CONFUCIUS AND VIETNAM Alfred Doeblin, a French writer, has concluded in his recent book on "Confucius": "It is characteristic of China that the doctrine of Confucius could give birth to a class of men who did not work in private activities, scholarly or dogmatically as do philosophers and many writers in Western civilization. Confucius made them a privileged class the most influential of the state. Therefore he obtained what a century later Plato recognized and proclaimed as an ideal, and pictured as a dream in his "Republic". Confucius and his school achieved what lately the intellectuals wanted and hope to, from the Prophet to the politicians, from Isaiah to Machiavelli, and he achieved those desires in a more durable way than could be expected, more durable than the political systems of those who pretend to be practical reformers coming after". _ ("Confucius" by Al. Doeblin, ed. Corea) The celebration of Confucius' birthday here in Saigon by Vietnamese people annually suffices to prove how influential is the spiritual power of a wise teacher native in North China. This influence has pervaded the limits of time and space for more than two thousand years. It transcended the political frontiers, nationalities and races as well. That is true as we can see at the beginning of Vietnamese liberation from Chinese domination. National sovereignty once reconquered, the first independent dynasty began to build up a Temple of Culture in 1070, where Confucius was worshipped under the six symbolic letters "True Saint, First Teacher, Confucius" (

).

In the same time that we worshipped Confucius, a Chinese, we went on struggling against Chinese imperialist policy. That proved in the mind of 1

Vietnamese people that no confusion was made between economicopolitical interests and moral values. To worship Confucius, for us, is to respect and adore a representative of the wisdom that was the creative source of a time-honoured traditional culture. Confucius had the merit of transmitting the spirit of this culture to the following generations. Mencius, the worthiest of his disciples, called him the Master of Synthesis and, of course he himself had declared more than once these words related in the Analects, a collection of his sayings: "Shan! My doctrine is that of an All Pervading Unity. "Tsang replied: Yes! "The Master went out, and the others disciples asked saying: "--What do his words mean? "Tsang said: The doctrine of our Master is to be true to the principles of our nature and the benevolent exercise of them to others--this and nothing more." In Chinese writing these words are: ) which consists of two radicals, We have to remark the letter Tro ( one means "stop", the other means "head", it must be translated more exactly by "Way" better than by "Philosophy", because the "Way" is opened ahead, and Philosophy is always taken for a closed system of intellection. The deep meaning of this "Unity" that his disciple Tsang explained by two words will be more explicit for us in Chinese ideographic letter: chung ;

shu

is translating in a phrase: "to be true to the principles of our nature" it consists of two radicals, one

center, and other

consciousness

or mind or heart. concerns the "Self"; in another one: "benevolent exercise of the principles to others". It also consists of two

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radicals, one similar, and other concerns the "Other".

consciousness.

Thus between the "Self" and the "Other" there is a common element in the consciousness of man by which we understand each other. And this is the essence of the concept of "All pervading Unity" implying in the "Unity in the Multiplicity". Therefore, Confucius was the first scholar who had brought together the Chou classics consisting of heterogeneous precepts on moral politics and magic-cults under the name of his school, the kernel of which is the way of "All Pervading Unity". This idea of Unity is fundamental for the doctrine, maintains its strength, and gives it the capacity to assimilate without limit. It also helps to systematize the world conception, the political and moral ideology for the Confucianism intellectual class who had served in the role of leadership in the agricultural societies of the East during centuries. , another concept much enough This Unity is also interpreted as JEN particular and abstract to be translated into western language. It is usually translated by "Virtue". Lin-Wu-Chi in his recent book entitles "Confucius Philosophy" (1955) translated it by "Human-heartedness". Perhaps the etymology of this word will help us to get more precision in its meaning. It consists of two radicals, JEN means a man or a woman, means two. So JEN means two persons in their inter-relations and to form the basic unity of a society, because society is built-up on relationships from simple couple of husband and wife to the whole of humanity. By the same way of Aristotle in ancient Greece, Confucius has regarded man as essentially a social being. He said: "Human-heartedness is man" ). Therefore, the inter-relation of man living in group ( begins with heart and feeling. This feeling must be cultivated and improved to its utmost reaches attaining universal harmony. It is read in the "Doctrine of the Mean", one of the four Classics of Confucianism:

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"The way of the superior man may be found in its simple elements in the intercourse of common husband and wife; but in its utmost reaches, it shines brightly through heaven and earth". You see now what the meaning of JEN is.Ideographically it means the manifestation of "All Pervading Unity" as shown by its etymology.

