traditions

Lotus (Hoa Sen)

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lotus

  French version
 Vietnamese version

No aquatic plant causes the admiration of the Vietnamese as much as the lotus. In addition to its buddhist emblem, the lotus is synonymous to purity, beauty and serenity. The lotus differs from the other aquatic plants not only by the grace of its flower both simple and distinguished  but also by the richness of the traditions which accompany it in Asia, in particular in Vietnam. In this country, it forms part of the four noble plants (Tứ Qúi ): mai (plum tree), liên (lotus), cúc (chrysanthemum), trúc (bamboo) used in the representation of the four seasons (Tứ Thì).

 

 

In the Vietnamese art, the landscape is often built according to an ancient immutable diagram (Cổ Ðiển). This one determines the elements, in particular the characters to be put in the scene. One often finds an artistic symbiosis, an insoluble association of plant and animal in the small vietnamese paintings. This is why the lotus is always associated with a duck (Liên Áp). It is rare to find it associated with another animal unless the artist does not respect traditional conventions. The lotus is known in vietnamese with its flower under the  name « Hoa Sen or Liên Hoa « . It is part of the Nymphaeceae family and known under the scientific name of Nelumbo Nucifera or Nelumbium Speciosum. It is found everywhere in Vietnam (ponds, pools, parks, rivers etc.). It is also present in the pagodas and temples for the purpose of calming the fervors of the bonzes and to allow the visitor to feel carried furtively into nothingness thanks to the light scent released by its flowers. It develops easily and adapts to all surroundings. It contributes to the thriving of the aquatic life by purifying all dirty and muddy water that it colonizes, which makes it the symbol of a man of confucius quality (junzi). This latter, no matter where he lives, continues to remain faithful to himself, to maintain his purity in the middle of corruption. He does not let himself be contaminated by the vices of society as the lotus manages to destroy all the stench of its environment thanks to its flagrant flowers.

It is for that reason that in the Vietnamese poetry there is a poem dedicated to the man of confucian quality through the image of the lotus:

Chung quanh cành trắng, giữa chen nhị vàng
Nhị vàng cành trắng lá xanh,
Gần bùn mà chẳng hôi tanh mùi bùn

What can be more beautiful than the lotus in the pond?
Green leaves, white flowers, yellow stamen
Gold stamen, white flowers, green leaves
Though close to the stinking mud, it does not smell its odor.

To evoke the quality of this man or the lotus, one often says in vietnamese: Cư trần bất nhiễm trần (or in English Live in the society without being contaminated by its vices.)

The lotus has other qualities which enable it to belong to the chinese and vietnamese noble plants. It is what has inspired a Chinese Zen Buddhist sect known under the name  » Pháp Hoa Tông  » at the period of Tang to give birth to the doctrine  » Diệu Pháp Liên Hoa Tông « .  This one was  based only on the worship of life in relying upon the quality of the lotus. One found at that time in this sect the bonze poets Phong Cang and Thập Ðắc as famous as Lý Thái Bạch (Li Tai Bai) (1) , Bạch Cư Dị ( Bai Juji )(2). This sect whose pagoda was in Hàn Sơn in the neighborhoods of the city Cô Tô cultivated only the lotus in its ponds. It thought that one could find peace in the heart and free oneself from reincarnation and the fires of concupiscence while depending on this doctrine which borrowed from the lotus the character:

  • – carefree (Vô ưu). Its scent allows the one who has the occasion to sniff it to find peace and serenity. According to the Forefathers, it is an antiaphrodisiac plant like lettuce.
  • -adaptable (Tùy thuận). It can grow everywhere even on an arid soil.
  • –odoriferous (Cư trần bất nhiễm trần ). It does not let itself influenced by the stench of the environment where it grows but it continues to release its scent according to the intensity of light.
  • –specific to the level of reproduction.(Vô cấu ). It has a mechanism which is unique to itself for the vegetative multiplication. There is no formation of gametes. Its flower is exceptional by its size, by the hard and waxy consistency of its petals and by its perfume whose intensity varies during the day. A lotus flower only lives four days. The Japanese describe this blossoming in the following way: the first day, the flower has the shape of a bottle of saké, the second day that of a cup of saké, the third day that of a soup bowl and the fourth day, that of a saucer. Gradually, its fruit is formed and resembles a reversed cone or rather the head of a watering can. Its higher plane face is supplied with a score of cells containing seeds. It is detached from its stalk at maturity and its higher face disaggregates in contact with water with the passing days. That makes it possible to release and convey seeds far from the place of flowering. Its seeds heavier than water stick fast in the mud and take root.

That makes it possible for the young buds  to sprout as they already carry seeds at the time of their formation. This is why the Vietnamese say the following about the lotus: Nhân quả đồng hành to mean that the seed is made at the same time as the fruit. Buddha (3) was accustomed to using the lotus to name the person who has succeeded in freeing himself completely from concupiscence because the latter is the source of all human sufferings (duhkha) and of successive reincarnations.

The lotus is often visible in the vietnamese art, in particular in buddhist architecture. The motif that identifies the lotus in the decoration always has eight petals indicating the eight cardinal points and reproduces the mandala, geometrical and symbolic representation of the Buddhist Universe.

In the Vietnamese pharmacopea, the lotus seeds are used in the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, erotic dreams. These seeds are considered sleeping pills when they are eaten raw and in great quantity. The consumer can fall asleep rapidly if he absorbs the green germ found in the middle of the seed. Formerly, the young vietnamese boys were accustomed to offering lotus flowers to declare their feelings to their beloved. One also finds candied lotus seeds and tea aromatized with lotus in all the traditional festivals of Vietnam, in particular that of Tết without forgetting to note for the epicurians in the art of vietnamese cooking that there is a delicious dish, the lotus salad.

The land of legends as is our Vietnam was plunged into war, injustice and corruption. Any Vietnamese in love with peace, justice and freedom always cherishes the hope to see that one day his country find serenity, splendor and dignity in the image of purity of this aquatic plant.

Its grace was evoked by the king poet Lê Thánh Tôn in his poem Hoa Sen at the time when Vietnam was at the height of its glory and radiance:

Nỏn nà sắc nước nhờ duyên nước
Ngào ngạt hương thơm nức dặm Trời ..

The lotus flower is of a beautiful whiteness and perspicacious thanks to the contribution of water
Its penetrating fragrance is spread into the sky.

[Return FLEURS DU MONDE]

(1) Li Bai, one of the famous chinese poets of the time of the emperor of Tang Xuanzong. ( 701-762).
(2) The great chinese poet of the time of Tang (772-846)
(3) Siddhârta Gautama ( Cồ Ðàm Tất Ðạt Ða ).

