Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church

Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church (abbreviated as UBCV), founded in January 1964 , is one of the Buddhist organizations operating in Vietnam and in the Vietnamese community abroad.

Category 1History established 2Period 1964-1975 2.1Differentiation 3Period 1975-1982 4Recovery period 4.1Domestic activities 4.2Overseas activities 4.3Event of Church number 9 5Organization 5.1Central 5.2Local 5.2.1After 1975 5.3Overseas after 1975 5.4List of Sangha 6Politics 7References 8Annotations 9External links & Reference 10See more

History of establishment edit source code ]

The Church formed in the 1963 struggle for religious equality under the First Republic in South Vietnam . Because of the policy that many people consider Catholic incentives of the Ngo Dinh Diem government, South Vietnamese Buddhists have gone down the road to support Buddhism in Hue , Da Nang and Saigon . The Buddha's birth event in 1963 when Buddhists in Hue opened the Buddhist flag on May 8 despite the "ban on flagging" as an explosive stance for a continuing series of conflicts between the authorities and Buddhist associations. Many cases encircled the temple and persecuted the monks and nuns that happened during the "Fa-Crime". On June 11, Venerable Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire in Saigon to protest the government's unequal policy. This event shocked all over the country and abroad, causing Ngo Dinh Diem's ​​government to lose credibility. Five months after the coup d'état army . President Ngo Dinh Diem was killed.

During that exciting time, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam officially gave birth in January 1964 to bring together Buddhist associations and sects. Previously, Vietnamese Buddhism did not have a strict organizational structure, so although it was a majority, it was not powerful. The only national organization before 1964 was the Vietnam Buddhist Association established in 1951, consisting of Mahayana Buddhist elements throughout the South, Central and North regions, but the administration of the General Assembly was still weak. Theravada Buddhism has its own organization with the name of the Theravada Buddhist Church, based in Ky Vien temple, Saigon. The main force urged Southern and Central Buddhist organizations of Mahayana Buddhism (Tonkin) and primitive Buddhism (Nam Tong) to unite under a charter into a church, named after the Church. Vietnam Unified Buddhist Association. The meeting began on December 31, 1963 at Xa Loi Pagoda , Saigon with: ^[1]

1. Inter-Buddhist Commission: Venerable Thich Tam Chau
2. North Vietnam Sangha Church: Venerable Thich Tam Giac
3. Venerable Zen Meditation: Venerable Thich Minh Truc
4. Vietnamese Primitive Church: Venerable Thich Phap Tri
5. Theravada Church: Lu both Lam Em
6. North Vietnamese Sangha Church in the South: Venerable Thich Thanh Thai
7. The Sangha Church Middle part: Venerable Thich Huyen Quang
8. Nam Viet Sangha Church: Venerable Thich Thien Hoa
9. Nam Viet Buddhist Association: the layman Chanh Tri Mai Tho Truyen
10. Primitive Buddhist Association: layman Nguyen Van Hieu
11. Central Buddhist Association: Venerable Thich Tri Quang
12. Vietnam Buddhist Association: layman Vu Bao Vinh
13. Representing Theravada Buddhists: resident Son Thai Nguyen

The Venerable Thich Tinh Khiet was honored as a High Priest. Venerable Thich Tam Chau was elected to the position of Director of the Institute of the Path and the Venerable Thich Tri Quang served as General Secretary of the Institute of the Sangha. ^[2] An Quang Pagoda in Saigon was chosen to be the Church's living place.

Because of the political neutrality , calling for the re-establishment of peace in Vietnam, the Church, despite being active, faced many difficulties with the military governments of General Nguyen Khanh and Nguyen Cao Ky in the years 1964-1967 and even after 1968 when the war escalated. Politically, the Church established the "Vietnam Buddhist Forces", an institution of the Institute of Ethics to fight and address the Church's aspirations with the government. The policy of this Force is to pressure the generals to reestablish civilian government. In addition, the Buddhist Forces also demanded that the South Vietnamese National Front for Liberation of Vietnam disarm and withdraw to the north of the 17th parallel . ^[3] Although in such a vibrant situation, the Church is still active in both the fields of Buddha and society.

