The Vietnamese Buddhist revival movement in the first half of the twentieth century: comparing three associations the Cochinchina Buddhist Association, the Annam Buddhist Association, the Tonkin Buddhist Association

Abstract

The Buddhist revival movement in the first half of the twentieth century took place in all 3 regions in the territory of Vietnam today. The Buddhist revival movement in each region has the same purpose, even though it has some different features. The Buddhist revival movement in Southern Vietnam was characterized by divergence, otherwise, it in Central and Northern Vietnam was characterized by convergence. In this article, we choose to compare the typical associations of the three regions are The Cochinchina Buddhist Association, The Annam Buddhist Association, The Tonkin Buddhist Association. Despite establishing in the same period of time, these three associations have many fundamental differences besides some similarities. Based on the exploitation of Buddhist archives and press materials during the period of revival, this article will research the similarities and differences between associations. Comparing the three associations not only shows us the unique characteristics of each other and explains the performance of the societies, the depth of the revival activity but also helps us to understand some of the Vietnamese society in the French period. Because this is a big problem, within a small article we cannot present all the characteristics. So in this article, we only focus on analyzing the typical characteristics, these characteristics will govern the performance of the associations. Besides, the article also limited the time to research from 1930 to 1945, when Vietnam gained independence.