Over more than 2,000 years alongside the nation’s history, Buddhism in Vietnam has produced a vast body of scriptures and other writings. Historical upheaval, however, has left much of that heritage scattered and at risk of disappearing.

The difficult search for ancient Buddhist texts

Vietnamese Buddhism’s written legacy includes extensive works in classical Chinese and Nom, a script formerly used to write Vietnamese. Much of it is now dispersed among temples and private libraries, while some documents face deterioration with age. Finding, preserving and making this knowledge accessible in the digital age has become an urgent challenge.

The Eastern Classics Project at the Tran Nhan Tong Institute of Vietnam National University, Hanoi, recently held a scholarly conference titled “Vietnamese Buddhist Texts: Issues in Textual Studies, Translation and Research.” The gathering renewed calls to preserve the country’s Buddhist heritage and bring it into the digital age.

Figures from Hue Quang Library in Ho Chi Minh City, an early participant in efforts to collect these works, illustrate the scale of the task. Over 20 years of its “Records of Vietnam’s Ancient Temples” project, conducted at 27 major historic temples, the library has preserved about 4,000 volumes covering 1,500 titles. Works by Vietnamese authors account for only about 300 volumes.

“That number is far too small for a Buddhist literary tradition spanning 2,000 years,” said Venerable Thich Khong Hanh, the library’s director.

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Venerable Thich Khong Hanh, director of Hue Quang Library. Photo: Binh Minh

He said the substantial loss of ancient texts calls for an urgent, sustained effort to find and rescue what remains. Monks and nuns, state leaders, scholars and other intellectuals should all take part, he proposed.

“This effort cannot be left to a single small organization. It must be recognized as a shared undertaking of the Buddhist Sangha and the nation,” he said.

Preserving a Vietnamese identity and digitizing the heritage

Venerable Thich Duc Thien, vice chairman and general secretary of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, described Buddhist texts as a valuable part of the nation’s cultural and intellectual heritage.

Preservation is necessary, he said, but making the texts widely useful is the longer-term goal. The Sangha’s approach extends beyond translating scriptures from classical Chinese into modern Vietnamese. It calls for faithful translations in clear, contemporary language; textual research and comparisons of different versions; study of how works originated and were transmitted; and the creation of bibliographies, reference works, dictionaries and specialist databases.

It also calls for scholarly annotated translations and for Buddhist studies to connect with history, literature, philosophy, linguistics, cultural studies and information technology.

The independent spirit of Buddhist masters under the Ly dynasty and the strong engagement with worldly life associated with the Truc Lam Zen school, founded by Buddhist king Tran Nhan Tong, are among the legacies that shaped Vietnamese Buddhist identity and its contribution to national culture, Thien said.

“The Buddhist textual heritage truly comes alive only when it is studied, translated, annotated, published and brought into religious practice, education and scientific research,” he said.

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Venerable Thich Duc Thien, vice chairman and general secretary of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha. Photo: Binh Minh
 

He urged researchers to highlight what is distinctive about Vietnamese Buddhism through the writings of its Buddhist masters and the histories of its schools, centers and dynasties. Such works, he said, are important evidence of its intellectual identity and contribution to Vietnamese culture.

Thien added that digital transformation means more than scanning documents. The key is to build open databases and apply automated Chinese-Nom character recognition and artificial intelligence for natural-language processing.

A connected system could bring together dispersed collections, making it easier for monks, nuns and scholars in Vietnam and abroad to find and study the texts.

Preserving and sharing Vietnam’s Buddhist written heritage is both a way to honor earlier generations and a commitment to passing the nation’s intellectual and cultural legacy on to those who follow.

Binh Minh