Since the self-immolation of an aged Buddhist monk in 1963 by publicly burning himself to dealth in Saigon as a protest against the religious policies of the South Vietnamese Government led by the late president Ngo Dinh Dien (吳廷琰), which led to the fall of Ngo's power, the Buddhists of this country became very much involved in politics. Frequently they stirred up the masses of their secular devotees in their maneouvred demonstrations against the new government's policies. Even though there are many other considerations that might account for such a phenomenon, we still can trace the root of this phenomenon by investigating the Vietnamese history. In 1964, the year after the above-mentioned affairs, a new university known as Van Hanh University was established by the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam in Saigon in memory of the most respected eminent monk Van Hanh(萬行)of the 11th century A.D. Why is Van Hanh most respected by the contemporary Buddhists? In my research, I found that two of the most authorized Vietnamese chronicles, namely, Dai Viet Su-ky Toan Sach( 大越史記全書 )or "Collection of the Records of the Grand Historians of the Great Vietnam" and Viet Su Thong-giam Cong-muc (越史通鑑綱目) or "The Comprehensive History of Vietnam with Text and Commentary", show evidently that Van Hanh was the man behind the scene to assist Ly Cong-uan(李公蘊), founder of the Ly Dynasty(李朝1010-1225 A.D.), to upset the throne of the Emperor Ngaa-trieu(臥朝帝)of the Former Le Dynasty(前黎朝981 -1009 A.D.) in 1009. Hence Van Hanh was given the title Quoc-su(國師) or "Imperial Master," and became the chief adviser of the Emperor Thai-to (太祖) i.e. Ly Cong-uan. Almost in every reign of the later Ly emperors, there was a Buddhist monk acting as thier adviser and were given the same title as Van Hanh's monks Co-dang(草堂) and Heo-dau (枯頭)being the most noted examples.
In addition, to gain the support of the Buddhists, the Ly emperors stablished many new Buddhist monasteries and encouraged a great number of people to lead the monk's life. As a result, Buddhism in Vietnam came to its Golden Age. Furthermore, the official examination system modeling after that of China was first held in 1075. Dating back to 968 A.D., when the Dinh Dynasty (丁朝) was established, Vietnam separated herself from the domination of China and appeared in the historical arena as an independent entity. For ninety years after 968 A.D., when a man desiring to participate in politics and to became an official, he had to be recommanded by Buddhist monks or at least by Taoist priests. Even though the system of official examination was set up, the monk "Imperial Master" was still very influential.
As in 1225 the Empress Chieu-hoang(昭皇)abdicated in favour of her husband Tran Chanh (陳煚) under the persuasion of General Tran Thu-do (陳守度), Chanh's uncle, the Tran Dynasty(陳朝 1225-1400 A.D.)was set up, The Vietnamese Buddhism seemed to continue to enjoy their Golden Age, for the new dynasty had inherited the same religious policies. Students of Vietnamese history even misunderstood that Buddhists were more influential in the political circle in this era, taking into consideration the fact that the Emperor Nhan-ton (仁宗) and some other empresses and imperial concubines had abandoned their royal dignity so as to devote themselves to the career as monks and nuns. But after a thorough investigation into the history of this dynasty, I found that as the establishment of the Tran Dynasty was on the support of the newly rising Confucianist intellectuals, the Tran emperors had done their best to squeeze the Buddhists out of the political circle. It is very difficult to reveal the truth because such political measures towards the Buddhists were under the cover of religious patronage. After the Tran Dynasty was conquered by Ming China in 1413, the social influence of Confucianism in Vietnam was more powerful as a result of the strengthened education policy of the Ming colonial government. Ag