Period 1964-1975 [ edit | edit source code ]

Civil activities of the Church are a big step in modernizing Vietnamese Buddhism in the spirit of incarnation. Institute of Buddhist College, Youth School of Social Service, Weekly Dynasty ⁽⁴⁾(1964), Chanh Dao weekly newspaper (1964-69), Thien My weekly newspaper, ^[5] Van Hanh University Institute , ^[6] The publication of Bo Beo and the elementary schools , orphanages, the institute, the clinic, the clinic and the Buddhist youth organizations were great achievements of the Church. The Buddhist Family Organization is under the control of the General Department of Youth under the Institute of Buddhism. The Church also runs the primary primary school system in many provinces of South Vietnam under the name of the Church's School of the Church of the Church. ^{[7] [8] The} Church also sent a petition to the government for the establishment, for the first time in the history of Vietnam, the Catholic Chaplain to accompany the Catholic Chaplain in the Republic of Vietnam Army . This petition is approved and enforced. ^[9]

In 1971, the Church set up a foreign division with its headquarters in Paris , France . ^[ten]

Differentiation [ edit | edit source code ]

From the mid-1960s the Church had a rift in the leadership. The clergy goods fell into two blocks: "the Indo-block" (consisting of three unions) and "the Vietnamese national block" (there were eight unions). ^[11] The Indo-China Block (led by Venerable Thich Tri Quang and Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh ) ^[12] had a tendency to be left- leaning and was decreed by the Republic of Vietnam government 23/67 on July 18, 1967. recognize the Vietnam National Order instead of the Indo block. The Indo-China Block has since been more active in supporting the National Liberation Front of the South . ^[13] The Vietnamese National Liberal Monk Thich Tam Chau advocated a more peaceful way of fighting. ^[twelfth]

Period 1975-1982 edit source code ]

After the collapse of the Republic of Vietnam, the Church was confiscated by the South Vietnamese government . Although the Indo-China Division, despite its support for the Liberation Front, was not favored by the new government. From the end of 1975 there were clashes between the Church and the government. Twelve Buddhists and monks and nuns have set themselves on fire at the Medicine Master Pagoda, Can Tho to protest the ban on hanging Buddhist flags and other binding rules. ^[14] Venerable Thich Hue Hien left the will of the Revolutionary government to exercise human rights, religious freedom, to end the persecution of the UBCV ^[15] . In March 1977 when the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam requisitioned Quach Thi Trang orphanage, the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam strongly protested to call on Buddhists to protest. Van Hanh University is forced to close by the state. ^[14] The publishing house of the Leaf must also stop working. ^[16]Church leaders sent letters to enforce religious freedom , the government reacted to the arrest of six leaders, including Thich Huyen Quang , Thich Quang Do and Thich Thien Minh . Venerable Thich Thien Minh later died in the prison ^[15] , Venerable Thich Quang Do said he was beaten to death in prison ^[17] . In protest of this oppressive act, Venerable Thich Don Hau announced his withdrawal from the Fatherland Front and resigned from the National Assembly. ^[18] On April 16, 1977, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued a Notice calling on Saigon Buddhists to fight against the UBCV. Notice also threatened to suppress. ^[15]

In 1981 , in order to unify Buddhist sects, after three years of lobbying the government for the establishment of a new organization called the Vietnam Buddhist Church ( Vietnam Buddhist Sangha), the only organization representing the nation's Buddhism. ^[19] The ranks of left-wing clergy in the Church supported this line ^[16] . The chief of advocacy for the Unification of Vietnamese Buddhism is Venerable Thich Tri Thu, who at that time was the Director of the Institute for the Enlightenment of the UBCV. ^[20] According to Do Trung Hieu's "Buddhist Unified Records", a cadre of officials assigned by the Government Committee for Religious Affairs to carry out Buddhist unification will be under the direction of the Communist Party. Vietnamese products . ^{[21] [22]}

Many leaders of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam joined the new organization and became leaders of the Vietnam Buddhist Church ^[ new ^{source guide ]} such as Venerable Thich Don Hau(UBCV High Priest) as the Vice-Master cum Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Law until death; ^[23] Venerable Thich Tri Thu (Director of the Institute of the UBCV) became the chairman of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha until his death; Venerable Thich Tri Tinh (Deputy Director of the Institute of the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha) is the Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Council, now the Chairman of the Executive Council, the First Vice President of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha.

