The Emperor Nhân Tông’s Monastic Life
by Lê Mạnh Thát
As various attempts to
keep peace and improve the people’s living in the postwar period were
proceeding, the Emperor Nhân Tông decided to hand over the imperial
throne to his son Trần Anh Tông in the 3rd month of Quý Tỵ
(1293). In the year that followed, i.e., the 7th month of
Giáp Ngọ (1294), on an excursion in the Vũ Lâm Valley he made up his
mind to be ordained a Buddhist monk. The Complete History of Đại
Việt
says, “The Emperor-Father then was going on a cruise in a cave in
Vũ
Lâm. The mouth of the cave was narrow and he was seated in a small
boat.
The Queen-Mother Tuyên Từ, who was sitting at the rear of the boat,
told
Văn Túc Vương to move to the bow and had only an oarsman employed.
Later, when the Emperor-Father was about to leave [the citadel] for
his
ordination, he summoned Văn Túc to the Dưỡng Đức House in the Thánh Từ
Palace to take part in a feast of seafood…”[1]
Thus, the Emperor’s
ordination was formally held in the year Giáp Ngọ (1294). In the
Imperial Condensed History of Đại Việt, however, it is dated the 6th
month of Ất Mùi (1295), that is, after his fighting expedition to
Laos:
“After his return from Laos, the Emperor-Father was ordained at the Vũ
Lâm Palace but then went back to the Capital.”[2]
In so recording, the work definitely connotes that the Emperor would
not
have taken any more military actions after his ordination. As it will
be
seen below, however, even when he already became a monk, Nhân Tông
went
on to have activities for the sake of the country. And he was, too,
often consulted by imperial officials for crucial decisions of the
court. Before his arrival in Champa as a messenger, for instance, Đoàn
Nhữ Hài is said to have waited nearly a day to meet with Nhân Tông at
the Sùng Nghiêm Temple on Mount Chí Linh. Accordingly, the fact that
the
Emperor was ordained on Mount Vũ Lâm certainly took place in 1294, as
in
the words of the Complete History of Đại Việt.
Vũ Lâm is a beautiful
valley in what is now Ninh Bình Province.[3]
On the east is the Ngô Đồng River, and on the other sides are
limestone
mountains. There remains today a shrine named Thái Vi built by the
Emperor Nhân Tông’s order for worshiping his grandfather the Emperor
Thái Tông, his father the Emperor Thánh Tông, and his mother the Queen
Hiếu Từ, which may be precisely recognized in terms of inscriptions on
the three stone tablets preserved inside the shrine.
The first tablet titled
Tu Tạo Thái Vi Cung Thần Từ Thạch Bi (Stone Tablet
[Recording]
the Restoration of the Thái Vi Sacred Shrine) and engraved on the
10th
of the 3rd month of Vĩnh Thịnh the Tenth (1715) was erected
by the villagers, their chiefs, and local functionaries of the two
villages Trung and Cật of Ô Lâm when the shrine was in time of repair.
The tablet runs, “In the autumn, the 8th month, of Giáp Ngọ
(1715), having seen the magnificently precious shrine handed down by
the
preceding reign to be in such badly ruined condition, [the local
inhabitants] made a decision to restore it (…)
The Thái Vi Precious
Shrine,
An ancient relic
from the days
Of sacred ancestors
in the Trần dynasty,
Who were, for
generations, interested in Dhyāna,
Keeping the nation’s
security,
Protecting the
people…”
The second tablet of
the same title records the merits of those who contributed to the
restoration of the shrine. It was erected six months later of the same
year and by the same people. These two tablets are engraved on the
front
and back only. But the third is engraved on its four sides, the three
sides of which record merits and the other titled Tu Lý Thái Vi
Điện
Bi Ký (Stone Inscription of the Restoration of the Thái Vi
Shrine)
records the date of construction of the shrine, that is, the years
between 1273 and 1278 of Era name Bảo Phù of the Trần house, and those
of its restorations in the years of Quang Hưng, Kỷ Sửu (1598), and of
Bảo Đại, Bính Dần (1926). This tablet was engraved in the latter
restoration.
From the inscription
dated Bảo Đại, Bính Dần it is known that the shrine was built in the
year Bảo Phù. That is to say, before mounting the throne in the 10th
month of Bảo Phù, Mậu Dần (1278) the Emperor Nhân Tông had learned of
Vũ
Lâm. Then, in the war of 1278 when he was commanding the South Army to
halt T’o-huan’s troops from the north and So-tu’s troops from the
south,
he might have chosen that valley to be his headquarters where he could
hold swift and urgent conferences with prominent generals Trần Quốc
Tuấn, Trần Quang Khải, and so on. Being situated in the midst of Hoa
Lư,
Vũ Lâm was naturally a remarkably strategic position. Further, the
landscape there has a fantastically attractive beauty as is described
in
one of his poems:
The splendid bridge is horizontally
reflected on the stream,
Beyond which comes the ray from the sun
in the evening sky.
Quietly in the endless mountains red
leaves are falling;
Like in a dream are the wet clouds and
the bell from afar.
Tuệ Trung and the Emperor Nhân Tông
Thus, Vũ Lâm was
definitely chosen by the Emperor to be the place where his ordination
would take place. Yet we do not know how the ordination was held and
by
whom it was ritually conducted. From the Recorded Sayings as the
Lamps of the Saints, however, it is known that Nhân Tông was
“capable of penetrating into the essentials of Dhyāna doctrine under
Tuệ
Trung Thượng Sỹ. Therefore, he treated the latter as his master.”
Accordingly, he who transmitted the mind-seal to him was none other
than
Tuệ Trung Thượng Sỹ, who had formerly liberated the capital Thăng Long
from the Yuan occupation in the war of 1285 and had ostensibly
negotiated with the enemy at the base of Vạn Kiếp in our army’s plan
of
counteroffensives in the war of 1288.
As has been said
before, the Emperor Nhân Tông received an education of various
branches
of his time and, according to his family’s tradition, came in contact
with the Buddhist teaching very early in his life. In spite of this,
he
professed in a poem that he did not so early experience Buddhism
profoundly:
Form-Emptiness was incomprehensible for
me at such an early age.
Spring came and my mind was among a
variety of flowers.
Now that I have
realized the ‘face’ of Spring,
From the meditation seat I can
contemplate falling flowers.
On Tuệ Trung Thượng
Sỹ’s death, the Emperor Nhân Tông himself composed a biography of his
master and, simultaneously, his uncle, in which he accounted for his
experience of enlightenment:
Formerly, when I was going into
mourning
at my Queen-Mother Nguyên Thánh’s death, I once visited Tuệ Trung
Thượng
Sỹ and was given two records of Hsüeh-tou and Yeh-hsüan. Rather
doubtful
of his secular way of living, I pretended to ask him, “How is it
possible for those who have had the habit of eating meat and drinking
wine not to be exerted by the effect of such unwholesome actions?”
“Suppose somebody who does not know the king to be passing by his back
has thrown something at him, would he be frightened in that case?
Should
the king get angry at him? [Certainly it does not matter anything at
all] because the two facts have nothing to do with each other,” he
explained. Then, he read two stanzas to express it:
All saṃskāras[4]
are impermanent.
Faults proceed from doubt alone.
Nothing has arisen so far;
Neither seeds nor sprouts are.
And again,
In our everyday perception of all
things,
They arise just from our mind.
Both things and mind have not truly
existed.
Nowhere is no-pāramitā.[5]
Whereby I could comprehend his
implications, so asking, “Though it is so, how should we act as faults
and merits have been definitely distinguished [in the sūtras]?” He
went
on with his instruction in another stanza:
Eating grass and eating meat,
That depends on beings’
consciousness.
All kinds of grass grow when spring
comes.
What may be called faults and
merits?
“If so, what is the use of observing
Brahmacarya[6]
strictly?” I asked. He smiled without saying. At my repeated question,
he read two more stanzas:
Observing precepts and cultivating
patience,
That is to gain no merits but
faults.
To realize merits and faults are all
of śūnyatā,[7]
Do not observe precepts nor
cultivate
patience.