 

Flowers in the Vietnamese culture

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French version
Vietnamese versionimg_6909

 

In their cultural tradition, the Vietnamese attach a great importance to flowers. One notes their marked preference for the names of the flowers in the choice of the feminine first names . There is even an anecdote on the first name that great king Lý Thánh Tôn of the dynasty of Lý has chosen for his imperial concubine Ỷ Lan known later under the name Linh Nhân Hoàng Hậu. One day, on his way back to the capital, the king was greeted by jubilant villagers. He realized that there was a young country girl of extraordinary beauty who kept looking timidly at him while leaning against a magnolia. Desirous of knowing her, he made her come in front of him. Taken by her beauty and intelligence, the king asked her to marry him and gave her the name « Ỷ Lan » (Ỷ Lan means leaning against a magnolia). She was known later in the history of Vietnam as one of the greatest queens to take up several social projects for disinherited and women.

Những loại hoa được yêu trong nền văn hóa Việt Nam

To immortalize the affliction they continue to bear for their daughter-in-law, from then on, they forbade their close relations and subjects to use the word Hoa not only in the choice of given names but also in the naming of public buildings. Because of that prohibition, the Ðông Hoa market in Hue became the central market Ðông Ba. The province Thanh Hoá was from then on called Thanh Hoa. The bridge stretching across the Thi Nghe river in Saigon changed its name to Cầu Bông from the name Hoa Bắc. However « Hoa » is the word the most used in Nguyễn Du‘s Kim Vân Kiều, the masterpiece of Vietnamese literature. Without counting the name of the flowers evoked, one can come up with an inventory of at least 130 verses containing the word « Hoa ». Moreover, this word appears in a great number of terms having the connotation of flower in the Vietnamese literature.

Hoa diện, mặt hoa : blossoming face ( To have a beautiful face )
Hoa chúc: Flower of the torch ( the lamp in the nuptial room)
Hoa niên: Flower of Age ( youth )
Hoa tay: To have the pulp of the fingers in the form of a flower ( To be very adroit )
Số đào hoa: To be born under the peach flower star ( To be liked by women )
Ngừơi tài hoa: Man of talent to the image of a flower ( To be talented and distinguished)
Hoa tai : Flower of the ear ( Earring )
Hoa đèn: Flower of the lamp ( coal of the wick of an oil lamp)
Hoa khôi: Flower of first rank (To be the most beautiful girl, also attributed to the plum flower or that of a lotus )
Hoa đá: Stone flower ( Coral )
Hoa vương: Queen of flowers ( Peony)

Concerning the stone flower, there is an anecdote recalling the episode when Vietnam was troubled by ceaseless internal wars between the two ruling families, the Trinh and the Nguyễn. It was one of the practical jokes of a mandarin named Trạng Quỳnh serving lord Trinh Cương and frequently known under the pseudonym Cống Quỳnh or Trạng Quỳnh. Lord Trịnh Cương was very greedy. He only thought of living in opulence and debauchery. That was why Cống Quỳnh tried to bring him back to reason and wisdom. He told him that he knew how to prepare a very delicious little dish called Hoa đá (Stone flower).

Lord Trinh Cương asked him to prepare it. But he told the lord that he must wait for at least two days to be able to taste that dish because he had to simmer it during that time. Lord Trinh Cương accepted this proposal. Back home, he ordered his servants to go to the store and get edible algaes and simmer them in water. Famished by this long wait, the lord Trinh recognized that the dish prepared by Cống Quỳnh was delicious even though it only contained vegetables after having tasted it.

One found some classical famous novels bearing the name of flowers. It is the case of Nhị Ðộ Mai (Twice blossoming plum tree) and Hoa Tiên (Flowery Loose Sheets). The first one was written in Nôm with two thousand eight hundred twenty Six-Eight verses and adapted from a Chinese work. It is the story about king fidelity, filial piety, loyalty, gratitude and love. As for the second novel, it was composed by the learned Nguyễn Huy Tự.This novel comprises more than eight hundred verses written in Six-Eight feet (lục bát). It is the first Vietnamese romantic poem and still remaining within the Confucian thought.

Despite a great variety of flower species found on this land of legends, the Vietnamese do not hide their preference to certain plants. They do not hesitate to classify some in the category of noble plants. Among those, one can quote:

Mai(Plum)
Lan (Magnolia)
Cúc (Chrysanthemum)
Sen (Lotus)
Mẫu đơn (Peony)
Hoa hồng (Rose)

These plants or their flowers have each one a particular and ethical signification and the Vietnamese tradition. The plum tree ( mai ) is the symbol of a superior man. It succeeds in resisting the cold and bad weather and continues to bloom in February, which allows it to symbolize the Spring in the representation of the four seasons (Tứ Thì). At the occasion of Têt, for a Vietnamese, there is never a lack on the altar of some branches of plum trees (or cherry) in bloom that are selected so that the flowers hatch during the festival. The plum flower is very much adored by learned and intellectual Vietnamese. An independent man of character like Cao Bá Quát who did not bow to mandarinal servitude had to admit to only bending his head before the plum flower during his lifetime.

Nhất sinh đê thủ bái hoa mai
Suốt đời chỉ cúi đầu trước hoa mai

All my life, I curve only my head in front of the flower of plum tree.

Another learned man Ðào Tấn, the father of stage productions of the Bình Ðịnh region in Central Vietnam, also nourished the hope to die one day near plum trees. That is why, while living, he chose (Mộng Mai) (Dream of Plum Flowers) as his pseudonym and had the occasion to reveal his state of heart in the two verses found in one of his poems:

Núi mai rồi giữ xương Mai nhé
Uớc mộng hồn ta là đóa Mai

It is the mountain of the plum trees where will be buried my skeleton of plum tree.
I continue to dream that my soul would be the flower of plum tree.

It was not an utopia for him because at his death (July 1907), he was buried at mount Huynh Mai, not too far from a plum garden which is a few kilometers away. Contrary to the Chinese, they are the plum and lotus flowers which are more appreciated than the peony. That’s why they are called Hoa Khôi (Flowers of first rank)
One has a preference for the plum tree because the lotus is rather reserved to Buddhism although it is also the symbol of a man of Confucian quality (junzi). It was the plant chosen by the learned Mạc Ðỉnh Chi to reveal his extraordinary talent and genius when king Trần Anh Tôn hesitated to appoint him « First Doctor » finding him too ugly at the time of diploma delivery. To convince the king, he compared himself to a lotus in a jade well by composing in front of the king the poem entitled «  Ngọc Liên Tỉnh Phú » (Lotus in a a jade well).

Giống quý ấy ta đây có sẳn
Tay áo nầy ta chứa đã lâu
Phải đâu đào, lý thô màu
Phải đâu mai, trúc dãi dầu tuyết sương
Cũng không phải tăng phường câu kỷ
Cũng không là Lạc Thủy mẫu đan
Cũng không là cúc, là lan
Chính là sen ở giếng vàng đầu non

That precious species I already possess
In this coat sleeve I kept it for a long time
It is neither peach nor cherry whose color is gross
It is neither plum tree nor bamboo exposed to snow and dew
It is even not berry whose scent is to be avoided
It is not the peony from Lac Thủy(1)
It is neither chrysanthemum nor magnolia
But it is the lotus in the golden well on top of the mountain.

