Unconcluded Story Of The Vietnamese Buddhist Struggles

ROUNDin reform programmes. Then the interest in the Pure
The day of July 21, 2497/1954 marked the end of theLand School was revived while the influence of the
war between the Viet Minh government and theChan School declined. Associations for Buddhist
French, the realization of Vietnamese independencestudies were founded in Saigon, Hue and Hanoi in
and the split of Vietnam into two halves, North and2474, 2475, and 2477 (1931, 1932, and 1934)
South Vietnam. By a 2509/1966 estimate, therespectively. In spite of this, however, the role of the
population of North Vietnam was 18,000,000, while thatmonks remained traditional. But, under the Catholic
of South Vietnam was 16,000,000. About 1,662,000government of Ngo Dinh Diem, the first president of
Roman Catholics (three fourths of whom live in theVietnam, new tensions grew and a new direction
South) formed a minority, while eighty percent of thebegan.
Vietnamese were Buddhists. Of the 12,000,000 SouthIn 2497/1954, about 400,000 refugees came to the
Vietnamese Buddhists, about 2,000,000 were followersSouth from North Vietnam. About eighty percent of
of Theravada Buddhism. The rest practised Mahayanathe refugees were Catholic and there were charges
Buddhism, often mixed with Taoism and Confucianism.of favoritism in giving them aid. Charges were also
South Vietnamese Buddhist temples then numberedraised in military promotions and other affairs. A
4,856.Buddhist monk said, “Diem wants to unify the
According to tradition, Buddhism was introduced intocountry into a Catholic bloc and convert all religious
Vietnam in B.E. 732/189 C.E. when the country wassects and parties to Catholicism ... If you want to be
under the Chinese rule which lasted over one thousandrich and wealthy, if you want to be a high-ranking
years, culminating in 1482/939. Both forms of Buddhismofficer, you must be a Catholic.”
were preached there until the ninth century whenVietnam is approximately 331,688 km² (128,066
Chinese Buddhism became predominant. The 15thsq mi) in area (not including Hoang Sa and Truong Sa
century was an era of nationalistic expansion, duringislands), larger than Italy and almost the size of
which the Vietnamese destroyed the ancient Cham orGermany. The perimeter of the country running along
Champa Kingdom and pushed the Cambodians out ofits international boundaries is 4,639 km (2,883 mi). The
the southern area of what is now Vietnam. Thetopography consists of hills and densely forested
annexation of the Mekong Delta areas was completedmountains, with level land covering no more than 20%.
in the 18th century. It is in this southern part of VietnamMountains account for 40% of the area, with smaller
that the Buddhists of Cambodian origin still continuehills accounting for 40% and tropical forests 42%. The
their Theravada tradition.northern part of the country consists mostly of
The independence of Vietnam ended again in 2426highlands and the Red River Delta. Phan Xi Păng,
1883 when the whole country came under Frenchlocated in Lào Cai province, is the highest
control.mountain in Vietnam at 3,143 m (10,312 ft). The south is
During almost a century of French rule, Catholicismdivided into coastal lowlands, Annamite Chain peaks,
was encouraged while Buddhism was removed fromextensive forests, and poor soil. Comprising five
its place understate support and its development wasrelatively flat plateaus of basalt soil, the highlands
checked. Then Vietnamese monks participated fromaccount for 16% of the country's arable land and 22%
time to time in resistance to the French and began aof its total forested land.
Buddhist revival. Both monks and laymen were active