However, some other members of the Unified Church did not accept the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and were forced to dissolve the government but not through official government documents. On February 24, 1982, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued a decision to expel two monks Thich Huyen Quang and Thich Quang Do on probation in their homeland of Quang Ngai and Thai Binh, without trial. project. On July 7 of the same year, An Quang Pagoda was the headquarters of the UBCV being forced to take over. ^[15] The entire Institute of Taoist materials and records were burned clean in the new five days. Losing the headquarters and the Unified Church staff stopped working completely.

Restoration period edit source code ]

Entering the 1990s Doi Moi period in Vietnam, although Venerable Thich Don Hau was then the Dharma Master ^{[ citation needed ]} and the Judge of the Proof Board of the Vietnam Buddhist Church, on behalf of the Institute. The monk and abbot of Thien Mu pagoda of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, he signed a million Vietnamese Buddhists to restore the Church under the charter of 1964. ^{[18] [24]} His will is dated 15 months 11 years 1991 . ^[25] Venerable Thich Huyen Quang took over in 1991 to handle the Sangha Institute when Hoa Thuong Don passed away; In 2003, Thich Huyen Quang was honored as the Fourth High Priest and was even more striving to serve the Unified Church including confronting the Vietnamese government. ^[18] Because of the implementation and dissemination of the Venerable Thich Don Hau, the monks of Linh Mu Pagoda were fiercely suppressed, leading to the forty thousand Hue Hue protesters on the streets of May 24, 1993, demanding multiplication. religious rights and freedom. This is the biggest demonstration ever under the Communist regime.

National activities [ edit | edit source code ]

The Church requires full authority to operate outside the direction of the government ^[18] but cannot. Typically in May 1994 when the church organized relief for the refugees and floods in the West, the government ordered the delegation of 60 monks and nuns and 300 Buddhists to arrest. In this case, Venerable Thich Quang Do was sentenced to five years, Venerable Thich Khong Tanh, Thich Nhat Ban and Japanese laymen, who were often sentenced to three to five years in prison.

Having lost the old facility, the Church took the Nguyen Thieu monastery in Binh Dinh , where the abbot of Duc Sang Thong and Thanh Minh monastery was in Phu Nhuan , where the abbot of the director of the Institute of Chemistry was directed to run the activity.

Although on April 2, 2003, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai met with Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, asking the Venerable Master to let go of the past, because local officials did wrong. However, the Church continued to be persecuted, harassing constantly. All activities of 20 Church Representatives Boards in provinces are prohibited. Thanh Quang Buddhist monk's Pagoda in Da Nang was permanently blocked, the Great Buddha, Vu Lan or Tet festivals were banned from organization. ^[15]

Overseas activities [ edit | edit source code ]

In 2007 the Church also placed the Overseas II Office in the United States to run the mission abroad. ^[27] The headquarters is located in Dieu Ngu Pagoda in the city of Westminster, California .^[28] There is another executive council in Europe chaired by Venerable Thich Minh Tam. ^[26]

In the days of the Buddhist Church, all ceremonies are held, especially the Buddha's birthday, when there are flower carriages on the streets. ^[29]

In addition to Buddhist activities, the Church speaks up about social issues in and out of the country as a statement of China's stance on invasion in the South China Sea in June 2011. ^[30]

The event of the Church of the Ninth Church [ edit | edit source code ]

At the end of 2007 , the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam had a profound division and division after the Venerable Thich Quang Do , in order to carry out the 9th Church of the Fourth Patriarch Thich Huyen Quang , has issued the Collaboration for the establishment of a new Church structure in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, including faithful members of the Vietnamese and Buddhist Church. . ^[31] In foreign countries, the reaction of some Buddhist monks and nuns said that the only Church of 9 was to confess. ^[32] The content of the 9th grade and discernment appeared in 2007-2008, eliminating most overseas Buddhist monks and nuns from the church, with only a few facilities like Dieu Phap temple in California (Thich Vien Ly). Abbot), International Buddhist Information Office (headed by Vo Van Ai), Nhu Lai Pagoda (Thich Chanh Lac), Phap Van Pagoda (Thich Ho Giac and Giac Dang) and Thich Thien Tam in Canada. Currently, members of the unified Buddhist Church in and outside the country have their roots or relate to Di Da Thap Thap pagoda in Binh Dinh and tend to lead the monk rather than the leading church, this can be easily noticed through the list of church members recently announced.