Unity -

Heart

: Human-heartedness

Therefore, the way of human-heartedness is the central virtue in Confucius School that may be considered as Chinese Humanism, as the modern Chinese scholar Lin-Yutang has interpreted: "The Chinese humanists believe they have found the true end of life and are conscious of it. For the Chinese the end of life lies not in life after death, for the idea that we live in order to die as taught by Christianity is incomprehensible, nor in Nirvana, for that is two metaphysical ; nor in the satisfaction of accomplishment, for that is too vainglorious , nor yet in progress for progress sake, for that is meaningless. The true end, the Chinese have decided is singularly clear manner, lies in the enjoyment of a simple life, especially the family life, and in harmonious social relationship". _("My Country and My People" p. 96). What Lin-Yutang put above may be true as far as Chinese Confucians are concerned, but here in Vietnam from the first illustrious official scholar Chu-Văn-An of the Fourteenth Century to the last Phan-Thanh-Giản in the Nineteenth, Confucianism was rather understood as an integral humanism better than practical positivism. Let us take Phan-Thanh-Giản as an example that the people of South Vietnam today still worship as a national hero in the Temple of Culture at Vĩnh-Long, for his life and death entirely given to the country. He was one of the rare pure Confucians from the beginning to the end of his life. His courageous suicide, committed to take a poison after seven days of abstinence from food in order to protest against the unjust of French army and, also against the dictatorial government of the Emperor at that time ; this historic fact made a deep 4

impression on our heart. Before he died, 4th August 1867, at Vĩnh-Long, he wrote a poem in an inspired moment before his death, to the coming generations of this country. This poem was entitled "Abstinence", and began with the mystic call following: Heaven-time Trời thời

-

Earth-profit

-

Đất lợi

and Man peace. lại Người hòa

Confucius said: "The determined scholar and the man of virtue (Human-heartedness) will not seek to live at the expense of injuring his virtue. They will even sacrifice their lives to preserve their virtue complete". But it belongs to Phan-Thanh-Giản in this South Vietnam to realize, putting in practice the majestic lesson of the Master. By his death consciously and thoroughly medicated after a long abstinence from food, he gave an end to his life and a sense more transcendent to the Vietnamese Humanism. That is the reason why in his last words he aspired to form with Heaven and Earth, a Universe-Harmony represented by the mystic and symbolic number "3" (three). Heaven-Earth-Man . This is the central conception of the Absolute Reality in Confucianism. It is written in the "Doctrine of the Mean", one of Four Classics of the School: "To have no emotions of pleasure and anger, sorrow and joy, surging up, is to be described as being in a state of equilibrium. To have these emotions surging up, but all in due time, is to be described as being a state of harmony. This state of equilibrium is the supreme foundation of the great universe, and this state of harmony, its universal path. Once equilibrium and harmony are achieved, Heaven and Earth maintain their proper position, and the myriad things are nourished". , human-heartedness aims to give As you can see, the concept of JEN us the peace of mind by uniting the inner self with the universal harmony through the mental state of equilibrium. In this state we shall realize true