And again,
Like a man who is climbing a tree,
Thus seeking for danger from safety;
If not climbing the tree,
Why must he be concerned with moon
and wind?
Then he instructed me secretly, “Do not
tell those who are not worthy.”
Such was the Emperor
Nhân Tông’s process of studying and realizing the Buddhist teaching
under Tuệ Trung Trần Quốc Tung. From his account we know that the two
records he was given are named Hsüeh-tou yü-lu and Yeh-hsüan
yü-lu respectively. The Record of Yeh-hsüan is lost
now; even his name is not found in any Ch’an books of China except for
a
poem of his collected in the Ch’an-tsung sung-ku lien-chou-tung.[8]
In this connection, he could probably live in the years 900-1050. As
far
as the other record is concerned, its author, Ch’an Master Hsüeh-tou,
is
Ming-chiao Ch’ung-hsien (980-1052), who lived on Mount Yehtou in
Ningchou. He was a disciple of Chih-men Kuang-tsu of the Yün-men
lineage
of Ch’an in China. His record, namely, Hsüeh-tou Ming-chiao yü-lu,
has been popularly in vogue. According to the Recorded Sayings as
the
Lamps of the Saints, it was ever taught many times in the
meditation
halls of Vietnam after the Emperor Nhân Tông’s time.
Still from the account
cited above we can now determine the date the Emperor Nhân Tông
attained
enlightenment, that is, the spring of Đinh Hợi (1287) when our country
was preparing for the third invasion of the Yuan court and when the
Emperor-Queen Nguyên Thánh Thiên Cảm departed. At his mother’s death,
the Emperor himself invited his mother’s brother Tuệ Trung Thượng Sỹ
Trần Quốc Tung to attend her funeral. And it was on this occasion that
he got awakened under Tuệ Trung Thượng Sỹ as in the words of the
dialogue above. Also from this dialogue we may acquire some knowledge
of
the doctrinal basis on which his thought was formed, which was later
formulated by himself in a long verse titled “A Worldly Life with Joy
in
the Way,” and further developed to be a guiding principle of the
development of Buddhism in Vietnam for nearly four hundred years at
least, i.e., from 1300 to 1695. This is the period when Buddhism was
introduced and practiced just in the midst of worldly life; otherwise
stated, there were then no distinctions between monastic and lay
devotees. They lived together at peace, and at times both ways of
living
could manifest themselves within one and the same practitioner, which
is
typified by Hương Chân Pháp Tính (1470-1550?), Thọ Tiên Diễn Khánh
(1550-1610?) and Minh Châu Hương Hải (1628-1715). They had all passed
national examinations, worked as imperial officials, and undertaken
various national affairs before they became Buddhist monks, as what is
expressed by Pháp Tính in the following lines:
In the prime of
youth I ever passed national examina-tions;
Now in my old age I
decide to tread on the Buddha’s path.
It should be borne in
mind that the doctrinal basis mentioned above must not be neglected in
any research in the teaching of the Trúc Lâm school founded by the
Emperor Nhân Tông. For, though he had been ordained Buddhist monk in
the
7th month, the Emperor actually commanded an army to attack
Laos in the 8th month of the same year as in the words of
the
Complete History of Đại Việt: “In the 8th month [of
Giáp
Ngọ, 1294] the Emperor-Father himself marched an army into Laos,
capturing alive numerous people and animals. In this campaign the
spearhead General Trung Thành Vương (name unknown) was once besieged
by
Laotian troops. Shortly thereafter, Phạm Ngũ Lão launched a sudden
thrust to break the ring and then attack them. Being defeated, they
dedicated a golden tally to Ngũ Lão.”[9]
Receiving the mission of Li-hsin and Chiao T’ai-teng
By the 1st
of the 5th month of the year that followed, the Emperor
Nhân
Tông received a Chinese mission headed by Li-hsin and Chiao T’ai-teng.
They had left China in the 6th month of Chih Yuan the
Thirteenth (1294), i.e., a month after Yüan Ch’eng-tsu’s enthronement,
and reached our country in the 2nd month of the following
year. At their departure, Chang Po-shun is said to have warned them of
some difficulties in this mission: “Why is it said to be difficult?
Formerly it was widely known that a decree once delivered to that
country (Đại Việt) always represented our sovereignty, implying some
favor or misfortune brought about for them. If they showed anxiety in
receiving it, it meant they would obey it easily. Otherwise, our task
was simply to return and report everything to the court for their own
solution. Now, it may be somewhat difficult for you to have to cover
thousands of miles to persuade them to reform their country only with
the help of an ordinary letter. Remember that you are not assigned to
go
and return without anything achieved. It is natural that when one is
aware of one’s innocence after so much anxiety, one will be extremely
satisfied. But satisfaction is normally the very cause of pride and
contempt. So, take advantage of their pride to persuade them to follow
the new way [of reform].”
Obviously, the Chinese
mission’s difficulty was in that behind the Yuan kings’ requests
remained no compelling forces, which might be conducive to some
contempt
from the Đại Việt’s side. Nevertheless, Nhân Tông treated them in an
unexpectedly polite manner, offering them a very formal reception,
which
was probably the most pleasant of his after he had been successful in
smashing their plot of invasion as expressed in his poem at their
departure:
By the deep pool is
a farewell feast warmly held.
The wind of Spring
cannot hinder their departure.
No one knows for how
long the two ‘stars’[10]
of fortune
Would be able to
shine in the sky of Đại Việt.
Simultaneously with the
Chinese mission’s departure, Trần Khắc Dụng and Phạm Thảo, by the
Emperor’s order, went to the Yuan court with his letter of applying
for
the Chinese Buddhist Canon. The letter, which was signed by Nhân Tông
himself, is extant in the An-nan Chih-lüeh[11]
where it is further mentioned that his application was approved of by
the Yuan court. Thus, this may be the edition of the Buddhist Canon
that
Nhân Tông’s work Thạch Thất Mỵ Ngữ (Words in Sleep in the
Stone Chamber) was later added to by Trần Anh Tông’s order as in
the
words of the Recorded Sayings as the Lamps of the Saints.
By the 6th
month of the same year (1295), “the Emperor-Father returned to the
Capital from the Vũ Lâm Palace where he had been ordained Buddhist
monk,” as is recorded in the Complete History of Đại Việt.[12]
The fact that the Emperor was ordained in Vũ Lâm, therefore, might
take
place in approximately the 7th month of Giáp Ngọ (1294),
that
is, more than a year after his transferring the throne to his son. In
the Section “The Emperor-Father’s Return from Laos in the Summer, the
6th Month, of Ất Mùi (1295)” of the Imperial Condensed History of
Đại
Việt, it is said that “after his return from Laos, the
Emperor-Father was ordained Buddhist monk at the Vũ Lâm Palace; but
soon
he went back to the Capital.”[13]
Thus, according to the Office of Historiographers of the Nguyễn
dynasty
it was not until the summer of Ất Mùi that Nhân Tông’s ordination was
held.
Concerning his
ordination, however, the Complete History of Đại Việt, in an
account of the Emperor’s excursion in Vũ Lâm in the autumn[14]
of Giáp Ngọ (1294) and his determination to become a monk there,
mentions his affectionate attitude toward Thái Sư[15]
Trần Quang Khải’s son, Trần Đạo Tải:[16]
The Emperor-Father then was going on a
cruise in a cave in Vũ Lâm. The mouth of the cave was narrow, so he
was
seated in a small boat. The Queen-Mother Tuyên Từ, who was sitting at
the rear, told Văn Túc Vương to move to the bow and had only one
oarsman
employed…When the Emperor-Father was about to leave [the Citadel] for
ordination, he summoned Đạo Tải to the Dưỡng Đức House in the Thánh Từ
Palace for a feast of seafood. There he wrote the poem:
The deliciously red skinned
“qui cước,”[17]
And the sweet-smelling yellow
“mã yên”[18]
when toasted.
The mountain-monk with precepts
purely observed
Sat at the same table but ate not
the
same food.
