Chùa Một Cột (One Pillar Pagoda) in Hanoi

Buddhism came to Vietnam in the first century CE. The One Pillar Pagoda ( Vietnamese: Chùa Một Cột, formally Diên Hựu tự 延祐寺 or Liên Hoa Đài 蓮花臺 is a historic Buddhist Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially By the end of the second century, Vietnam developed a major Buddhist centre in the region, commonly known as the Luy Lâu centre, now in the Bắc Ninh province, north of the present day Hanoi city. Luy Lâu was the capital of Giao Chỉ, (the former name of Vietnam), and was a popular place visited by many Indian Buddhist missionary monks on their way to China, who were following the sea route from the Indian sub-continent used by Indian traders. See also History of Vietnam Annam ( 安[[wiktionary 南|南]] pinyin Ānnán or Jiaozhi ( 交趾; pinyin Jiāozhǐ Vietnamese Giao A number of Mahayana sutras and the Agamas were translated into Chinese script at that centre, including the Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters and the Anapanasati. Mahayana ( Sanskrit: mahāyāna, Devanagari: महायान 'Great Vehicle' is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for The Sutra of Forty-two Chapters (also called the Sutra of Forty-two Sections, Chinese 四十二章經 is the earliest surviving Buddhist Sutra Ānāpānasati ( Pali) meaning ' Mindfulness of Breathing ("sati" means mindfulness "ānāpāna" refers to inhalation and exhalation

In the next 18 centuries, due to geographical proximity with China, along with being annexed twice by the Chinese, the two countries shared many common features of cultural, philosophical and religious heritage. Vietnamese Buddhism has been greatly influenced by the development of Mahayana Buddhism in China, with the dominant traditions of Ch'an/Zen, Pure Land, Tantra. Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chan. Pure Land Buddhism ( Jìngtǔzōng; 浄土教 Jōdokyō; Korean: ko-Hang 정토종 jeongtojong; Vietnamese: 浄土宗 vi Tantra ( Sanskrit: तन्त्र; " Weave " denoting continuity) tantricism or tantrism is any of several esoteric Theravada Buddhism came to Vietnam through contact with the Khmer Empire. The Khmer Empire was the largest empire of South East Asia based in what is now Cambodia.

Theravada

The southern part of present day Vietnam was originally occupied by the Champa (Cham) and the Cambodian (Khmer) people who followed both a syncretic Saiva-Mahayana (see History of Buddhism in Cambodia) Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism. Suvannabhumi King Asohka sent missionaries to the land of Suvannabhumi ( Suwannaphum) which has sometimes been identified as the mainland southeast Asian region of the The Đại Việt annexed the land occupied by the Champa during conquests in the 15th century, and by the 18th century had also annexed the southern portion of the Khmer Empire resulting in the current borders of Vietnam. The Khmer Empire was the largest empire of South East Asia based in what is now Cambodia. From that time onward, the dominant Đại Việt as well as the Champa, followed the Mahayana tradition while the Khmer continued to practise Theravada.

South East Asia circa 1010 AD, Dai Viet lands in blue. The history of Vietnam begins around 2700 years ago Successive dynasties based in China ruled Vietnam directly for most of the period from 111 BC until 938

Map of Vietnam showing the conquest of the south (the Nam Tien, 1069-1757).

In the 1920s and 1930s, there were a number of movements in Vietnam for the revival and modernisation of Buddhist activities. Together with the re-organisation of Mahayana establishments, there developed a growing interest in Theravadin meditation as well as the Pali Canon. These were then available in French. Among the pioneers who brought Theravada Buddhism to the ethnic Đại Việt was a young veterinary doctor named Le Van Giang. He was born in the South, received higher education in Hanoi, and after graduation, was sent to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to work for the French government.

During that time he became especially interested in Theravada Buddhist practice and in 1940, upon an invitation from a group of lay Buddhists led by Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu, he went back to Vietnam in order to help establish the first Theravada temple for Vietnamese Buddhists, at Go Dua, Thu Duc (now a district of Saigon). The temple was named Buu-Quang (Ratana Ramsyarama). The temple was destroyed by French troops in 1947, and was later rebuilt in 1951.