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freedom, for true freedom is in the mind when all contradictions of existence are solved. Now let us see how Confucianism solves these contradictions of existence, the great problem of life and death, which Confucius avoided to discuss. The long life of Phan-Thanh-Giản (1796-1867) not a life of contemplation at all, but a life of unselfish actions for the service of his nation and his poor people, as he put in his last poem: "I am grateful to the King And I settle my debt to the Nation I have much pity on the people of children being drowned and burn!" In fact, he spent his life from 1825 to 1867 full of activities, serving three Kings in succession, as Administrator, Royal Teacher, Historiographer, Governor in Cambodia, Ambassador to China and France, Vice-Roy in South Vietnam. This shows how our most representative Confucianism understood the concept of "All Pervading Unity". He identified it with JEN the Way of Human-Heartedness, the virtue above all, which is not to be statically conceived but rather must be realized, to be lived actually by an unselfish social service. By this he himself indefinitely purifying his mind and heart till he keeps his consciousness in harmony with the common people's even with the rhythm of the season. Therefore he practiced the way of realization as clearly defined in the "Doctrine of the Mean": "It is the way of Heaven to be the real. It is the way of man to attain the real. To be real is to hit the mean without effort, to possess it without the exercise of thought, and to be centred in the way with the natural ease, this is to be a sage. To attain a real is to choose the good and hold fast to it. This involves a thorough study of what is good, inquiring extensively about it, cogitating over it carefully, making it clear through contrast, and earnestly putting it into practice". "To be the Real and to attain the Real " are two aspects of one same Unity recognized by Confucius ; they complete each other in the same way as knowledge completes action. In the evolution of Confucian thought in China, since his death, there appeared two branches of school. One 6

stressed upon social order and became authoritative and dogmatic. It was called the Ceremonial Confucianism. The other emphasized the spiritual self-improvement and became more humanist. It was called the Humanistic Confucianism. In China from the Tenth Century to the end of the Monarchy only the Ceremonial and Dogmatic Confucianism was supported by the government. In Vietnam as I have just shown, by the example of Phan-Thanh-Giản, the humanistic tendency was always appreciated by the people and true intellectuals even under the monarchy. The reason why must be found in the evolution of Vietnamese thought. During the last thousand years of our independence from the Tenth to the Nineteenth Century we distinguish clearly two main periods in the evolution of thought. During the first five centuries under two dynasties of Lý and Trần, the predominant thought was lead by the School of Thiền or Zen, a branch of Mahayana. All Buddhist monks of that time were called Thiền-sư or Zen-master. The thought of Zen is based on psychological experiences with no vain scholastic discussion about reality between different tendencies. The Zen itself is already a synthesis of three main tendencies of Eastern traditional religions and pholosophies: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Buddhism as you know, stresses the transcendental aspect of the nature of man, Taoism, the natural, and Confucianism, the social. And these three complete each other to form our Vietnamese Humanism. It is an integral humanism which I can widely define as a conception of a complete man, depending on the conditions of time and space in which he lives and also on the real nature of his being by which he can transcend these conditions. This condition of man satisfies our aspiration to what R. Tagore calls "The Infinite Personality of Man is to be accomplished in a grandiose harmony of all human races". This is also the conception of man that Walt Whitman sings as "The Modern Man": "One's Self I sing, a simple separate person. Yet utter the Word Democratic, the Word En Masse. . . . Of life immense in passion, pulse and power, Cheerful for freest action formed under the law divine, The Modern Man I sing!" "Leaves of Grass"

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In the second period of our evolution, after the dynasties of Lý and Trần, from the Fiftieth century to the Nineteenth, Confucianism became the official doctrine, but the monarchy appreciated only the authoritative tendency. They gave up the former regime of education and examination based on the syncretism of three doctrines. They left it to the common people who still believe faithfully in traditional thought. This new situation gave birth to a new class of intellectuals, the functionary Confucians with their Ceremonial and Dogmatic tendency. The program of national education was only based on Confucianism classics, excluding Taoists and Buddhists. It dated the decline of traditional thought in Vietnam. Lê-QuíĐôn, the most outstanding scholar of the eighteenth century, described the intellectual attitude of that time as follow: "Public right judgment declines and the bad habit of favouritism grow popular among high functionaries of state. Graduated intellectuals are afraid to express a right opinion before the King but exchange among themselves complementary poems". Then, the Confucianism functionary-intellectual class forming the leaderclass of the nation were becoming more and more foreign to the people who remain faithful to the traditional thought and culture. In the new religious movements of syncretism among the common people in South Vietnam during this first half of the twentieth century, we recognize the wishes of the people to a reviving of their traditional thought of the two first illustrious dynasties of Lý, Trần. It is, I think, a social event of the most importance known in this country, which ethnologists, humanists and politicians as well have to take seriously into account concerning the present situation of Vietnam and South-East Asia. As far as Vietnam is concerned, her life is determined by " Indo-Chinese " geographical conditions, that are to say by the situation in the middle of India and China. In fact, her culture was moulded by the moral-socialism of Confucius from China as well as by the spiritual individualism of Buddha from India. Her "raison d'être" of being a self-conscious nation is to combine in the right way these two great influence so make her own personality like her former ancestor did. I think, the way of "humanheartedness" of Confucius that Phan-Thanh-Giản had illustrated belongs