The similar fact was,
too, written down in Hồ Nguyên Trừng’s Record of Nam Ông’s Dreams.
According to the style of these two accounts, it is evident that the
poem cited above is doubtlessly composed by Nhân Tông. On the other
hand, the third line “The mountain-monk with precepts purely observed”
points out explicitly that the poem might not be written by Trần Đạo
Tải. For, from his great respect for the Emperor Nhân Tông and his
determination to give up traveling in a chariot upon learning that the
Emperor always went on foot ever since his ordination, it is obvious
that Trần Đạo Tải hardly dared to mention the Emperor Nhân Tông in
terms
of mountain-monk. Thus, no one other than Nhân Tông could call
himself mountain-monk, particularly when his peculiar interest
in
mountain and forest was frequently expressed in many of his verses.
Though his ordination
in Vũ Lâm has been so definitely recorded, the Recorded Sayings as
the Lamps of the Saints says that Nhân Tông could have been
ordained
“in the 10th month of Kỷ Hợi, i.e., Hưng Long the Seventh,
when [the Emperor-Father] moved to Mount Yên Tử, diligently
cultivating
the Twelve Ascetic Practices,[19]
calling himself Great Ascetic Hương Vân, having the Chi Đề Temple
built
where so many students as ‘clouds’ gathered to study the Buddhist
teaching expounded by him.” It seems most likely that from the 6th
month of Ất Mùi (1295) to the 8th month of Kỷ Hợi (1299)
the
Emperor might settle in Vũ Lâm since nothing in relation to his
activities, monastic and secular, in this period is mentioned in the
extant historical documents. This, too, may be the period when the
Emperor is said in the Recorded Sayings as the Lamps of the Saints
to have been training himself through the Twelve Ascetic Practices. In
the poem “The Vân Yên Temple” by Lý Tải Đạo, who then was Dhyāna
Master
Huyền Quang and living with the Emperor on Mount Yên Tử, described the
daily living of the Great Ascetic Hương Vân as follows,
Wearing kṣāya,[20]
sitting behind the paper-curtain,
Not concerned with
stores full of pearls and cases full of jades;
Forgetting delicious
food, giving up sweet wine,
Only a pot of
egg-fruit and a jar of soy left.
This is truly an
unimaginably simple lifestyle of a hero, a talented emperor who just
gained a glorious victory over the invaders. According to the
Complete History of Đại Việt,[21]
not until the 5th month of Kỷ Hợi did Nhân Tông return from
Thiên Trường to Thăng Long where, seeing the Emperor Anh Tông to be
drunk, he gave orders for all the Court to move to Thiên Trường. After
getting sober again, the Emperor Anh Tông told Đoàn Nhữ Hài to write a
memorial of apology, with which the former personally came and saw the
Emperor-Father Nhân Tông in Thiên Trường to ask his pardon. Still in
the
words of the Complete History of Đại Việt, by his order a
temple
named Ngự Dược was built on Mount Yên Tử; and “in the 8th
month, the Emperor-Father left Thiên Trường Prefecture again for Mount
Yên Tử where he went on with his ascetic practice.”[22]
Thus, it was by the 8th but not the 10th month
as
recorded in the Recorded Sayings as the Lamps of the Saints
that
Nhân Tông returned to his monastic life.
What then were Nhân
Tông’s activities after his ordination? The Recorded Sayings as the
Lamps of the Saints says: “At the Phổ Minh Temple in Thiên Trường
Prefecture the Emperor-Father had eminent monks invited and large
halls
built for preaching Buddhist teachings for many years. Thereafter,
having wandered everywhere, he arrived at Camp Bố Chính, staying at
the
Tri Kiến Temple.” In reality, according to the Complete History of
Đại Việt,[23]
it was in the period of Nhân Tông’s practice of asceticism on Mount
Yên
Tử that the Emperor Anh Tông together with Trần Quốc Tuấn once paid a
visit to him. Later, in the 3rd month of Tân Sửu (1301)
Nhân
Tông went preaching as far as Champa and did not come back until the
11th
month of the same year. Then, still in the words of the Complete
History of Đại Việt, on the 15th of the 1st
month of Quý Mão (1303), “while staying in Thiên Trường Prefecture,
the
Emperor-Father had a dharma-assembly held at the Phổ Minh Temple,
preaching Buddhist teachings, transmitting precepts, donating gold,
silver, money and silk to the poor in the country.”[24]
All these accounts
indicate that after his return to Mount Yên Tử, Nhân Tông could have
settled there for some time. By the 3rd month of Tân Sửu
(1301), he went to the south and stayed at the Tri Kiến Temple in Camp
Bố Chính. According to the Latest Record of Ô District, Tri
Kiến
is the administrative office of Camp Bố Chính: “Tri Kiến is the site
of
the old district.”[25]
Therefore, the Tri Kiến Temple is probably the temple of the Tri Kiến
District of Camp Bố Chính. It may be said that this is the first
temple
to have been known so far in the areas named Địa Lý, Ma Linh and Bố
Chính, which were annexed to Đại Việt by the Emperor Lý Thánh Tông in
1069. Today they pertain to Quảng Bình Province and the two districts
Vĩnh Linh and Gio Linh of Quảng Trị Province, where many other temples
unknown today must have been built.
Nhân Tông’s Journey to Champa
It was from Camp Bố
Chính that the Emperor set out to Champa. In Ch’ên Kuang-chih’s
prefactory characters to the painting Chu-lin ta-shih chu-shan-t’u,
it seems that his journey could be that of a missionary and he had
been
welcomed as such by the Cham king: “Sometimes, to teach Buddhism to
the
neighboring states he wandered as far as Champa where he often went on
begging rounds in the Inner City. Learning of this, the king
respectfully offered him vegetarian food, had ships and other ritual
objects prepared for his return home. On his departure, the king
personally saw him off. Further, the king conceded him the two
districts, which are Thuận District and Hóa District today.”
Through the diplomatic
relation between Đại Việt and Champa in the period when Nhân Tông was
ruling the country, we may be assured that the king Chế Mân of Champa
must have learned of and had some good feeling for him. For, as has
been
said before, when the Yuan-Cham war took place in 1283, the Emperor
Nhân
Tông sent 20,000 men and 500 warships to Champa as reinforcements.
Though it is natural that his reinforcement then was aimed at ensuring
a
long peace for the people of Đại Việt, our troops actually devoted
their
lives to the Cham people’s victory over Yuan invaders. It was their
devotion to the peaceful relationship between Champa and Đại Việt that
caused the Cham king to have such great respect and admiration for the
leader of Đại Việt.
Factually, the
Complete History of Đại Việt[26]
tells us that before his mission to Champa, Đoàn Nhữ Hài went to
consult
the Emperor Nhân Tông at the Sùng Nghiêm Temple on Mount Chí Linh.
Though having to wait for him there all day, Đoàn Nhữ Hài could after
all meet with the Emperor just in his excursion, and spoke with him
for
more than two hours. After their talk, the Emperor said to his
followers, “It is naturally reasonable for the Court to employ such a
competent man as Nhữ Hài.” This fact points out that though he had not
been on the throne, Nhân Tông actually concerned himself with the
relationship between our country and Champa.
According to the
Complete History of Đại Việt,[27]
in the 3rd month of Giáp Thìn (1304) a Cham monk well
versed
in yoga, whose peculiar habit was to have milk for daily food, arrived
in our country. Still in the words of the Complete History of Đại
Việt,[28]
in the 2nd month of Ất Tỵ (1305) “Champa ordered Chế Bồ Đài
together with more than a hundred men to come to our country, offering
gold, silver, rare things for the purpose of asking for the date of
marriage [between their king and our country’s princess]. Though the
marriage was mostly protested by the Court, it was eventually passed
owing to Văn Túc Vương Đạo Tải’s proposal for negotiation and Trần
Khắc
Chung’s approval.”
