"Hai Wai Ji Shi" records the history of Shilian Dashan being invited to visit Vietnam and his experience there. It reflects the social development of Vietnam from one aspect. Dashan claimed to be the heir of Master Juelang. However, his trace was secret, and he was closely related to the feudal king Shang Zhixin. Therefore, many people slandered it. Dashan had a tragic fate, and his writings were quite controversial. Soon after the publication of the book (1699), some people accused him of "hurt the country and Buddhism". Finally, he was exiled and died on the road. However, his book made a relatively objective review of the development of Buddhism in Vietnam. According to the records, "all the common people there are all soldiers". In order to escape military service, people sent children to Buddhism to be monks. So, there were too many monks, but Buddhism declined. Therefore, he tried to give ordination to a large number of Vietnamese Buddhists, by doing so, he wants to revitalize Buddhism. According to the existing literature on him, it is difficult to tell whether his visit is to "chase fame and wealth" or "promote Buddhism". Judging from his account, like Chinese Buddhism at that time, Vietnamese Buddhism also fell into a trough. There may be two reasons for this phenomenon: one is that Chinese Buddhism has developed to a limit and there was no developing room; the other is that the political confrontation has caused a great impact on the development of Buddhism.

Authors:
Chunyao Li, Nanfang College, China

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Chunyao Li is a University Postdoctoral Fellow or Instructor at Jinan University in China

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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