Concepts of Religions (Confucianism and Buddhism) from Poetic-Stories to Reality in Indochina

Author: Nguyen Phuong Lien (Faculty of Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Vietnam)
Speaker: Nguyen Phuong Lien
Topic: Poetics
The (SCOPUS / ISI) SOAS GLOCAL CALA 2020 General Session

Abstract

Influenced by being situated between China and India, two historical giants, the people of the three nations of Viet, Lao and Khome’s exhibit strong histories of imported cultures. The religions of these regions, which closely connect to people’s lives, offer strong indications of lifeworlds and enculturations. People in Indochina assign great significance to living and interpersonal relationships, more so than toward deities and spiritual agents, as well as to the creation of the cosmos. Folk stories frequently include the ‘first man’, the messages from which serve to educate society.

This study aims to expose that Indochinese poetic stories exhibit imported theories, the moral messages within which have reached levels of mastery in the literary genre, the poetic- story. These moral lessons emerge in texts such as Luc Van Tien (Vietnam), Thao Hung Thao Chuong (Lao), and Tum Tieu (Cambodia). Based on realisms, these texts expose people’s care about humanity’s opinions from Confucianism (China) and Buddhism (India). The stories also present differences and similarities, the descriptions of which can offer pathways to explaining social dynamics in modernity. More so, locating markers within figurative talk in this literary genre may inform larger theories in larger narratives and philosophical texts.

Keywords: Concepts of Religions, Confucianism, Buddhism