The influence of the Buddhist view of life in Sino-charactered poetry works by Vietnamese Confucians from the 18th century to the first half of the 19th century

DOI: 10.18173/2354-1067.2023-0031

Abstract

Up to now, Buddhism has been introduced to Vietnam for about 2000 years. During that time, the spirit and thought of Buddhism penetrated deeply into aspects of Vietnamese cultural life, including literary activities. I think, in addition to studying the content of Buddhist meditation in the works of Zen masters, it is also very important to study the content of Zen Buddhism in the works of the Confucians. In this paper, we initially present the survey results on the influence of Zen Buddhism on look view of human life in Sino-charactered poetry compositions by Vietnamese Confucians from the 18th century to the first half of the 19th century in aspects such as: looking at the life of sadness and unhappiness; life is an imaginary, and quiet life in Buddhist meditation; with the hope that it will contribute to a more comprehensive view of the influence of Buddhism on the spiritual life of medieval Confucianists in Vietnam.