In the 6th
month of Bính Ngọ (1306), still in the words of the Complete
History
of Đại Việt, “Princess Huyền Trân was married to Chế Mân, the Cham
king. For, formerly in his journey to Champa the Emperor-Father had
promised to do so. Most of the intellectuals inside and outside the
Court, who relied on an old story as to the Han king’s Chao-chün being
married to Hsiung-nu, wrote verses in the national speech to laugh
over
[this incident].”[29]
In the spring, the 1st month, of the year that followed,
“Đoàn Nhữ Hài was ordered to rule the people of the two districts Ô
and
Lý, which then were renamed Thuận and Hóa respectively. Formerly, when
the Cham king Chế Mân conceded these districts as a proposal of
marriage, the inhabitants of the villages La Thủy, Tác Hồng and Đà
Bồng
protested his concession. For that reason, [our] King ordered Nhữ Hài
to
go there to proclaim the Court’s policy, according to which local
inhabitants would be selected to be officials and land would be
allotted
without any tax collected for three years for the purpose of allaying
them,” as recorded in the Complete History of Đại Việt.[30]
In the 5th
month of Đinh Mùi, Chế Mân died. In the 9th month, Huyền
Trân’s son, Chế Đa Da, ordered the messenger Bảo Lộc to offer white
elephants to our Court, probably for the purpose of requesting our
Court
to receive Princess Huyền Trân back to our country. For “it is
customary
in Champa that when a king dies, his wife has to be cremated alive
together with him.” Therefore, by the 10th month, Trần Khắc
Chung and Đặng Văn went to Champa to receive Princess Huyền Trân and
her
son. The Complete History of Đại Việt says, “On the pretext of
attending the Cham king’s funeral service, Trần Khắc Chung came and
suggested that ‘if the princess is cremated at the same time [with the
king], no one will be in charge of his funeral service. The best way,
therefore, is to have the ceremony for evoking the king’s soul held at
the seashore. After the ceremony the princess will come back onto the
cremation together with his soul.’ The Chams agreed to his suggestion.
[When arriving at the seashore, however,] Khắc Chung managed to flee
with the princess in a small ship, on which they coupled with each
other
for a rather long time before returning to the capital.”[31]
In the words of the
Complete History of Đại Việt: “On the 18th of the 8th
month of Giáp Thân (1308) Princess Huyền Trân returned from Champa. By
the Emperor-Father’s order, the chief of Hóa District led three
hundred
Chams back to their country by ship.”[32]
Accordingly, it took nearly one year for Trần Khắc Chung to take
Princess Huyền Trân back to Đại Việt. And not more than three months
before his death, the Emperor Nhân Tông went on with his care about
the
issues of Champa. Today, we cannot know who then was appointed the
chief
of Hóa District and why three hundred Chams had to be returned to
their
country. Was it likely that they were those who had followed the
princess to the seashore for the rites of evoking their king’s soul?
Whatever happened, the Emperor was eventually able to see his beloved
daughter again. Though a slender princess, she had effectively
fulfilled
the mission of annexing the two districts Ô and Lý to the map of Đại
Việt, which later became a well-known area named Thuận Hóa and the
imperial capital of a unified Vietnam for a long time.
Geographically, Ô
District was the region called Ô Mã by the Chams, which had been
reported by So-tu in his 1283 invasion to be the area “bordering
Annan,”
as recorded in the Yuan Shih 209.[33]
And Lý District, i.e., the area of Việt Lý, was the place where So-tu
had passed on their way of attacking Camp Bố Chính and Hoan Ái of Đại
Việt. It was due to So-tu’s Army rushing from the south that the
Emperor
Nhân Tông and his father had commanded the South Army to fight against
them and had finally put down their attack, in which So-tu’s head was
cut off and nearly ten thousand Yuan men were captured alive.
Thus, Ô and Lý were a
strategically decisive position with respect to the security of Đại
Việt. Just in the early years of war, the Emperor Nhân Tông, from the
view of such a gifted militarist as him, thought of some control of
these two districts to make possible the safety of Đại Việt. It was
doubtlessly from such a view that a series of measures was put into
action, including the decision of marrying Princess Huyền Trân, the
only
daughter of the Emperor, to the Cham king Chế Mân. As a consequence,
the
annexation of the districts Ô and Lý to Đại Việt was peacefully
accomplished, in quite a different manner from the Emperor Lý Thánh
Tông’s in his annexation of the three districts Địa Lý, Ma Linh and Bố
Chính more than two hundred years earlier. In order to gain these
districts, the latter had then forced the Cham king Chế Củ to
surrender
them in return for his own life. But, not so the former. Thanks to his
ingenious policy, the Cham king Chế Mân had a Vietnamese wife and this
wife further bore him a son. Indeed, the Emperor Nhân Tông’s peaceful
diplomatic policy actually brought about unexpectedly great
achievements
in politics and security of Đại Việt. Accordingly, we become aware
that
the advance to the south by the Vietnamese in the past took place so
increasingly swiftly as a tide was rising violently. Less than a
hundred
years after Ô and Lý had been turned into Thuận District and Hóa
District respectively, the southern borderland of Đại Việt was
extended
with Thăng Hóa and Tư Nghĩa by Hồ Quý Lý. And about half a century
after
that, the Emperor Lê Thánh Tông succeeded in having boundary posts
erected on Mount Đá Bia in Phú Yên Province. Hence, it may be said
that
the annexation of the two districts Ô and Lý in such a peaceful manner
laid a foundation for the extension of the border of the Fatherland—a
great contribution by the Emperor Nhân Tông to the country, which will
be forever remembered with gratitude by all the Vietnamese.
Thus, even in his last
days the Emperor Nhân Tông proceeded to pay his special attention to
Champa. This attention alone, however, did not hinder him thoroughly
from other national affairs. According to the Recorded Sayings as
the
Lamps of the Saints, in Giáp Thìn (1304) the Emperor “wandered
through villages, teaching the people to practice the Ten Good Things[34]
and give up superstitious beliefs.” The fact that the Ten Good Things
were introduced to the people reflected evidently the political view
of
Buddhism in Vietnam, which had been formulated and collected in the
Collected Teachings of the Six Pāramitās more than a thousand
years
before. It may be said that it is the most ancient Buddhist text known
in our country, in which Buddhist thought and national tradition have
been successfully mixed. Since its propagation, the text has
unceasingly
called for the leaders of the nation to apply the Ten Good Things as
the
basis of “national law” and “national policy”.[35]
And the Emperor Nhân Tông was the first seen to respond to this
appeal.
In the winter of the
same year, “Anh Tông submitted a memorial to the Emperor-Father,
applying for the latter’s transmission of Bodhisattva mind-precepts.
As
the Emperor-Father was about to enter the citadel, the officials held a
ceremony for welcoming him. They were all exhorted to undertake the
precepts, too.” Thus, the entire imperial court of Đại Việt determined
to lead a living in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings. The
transmission of Bodhisattva mind-precepts to the Court demonstrated so
obviously the thought of “Worldly Life with Joy in the Way” that the
Emperor Nhân Tông had inherited directly from his father, Vô Nhị
Thượng
Nhân Trần Thánh Tông, and his master, Tuệ Trung Thượng Sỹ Trần Quốc
Tung.
Just before the Emperor
Anh Tông’s undertaking Boddhisattva precepts, the imperial court of
Đại
Việt might have been a Buddhistic court and all the people the
Buddhist
followers. For, in a mission of his in 1293 Ch’en-fu composed the
verse
“An-nan chi-shih” written down in the Collected Poems of Ch’en
Kang-chung,[36]
where it is known that the court of the Trần House, “in spite of many
temples built, did not hold anniversaries for the departed. Instead,
they held only the ceremonies of offering to the Buddha very
respectfully,” and “the people were for the most part Buddhist monks.”
Still in the words of Ch’en-fu, even Trần Hưng Đạo “was so interested
in
Buddhism that he named the district Vạn Kiếp[37].”
Further, Buddhist thought was expressed in a poem of Đinh Củng Viên,
composed in his seeing Ch’en-fu off. The poem, which was written down
in
the Collected Poems of Ch’en Kang-chung,[38]
has been recorded neither in the most ancient books of our country nor
in the collections of poetry and prose under the Lý and Trần
dynasties.
