TTLV: The Influence of Buddhism on Chinese Social Life During the Sui and Tang Dynasties

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MASTER'S THESIS

1. Student's full name:Nguyen Thi Le Quyen  

2. Gender: Female.

3. Date of birth: April 2, 1988

4. Place of birth: Thong Nhat town - Yen Dinh district - Thanh Hoa province

5. Decision No. 1883/QD-XHNV-SDH dated October 21, 2010, of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, recognizing the student.

6. Changes in the training process: None

7. Thesis title:The influence of Buddhism on Chinese social life during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

8. Major: Asian Studies Code: 60.31.50

9. Scientific supervisor:Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Tai DongInstitute of Philosophy – Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences

10. Summary of the thesis results:

Based on reference materials about China, its people, Chinese Buddhism, and several theoretical studies on religion, this thesis has summarized the development of Buddhism during the Sui and Tang dynasties. From this, it assesses the role of Buddhism in Chinese society during this period. Furthermore, the thesis explores and connects this to offer some initial observations on the spread of this religion to neighboring countries such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

11. Practical applications:

Currently, the harmonizing spirit of Buddhism in general, and Chinese Buddhism in particular, is being exploited by some who deliberately misinterpret it, causing Buddhism to become isolated from society. Distorted practices such as fortune-telling, divination, and superstitious rituals are not part of Buddhism. Therefore, evaluating the role of Buddhism in Chinese culture and history during its most prosperous period, based on a scientific and objective approach, will reveal the positive and beneficial aspects that should be maintained and counter erroneous views to ensure the continued strong development of Buddhism in particular, and religion in general.

12. Directions for further research:

The collected materials for this research topic mainly focus on the cultural and ideological aspects, while materials on the economic, political, and social aspects are still limited. Even the materials in the cultural field are not yet comprehensive. Therefore, we will only address the role of Buddhism during the Sui and Tang dynasties in some cultural and social fields. If conditions permit, further research is needed to understand more thoroughly and deeply the role of Buddhism during the Sui and Tang dynasties in all fields.

13. Published works related to the thesis: None

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS

1. Full name: Nguyen Thi Le Quyen 2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: April 2, 1988 4. Place of birth: Thanh Hoa

5. Admission decision number: 1883/QD-XHNV-SDH, Dated October 21, 2010,of the Director of University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

6. Changes in academic process: No.

7. Official thesis title: Influences of Buddhism on Chinese social life during the Tuy-Duong dynasty

8. Major: Asian Studies 9. Code: 60.31.50

10. Supervisors: Associate Professor Nguyen Tai Dong, PhD.

11. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

Based on the references of the Chinese country, people, Chinese Buddhism and some other papers on theories about religions, etc., the thesis outlines the development of Buddhism during the Tuy-Duong dynasty. Then, it evaluates the role of Buddhism in Chinese social life in this period. Furthermore, in relation to the reality, we withdraw some initial remarks about the spread of this religion to the surrounding countries such as Korea, Japan and Vietnam.

12. Practical applicability, if any:

Nowadays, the combination of Buddhism in general and Chinese Buddhism in particular with other religions is being taken advantage of and deliberately mislead, making it isolated from the society. Distorted activities like sortilege, hexagram fortune telling, and superstitious worship do not belong to Buddhism. Therefore, assessing the role of Buddhism in the Chinese culture and history during the most prosperous period scientifically and objectively will discover the positive points and usefulness by preserving and resisting the misleading viewpoints so as to maintain the strong development of Buddhism in particular and religions in general.

13. Further research directions, if any:

The collected materials to serve the research topic are mainly about culture - religion while those about economy - politics - society have not been numerous. Yet even reference documents regarding culture are still not comprehensive. Therefore, we only mention the role of the Buddhism under Tuy – Duong dynasty in some aspects of culture and society. If facilitated, we will study deeper roles of Tuy – Duong Buddhism on all sectors.

14. Thesis-related publications: No