tree is
also evergreen.
Virtuous parents leave their children quiet virtues.
- While others plant apricots as a hobby,
I plant a tree of virtue for my posterity.
When comparing virtue to
evergreen trees and leaves, the Vietnamese obviously regard virtue as something
concrete which can be planted and cultivated so that it can be luxuriant,
fruitful, and blossoming. Thus, virtue becomes thicker and thicker and
perpetually durable. Understanding and using this term so vividly and
creatively is a distinctive culture trait of the Vietnamese people.
The impressions of the Three
Teachings on the Vietnamese people are very abundant. The examples mentioned
above are merely preliminary typical illustrations. However, it should be noted
that the Three Teachings also blended with the Vietnamese people’s indigenous
beliefs.
4. THE THREE TEACHINGS MERGED WITH HEAVEN WORSHIP
There is a fusion of the
Three Teachings and Vietnamese Heaven worship. For instance, a witty country
girl puzzles a young man:
Since you are learned,
Please answer my quiz:
At the beginning of earth and heaven,
Who built the celestial vault?
Such a quiz is, of course,
too tricky to answer. Where and when Heaven was born is unknown, but everyone
always reveres Heaven because they realize that they owe their existence to
Him. Expressing their obedience to Heaven, the Vietnamese says, “Anyone who is granted something by Heaven
can enjoy it. One summoned by Heaven cannot help submitting.”
In an agricultural society,
the belief in Heaven is associated with human activities:
- Owing Heaven the timely rain and mild wind,
The young and the aged are competing
in plowing and transplanting rice seedlings.
- Owing Heaven the proper rotation of seasons,
Fruitfully the soil is plowed, sown and planted.
- I pray to Heaven for mild wind and timely rain,
To have good crops as you wish.
Regarding Heaven as the
supreme judge who can reward and punish human beings fairly, the Vietnamese often
say:
He who behaves morally will meet the auspicious.
Heaven always bestows happiness
upon the virtuous.
Believing in Heaven and the
perpetual destiny of the nation, even when the country is divided, the
Vietnamese do have a strong belief as follows:
Our nation is predestined by Heaven,
Who could divide the land or move the mountains?
The mergence of filial piety
and Heaven worship is shown with the outdoor Heaven altar, usually a simple
pole staked in the front yard, where a dutiful child prays to Heaven every
night.
Performing service before
the Heaven altar nightly,
I pray to God for my parents’ longevity.
There is no partition
separating Heaven worship from the Three Teachings. It is, therefore, not
strange if a man thinks of Heaven when paying homage to Buddha in a pagoda:
In the temple, having lighted a joss stick,
Namo Amitābha,earnestly I speak.
Despite the small place, to Heaven
I vow to be a monk.
The Vietnamese people do not
differentiate between Heaven and Buddha. Whenever encountering critical
situations, they always pray both Heaven and Buddha for help and mercy:
Prostrating myself I’m paying homage
to Buddha and Heaven,
Please rescue me from my misfortunes.
Expressions of Vietnamese
common people’s religious tolerance can be found not only in folk literature
but also in the way of worship. Vietnamese pagodas are not places where Buddhas
alone are worshipped. Some pagodas are dedicated to Guansheng Dijun (the Lord
of War) as well.
At Tam Giáo (Three-Teaching)
pagoda in Kim Bảng village (modern Vụ Bản village), Nam
Định province (northern Vietnam
Tam Tông Miếu (the
Three-Teaching Temple), also called Minh Lý Thánh Hội (Illustrious Principle
Church), at 82 Cao Thắng Street in District 3, Sài Gòn, has the similar way of
worship.
