Thông Biện (通辯) born Trí Không (d.1134) was a Vietnamese Buddhist historian and Thiền master whose recorded statements are the earliest written source for the
history of Buddhism in Vietnam. He was a student of
Viên Chiếu (圓照). He is mentioned in the ''
Lives of Eminent Thiền Monks'' (禪苑集英, 1337):
The four monks mentioned are Mo Luo Qi Yu (Ma Ha Kỳ Vực)
Kang Senghui
Kang Senghui (traditional: 康 僧 會; simplified: 康 僧 会; pinyin: Kāng Sēnghuì; Wade–Giles: K'ang Seng-hui; Vietnamese: Khương Tăng Hội; died 280) was a Buddhist monk and translator during the Three Kingdoms period of ancient C ...
(Khương Tăng Hội), Zhi Jiang Liang (Chi Cương Lương), and Mou Bo (Mâu Bác, i.e.
:vi:Mâu Tử) author of the
Mouzi Lihuolun (Lý Hoặc Luận).
The Queen Mother
Ỷ Lan
Ỷ Lan (chữ Hán: 倚 蘭, lit: ''leaning on the orchid'', 1044–1117) or Empress Mother Linh Nhơn (Vietnamese: ''Linh Nhơn hoàng thái hậu'', chữ Hán: 靈 仁 太 后) was a Vietnamese concubine and regent who effectively contro ...
consulted the monk Thông Biện regarding the history of Buddhism in Vietnam in 1096 prior to her commencement of the plan to build 100 pagodas.
[David G. Marr, Anthony Crothers Milner ''Southeast Asia in the Ninth to Fourteenth Centuries'' 1986 Page 148 " Thông Biện's biography reveals that in 1096 he was consulted by the Queen Mother ( Ỷ Lan) for an explanation of the history of Buddhism in Vietnam; his answers to her questions reveal him as an impressive scholar."]
See also
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Buddhism in Vietnam
Buddhism in Vietnam ( Vietnamese: ''Đạo Phật'', 道佛 or ''Phật Giáo,'' 佛教), as practiced by the Vietnamese people, is a form of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism. It is the main religion in Vietnam. According to the Vietnamese governmen ...
References
1134 deaths
Thiền Buddhist monks
Zen Buddhism writers
Year of birth unknown
Lý dynasty Buddhist monks
People from Hanoi
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