It Ends Only to Begin

rn back to South Vietnam, Premier Ky was reportedcame into the period of decline with the end of the
to have said that he believed the Buddhists were13th Christian century. There were some short
finished as a political force in South Vietnam. In sayingintervals of revival but long days of exploitation,
this, Ky would have referred only to the militantsuppression and destruction. Throughout this period, the
Buddhists who had failed to overthrow him. The periodruling school was Chan, but it was the Chan whose
of Buddhist militancy was over, but the political powerpractice had fallen into habit and which placed a low
of the Buddhists still continued. The power of thevalue on intellectual pursuits. It was just in the early part
temple remained strong and the monks still held anof the present century that a remarkable reform was
important place in the community. The role of theundertaken by the modernist monk Tai-Hsu
moderate Buddhists remained a key factor in(2432-2490/1889-1947).
Vietnamese politics. But their force changed fromThe destruction of monasteries and scriptures by the
mobs to ideas. The most important source of theirrebels who professed Christianity during the Tai-ping
influence would be positive efforts such as thoserebellion (2393-2407/1850-1864) stimulated both monks
activities initiated in early 1964 and the unifying powerand laymen to begin a revival. But it was after the
of the faith that united people of different regions. It isoverthrow of the Manchu dynasty and the founding of
these positive efforts and power that had been thethe Republic of China in 1911 that an active reform
Buddhists’ lasting contribution to thestarted. In response to the challenge of a new
nation-building of Vietnam. Their impending failure wouldintellectual climate in which traditional and conservative
lie in that they might have returned to the right directionideas and institutions were rejected and Marxist ideas
when it was too late.were introduced, the monk Tai-Hsu led his followers in
After 2510/1967, South Vietnam still fared in the perioda movement to defend the religion, propagate the faith,
of political instability and the war continued betweenreform the order and promote education. Schools with
the South Vietnamese government backed by U.S.Western-style classroom instruction were set up.
forces and the Viet Cong assisted by NorthWelfare and economic development work was taken
Vietnamese troops. In 2512/1969, U.S. public reaction toup. The
the endless war forced a gradual withdrawal of U.S.Chinese Buddhist Society was organized in 2472/1929.
troops till the complete withdrawal was effected inNew contacts with Buddhists of other Asian countries
2516/1973. In 2518/1975, North Vietnamese and Vietwere opened up. Institutes for the training of Buddhist
Cong forces stepped up their offensive in the South.leaders were founded in various parts of China.
With unbelievable swiftness, they swept the coastalThe study of Buddhist texts was revived and
cities and took Saigon almost unopposed. The longreformed. Numbers of Buddhist periodicals were
war ended as the South Vietnamese governmentincreased. And there was a great revival of interest in
surrendered to the Viet Cong on April 30, 1975. Then,Buddhism of the Pure Land school. It is said that in
on July 2, 1975, Vietnam became officially reunified2473/1930 there were 738,000 monks and nuns and
under Communist government. Saigon was changed267,000 Buddhist temples in China and about 60 or 70
to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi became the capital ofpercent of China’s lay Buddhists belonged to
the reunified Vietnam.Pure Land groups. In the meantime, Chan abbots took
With the end of the long war, followed long years ofto traditional lines for the revival of their institutions.
the outflow of hundreds of thousands of refugeesThe Communists took over China’s mainland in
fleeing Vietnam, especially the Vietnamese of Chinese2492/1949 and then Buddhist activities fell into
origin. According to U.S. officials, 100,000 Vietnameseobscurity. It is said that a Chinese Buddhist Association
‘boat people’ might have died in the sea.was organized in 2496/1953 to bring the large Buddhist
While among these refugees who struggledcommunity under government control. Many monks
desperately for life outside their country manyfled to Hong Kong and Taiwan to continue their free
suffered death, others survived only to furtheractivities. The Chinese government took measures to
experience hard lives, and still others enjoyed betterpreserve famous and beautiful old temples, Buddhist
lives in some foreign countries, in their own country lifesacred places and art works. Under the Great Cultural
is not better for most of their fellow country-people.Revolution, however, an unrevealed number of
The two decades of war left, in addition to theBuddhist buildings and monuments were destroyed by
thousands of lost, maimed and dislocated Vietnamesethe Red Guards.
people, “a legacy of bomb craters, streetIn 2521/1978, as an attempt to render more precisely
defoliated forest,”1 rendering the land almostthe sounds of Mandarin Chinese, China adopted a new
uncultivatable. Moreover, while the country is facingsystem for spelling most Chinese names in the Roman
serious food shortage and a general economicalphabet, called the Pinyin system. According to this
distress, hundreds of thousands of her people arenew spelling, Mao Tse-tung becomes Mao Zedong,
inducted into armed forces as the Hanoi government isChou En-lai becomes Zhou Enlai, Chu Teh becomes
preoccupied with a continuing war in Cambodia. AsZhu De and Peking becomes Beijing.
regards the fate of Buddhism in today Vietnam weAlthough the constitution of the People’s
know too little. Though Buddhism cannot be wiped out,Republic of China provides for religious freedom,
it seems to have faded into obscurity. All in all, thereligious practice is not encouraged. Under Mao, many
story of Vietnamese Buddhism can teach her Buddhistrestrictions were placed on traditional rituals and
friends many valuable lessons. At least, one of thesereligious observances. After the death of Mao Zedong
lessons should be that this story should not bein 2519/1976 and under Deng Xiaoping’s
repeated.modernization programme, many restrictions have
A Glimpse of Buddhist Developments in China andbeen removed and the people have been much more
Koreafree to observe custom and tradition. However, though
A SHORT-LIVED BUDDHIST REFORM IN CHINAmany famous old temples have been restored, foreign
In China, Tibet and Nepal, political events have alsovisitors meet with very few Chinese monks. Buddhist
come into prominence and the progress of Buddhismactivities of real significance have been unheard of. To
has been checked or obscured. China which was formany, Buddhism in Communist China has been a kind
long centuries a stronghold of Buddhism and the mainof ‘Showcase Buddhism’.
source of the Buddhist tradition of the Northern School