At Buu-Quang temple, together with a group of Vietnamese bhikkhus (monks), who had received training in Cambodia, such as Venerables Thien-Luat, Buu-Chon, Kim-Quang and Gioi-Nghiem, Venerable Ho-Tong began teaching the Dhamma in their native Vietnamese. Dhamma ( Pāli: धम्म or Dharma (धर्म in Buddhism has two primary meanings the teachings of the Buddha which lead to enlightenment He also translated many Buddhist materials from the Pali Canon, and Theravada became part of Vietnamese Buddhist activity in the country.

In 1949-1950, Venerable Ho-Tong together with Mr Nguyen Van Hieu and supporters built a new temple in Saigon, named Ky-Vien Tu (Jetavana Vihara). This temple became the centre of Theravada activities in Vietnam, which continued to attract increasing interest among the Vietnamese Buddhists. In 1957, the Vietnamese Theravada Buddhist Sangha Congregation (Giao Hoi Tang Gia Nguyen Thuy Viet Nam) was formally established and recognised by the government, and the Theravada Sangha elected Venerable Ho-Tong as its first President, or Sangharaja.

From Saigon, the Theravada movement spread to other provinces, and soon, a number of Theravada temples for ethnic Viet Buddhists were established in many areas in the South and Central parts of Vietnam. As of 1997, there were 64 Theravada temples throughout the country, of which 19 were located in Saigon and its viccinity. Besides Buu-Quang and Ky-Vien temples, other well known temples are Buu-Long, Giac-Quang, Tam-Bao (Da-Nang), Thien-Lam and Huyen-Khong (Hue), and the large Sakyamuni Buddha Monument (Thich-Ca Phat Dai) in Vung Tau.

Zen Buddhism

Thiền Buddhism (禪宗 Thiền Tông) is the Vietnamese name for the school of Zen Buddhism. Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, referred to in Chinese as Chan. Thien is ultimately derived from Chan Zong 禪宗 (simplified, 禅宗), itself a derivative of the Sanskrit "Dhyāna".

According to traditional accounts of Vietnam, in 580, an Indian monk named Vinitaruci (Vietnamese: Tì-ni-đa-lưu-chi) traveled to Vietnam after completing his studies with Sengcan, the third patriarch of Chinese Zen. This, then, would be the first appearance of Vietnamese Zen, or Thien (thiền) Buddhism. The sect that Vinitaruci and his lone Vietnamese disciple founded would become known as the oldest branch of Thien. After a period of obscurity, the Vinitaruci School became one of the most influential Buddhist groups in Vietnam by the 10th century, particularly so under the patriarch Vạn-Hạnh (died 1018). Other early Vietnamese Zen schools included the Vo Ngon Thong (Vô Ngôn Thông), which was associated with the teaching of Mazu, and the Thao Duong (Thảo Đường), which incorporated nianfo chanting techniques; both were founded by Chinese monks. A new school was founded by one of Vietnam's religious kings; this was the Truc Lam (Trúc Lâm) school, which evinced a deep influence from Confucian and Taoist philosophy. Nevertheless, Truc Lam's prestige waned over the following centuries as Confucianism became dominant in the royal court. In the 17th century, a group of Chinese monks led by Nguyen Thieu (Nguyên Thiều) established a vigorous new school, the Lam Te (Lâm Tế), which is the Vietnamese pronunciation of Linji. Línjì Yìxuán (臨済義玄 Wade-Giles: Lin-chi I-hsüan; Japanese: Rinzai Gigen) (?–866 was the founder of the Linji school A more domesticated offshoot of Lam Te, the Lieu Quan (Liễu Quán) school, was founded in the 18th century and has since been the predominant branch of Vietnamese Zen.

The most famous practitioner of synchronized Thiền Buddhism in the West is Thích Nhất Hạnh who has authored dozens of books and founded Dharma center Plum Village in France together with his colleague -Bhikkhuni and Zen Master- Chan Khong. Nhat Hanh ( Vietnamese: Nhất Hạnh; tʰǐk ɲɜ̌t hɐ̂ʔɲ (born October 11 1926 in central Vietnam) is an expatriate Plum Village (Làng Mai is a Buddhist Meditation center in the Dordogne, in southern France. Chan Khong ( Chân Không) born in 1938 is an Expatriate Vietnamese Buddhist Nun, peace activist, and has worked

Pure Land Buddhism

Tantric Buddhism

Buddhism in Vietnam Today