Mạc Ðỉnh Chi had the occasion to compose a funeral oration in honor of disappearance of a Mongol princess when he was sent to China as the Ambassador of Vietnam. That day, before the imperial court, one gave him a sheet of paper on which there were four lines, each one began with a single word « one » (một ). It was up to him to compose a poem by completing the lines to render a great homage in memory of that princess. Imperturbable, he succeeded in doing it with the surprise and admiration of all the Mongol imperial court by designating the princess like a flower:

Lò hồng môt giọt tuyết
Vườn thượng uyển môt cành hoa
Cung quảng hàn (2) một vầng nguyệt
Than ôi! Mây tan! Tuyết tiêu!
Hoa tàn! Trăng khuyết !

One cluster of clouds in the blue sky
One flake of snow on the rose beam
One flower in the imperial garden
One lunar disk in the Moon palace
Alas! Cloud disappears! Snow melts!
The flower wilts! The moon is incomplete !

As for the chrysanthemum, it is not only the monopoly of the Autumn but also the symbol of serenity and the indifference of people to honors and glory. Analogous to the flower of plum tree, the magnolia is the symbol of feminine beauty. It often designates a young girl in poetical compositions. Although the peony is seen as a noble flower, it does not have a significant range than it continues to have in China. Probably because of the Chinese influence, one continues to keep that custom. The peony is often evoked in Vietnamese ornamental art or in legends (The story of the mandarin Từ Thức and the fairy Giáng Hương for example).

As for the rose, it is the symbol of love and affection. To understand the value and the range of significance that the Vietnamese give to this flower, we should read the novel « Bông Hô`ng Cài A’o ( A rose pinned on the coat ) » of the Vietnamese zen monk Thi’ch Nhâ’t Hạnh. He attempts to remind us through his narration that everyone of us has a unique mother that we neglect to think of because of the ups and downs in life. We often forget that if everyone of us still has a mother today, that is because God has left an invaluable treasure with us. We still have the chance to be able to love her and show her our affection. For that, we can continue to pin a rose on our coats because we alone still have that immense, intimate and indescribable joy that lots of people no longer had long time ago.

Not long ago on this land of legends, one could not see white myrtle flowers (Hoa Sim) laid by young girls on the tomb of their lovers who had fallen valiantly in the defense of their ideal and fatherland. They did not have the chance to see peace coming back some day. They did not have the occasion to pin a rose on their coats even when their mothers were still alive. It is for these valiant people that all the Vietnamese want to offer a rose for the love they have always had for this land. They want to show them their sincere affection and profound gratitude. Without the bravery, sacrifice, and the nobility of soul of these people, Vietnam would not have been able to retain its independence, its cultural identity, its millennial traditions.

[Return  FLEURS DU MONDE]

(1) Lạc Thủy: a river known in China.
(2) Cung quảng hàn : the  mythical  Chinese palace  found on the moon.
(3): An anecdote on the chrysanthemum of Luoyang  with  Wu Ze Tian empress ( Võ Tắc Thiên) of  Tang dynasty.
 

Water puppets (Múa rối nước)

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French version 

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Water is everywhere in Vietnam. Nothing is surprising to find it in  songs, folk dances or performing arts. It has a primordial role in  water puppets show.

Before being a popular entertainment, this spectacle is something as a ritual invocation of good harvests, indispensable facing to the natural disasters that Vietnamese farmers have often in their daily lives. Created in Vietnam in the tenth century, the spectacle of water puppets is over century after century, a performing art where one finds not only mythical characters but also Vietnamese peasants living in their daily lives behind bamboo fences.

Once the red curtain  raised, we can see a troupe of tiny articulated wooden puppets sliding underneath the water. The dragon spit fires, the tortoises are risen abruptly in front of travellers etc… The end of the spectacle is followed by  the artists’ appearance. These individuals all wear a pair of rubber boots and are immersed in waist-high water with stoicism during the spectacle.

Pictures gallery

The water puppets are the oldest form of expression founded in Vietnam. They belong to the spiritual inheritance of humanity. One finds here the heart of the Vietnamese people. It is a spectacle not to be missed if there is the occasion to visit Hanoï or Saïgon. 

Marionnettes sur l’eau (Múa rối nước)

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Vietnamese version

L’eau est omniprésente au Vietnam. Rien n’est étonnant de la trouver dans les chansons, dans les danses populaires ou dans les arts du spectacle. Elle joue un rôle primordial dans le spectacle des marionnettes sur l’eau.

Avant d’être un divertissement populaire, ce spectacle est en quelque sorte un rite invocateur de bonnes récoltes indispensable face aux calamités naturelles que les paysans vietnamiens connaissent souvent dans leur vie quotidienne. Crée au Vietnam au Xème siècle par le moine Từ Đạo Hạnh, le spectacle des marionnettes sur l’eau devient au fil des siècles un art scénique où on trouve non seulement des personnages mythiques ou légendaires mais aussi des paysans vietnamiens vivant au quotidien derrière leur haie de bambous.

Une fois le rideau rouge soulevé, sont apparues de minuscules marionnettes en bois et  polychromes articulées glissant au raz de l’eau sous l’action précise guidée au moyen de longues perches, par  des artistes se cachant derrière le rideau. Les dragons se battent entre eux et crachent du feu, les tortues se dressent brusquement devant les voyageurs etc. La fin du spectacle est suivie par l’apparition des artistes ayant tous de longues cuissardes en caoutchouc et restant immergés avec stoïcisme jusqu’à la taille durant le spectacle.

Issues du delta du Fleuve Rouge, les marionnettes sur l’eau sont la plus ancienne forme d’expression propre millénaire  trouvée au Vietnam. Elles font partie du patrimoine culturel immatériel  de l’humanité. On trouve l’âme du peuple vietnamien à travers ces marionnettes. C’est un spectacle à ne pas manquer si on a l’occasion de visiter la capitale Hanoï ou Saïgon (Hồ Chí Minh Ville). 

Galerie des photos

 Ở Việt Nam nơi nào cũng có nước.  Bởi vì thế nước được nhắc đến trong các nhạc phẩm, các điệu vũ dân tộc hay là trong các nghệ thuật biểu diễn.  Nước giữ vai trò chủ yếu trong múa rối nước.  Trước  khi trở thành trò tiêu khiển dân gian,  vở  diễn nầy thông thường là một nghi lễ cầu  khẩn được mùa màng tốt đẹp trước các thiên tai mà người dân Việt thường lo sợ trong cuộc sống hằng ngày. 