Tam Giáo Kinh (Three-Teaching Canon), a
religious text circulated in Vietnam
5. THREE-TEACHING ELEMENTS IN THE TALE OF FEMALE BUDDHA AT PERFUME PAGODA
Phật Bà (Female Buddha), also
called Quan Thế Âm (Guanshi’yin) or Quan Âm Bồ Tát (Guanyin Bodhisattva),
refers to Avalokiteśvara (Goddess of Mercy). The treasury of Vietnamese folk
literature contains a verse novel with different titles such as Phật Bà Quan Âm Diễn Ca (Tale of Quan Âm
Female Buddha Explained in Verse), Nam Hải
Quan Thế Âm Sự Tích Diễn Ca (Tale of Avalokiteśvara of Southern Sea
Explained in Verse), or Truyện Phật Bà Chùa Hương (Tale of
Female Buddha of Perfume Pagoda), etc. According
to the 1950 edition of Phúc Chi press in Hà Nội, the tale comprises 1,424 lines
in six-eight verse.
This verse tale reflects
Vietnamese syncretic belief, i.e., a harmonious fusion of the Three Teachings,
Heaven worship, and indigenous popular beliefs. Thus, numerous deities and
concepts of the Three Teachings can be found in the tale: worldly imperial
court, Thủy Phủ (Ocean Palace ),
Thiên Cung (Celestial
Palace ), Phong Đô Địa Ngục (Hell of Wind Capital), Diêu Trì Cung (Jasper
Lake Palace
Philosophically, the tale
gives a solution to the opposing relationships between an individual and his
family, the society, and the nation.
On the individual side, first
of all a person is required to deliver himself and attain Buddhahood to obtain
the marvelous power to save others.
On
the family side, saving others means fulfilling his filial duty to his parents
and ancestors by helping them escape from samsāra.
On the social and national
sides, saving
others means loyalty to the nation, and benevolence rendering to all
sentient beings.
At the very beginning of the
tale, its unknown author emphasizes:
As taught by the very miraculous truth
of Buddhism,
Filiality and benevolence must be kept
in people’s heart and soul.
(Lines 1-2)
The author defines:
Helping parents escape from samsāra is
a child’s filial duty,
And benevolence means rescuing
all sentient beings from the sufferings sea.
(Lines 3-4)
Filiality is recompensation to parents;
Benevolence, salvation for all sentient beings.
(Lines 1397-1398)
The author combines Buddhism
with patriotism:
Attaining Buddha is my only measure
to protect my country and compatriots.
(Lines 315-316)
That positive thought is not
alien to the Vietnamese nation with lots of brilliant examples in the history
throughout the dynasties of Đinh, Lê, Lý, Trần, etc.
The belief in Heaven and the
law of retribution for good and evil is reflected in the Queen’s words said to
the King: “The Heaven principle underlies
the law of retribution for good and evil.” (line 24).
Believing in Buddha and
revering Heaven, the King said: “Now I’m
very grateful to Buddha and Heaven.” (line 1335).
Also, with that impartial
belief, the Princess prayed to Heaven when deciding to become a nun:
Then, looking upward, she prayed to Heaven
For the recognition of her heartiness.
(Lines 345-346)
The main character of this
novel is the Third Princess who took the threefold refuge and attained
enlightenment, then was called Bodhisattva, Female Buddha, or Female Immortal
(lines 937, 946, 949, 1049, 1054, etc.). It should be superficial to say that
the author is not consistent. On the contrary, this fact should be regarded as
a reflection of the long lasting impartial belief permeating deeply through the
Vietnamese mind.[5]
6. THE SPIRIT OF THE THREE TEACHINGS REFLECTED IN A FANTASTIC ENCOUNTER AMIDST FORESTS AND
SPRINGS
A verse novel titled Lâm Tuyền Kỳ Ngộ (A Fantastic Encounter
amidst Forests and Springs), also called Bạch
Viên Tôn Các Truyện (The Tale of Gibbon Bạch Viên and Scholar Tôn Các) by
an unknown author, narrates the love
affair of two main characters named Bạch Viên (a gibbon) and Tôn Các (a
scholar).