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to an old Vietnamese tradition, which is the way of "All Pervading Unity" of Confucius. The way of All-Pervading Unity well understood by Phan-Thanh-Giản, is a spiritualist humanism and not materialist as Lin-Yutang has interpreted. Our ancestors of the time of Lý, Trần used it to synthesize the three principle religious doctrines of the East. I have been put this question: how three religions can go together, each with its concept of Truth? This capital problem had been solved by Trần-Thái-Tông, the founder of Trần dynasty. He was an eminent Buddhist like all the Kings of the two great first independent dynasties. He did not go into the forest and mountains to seek Buddha and Prajna, transcendent knowledge. But he realized them in the middle of battlefields, struggling with Mongolianinvader armies. According to him, there is no Buddha in the mountains, it is in our heart. Therefore, to become Buddha or to attain his illumination the best way to do is to gradually identify our own desire with the people's our own heart with the people's. Thus, the Truth represented by Buddha in which he believed is inside the world as well as outside. It is the Absolute Reality that includes two aspect of Being and Becoming, the Essence and its manifestations. He said: "Animals are able to receive illumination, why do men not know repenting? There are those who waste their lives in eating and drinking, other who mistake in practicing the teachings of Buddha. They are not aware that the nature of Buddha, the enlightened mind, and the Prajna, the source of goodness are equally shared by everyone. Why then do we separate great recluses from little ones, those who leave home from those who refuse to leave home. One must understand the mind which is in its essence neither male nor female and not cling longer to the appearance. The unenlightened make a difference between the Three Religions but one awakened they will find but one enlightened mind". The above lines from the "Lessons of Voidness" of King Trần reveal his synthesizing point of view concerning Three Religions. They all are different ways of realization, as different rivers taking their start from 9

different mountains running quick or slow, all come and mingle their different waters in the ocean. So with the Three Religions in old Vietnam these are but different ways with their different points of view, at last they all come unto the cosmic consciousness which is according to Thái-tông, the enlightened mind. Confucius said: "A man can enlarge the Way which he follows, the Way does not enlarge the man". Trần-Thái-Tông identified the Absolute Reality with the enlightened mind so that by unselfish activities he serves the people and the nation, enlarge his mind into an enlightened mind which is Non-attachment, as taught in this sentence of the Diamond Sutra: "Awaken the mind without fixing it anywhere!" Then, these "Lessons on Voidness" anticipated by more than six centuries the Message of Sri-Ramakrishna as given by his eminent disciple Swami Vivekananda read in New-York in 1896: "Do not care for doctrines, do not care for dogmas or sects, or churches or temples ; they count for little compared with the essence of existence in each man which is spirituality, and the more this is developed in a man the more powerful is he for good. Earn that first, acquired that, and criticise no more, for all doctrines and creeds have some good in them. Show by your lives that religion does not mean words, or names, or sects, but that it means spiritual realization. Only those who have felt can understand. Only those who have attained spirituality can communicate it to others, can be great teachers of mankind. They alone are the powers of light". ("My Teacher" by Swami Vivekananda) We are now in a world of interrelations and freedom. World relationship and freedom are to be seen as an open society, not in a closed. An open society is organized so that human values are respected, broadly shared and have conditions requisite to progress. This concept of an open society is a fundamental aspect of the Free-world nowadays. With the progress of 10

science and its ever-growing applications, we need more and more freedom and communication, of expression and initiative. In opposition to the open society we see in the past and present days, closed society where people live separately and secluded from each other bound more and less by narrow traditions and superstition, obedient to governments and institutions over which they have no control. Their thoughts are patterned after the concepts and ideologies imposed from above. In the evolution of Vietnamese thought of which I have summarized the two main periods, the trend of thought in the first emphasized upon the syncretism which is still living now among the common people in the South as well as in the North Vietnam. I believe it is the Vietnamese orthodox tradition which may satisfy our desire to live in an open society of the free world.

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