Được tạo ra ở thế kỷ 10 bỡi thiền sư Từ Đạo Hạnh, múa rối nước trở thành qua bao niêu thế kỷ một  nghê thuật sân khấu truyền thống mà không những ta thấy được  các nhân vật huyền thoại trong các cổ tích mà có cả luôn  các người nông dân sống hằng ngày sau các bụi tre làng. Một khi bức màn được kéo lên thì hiện ra trên mặt nước  các nhân vật bé tí hon bằng gỗ, màu sắc rực rỡ di chuyển dưới sự  dìu dắt chính xác  của các nghệ nhân sau bức màn qua các cây sào. 

Các con rồng vật lộn phun lửa, các con rùa nổi  lên thình lình trước các khán giả. Cuối buổi trình diển thường có sự xuất hiện của các nghệ nhân, tính kiên cường dầm mình trong nước   suốt buổi trình diễn. Có nguồn gốc từ đồng Bắc bộ,  múa rối nước là một hình thức biểu hiện cá biệt có lâu đời ở Việtnam.  Nó còn là một di sản văn hóa phi vật thể của nhân loại. Tâm hồn của người dân Việt được tìm thấy qua trò rối nước nầy.  Đây là một nghệ thuật sân khấu mà người du khách không thể thiếu khi có dịp đến tham quan Hà Thành hay Saïgon.

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The challenge (Thách Thức)

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defi

The challenge

French version
Vietnamese version

This word is not unfamiliar to the Vietnamese. On the contrary, it is synonymous to perseverance, resistance, ingenuity and confrontation for these frail people whose feet have been burried in the rice fields’ mud since the dawn of time. They never stop at taking up, from generation to generation, the challenge incessantly imposed by the excesses of a harsh and inhospitable nature and by the Midle Empire, their big brother and hereditary enemy at the border. The Vietnamese dedicated to the latter a surprising admiration but at the same time pledged an implacable resistance in the goal of keeping their national independence and cultural traits. China has many times tried to assimilate Vietnam during its millennial domination but it succeeded in blurring the particularities without making them disappear completely. It was quick to be aware of that, because on any favorable occasion, the Vietnamese displayed their resistance and difference. They even tried to confront the Chinese in the field of literature. That has been reported in a great number of accounts that keep on to be plentiful up until now in the history of Vietnamese literature.

According to what was said, after having succeeded in putting down the revolt of the two sisters Trưng Trắc Trưng Nhị and pacifying Giao Chỉ ( ancient country of the Viet ), Chinese General Ma Viện( MaYuan ) of the Han dynasty erected in 43 at the Sino-Vietnamese border a pillar several meters high bearing the following notice:

Ðồng trụ triệt, Giao Chỉ diệt
Ðồng trụ ngã, Giao Chỉ bị diệt.

Vietnam would disappear forever with the fall of this pillar.

To avoid the pillar’s fall, the Vietnamese tried to strengthen it by throwing, as they walked by, a piece of soil around that huge column, and thus progressively helped in building a mound making the mythical pillar disappear.

To be ironic about the Vietnamese’s fear and worry of losing their country, the Ming emperor did not hesitate to use unfriendly terms to arrogantly tell the Vietnamese envoy Giang Văn Minh ( 1582-1639 ) during a reception:

Ðồng trụ chí kim đài dĩ lục

This Bronze pillar is now buried in green moss

to remind Giang Văn Minh of the putting down of the Trung sisters’ revolt and the pacifiaction of his country by the Chinese. Remaining unruffled, Giang Văn Minh responded with a surprising insight and an energetic and courageous determination:

Ðằng giang tự cổ huyết do hồng
That Ðằng river was then blended with red blood.

This was not the first time such a litterary competition took place. Under the reign of king Lê Ðại Hành ( The Great Expediter ), monk Lạc Thuận had an opportunity to catch the admiration of Chinese ambassador Li Jiao ( Lý Giác ) whom he helped cross the river by posing as a boatman.

He was quick to complete the four-versed poem started first by Li Jiao who saw two wild geese playing on the water wave crests:

Ngỗng ngỗng hai con ngỗng
Ngữa mặt nhìn trời xanh
Goose, goose, the two geese
Looking up the blue sky they tease

by the following two verses:

Nước biếc phô lông trắng
Chèo hồng sóng xanh khua

Bluish green water contrasts white feather
Showing pink feet splitting blue waves over.

It is shown not only the rapidity of monk Lac Thuan’s improvisation but also his ingenuity of placing in parallel the ideas and the words to be used in this four-versed poem.
But obviously credits on the confrontation finally go to to the learned Mạc Ðỉnh Chi because he knew how to show during his stay in China his capability of resistance and his talent of knowing how to cleverly answer all questions s and avoid all traps. He was sent to China (1314) by king Trần Anh Tôn after the latter had defeated the army of Kubilai Khan’s Mongols with general Trần Hưng Ðạo. Because of an unexpected delay, he could not show up on time at the gate of the fort at the Sino-Vietnamese border. The mandarin in charge of the supervision of the fort agreed to open the gate if f only Mạc Ðỉinh Chi could appropriately parallel the mandarin’s sentence containing 4 words « quan ».

Quá quan trì, quan quan bế,
nguyện quá khách quá quan
Qua cữa quan chậm, cữa quan đóng,
mời khách qua đường qua cữa quan.

Late at passing the gate, the mandarin gate is closed,
Passing pedestrian please pass the gate.

Unruffled at this litterary challenge, he replied to the mandarin with a surprising ease by the following sentences:

Xuất đối dị, đối đối nan, thỉnh tiên sinh tiên đối.
Ra câu đối dễ, đối câu đối khó
xin tiên sinh đối trước

Easy to pose the sentence, difficult to parallel it.
Parallel sentence poser please pose first.

It is noted that in this reply, there are not only the word « đối » that is repeated 4 times in parallel with the word « quan », but also the virtuosity of respecting the rhymes and the rules in composing parallel sentences by Mạc Ðỉnh Chi in his verses while making it known to the mandarin the situation he was tangled up with. This enormously pleased the Chinese mandarin who was quick to to open the fort gate and greet him with great pomp. This incident was reported to the Peking court and was fast to bring desire to the best Chinese learned mandarins to measure up with him in literary field.

One day, he was riding his mule in the capital city of Peking. The mule did not go fast enough, which annoyed a Chinese mandarin who followed him on his way. Irritated by the disturbing slowliness, the mandarin turn to him saying with an arrogant and contemptuous tone:

Xúc ngã ky mã, đông di chi nhân dã, Tây di chi nhân dã?
Chạm ngựa ta đi là người rợ phương Ðông hay là người rợ phương Tây?

Slowing my horse is the barbarian from the East or from the West?