It therefore is now published for the purpose of supplementing the
literary heritage of Lý and Trần dynasties in general and of Đinh Củng
Viên in particular:
The “messenger-star”
flies down together with a “good cloud,”
Without fear of the
perilous way through nine heavens.
The two sleeves can
sweep away the bad climate of the South Sea.
A single shout can
break the lower level of Dhyāna.
Though young but
able to surpass Chung-chün,
And precede Liu-che
in eloquent controversy.
On return to the
Court, remember to report
That the people of
this remote place always wish the King longevity.
According to the
Recorded Sayings as the Lamps of the Saints, after the rites of
transmitting Bodhisattva-precepts to the Emperor Anh Tông and his
subjects in the winter of Giáp Thìn (1304), “the Emperor-Father
settled
at the Sùng Nghiêm Temple on Mount Chí Linh, expounding the Buddhist
teaching.” In effect, it was not by the end of Giáp Thìn that the
Emperor began to settle at the Sùng Nghiêm Temple. In the words of the
Complete History of Đại Việt[39]
he had lived there from the year Tân Mão (1303) when Đoàn Nhữ Hài came
to consult him before a mission to Champa. The date recorded above by
the Recorded Sayings as the Lamps of the Saints might probably
be
set forth to lay some stress on the fact that the propagation of
Buddhist teachings had been actually performed by the emperor just at
that point of time.
Indeed, after so dating
the Recorded Sayings as the Lamps of the Saints devotes more
than
six pages to Nhân Tông’s discourses at the Sùng Nghiêm Temple:
In the beginning of his discourse at
the
hall, the Emperor-Father mounted the platform, burning incense to show
gratitude [to the Buddhas and the Patriarchs]. Thereafter, the head
monk
struck a board to invite him to the seat. The Emperor-Father said, “On
behalf of a great deed Buddha Śākyamuni appeared in the world. For
forty-nine years he moved his lips but not a word was ever spoken. As
to
me, present here in this seat in front of you all, what may I say?” He
sat down for a moment on the dhyāna-bed, then saying,
The cuckoos are singing away in the
bright moonlight;
Let not the spring pass so idly.
With a slap given [on the bed], he
said,
“Nothing at all; go out! go out!”
Of the discourse above
only a passage is cited here to show partly how its procedure and
content started and proceeded. We may be sure that in each of the
beginning of the discourse, which is termed “opening the hall”[40]
in the original text, there must have been an announcement for all the
students to attend. When they were all present, the Dharma-master
mounted the platform, burned incense for showing gratitude to the
Buddhas and Patriarchs, and went to the seat. There, the organizer and
conductor of the assembly, who is called the “head monk”[41]
in the Recorded Sayings as the Lamps of the Saints, struck a
board as the signal for beginning the discourse and invited the master
to start preaching.
In accordance with
Dhyāna tradition, the Emperor Nhân Tông’s opening words at the
discourse
by the end of winter in Giáp Thìn (1304) were to remind the audience
of
the fact that the World-Honored One spoke nothing in his forty-nine
years’ preaching on earth. Then, he concluded that even an Enlightened
One could not say anything about the ultimate truth, much less anyone
like him. It was after those opening words that he could sit down on
the
dhyāna-bed and began his discourse with an exhortation that everyone
should not let time pass at leisure, just like what the World-Honored
One had exhorted his immediate disciples before his parinirvāṇa: “Vayadhammā
samkhārā appamādena sampādethāti” (All composed things are
impermanent; strive on with diligence.) Thereafter, his preaching
turned
into a Dhyāna dialogue of master-and-student. It may be said that such
dialogues have represented a particular feature of the preaching of
Buddhist teachings in Vietnam in the old days. A student raised the
questions to which the master would accordingly give his answers. It
may
be said that this was the first discourse recorded in full in the
history of Buddhism in Vietnam that could provide us with an example
of
the activity of preaching Buddhism in our country in the thirteenth
century, if not earlier. An intensive study of it may help us acquire
some rather proper knowledge of the activity just mentioned. There
were
at least three students who had posed their questions in the discourse
just cited. And the following is the dialogue between the first
student
and the Emperor Nhân Tông:
The monk asked, “What
is Buddha?”
The master said,
“Understanding as before is not possible.”
The monk asked, “What
is Dharma?”
The master said,
“Understanding as before is not possible.”
The monk asked, “What
does it mean after all?”
The master said,
The ‘eight words’[42]
have all been openly spoken;
Nothing left for me
to demonstrate to you.
The monk asked, “What
is Saṃgha?”
The master said,
“Understanding as before is not possible.”
The monk asked, “What
does it mean after all?”
The master said,
The ‘eight words’
have all been openly spoken;
Nothing left for me
to demonstrate to you.
The monk asked: “What
is the task that helps go upwards?”
The master said:
“Keeping the stick up to tease the sun and the moon.”
The monk asked: “What
is the use of setting forth an old ‘công án’[43]?”
The master said: “Once
repeated, once renewed.”
The monk asked: “What
is the meaning of ‘the special transmission outside the teaching’?”
The master said: “The
frog fails to leap out of the peck.”
The monk asked: “What
about leaping out but then submerging?”
The master said: “That
depends on the length of its jumping in mud or sand.”
The monk asked: “What
about failing to leap out?”
The master said: “What
does that blind man see?”
The monk said: “What
are you playing tricks for, master?”
The master uttered a
sigh. The monk stood thinking. The master hit him. He was about to
pose
another question when the master shouted. So did the monk.
“What then do you mean
when shouting at me again and again?” asked the master.
The monk thought over
it. The master shouted again, “Where is the cunning fox that has just
come?”
The monk bowed and went
out.
A full translation of
the dialogue is produced here to present partly the style and content
of
Nhân Tông’s discourse at the Sùng Nghiêm Temple by the end of winter
in
Giáp Thìn (1304). Its theme explicitly deals with the three precious
ones, i.e., Buddha, dharma, saṃgha, the way of enlightenment, and the
‘transmission outside the orthodox teaching’. And just in the style of
Dhyāna teaching, the answers appear by no means to correspond with the
student’s questions, which are to be grasped by the people involved
only. That is because the language of Dhyāna has its own
characteristics, requiring that the listener has to possess some level
of knowledge, some resolution of penetrating into the matter in
question
in a certain way. Though making use of the same words as the everyday
language, its structure is quite different from the latter.
According to the
Thiền Uyển Tập Anh (Collected Prominent Figures of Dhyāna
Garden),
the dialogues in such a pattern came into existence in the time of
Master Pháp Hiền (? - 626) and remarkably popular in the time of
Master
Viên Chiếu (999–1090) when the latter composed the Tham Đồ Hiển
Quyết,
which has been completely preserved so far. The work consists in
analyzing the ‘công án’ for the practitioners of Dhyāna to
grasp
their meaning. For instance, the Collected Prominent Figures of
Dhyāna Garden records one of the first phrases like this:
“What is the meaning of
Buddhas and [Confucian] sages?” asked a monk.
“The chrysanthemum
blooms under the hedgerow in the autumn; the bird sings on the branch
early in the spring,” the master said.
From the
question-answer above, it may be interpreted that the relation between
Buddhism and Confucianism is likened to that of a chrysanthemum, which
blooms in September, and the bird singing in the early spring. That is
to say, Buddhism and Confucianism have their respective tasks that are
to be implemented according to their own circumstances.
The language of Dhyāna,
therefore, has its own semantic structure that can only be
comprehended
and grasped by the people involved. This structure is at times
interpreted as a device to awaken and give rise to some potential
capacity of getting enlightened inherent in each being. The language
of
Dhyāna, however, is not always confined within its semantic or
grammatical structure. In effect, it often goes beyond the verbal
language to embrace even such bodily actions as gazing, shouting,
striking, etc., that is, the body language. In the above-cited
dialogue
the language of the latter type is known to have been applied by Nhân
Tông when he shouted and struck the monk. Today, we cannot know how
many
people could comprehend his teaching and how many people got truly
awakened through his instruction in the discourse just mentioned. Yet,
the point is that they were after all capable of gaining some
understanding of the Buddhist teaching.