Organization [ edit | edit source code ]

Central [ edit | edit source code ]

The church is divided into two parts:

• Monastic Institute: looking after the clergy, which can be considered as internal affairs; This institute has eight members who are monks. The monastic institute is based in An Quang pagoda . ^[33]
• The Institute of Buddhism: is in charge of contacting Buddhists, ie foreign affairs. The Institute has 12 members including clergy and lay people. The Institute of Buddhism took Vietnam National Pagoda as its own headquarters.^[33]

The Chamber of Deputies oversees both.

The institute of Buddhism has seven departments, called the General Department, including: ^[34]

1. General Affairs Increase
2. General of Hoang France
3. Director of Educational Culture (overseeing Bodhi school system)
4. General Department of Social Affairs
5. General Finance and Construction
6. General of the Layman
7. General Department of Youth (undertaking the Buddhist Family and Buddhist Forces of the 1960s)

Beginning in the 1960s, the Institute of Chemistry was published for Tu Quang newspaper monthly. The church has a daily newspaper Chanh Dao (1964-1969) as a semi-official mouthpiece. ^[35] Originally, this was the tide of the tide .After Chanh Dao newspaper was suspended, there was a week of Thien My newspaper and Nam Nam daily newspaper. ^[5]

Local [ edit | edit source code ]

During the period of the Republic of Vietnam , 44 provinces and cities were divided into eight regions by the Church, named after the high-ranking Vietnamese: ^[34]

1. The domain of Van Hanh: North Central coast from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai , based in Hue
2. Lieu Quan area: South Central Coast from Binh Dinh to Binh Thuan , based in Quy Nhon
3. Mien Khuong Viet: The Central Highlands section from Kontum to Quang Duc , headquartered in Ban Me Thuot
4. Khanh Hoa Region: South East Part from Binh Tuy to Phuoc Long , Tay Ninh down to Gia Dinh ,
5. Mien Hue Quang: Southwestern part of Tien Giang ,
6. Domain Khanh Anh: Southwestern part of Hau Giang ,
7. Mien Quang Duc: The capital of Saigon, directly under the Institute of Taoism,
8. Region Vĩnh Nghiêm: Northern Buddhists migrate and represent the whole North although in fact the North under the control of Vietnam Democratic Republic does not keep in touch with the Church.

At the provincial level, the Church also establishes a Representative Board, sometimes down to the district level depending on the needs. ^[34]

Overseas, the Church has 11 branches directly under the Institute of Taoism including England , India , Canada , Cambodia , Germany , Laos , America , Japan , France , Thailand and Switzerland .

After 1975 [ edit | edit source code ]

After the Republic of Vietnam collapsed , the Church's organizational structure was narrowed, so by 2008, the Church had only an executive office in the following provinces: Quang Tri , Thua Thien - Hue , Quang Nam - Da Nang, Binh Dinh , Phu Yen , Lam Dong , Dong Nai , Ba Ria - Vung Tau , Tien Giang .