That mandarin took what he had learned in the book Mencius ( Mạnh Tử )(1) to refer to the barbarians, those who do not possess the same culture of the Midle Empire by using the words « đông di ». Surprised by the hurting remark while he knew that China was at that time governed by by the nomad tribes, the Mongols, Mạc Ðĩnh Chi replied with his black humor:

Át dư thừa lư, Nam Phương chi cường dư, Bắc phương chi cường dư
Ngăn lừa ta cưởi, hỏi người phương Nam mạnh hay người phương Bắc mạnh?

Impeding my mule is the strong people from the North or from the South?

Mạc Ðỉnh Chi also took what he had learned from the book Trung Dung (2) to remind the mandarin that he was not sure that the people from the North were stronger than those from the South. The mandarin turned pale of shame and was so vexed by the spirited and spontaneous reply that he was forced to drive off. Another time, in a discussion with Mạc Ðỉnh Chi and wanting to know his character, the Yuan emperor read him the following phrase:

Nhật hỏa, vân yên, bạch đáng thiêu tàn ngọc thỏ
Mặt trời là lửa, mây là khói, ban ngày đốt cháy vần trăng

Daytime, the sun being fire, the clouds being smoke burn up the moon.

The emperor wanted to show his power by comparing himself with the sun and in making it known to Mạc Ðỉnh Chi that Vietnam is comparable to the moon would soon be wiped out and dominated. Unruffled, Mac Ðỉnh Chi replied in firm and courageous terms:

Nguyệt cung, kim đạn, hoàng hôn xa lạc kim ô
Trăng là cung, sao là đạn, chiều tối bắn rơi mặt trời.

Nightime, the moon being crossbow, the stars being projectiles shoot down the sun.

Thus the Yuan emperor Kubilai Khan ( Nguyên Thê’ Tổ ) had to recognize his talent and granted him the title  » ( Lưỡng Quốc Trạng Nguyên  » ( Doctor of both countries ) for China as well as for Vietnam. this rendered some Chinese mandarins jealous. One of them tried to humiliate him one day by treating him as a bird because of the tone of the monosyllabic language; the Vietnamese give the impression of chirping when they speak:

Quích tập chi đầu đàm Lỗ luận: tri tri vi tri chi, bất tri vi bất tri, thị tri
Chim đậu cành đọc sách Lỗ luận: biết thì báo là biết, chẳng biết thì báo chảng biết, ấy là biết đó.

Birds gather on the branch to study the book Dialogs: What we know we say we know, what we don’t we say we don’t, we know it though.

It was a way to recommend Mac Ðĩnh Chi to show more humility and to behave like a man of Confucian quality ( junzi ). Mac Ðĩnh Chi replied in treating him like a frog because the Chinese have the habit of clicking the tongue when drinking and speaking loudly:

Oa minh trì thượng đọc Châu Thư: lạc dữ đọc lạc nhạc, lạc dữ chúng lạc nhạc, thục lạc.
Châu chuộc trên ao đọc sách Châu Thu: cùng ít người vui nhạc, cùng nhiều người vui nhạc, đằng nào vui hơn.

Frogs assemble in the pond to learn the work Chou Ching : they enjoy blaring alone, they enjoy blaring together, they’re blaring anyhow.
It’s a way to recommend the Chinese mandarin to have a keen mind in order to be able to have the right behavior and a more fair judgment.

In spite of the literary confrontation, Mac Ðĩnh Chi was very much appreciated in China. He was assigned by the Yuan emperor to write the funeral oration in honor of the passing away of a Mongolian princess. Due to the respect that the Chinese traditionally maintained toward talented Vietnamese people, especially the scholars having unprecedented erudition and keen minds, the learned Nguyễn Trãi was saved in extremis by the great steward Houang Fou ( Hoàng Phúc ). He was seen by Chinese generalissimo Tchang Fou ( Trương Phụ ) as a captive to be eliminated, a dangerous and harmful to the Chinese politics of expansion in Vietnam. He was retained by Tchang Fou during his stay at Ðồng Quang ( ancien name of Capital Hà-Nội before he could join the cotton clothed hero Lê Lợi later at Lam Sơn. Without the magnanimous and protective gesture of the eunuch Hoang Fou, Lê Lợi would not have been able to defeat the Ming because it was Nguyễn Trãi, the godsent adviser and eminent strategist that Lê Lợi relied upon to run the guerilla during his ten years struggle against the Chinese.

This literary confrontation began to blurr progressively with the arrival of the French in Vietnam and stopped definitively when emperor Khải Ðịnh decided to put an end to the Vietnamese system of mandarinal contest up until then copied from the Chinese one and based essentially on the Four Classics (3) and the Five Cannons (4) of the wise Confucius (Tứ Thư Ngũ Kinh).

intro1

The last mandarinal contest was organized at Huế in 1918. Another system of recruitment in the French way was proposed at the colonial l period. From then on, Vietnam has no longer the opportunity to measure up literarily with China and to show her its difference, its intellectual resistance and its cultural traits.

(1) : Jou philosophy of first plan of 4th century B.C.
(2) : The Middle-Of-The-Road, one of the basic works of Chinese education.
(3) : The Great Studies, ( Ðại Ho.c ), Middle-Of-The-Road ( Trung Dung ), Dialogs ( Luận Ngữ ) and Mencius’s Book ( ( Sách Mạnh Tử ).
(4):The Book of Odes ( Kinh Thi ), The Historic Documents( Kinh Thư ), The Book of Mutations ( Kinh Dịch ) The Rites( Kinh Lễ ), Springs and Autumn ( Kinh Xuân Thu ).

Vietnamese woodcuts (Tranh dân gian)

j050807 Art, Culture, Traditions, Văn Hóa , ,

French version

Without the curiosity and open-mindedness of this young French military man, the Vietnamese popular woodcut would probably have been in oblivion and disappeared forever with the ups and downs of the war. The Vietnamese woodcut has its origin dated back to 15th century, at a time when scholar Lương Như Hộc introduced its fabrication technique on his way back from an official mission to China.

Henri Oger was one of the rare Frenchmen who, at the beginning of the century, was able to discover a millennium of wealth in traditions and customs throughout the Vietnamese society which was then closed to strangers, poor and backward. He took the initiative of creating an encyclopedia consisted of 10 volumes describing all aspects of the Vietnamese society in the old days: craftsman’s works, festivals, farming techniques, ancestral customs etc.. by requesting about 30 wood carvers to engrave designs on wood and then, because of weather conditions, imprint the engraving on the spot using the Vietnamese traditional methods. It should be acknowledged that the love of Vietnam and its people has allowed Henri Oger to overcome at that time all hardship in fund raising and in the realization of this huge work ( more than 4000 designs in all ).estampes_1

He did not get any help from the French government at all. He only got subscriptions from some two dozen persons, in the amount of 200 piasters.

