Due to the the frequent contact between China and Vietnam, Buddhist texts have been exchanged between the two countries almost continuously. Vietnamese Buddhism has relied almost exclusively on Chinese Buddhist texts, except for translations done in Vietnam by Indian Buddhist monks in the earliest period. A revival began around the mid-fifteenth century, during the Later Lê dynasty (1428-1789), when the Imperial Scholar Lương Như Hộc (1420-1501) brought the technology for woodblock printing back to Vietnam after he was sent on two delegations to China. Following this, woodblock printing was officially adopted, which facilitated the recarving of woodblocks and the reprinting of Chinese Buddhist texts in temples throughout Vietnam. The way these Buddhist texts were printed differed over time. By understanding how the carving and reprinting was undertaken, we can see how Chinese Buddhist texts were adapted by local people and society in Vietnam. Additionally, the process of reproduction and alteration shows how Vietnamese monks adapted Chinese Buddhist texts for their own use, implicating deeper connections with the localization of Vietnamese Buddhism.
