Book introduction: "Vietnamese Buddhist Literature"

This is the first monograph to comprehensively study Vietnamese Buddhist literature from the beginning to the present from a genre perspective. The book helps readers visualize the colorful picture of Buddhist literature as well as its contributions to the historical process of national literature.

Vietnam is a long-standing Buddhist country. Buddhism has been associated with the Vietnamese people for about 2000 years and has become an indispensable part of Vietnamese cultural and ideological life. The purification of time and events over the past nearly 2000 years has not only not caused this religion to decline, but sometimes it has even been revived in extremely difficult circumstances, proving its seemingly endless vitality and ability to survive. The proof is that throughout history, Buddhism has persevered and continuously revived even when it seemed most hopeless.

Buddhism has many outstanding achievements in the fields of culture and art, but one of the most typical fields is literature. The contributions of Buddhist literature to the development of the history of national literature are enormous, both in terms of ideology and art. Buddhist literary ideas sometimes become the artistic ideas that cover an entire era, or the most elegant artistic ideas in an era. The artistic forms of Buddhist literature are also sometimes the typical artistic forms of an entire era, or the fresh artistic forms of a certain period, with many rich and attractive creations, in contributing to the selection and shaping of literary genres, in the construction of literary images and linguistic artistic methods...

Vietnamese Buddhist literature is a strong and unique stream in history. That stream has the mission of contributing to the first literary sources of the nation, promoting its development, and existing until today. Sometimes it is the mainstream of national literature as in the Ly - Tran dynasties. Sometimes it is quietly hidden under other artistic peaks, or blended into the works of many talented writers and poets, as in the literary periods of the 15th - 19th centuries. Sometimes it occupies a noble and supreme position in royal life, but sometimes it is humble in rustic life... The artistic flowers of Buddhist literature sometimes bloom like a spring garden, but sometimes they are as rare as Udumbara flowers. That vitality is expressed throughout history, from the beginning to the end of the feudal period, and even lingers until now, with many sincere and warm emotions.