Henri Oger

In spite of that, Henri Oger has succeeded in leaving to the Vietnamese people a priceless treasure. His work was unknown to the French and Vietnamese public for decades. Only in 1978 did an exhibition entitled « Peasant Painters of Vietnam » take place at the Cultural Center of Bourges. Three of his works are presently kept at the National Library of Hanoï and Saïgon City but only in the latter we find his 10 volumes in their entirety.

Bibliography:

Introduction générale à l’étude de la technique du peuple annamite. 2 volumes. Editions: Geuthner-Jouve, Paris.

 

The sweet cake rice (Bánh chưng bánh dầy)

j050807 Contes, Histoire, Traditions , , ,

 

The sweet rice cake

French version

The son of the first king of Van Lang, the Vietnam of long time ago, reigned under the name of Hùng Vương. He had three wives, each of them gave birth to a boy. The son of the first wife, Long married Kim who was arrogant and jealous. The son of the second, Ho married Ngoc who was naughty and sharp tongued toward her husband. The son of the deceased third wife, Vân, lived with his maternal grandmother and farmed for a living. He practiced the slash and burn agriculture, grew vegetables or went fishing in his spare time. His grandmother married Van to Xuân, a wise and hard working young woman in the village. The couple led a modest but happy life.

One day, summoned by the king, they had to sell their buffaloes to prepare for the trip to the court. There, they saw their elder brothers and their wives dress elegantly and adorned with jewels. Van and Xuan felt confused. Everyone mocked and scorned at them for going to see the king in such a simple appearance.

However, the king showed afection to Vân, an orphan of mother. Burdened by old age and a reign of 50 years, the king wanted to leave the throne to whoever could prapare the most tasty foods. The spouse of the elder brothers, confident of their talent, rivaled for getting the throne to their husbands. Only Vân and Xuan were worried because they were very poor.

One night, in a dream, Van saw his mother who let him know he would be selected for the throne. It would be sufficient for him to make a sweet rice cake in the form of a square with meat and bacon in the middle of it to symbolise the heart. The square cake represented the earth because at that time people thought the earth was square. Vân woke up and recalled the dream to his wife. The couple decided to follow the advice of their mother to make the cake, and to boil it in a terra cotta pot.

On the scheduled day, the two brothers Kim and Ngọc offered to the king expensive dishes. But the latter did not find anything exceptional. As for the cakes offered by Vân and Xuân, the king was excited by their delicateness and meaning. ( One should govern the country with wisdom). He showered Van with praises and designated him to be his successor. For his generosity, Van did not hesitate to give his brothers the title of viscount.The sweet rice cake ( or bánh chưng in Vietnamese ) is one of the traditional delicacies of the Vietnamese people during the Tết festival. It is eaten with caramel marinated stewed pork.This cake is also intangible proof of the theory of Yin and Yang and of the five elements belonging to Bai Yue (or Cent Yue), to which the Proto-Vietnamese belong, as it is made according to the cycle of generation of these 5 elements.

Fire->Earth->Metal->Water->Wood

Inside the cake, there’s a piece of red pork (Fire) surrounded by a kind of pastry made from yellow beans (Earth). The whole is wrapped in white glutinous rice (Metal) and cooked with boiling water (Water), before the surface is given a green tint by banana leaves (Wood). The shape of these cakes was found in bi discs and jade and ivory Congs in the tombs of the aristocrats of two civilizations, Lianzhu and Shijiahé, with the idea of protecting the deceased in the world of the dead. The bi disc was often associated with Heaven and was green in color, while the Cong, which was tubular on the outside and cylindrical on the inside, was associated with Earth and was yellow in color. This is why, to commemorate the Elders, rice cakes cannot be missing from the ancestors’ altar on the occasion of the Lunar New Year.

 

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L’histoire de la carambole d’or (Ăn Khế trả vàng)

j050807 Contes, Traditions , ,

an_khe_tra_vang

English version

Version vietnamienne

L’histoire de la carambole d’or.

Il était une fois deux frères qui se partagèrent un héritage, à la mort de leurs parents. L’aîné, cupide et avare, s’empara de tous les biens et laissa à son cadet et à sa femme seulement une paillote délabrée et un carambolier aux fruits juteux mais rabougris. Mais ces deux époux cadets ne s’en plaignirent guère et se contentèrent de ce maigre avoir. Ils prirent soin de leur carambolier et l’arrosèrent sans cesse de manière que l’arbre reprît vigueur et portât une quantité de fruits. Quand les caramboles commencèrent à mûrir, un oiseau d’une taille extraordinaire vint chaque matin en manger. Il était impossible pour ce couple de l’en chasser quoi qu’il fît. L’épouse navrée se lamenta: « Malheur à nous. Pauvres que nous sommes, nous comptons beaucoup sur ce que nous rapporte le carambolier et voilà que l’oiseau ravage tout. Nous connaîtrons probablement la faim ». Miracle! L’oiseau entendit les lamentations, se pencha et répliqua d’une voix d’homme: » Des caramboles je mange, de l’or je rends, munissez-vous d’un sac moyen et suivez-moi pour en chercher ».

Apeurée, la femme se précipita dans la chaumière pour chercher son mari. Ils se concertèrent et décidèrent de coudre le sac suivant la mesure indiquée, dans l’attente d’un éventuel retour de l’oiseau. Quelques jours plus tard, l’oiseau revint, mangea tout son saoul de caramboles puis descendit de l’arbre pour inviter l’époux à prendre place sur son dos avec le sac. Puis ils disparurent ensemble à l’horizon. Effrayé, le cadet ferma les yeux. L’oiseau le transporta très loin avant d’atterrir sur une île déserte, remplie de pierres précieuses. Il fut libre d’en prendre autant qu’il pût.

Il remplit son sac et l’oiseau le ramena chez lui. Depuis ce jour, le couple connut l’opulence. Il vivait dans des demeures luxueuses. Il venait en aide souvent aux pauvres. A l’occasion de la commémoration de la mort de ses parents, le couple invita l’aîné à venir chez lui. Plein de mépris pour le cadet, l’aîné chercha prétexte pour se dérober et exigea que le cadet tapissât le chemin de nattes et dorât le portail si ce dernier voulait le recevoir. Le cadet respectueux de son aîné, s’exécuta selon le vœu de ce dernier. Celui-ci et son épouse furent surpris devant l’opulence et la richesse du couple cadet. Curieux, l’aîné chercha habilement à connaître le mystère. Son cadet, honnête et franc, n’hésita à lui raconter l’histoire de l’oiseau géant qui l’avait emmené à chercher de l’or. Le couple aîné proposa d’échanger sa fortune contre seulement la paillote et le carambolier juteux. Les cadets obtempérèrent. Un jour, l’oiseau revint manger des caramboles et fit la même recommandation: un sac de trois livres pour aller chercher de l’or. L’aîné, cupide et curieux, emmena deux gros sacs  et une fois sur place les remplit avec de l’or. Sur le chemin de retour, plié sous le poids démesuré de ces deux sacs, l’oiseau qui n’en put plus, tangua et l’aîné fut balancé dans la mer et s’y noya. L’aîné fut l’objet de beaucoup de mépris quand on connut l’histoire de son avidité et de sa cupidité. Dieu vient toujours en aide aux bons et punit toujours les méchants. Dans le livre des proverbes vietnamiens, il y a l’expression suivante : « Tham thi thâm » ou « la cupidité donne une fin triste ».