Here a question may be
raised as to whether such a way of preaching may be influenced by that
from China. Naturally, as a cultural movement Dhyāna, or Ch’an(-na) as
transliterated in Chinese, has inevitably absorbed various factors
during its development. For that reason, even in the history of its
development in China, Dhyāna has really undergone some changes through
the ages. This is evidently proved by the dialogues of Hui-neng and
I-hsuan recorded in the Ching-te ch’uan-teng-lu (Record of
the
Transmission of the Lamp in the Ching-te Period). In the time of
Hui-neng, a Dhyāna discourse in the form of question-answer is usually
rather comprehensible; that is to say, a reply is to be found in exact
accordance with the meaning conveyed in the question. It has, however,
become quite a different style in I-hsuan’s time, when shouting and
striking began to make their appearance in the language of Dhyāna.
In
Vietnam, Dhyāna has developed in quite a different course. It came
into
being to set forth some solution to a problem of thought; that is,
“why
cannot the Buddha be seen during one’s practice of his teaching?”,
which
was put up in the middle of the fifth century C.E.[44]
Factually, it is for answering that question that Dhyāna of Vietnam
made
its way. Thus, together with the appearance of Dhyāna a new concept
was
produced in Vietnam with regard to the Buddha. Not only is the Buddha
conceived as a historical one or a certain being outside of us but he
further becomes ‘something’ inseparable from our nature. In this
connection, to practice the Buddha’s teaching is to make possible the
manifestation of this ‘Buddha’ within ourselves. From such a
starting-point, Dhyāna of Vietnam has inevitably been exerted by some
impact of concrete requirements of Vietnam. If in the course of its
development, Dhyāna of Vietnam is found to have had some similar or
even
identical features with the other traditions of Dhyāna, they should be
regarded as an utterly natural demonstration of the same universality
and humanitarianism of a particular tradition of Buddhism in the Far
East.
The just-cited
preaching of Dhyāna at the Sùng Nghiêm Temple by the end of Giáp Thìn
may in some measure supply us with a view of Buddhist activities of
our
people as well as of the Emperor Nhân Tông himself. Besides, the
True
Record of the Three Patriarchs, a record composed by Tính Quảng
and
Ngô Thì Nhiệm and based upon historical documents of the Trần dynasty,
gives us another discourse by the Emperor. It was held at the Kỳ Lân
Hall on the 9th of the leap 1st month of Bính
Ngọ
(1306) and recounted by the True Record of the Three Patriarchs
as follows:
On the 9th of the leap 1st
month of Bính Ngọ, the Most Venerable Trúc Lâm came to the Kỳ Lân Hall
to open the preaching. Pointing at the Dharma-seat, he said, “This is
the cane bed, the precious Seat of Golden Lion; yet, it is impossible
to
determine the words of the Buddhas and the Patriarchs in such a narrow
seat.” Then, burning incense, he uttered his prayer:
“This incense, which can produce
sweet-scented smoke and pleasant atmosphere, is composed of the five
attributes of the Dharma-kāya and offered marvelously to the ten
directions. May the heat arising from the incensory grant fortune to
the
ten directions, consecrate the nine temples, prolong the King’s life
and
consolidate the heavenly throne!
“This incense, which is pure at the
root
and born from a precious seed, is grown up not by tending but by
understanding. May the heat arising from the incensory bring about
favorable weather, make the country at peace and the people at ease,
the
Buddha-sun increasingly bright and the wheel of dharma constant in
motion!
“This incense, which does not become
cooked when toasted nor fire when burned nor open when knocked nor
move
when pulled, can split the brain into two if smelled and exhaust the
pupil if looked at. May the heat from the incensory be dedicated to
the
Superior Man Vô Nhị and the Great Man Tuệ Trung, whose ‘dharma-rains’
have permeated through subsequent generations!
Thereafter, the Emperor-Father walked
to
the seat. When he was seated, the head monk struck the board, inviting
him to preach. He said, “Venerables, if our presentation is centered
on
the transcendental truth, we would go wrong when forming a certain
idea
and false when opening our mouths. In such a case, how should we grasp
the truth? How should we master meditation? Is it then possible to
base
our presentation on the conventional truth?”
Then taking a glance from right to
left,
he said, “Is it true that no one in the very place has a sufficiently
big eye? If he does, not even a hair of his eyebrows is lost. If not,
I,
a poor monk, find it hard to avoid from moving my mouth and uttering
wasteful nonsense. Today, in virtue of you, let me draw out some mixed
and blended part. Listen! Listen!
“Look, the Great Way is devoid of
anything, neither tying nor binding. The original nature is
transparent,
neither good nor evil. Due to picking and choosing, numerous ways
emerge; owing to a shadow of delusion, everything becomes greatly set
apart. Saints and fools are of the same path; no distinction can be
found between right and wrong. Remember that faults and merits
originally do not exist, that cause and effect are devoid of essence.
From the very beginning, nothing is lacking within everybody, all is
inherent in everybody. Just like form and shadow, Buddha-nature and
Dharma-nature occasionally appear and disappear, neither being
attached
to nor detached from each other. Obviously, just on the face the
nostrils turn down and the eyebrows cross above the eyes; yet it is
not
easy for you to get an insight into it.
“Thus, seek for the Way that can by no
means be sought. Concentrated in only one ‘inch of intestines’[45]
are the three thousand Dharma-gates. And from just the source of mind
are numerous marvelous functions. What is called the threefold gate of
precept, meditation and wisdom is not lacking within yourselves.
“Dharma is nature; Buddha is mind. Not
any nature is no Dharma. Not any mind is no Buddha. Mind is Buddha,
mind
is Dharma; Dharma is essentially no Dharma. Dharma is mind, mind is
essentially no mind; mind is Buddha.
“Venerables, time passes so fast, human
life is not stable. Eating gruel and eating vegetables, why do you
understand nothing about the bowls, the spoons, the chopsticks?”
The opening passage of
the discourse delivered by Nhân Tông at the Kỳ Lân Hall is here
translated in full to make up what is left unwritten down in an
account
of the Recorded Sayings as the Lamps of the Saints concerning
the
same discourse at the Sùng Nghiêm Temple. In the latter account, Nhân
Tông is recorded to “have mounted the platform, burning incense to
show
gratitude [to the Buddhas and the Patriarchs]. Thereafter, the head
monk
struck a board to invite him to the seat…” but nothing is mentioned as
to how he burned incense. From the passage just translated, we are
aware
of how his ritual conducts of burning incense were performed and what
meaning his actions conveyed.
Further, another reason
for the passage above to be cited here is to prove that the prologue
in
his preaching at the Kỳ Lân Hall has quite an identical content with
that at the Sùng Nghiêm Temple. However long and of rather different
words, the former mainly consists in affirming that the ultimate truth
cannot be expressed by means of language and exhorting the assembly to
practice Buddhist teaching diligently. It is the identification of the
two prologues that helps us determine that he who conducted the
discourse at the Kỳ Lân Hall is none other than Nhân Tông.
Besides, if analyzing
the content of the entire discourse, we can easily see that it has the
same theme and style as those of the discourse at the Sùng Nghiêm
Temple. This may be proved by the following short dialogue:
Then, a monk stepped out, asking, “It
is
an ordinary affair for having meals and putting on clothes. Why should
one be so much concerned with them that one has to raise doubt?”
Having prostrated himself, he stood up,
asking again, “We do not ask about the Realm of Dhyāna without Desire.
We put up only a question as to the Realm of Desire without Dhyāna.”
Thereupon the master
pointed to the air.
The monk asked, “What
is the use of employing the ancient people’s saliva and sputum?”
The master said, “Once
raised, once renewed.”
The monk: “The ancient
people used to speak about what the Buddha is, what the Dharma is,
what
the Saṃgha is. What did they mean by ‘what’?”
The master said,
“What!’ ‘What!”
The monk said, “The
sound of a lute without strings is scarcely understood; yet its tune
becomes highly appreciated when the father plays it for his son.”