The Hoa Dao Institute's office is located at Giac Hoa Pagoda in Ward 7, Binh Thanh District . ^[36]

As of 2013, about 10% of the Unified Church's pre-1975 facilities were under the Church's responsibility. The remaining 90% has been assigned by the government to the Vietnam Buddhist Church for management. ^[37]

In the old Saigon-Gia Dinh area, until 2014, only Lien Tri pagoda in Thu Thiem remained, but it was also pressured by local officials, according to the monk Thich Khong Tanh, the reason was to suppress the religion. General Assembly and civil society movement. ^[38] In June 2016, Thich Khong Tanh said, the government had requested compensation of up to VND 6 billion to relocate the pagoda to a remote piece of land adjacent to Dong Nai province. He added: "It is possible that one of the reasons for the government to seek ways to coerce, to liberate the temple is because it has been taking place" out of the water "for a long time, such as giving gifts to wounded soldiers of the old regime. , assisting people in land loss or meeting former political prisoners or civil society associations. ” ^[39]

Overseas after 1975 [ edit | edit source code ]

Overseas, the Church has three separate offices for three regions: Europe, the United States, and Australia-New Zealand. ^[40] In 2007, the Church established the II Office of the Institute of Taoism, run by the deputy monk Thich Ho Giac. ^[41] The Secretary-General is Venerable Thich Vien Ly. Office II is located at Dieu Ngu Pagoda, Westminster, California . ^[42] .

List of High Priests [ edit | edit source code ]

Under the UBCV charter, the High Priest is officially elected by a congress. During the time of the previous High Priest, who did not hold a Congress, the title of Handling the Sangha Institute, often considered the provisional High Priest.

The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam since its founding has had five monks and in many stages, there has been a regular handling of the Sangha Institute.

• First High Priest (1964-1973) Venerable Thich Tinh Khiet (1890-1973). ^[43]
• The Second High Priest (1973-1979) Thich Giac Nhien (1878-1979). ^[44]
• The Third High Priest (1979-1991) Venerable Thich Don Hau (1905-1991). ^[45] After the Second High Priest passed away in 1979 until 2003 without a Congress, the Venerable Thich Don Hau was nominally just a Vice-President and Processed the High School Institute, but in fact often considered the official High Priest.
• The Fourth High Priest (2003-2008) Venerable Thich Huyen Quang (1920-2008), in the period 1991-2003, was the Standing Judge of the High Priest Institute, the 2003 Congress in Overseas was considered the High Priest.
• The 5th High Priest (2011) Thich Quang Do (1928). The Venerable Master handled the Standing Committee of the High School from late 2008 ^[46] until November 2011 during the IXth Congress of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam to officially honor the Fifth High Priest. ^[47] On August 30, 2013, Venerable Thich Quang Do issued the prospectus of resignation. ^[48] However, due to the invocation of dignitaries and Buddhists, on September 4, Venerable Quang Do agreed to continue his leadership. ^[33]

Political views [ edit | edit source code ]

Venerable Thich Quang Do during the visit of Ms. Rena Bitter, US Consul General at Thanh Minh Zen Monastery, Ho Chi Minh City on March 17, 2015, affirmed: "The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam is a Church. The association has the only opposing voice in Vietnam to demand human rights, democratic freedoms for 90 million people in Vietnam and we will fight to the end no matter what it costs. , is not to accept the Communist totalitarian regime. " ^[49]

Refer to [ edit | edit source code ]

• Civic Education Service. Two Viets in War and Peace . Washington, DC: Civic Education Service, 1967.
• Dommen, Athul J. The Indochinese Experience of French and the Americans, Nationalism and Communism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam . Bloomington, IN: Indiana Press University, 2001.
• Nguyen Van Luc. History Is There . Garden Grove, CA: Tan Van, 2008.
• Nguyen Van Canh. Vietnam Under Communism, 1975-1982 . Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Stanford University, 1983.
• Smith, Harvey et al. Area Handbook for South Vietnam . Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1967.
• Templer, Robert. Shadows and Wind, A View of Modern Vietnam . New York: Penguin Books, 1998.
• Lam Vinh The. White Beans US Secret Documents About Republic of Vietnam . Hamilton, ON: Hoai Viet, 2008.

Legend [ edit | edit source code ]

External links & References [ edit | edit source code ]

• Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church
• Global Religious News on Buddhism News on Buddhism in Vietnam
• Vietnamese Buddhism in the twentieth century
• The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do
• Announcement of the 8th Congress of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam
• Report of Human Rights Watch 1995

See also [ edit | edit source code ]

• Dissent in Vietnam
• Vietnamese Buddhism
• Vietnam Buddhist Church
• Van Hanh University Institute
• Bodhi School