 

Ăn khế trả vàng

Chúng ta không biết một xã hội  nào không có huyền thoại cũng như không có nền văn minh nào mà không có lịch sử.

Ngày xửa ngày xưa, có hai anh em được chia tài sản thừa kế khi cha mẹ họ mất. Người con cả, tham lam và keo kiệt, chiếm đoạt hết gia sản để lại cho vợ chồng đứa em trai nhỏ chỉ có một túp lều dột nát và một giàn khế ngọt nhưng còi cọc. Nhưng hai người chồng trẻ này không phàn nàn nhiều về điều đó và hài lòng với khối tài sản ít ỏi này. Họ chăm sóc cây khế và tưới nước liên tục để cây lấy lại sức sống và cho trái nhiều. Khi các quả khế bắt đầu chín, sáng nào cũng có một con chim có kích thước lớn đến ăn  các quả khế.

Vô phương cho đôi vợ chồng này không thể nào đuổi  được con chim đi được. Người vợ đau lòng than thở: “Thật khổ cho chúng ta.Chúng ta đã nghèo, chúng ta trông chờ rất nhiều vào những gì chúng ta có được từ cây khế và bây giờ con chim đang tàn phá mọi thứ. Chúng ta sẽ chết đói chắc chắn”. Phép màu! Con chim  nghe tiếng than vãn, cúi xuống và đáp giọng đàn ông: “Các quả khế ta ăn, vàng ta trả lại, lấy túi ba gang theo ta đi tìm”.

Quá hoảng sợ, người phụ nữ lao vào ngôi nhà tranh để tìm chồng. Họ đồng ý và quyết định may túi vải theo kích thước đã chỉ định, chờ chim quay lại. Mấy hôm sau, chim trở lại, ăn khế no nê say rồi từ trên cây bay xuống mời người chồng ngồi lên lưng với túi vải. Rồi họ cùng nhau biến mất ở phía chân trời.

Sợ hãi, người chồng nhắm mắt lại. Con chim đã chở anh nầy đi thật xa trước khi đáp xuống một hòn đảo hoang đầy đá quý. Anh nầy mà lấy được nhiều thì càng tốt.

Anh ta đổ đầy túi và con chim mang anh ta  trở về nhà. Kể từ ngày đó, hai vợ chồng có được sự xa hoa, sống trong những dinh thự sang trọng. Anh thường giúp đỡ người nghèo. Nhân ngày giỗ cha mẹ, hai vợ chồng anh  mời anh cả về nhà họ. Với lòng khinh bỉ đã có với đứ em, anh cả tìm cớ trốn tránh đi và yêu cầu đứa em mình phải trải chiếu và mạ vàng cổng nếu muốn anh sang. Người em trai, kính trọng người anh cả của mình, đã làm theo ý muốn của người anh. Vợ chồng người anh ngỡ ngàng trước sự giàu có, sang chảnh của đôi vợ chồng người em. Hiếu kỳ, người anh cả khéo léo tìm cách khám phá sự bí ẩn. Trung thực và thẳng thắn, người em trai, không ngần ngại kể cho anh c ả nghe câu chuyện về con chim khổng lồ đã đưa đi tìm vàng. Đôi vợ chồng người anh  đề nghị đổi của cải để lấy túp lều rơm và giàn khế ngon ngọt. Vợ chồng người em tuân theo. Một hôm, con chim quay lại ăn quả khế và đưa ra lời đề nghị tương tự: một túi ba gang để lấy vàng. Người anh, ngu si và tò mò,  lấy hai túi lớn mỗi túi ba gang và khi đến đó, làm đầy hai túi với vàng.

Trên đường trở về, dưới sức nặng quá lớn của hai chiếc túi vải, con chim không thể chịu đựng bay nổi được nữa và lảo đảo  ném người anh cả xuống biển khiến anh bị chết đuối. Anh nầy nầy bị khinh miệt khi lòng tham và ngu si của anh ta được biết đến.  Thượng đế luôn giúp đỡ người tốt và trừng phạt kẻ gian ác. Bởi vậy trong tục ngữ của chúng ta có câu nói « Tham thì thâm ».

The betel quid (Trầu Cau)

j050807 Contes, Histoire, Lịch sử, Traditions , ,

chique_de_betel

The betel quid

French version
Vietnamese version

 

Long time ago, under the reign of king Hùng Vương the 4th, there were two twin brothers, Cao Tân and Cao Lang. They looked so much alike that it was difficult to distinguish one from the other. They both attended the school of an old teacher in the village who had a sole daughter named  Liên whose beauty attracted all the homage of all the young men in the area.

The old teacher liked both of them. He would grant his daughter’s hand to one of them, preferably the elder because according to Vietnamese customs, the elder brother would get married first. In order to be able to distinguish them, he relied on a little trick by inviting them for dinner. The one who first picked up the chopsticks would be the elder. So Cao Tân got the hand of his daughter without any doubts that his younger brother has devoted an ardent love to her. They went on to live together in a complete harmony and experienced a faultless happiness.
Cao Tân continued no less to love his younger brother like ever before and would do anything to make him happy.

However, in spite of that, the younger brother could not rid of the pain in his heart. He decided to leave them and went out for an adventure. After so many days of walking, he ended up falling exhausted on the road and was transformed into a block of lime stone with an immaculate white.

The elder brother, taken by growing worries for his younger brother left in search for him. He followed the same road taken by his younger brother. In a beautiful morning, after so many days of walking, he arrived at the lime stone block, sat on it and succumbed without movement. He was metamorphosed in to a betel nut tree growing tall with its green palms and oblong little fruits. The tree began to extend its branches and its shadow over the lime stone mass as if to protect it from the changes of weather.

Staying at home without any news from her husband, the young wife in turn left the house and went for a search of her spouse. She roamed fields, crossed villages and finally one day, she came real close to the tree. Tired by the long walk, she leaned back at the foot of the tree, took her turn to die and change into a plant whose stems curled around the trunk of the tree with large intensely green leaves in the form of a heart.