The passage just cited
from the True Record of the Three Patriarchs comes to an end
with
the words “and so on”. That is to say, the discourse did prolong some
more but it was not entirely written down in the work. In spite of
this,
from the above passage it becomes evident that the main ideas and
linguistic structures of the discourse are for the most part similar
to
what was preached at the Sùng Nghiêm Temple by the late winter of Giáp
Thìn. And this is a particular feature of Nhân Tông’s way of
preaching.
The Last Days of the Emperor
On the first day of the
New Year festival of Mậu Thân (1308), the Emperor Nhân Tông moved to
the
Bảo An Temple in Siêu Loại District. There, he sent for Pháp Loa, who
was later chosen as his official dharma-successor of the Trúc Lâm
lineage and appointed the abbot of the temple. By the 4th
month, Nhân Tông spent his summer retreat at the Vĩnh Nghiêm Temple in
Lạng Giang. This time he summoned Pháp Loa and asked him to take
charge
of the Báo Ân Temple. There, during his three months’ retreat he
preached the Ching-te ch’uan-teng-lu whereas the National
Teacher
Đạo Nhất expounded the Lotus Sūtra. After the summer
retreat, he entered the Yên Tử Mountain, allowing the eunuchs and
those
who had served him in his daily life as a preacher of Buddhist
teachings
to go home, with the exception of ten servants who later often
followed
him in the last days of his life. Thereafter, he went to the Tử Tiêu
Temple where he expounded the Ching-te ch’uan-teng-lu to Pháp
Loa. Later, the servants gradually left the mountain, except for Bảo
Sát, an intimate disciple of his, who stayed there to take care of
him.
Since then, Nhân Tông
wandered in all the caves where he often stayed for several days.
Seeing
that, Bảo Sát said to him, “What will the life of Buddhism be like if
you go on wandering in the severe weather at such an old age, Master?”
“My time has come. I am planning for my ‘long journey’,” said Nhân
Tông.
On the 5th of the 10th month, some boy-servants
of
Princess Thiên Thụy, who was suffering a serious illness, went to the
mountain to inform him of the princess’s wish to see him again before
her death. Sorrowfully, he said, “The time has come.” Together with
only
a servant, he went down the mountain. After ten days’ journey, he
arrived at Thăng Long on the 15th of the 10th
month. After talking and advising his sister, he went back to the
mountain. On the way back, he stayed overnight at the Bảo An Temple in
Siêu Loại District. Early in the following morning, he went on with
his
journey. When arriving at a temple in Cổ Châu Village, he wrote a
stanza
on the wall of the temple:
A lifespan comes to
an end in such a confused state of mind;
And human feelings
close at the same time with the eyes.
How narrowly the
Maras’ Palace is confined!
But the Buddhas’
land is in Spring at all times.[46]
On the 17th,
he stayed overnight at the Sùng Nghiêm Temple on Mount Chí Linh.
Thereafter, the Great Queen Tuyên Từ invited him to a vegetarian
dinner
at the Bình Dương Temple. He pleasantly said, “This is the last meal
offered to me.” On the 18th, he walked to the Từ Lâm Temple
on Mount Kỳ Đặc in Yên Sinh, where, having a headache, he called the
monks Tử Doanh and Hoàn Trung, saying, “I would like to go to the Ngọa
Vân Mountain but I cannot lift my legs. How should I do now?” The
monks
said, “We can help you.” On reaching the Ngọa Vân Mountain, he thanked
them and said, “After going down the mountain, try your best to
cultivate the way; do not disregard the cycle of birth-and-death.” On
the 19th, at his request, the attendant Pháp Không went to
the Tử Tiêu Temple on Mount Yên Tử to ask Bảo Sát to see him
immediately. On the 20th, when reaching the stream named
Doanh, Bảo Sát saw a line of black clouds spreading from Mount Ngọa
Vân
to Mount Lôi over the Doanh stream. The water of the stream then rose
several feet high but soon lowered. On the surface of water suddenly
appeared two dragons, raising their heads as big as horses with their
bright eyes like stars. They raised themselves several feet high and
then disappeared. That night, Bảo Sát stayed in a hermitage on the
mountain and he dreamt of unlucky omens.
On the 21st,
he reached the Ngọa Vân Mountain. Seeing him, Nhân Tông smiled,
saying,
“I am about to go. Why have you come so late? Tell me what you have
not
yet comprehended of Buddhist teachings.”
Standing up, Bảo Sát
asked, “When the Great Master Ma was not well, the abbot asked him,
‘How
have Your Venerable been?’. Thereupon, he answered, ‘I see the Buddha
every day; I see him every month.’ What did he mean in so replying?”
Nhân Tông spoke loudly,
“What is ‘Three Nobles and Five Emperors’?”
Standing up again, Bảo
Sát asked, “What is the meaning of ‘it is just like flowers blooming
so
colorfully as brocade; bamboo in the south and trees in the north’?”
Nhân Tông said, “Are
you already blind?”
But Bảo Sát spoke
nothing more. Since then, it is recorded that during the period of
four
days the sky became gloomy, the wind blew violently, the snowy rain
covered all the trees, the monkeys and gibbons walked around the
temple
crying and screaming, the birds sang in grief.
On the 1st
of the 11th month, when the morning star was shining bright
at mid-night, Nhân Tông asked, “What time is it?” “It is the Tý,
Master,”[47]
answered Bảo Sát. Opening the window, he looked out and said, “It is
time for me to go.” “Where are you going, Master?” asked Bảo Sát. He
said,
All dharmas do not
arise;
All dharmas do not
pass away.
If it is so
understood,
The Buddhas are
always present.
What is the use of
asking ‘going and coming’?
Standing up, Bảo Sát
asked, “What about non-arising and non-destruction?” Nhân Tông
suddenly
covered his mouth with his hand, saying, “Do not talk wildly.” Then he
lay down in the lion-posture and quietly passed away.
According to Nhân
Tông’s will, on the evening of the following day Bảo Sát had his body
cremated in the grounds of the temple where he had spent his last
days.
It is said that during the cremation the space was permeated with
fragrance and from the sky came down the heavenly music with a
five-colored cloud covering the cremation. By the following fourth
day,
the Venerable Phổ Tuệ hurried back from Mount Yên Tử. He sprinkled the
cremation with perfumed water and held a ceremony of gathering sacred
bones where more than five hundred śāriras and numerous smaller ones
were collected.
Soon, the Emperor Anh
Tông, the Highest Minister and courtiers came with an imperial ship
from
the capital. To show their respect, they unceasingly prostrated
themselves while walking along the mountain path to the cremation.
Thereafter, Nhân Tông’s sacred bones and śāriras were brought to the
capital where his funeral service would be officially held. For many
days in every street of the capital was all the time sounding the
cries
of the courtiers and the common people. The Emperor Nhân Tông was
bestowed the sacred title Đại Thánh Trần Triều Trúc Lâm Đầu Đà Tịnh
Tuệ Giác Hoàng Điều Ngự Tổ Phật (The Great Saint of the Trần
Dynasty, the Great Ascetic of Trúc Lâm, the Enlightened Emperor of
Pure
Wisdom, the Buddha-Patriarch in Guiding All Sentient Beings). His
sacred bones were contained in a precious case. His śāriras were
divided
into two parts, which were placed in golden boxes each. After the
funeral service, the sacred bones were buried in the imperial tomb
named
Nhân Tông. One case of śāriras was worshiped in the Precious Stūpa in
the Long Hưng Prefecture; and the other was worshiped in the Golden
Stūpa at the Vân Yên Temple on Mount Yên Tử.
Such were the last days
of the Emperor Nhân Tông as in the words of the Recorded Sayings as
the Lamps of the Saints. In the Complete History of Đại Việt
the event is somewhat briefly and variedly recorded:
On the 3rd (of the 11th
month), the Emperor-Father passed away at the Ngọa Vân Temple on Mount
Yên Tử. Earlier, he was ordained Buddhist monk under the title Great
Man
Trúc Lâm on the Tử Tiêu Peak of Mount Yên Tử. Once, learning that his
sister Thiên Thụy was getting a very serious illness, he went down the
mountain to see her. “If it is time for you to leave, pass calmly. In
the realm of the deceased if asked about something, remember to
answer,
‘Please, wait for a moment; my brother, Great Man Trúc Lâm, is
coming,’”
said he. Then he came back to the mountain where, having given Pháp
Loa
some instructions about his own funeral service, he sat quiet and
passed
away. At the same time Thiên Thụy departed, too.
