I have decided to commence a new project; the Monks and Mandarins project. Basically it will be a timeline of Viet Nam's history emphasizing the powerful stakeholders who assisted or foiled the main players of Vietnamese history. It also ties in with the importance of worship in Viet Nam. A notion that still intrigues me, seeing that this country is communist.
This blog will just allow me to lay out and express my thoughts. I hope you find it interesting.
I will look at;
My current studies will have to fixate more on monks. I feel I have been studying mandarins for the last 20 years. Out of interest, my youngest daughter, Mulan, is related to a mandarin, her great-grand father.
The last two weeks during Tet festival I started my research in ernest regarding monks.
1. I visited the Village of a 100 Temples (that is just what I call it) in Phu My. 2. I visited the largest Buddhist temple complex in Viet Nam. A former army training base for Buddhist soldiers. I haven't had access to their museum yet - can't wait for that.
3. This morning I interviewed an 89 year old Buddhist women who runs a pagoda in the fishing village. Her recollections of Vung Tau in the mid 1950s were fascinating and very helpful. The French had left Vung Tau by then, and it was difficult to be a Buddhist because Madame Nhu, a Catholic, was running amok in Sai Gon.
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Must run. I am off to have New Years drinks with an ex policeman. His job was to collect the taxes from the boat people leaving Viet Nam. Most of them departed from Vung Tau, as this was where you could purchase a boat.
More to follow.
This blog will just allow me to lay out and express my thoughts. I hope you find it interesting.
I will look at;
- ancestor worship
- animism
- local deities (mountain people)
- emperors (divine)
- Hoa Hao
- Cao Dai
- Catholics
My current studies will have to fixate more on monks. I feel I have been studying mandarins for the last 20 years. Out of interest, my youngest daughter, Mulan, is related to a mandarin, her great-grand father.
The last two weeks during Tet festival I started my research in ernest regarding monks.
1. I visited the Village of a 100 Temples (that is just what I call it) in Phu My. 2. I visited the largest Buddhist temple complex in Viet Nam. A former army training base for Buddhist soldiers. I haven't had access to their museum yet - can't wait for that.
3. This morning I interviewed an 89 year old Buddhist women who runs a pagoda in the fishing village. Her recollections of Vung Tau in the mid 1950s were fascinating and very helpful. The French had left Vung Tau by then, and it was difficult to be a Buddhist because Madame Nhu, a Catholic, was running amok in Sai Gon.
..............................................................................................................
Must run. I am off to have New Years drinks with an ex policeman. His job was to collect the taxes from the boat people leaving Viet Nam. Most of them departed from Vung Tau, as this was where you could purchase a boat.
More to follow.