One day, while passing through the area, King Hùng heard this story. He tried chewing betel and areca with a little of the lime from the limestone block. He found that the resulting saliva was as ruddy as blood, with a fresh, tangy and fragrant taste. From then on, he ordered betel and areca to be included in the wedding ceremony as a ritual offering. This is one of the Vietnamese customs that must be observed at the wedding feast. Areca nuts and bright green betel leaves in the shape of a heart are always part of the wedding gifts, symbolizing the pledge of marital love and fidelity.

Similar to a cigarette, betel quid was a conversation starter in old Vietnamese society. That’s why it’s customary to say in Vietnamese “Miếng trầu là đầu câu chuyện”. The betel quid is also used to measure time, because in the absence of clocks in those days, a mouthful of betel corresponds to roughly three or four minutes, giving you an idea of how long a conversation lasted.

 The betel quid

This is one of Vietnamese customs to be observed at a marriage ceremony. There is always betel, with betel nut and intensely green leaves in the form of a heart that is part of wedding gifts that symbolize an eternal union.

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Pagode (Chùa Chiền Việt Nam) 6ème partie

j050807 Art, Religion, Traditions , ,

pagode5

Sixième partie

Une fois l’indépendance retrouvée, le bouddhisme commença à trouver un écho favorable en la personne du roi Đinh Tiên Hoàng. Celui-ci nomma Ngô Chấn Lưu, disciple du moine Văn Phong de la pagode Khai Quốc (Hànội) en tant que Tăng Thống (Chef suprême du clergé bouddhiste). Il lui décerna le titre de Khuông Việt Đại Sư ( Grand Maître, soutien du pays Việt) pour sa participation aux affaires de l’état en tant que conseiller. Issu de l’école du moine chinois Vô Ngôn Không, Ngô Chấn Lưu fut réputé pour ses connaissances approfondies de la doctrine Dhyana (ou Thiền). Puis l’élan bouddhiste continua à s’affermir avec le grand roi Lê Đại Hành (ou Lê Hoàn). Ce dernier, lors d’une expédition au Champa en 985, réussit à ramener dans son pays un bonze indien (Thiên Trúc) qui était en train de séjourner dans le monastère de Đồng Dương.

C’est sous le règne de ce roi que les moines jouèrent un rôle important dans la vie politique vietnamienne car ils étaient les seuls détenteurs du savoir. C’est le cas du moine Ngô Chấn Lưu chargé par le roi Lê Đại Hành de recevoir une délégation diplomatique chinoise de la dynastie des Song (Tống triều) conduite par l’ambassadeur Li Jiao (ou Lý Giác). Celui-ci, de retour en Chine, fut accompagné par un morceau de chant lyrique (ou từ en vietnamien) rédigé par le moine Khuông Việt lui-même (ou Ngô Chấn Lưu). Outre les documents officiels, ce morceau ayant pour titre vietnamien Ngọc Lang Quy (ou Vương Lang Quy) devint ainsi la première oeuvre littéraire vietnamienne qu’on considère encore aujourd’hui comme un document précieux et important non seulement dans la relation sino-vietnamienne mais aussi dans la littérature vietnamienne. On n’oublie pas non plus l’échange verbal improvisé en sentences par le moine poète de nom Lạc Thuận, déguisé en sampanier avec Li Jiao. Frappé d’admiration, ce dernier n’hésita pas à adresser des compliments au roi Lê Đại Hành en le comparant à son roi dans un poème.

Selon ce qu’a rapporté Thiền Uyển Tập Anh (Floriflège du jardin du Thiền), avant sa disparition, Khuông Việt rédigea un poème intitulé « Le bois et le Feu » (Cây và Lửa) et destiné à enseigner le dhyana à son disciple éminent thiền sư Đa Bảo:

Trong cây sẵn có lửa
Có lửa lửa lại sinh
Nếu bảo ây không lửa
Cọ xát làm sao phát sinh?

Le bois contient en essence le feu
Et ce feu parfois renaît
Pourquoi dire qu’il n’y réside pas,
Si le feu jaillit quand on fore le bois.

Nguyễn Khắc Viện (Traduction)

Il se servit de ce kê (une sorte de stance bouddhique) pour laisser entendre que le bois désigne la personne et le feu, la nature du Bouddha (Phật tính) que la personne en question a toujours dans son coeur. Il évoqua ainsi le problème de la vie et de la mort en rappelant à son disciple de ne pas s’en inquiéter à cause du changement constant de la nature et en lui laissant le soin de trouver sa voie de l’éveil par l’amélioration de ses efforts individuels.

Le bouddhisme vietnamien trouva son âge d’or sous les dynasties Lý (1009-2225) et Trần (1226-1400) . Selon le chercheur Nguyễn Thế Anh, le Vietnam était essentiellement un pays bouddhiste sous ces deux dynasties comme c’était le cas du royaume theravàda d’Ayutthaya. Mais il y a quand même une dissemblance visible dans la mesure où ce royaume siamois continue à lire les textes bouddhiques en sankscrit et en pali et à considérer le salut comme la résultante des efforts accomplis par l’individu lui-même pour atteindre à la bouddhéité. Quant au bouddhisme vietnamien, il accepte d’emprunter non seulement le chinois classique pour lire ces textes bouddhiques mais aussi la voie collective dans le salut.

Avant d’être le fondateur de la dynastie des Lý, Lý Công Uẩn (974-1028) entama sa jeunesse dans la pagode Cổ Pháp où son père adoptif, le moine Khánh Vân le présenta, à l’âge de 7 ans, à un moine célèbre Vạn Hạnh de l’école Vinitaruci qui deviendra plus tard son conseiller éminent en matière de politique intérieure et de diplomatie. Il nous laissa avant sa mort un kê intitulé Thi Đệ Tử (Conseil aux disciples) :

Thân như bóng chớp có rồi không
cối xanh tươi thu não nùng
Mặc cuộc thịnh suy đừng sợ hãi
Kìa kìa ngọn cỏ giọt sương đông

La vie de l’homme est un éclair sitôt né sitôt disparu
Verdoyant au printemps, l’arbre se dépouille à l’automne
Grandeur et décadence pourquoi s’en effrayer?
Epanouissement et déclin ne sont que des gouttes de rosée perlant sur un brin d’herbe
Nguyễn Khắc Viện

Hiérarchie religieuse dans la pagode

Les moines sont des « tăng » et les femmes des « ni » en vietnamien. Les petits novices sont appelés des « tiểu ». Au bout d’un certain temps de pratique dans la pagode, ils obtiennent le grade de sadi (ou sư bác). Le moine peut être élevé au rang de « ti-kheo » ou « đại đức » sur la proposition des autres religieux. Il pourra être promu « thượng tọa » après avoir entamé au moins 25 ans de pratique et un certain niveau de la connaissance du bouddhisme. Il sera hoà thượng s’il arrive à remplir les deux conditions suivantes: 40 ans au moins dans la religion et la possession indiscutable des vertus morales. Lire la suite (Tiếp theo)