After the Emperor-Father’s cremation
Pháp Loa gathered more than three thousand pieces of śāriras, which
were
by [the King’s] order brought to the Từ Phúc Temple in the capital.
The
King showed suspicious and most of the courtiers asked him for
punishment on Pháp Loa. The Crown Prince Mạnh, who was just at the age
of nine and was then standing aside, felt on himself something like
pieces of śāriras, which he took out to see. It was truly the pieces
of
śāriras which had not been found in the case. Deeply moved by this,
the
King (Anh Tông) swept, showing no more suspicion [about Pháp Loa].[48]
Thus, according to the
Complete History of Đại Việt Bảo Sát was not mentioned at all with
respect to the Emperor Nhân Tông’s death; whereas, in the words of the
Recorded Sayings of the Saints, he was named the “outstanding
disciple” of the Emperor’s and was said to serve the latter during the
last days of his life. It was Bảo Sát who carried out the cremation
according to Nhân Tông’s instructions without waiting for Pháp Loa.
When
the latter came, his task was simply to sprinkle perfume on the
cremation and collect sacred bones and śāriras. Through the above
facts
it seems that, in spite of having been appointed by Nhân Tông to be
his
dharma-successor, Pháp Loa’s role showed rather indistinct during the
last days of the Emperor Nhân Tông’s life.
Further, in the
Complete History of Đại Việt the fact that Nhân Tông’s śāriras
were
brought to the stūpa for worshiping is said to have taken place more
than a year later: “On the 16th of the 9th month
of the year Canh Tuất (1310) the Emperor-Father’s coffin was carried
to
the Quy Đức Tomb in the Long Hưng Prefecture for burial, where the
body
of the Queen-mother Khâm Từ Bảo Thánh was again buried nearby. His
śāriras were worshiped in the Precious Stūpa at the Ngọa Vân Temple.
The
temple where he was officially worshiped was named Nhân Tông and he
was
posthumously bestowed Pháp Thiên Sùng Đạo Ứng Thế Hóa Duyên Long Từ
Huyễn Huệ Thánh Văn Thần Vũ Nguyên Minh Duệ Hiếu Hoàng Đế. Before
the burial service, his coffin was temporarily placed at the Diên Hiền
Palace. Thereafter, although the good time came for his coffin to be
moved into the tomb, the officials and the common people remained
crowded in the grounds of the palace. The head minister had to drive
them with sticks but could not open up the road. Sending for Trịnh
Trọng
Từ, the King (Anh Tông) said to him, ‘How can the coffin be moved when
the people are gathering so crowdedly?’ Trọng Từ commanded his troops
to
come and sit everywhere in the grounds of the Thiên Trì Temple, where
they were ordered to sing some phrases of the song Long Ngâm.
Extremely
amazed, the masses rushed there to watch, leaving enough room for the
coffin to be moved to the Quy Đức tomb…”[49]
Such were the last days
of the Emperor Nhân Tông’s life as recorded by the Complete History
of Đại Việt. In the history of our country, few emperors received
such a full account concerning the people’s admiration for them after
their deaths. This is the life of an emperor who, only within fifty
years, could make extremely great contributions to the country and the
human kind. His life has ended but left so much regret for
contemporaries as well as subsequent generations. A life was closed
with
an extremely plain but noble end. Today, whenever we read all that our
ancestors wrote about the Emperor Nhân Tông, we cannot help feeling
deeply moved as if we were in the presence of his genuine body, the
embodiment of a national hero who went beyond the limits of time to
exist forever with our country and our people.
dịch Việt:
Đạo Sinh
[2]
Khâm Định Việt Sử Thông Giám Cương Mục,
vol. 8, p.23b1
[3]
Ninh Hải village of Hoa Lư district. [LMT]
[4]
Skt.; referring to both the activity of forming and the state of
being formed. Here it is used in the latter meaning (saṃskṛta),
that is, all things that arise upon dependent conditions.
[5]
Skt.; the other side (of the ocean of birth-and-death), denoting
the ultimate liberation in Buddhism.
[6]
Skt.; holy conduct, referring to what constitutes the noble
lifestyle of a Buddhist practitioner.
[7]
A Buddhist term of various meanings. Here it means the state of
being without self-nature. As being things that proceed from
dependent conditions, merit and fault are conventionally
considered to be existing. Yet, nothing within them may in
essence be truly ‘merit’ or ‘fault’.
[8] Selection 1, p.128c5-6
(256a5-6).
[10]
Referring to the messengers. In Chinese literature, a messenger
is sometimes respectfully called ‘messenger-star’.
[15] The chief of the imperial
tutors
[17]
lit. “turtle legs”, a dish of seafood.
[18]
lit. “horse saddles”, a dish of seafood.
[19]
Skt., dhūta; lit. “shake off” (passions). Twelve such ascetic
pratices are wearing patched robe, wearing a robe made of three
pieces, eating begged food only, only one meal a day, taking no
further food, taking only one portion, living in seclusion,
living in a charnel ground, living under a tree, living in the
open, living in whatever place presents itself, sitting only.
[20]
Skt.; a monk’s robe.
[25]
Viet., Ô Châu Cận Lục,
vol.3, p.45a5:
“知
見
古
之
縣
見”,
which may be translated as “Tri Kiến is the old district of
Kiến” in which Kiến may be the local name of Tri Kiến.
[26] Vol.6, pp.17b7-18b4.
[31] Vol.6, pp.32a7-33a2.
[34] Refraining from (1)
killing, (2) stealing, (3) sexual misconduct, (4) lying, (5)
slander, (6) coarse speech, (7) frivolous chatter, (8) greed,
(9) hatred, (10) false views.
[35]
Viet. “quốc pháp” and “quốc chính” [LMT]
[36] Vol.2, pp.24a3-37b2.
[37]
lit. the “Ten Thousand World Ages,” implying the eternal
existence of the land.
[40]
Viet., “khai đường.”
[41]
Viet., “thượng thủ”.
[42]
Referring to the essentials of the Dhyāna doctrine.
[43]
Chinese, kung-an; Japanese, kōan. In Dhyāna
teaching and practice, the term usually refers to a phrase from
a text or teaching on Dhyāna realization, an episode from the
life of an ancient master, a question-answer—whatever the
source, each points to the nature of ultimate reality, which
transcends the logical or conceptual ability. Thus, a công án
cannot be solved by reason but by some level of intuitive
comprehension only.
[44]
Lê Mạnh Thát, Lịch Sử Phật Giáo Việt Nam I, NXB Thuận
Hóa, 1999, pp.574-578. [LMT]
[45] denoting a
practictioner’s heart or mind.
[46]
The
original in Chinese:
世
數 一 索 莫
時
情 兩 海 銀
魔
宮 渾 管 甚
佛
國 不 勝 春
Until now the first line of the poem has been
understood and thus translated in various ways by Vietnamese
reseachers, especially what concerns the phrase ‘一
索 莫’. My English
translation here is based on a definition of
‘索’
as ‘mind or heart’ given in the
Dictionary of K’ang-hsi and that of
‘索
莫’
as ‘a
confused state of mind’ given in the Dictionary of Wang Yun-wu.
Further, the poem is preserved without its original title, which
is so suggested by some to be “About the Temple in Cổ Châu
Village”. I do not think it is a suitable title for the poem
although it is recorded to have been composed by Nhân Tông
there. The content of the poem has nothing to do with the
temple; on the contrary, it expresses the author’s view of human
life, particularly when he was being impressed by the image of
his sister on her death-bed.
[47]
the period between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.
[48] Vol.6, pp.23b4-24a4.
[49] Vol.6, pp.25b9-27a8.