Due to a certain fault, a
female immortal was exiled to the secular world and took the form of a white
female gibbon, named Bạch Viên. She talked about herself as follows:
I used to be an immortal
in the kingdom
of Heaven
and then I had never gone through
the dusty world of passions.
(Bạch Viên Talking about
Herself)
In a former life I was in the door of Indra God.
Loving you, I fall into the dusty world.
(Bạch Viên Saying Farewell to
Tôn Các)
I used to be a guest of Cold
Moon Palace
Sent into exile in the world as a gibbon.
(Bạch Viên Meeting Zen Master
Huyền Trang.)
Thanks to being an immortal
in her former life, Bạch Viên was soon awake to the indispensability of
self-cultivation for enlightenment and deliverance from samsāra. So, she came to Phi Lai pagoda to study Buddhist dharma under
Zen Master Huyền Trang’s instruction.
During silent nights she lingers
outside the pagoda.
On deserted days she offers joss sticks to Buddha.
(Bạch Viên Entering the
Pagoda
to Listen to the Chanting of
Sūtras)
Following Buddhism for happiness,
And indebted to the Zen Master for deliverance.
(Bạch Viên Meeting Zen Master
Huyền Trang)
Buddha’s marvelous power
transformed the gibbon into a very beautiful girl. Then she married Tôn Các and
had two sons with him. However, when the exile expired, she must obey Jade
Emperor’s order to say goodbye to her husband and chilren and return to the
immortal realm, i.e., Heaven kingdom.
Farewell to you, my darling and children!
Riding on five clouds, I must return to Heaven.
(Bạch Viên Saying Farewell to
Tôn Các.)
Tôn Các still stayed in the
secular world. After successfully passing a civil service examination, he was
granted official ceremonial dresses and caps by the king to return to his
native village. Tôn Các used to be an immortal as well. In a former life, he
was Purple Star God.
Though living now in the secular world,
In a former life Tôn Các was Purple Star God.
(Jade Emperor Allowing Bạch
Viên
and Tôn Các to Reunite.)
Being moved by their love in
separation, Jade Emperor approved Bạch Viên’s request, allowing her to return
to the secular world again to reunite with Tôn Các to fulfill matrimonial
duties.
Jade Emperor allows them to reunite,
So the Confucian elite and his pretty wife
can enjoy a happy life.
(Jade Emperor Allowing Bạch
Viên
and Tôn Các to Reunite.)
Finally, Bạch Viên together
with Tôn Các returned to Heaven kingdom after the termination of their
passion-karma.
Passion-karma of former lives now ends.
Their married life still brightens the forest of Zen
Like Phật Bà Chùa Hương (Tale of Female
Buddha of Perfume Pagoda), Lâm Tuyền Kỳ
Ngộ (A Fantastic Encounter amidst Forests and Springs) reflects the full
impression of the Three Teachings.
The
Confucian impression relates to matrimonial responsibilities, parental duties,
allegiance to the nation, and commitment to worldly activities to save the
world.
The
Buddhist impression relates to the doctrine of deliverance from all karmic
hindrances of the secular world (for example, Bạch Viên quit the form of a
gibbon).
The Daoist
impression relates to Jade Emperor’s role of judgement, that is the exile of Bạch
Viên and Tôn Các in the secular world, etc.[6]
In short, the folk ballads, proverbs, and verse novels in
the treasure of Vietnamese folk literature prove the traditional cultural and
moral features of the Vietnamese people. That is the impartiality towards all
religions and the ability to syncretise the Three Teachings and the indigenous
culture to form a belief in Vietnam
HUỆ KHẢI
[5] See: Phật
Bà Chùa Hương. Hà Nội: Phúc Chi Pub., 1950. Or
see: Truyện Bà Chúa Ba (Nam
[6] See Lâm
Tuyền Kỳ Ngộ (A Fantastic Encounter amidst Forests and Springs), mimeograph
in 1960 by Phòng Nghiên Cứu Văn Học Sử Và Văn Chương Việt Nam
