Tuệ Trung Thượng Sĩ () (1230–1291) was an influential
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
lay practitioner and skilled poet of the
Thiền
Thiền Buddhism (, , ) is the name for the Vietnamese school of Zen Buddhism. Thiền is the Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 (''chán''), an abbreviation of 禪那 (''chánnà''; thiền na), which is a transliter ...
(Zen) tradition during the
Tran Dynasty
Tran may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Tran'' (novel), a novel in the ''Janissaries'' series named for a fictional planet
* '' Dr. Tran'', an animated miniseries
People
* Trần (陳), a Vietnamese surname, including a list of people na ...
in
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
. Tue Trung authored treatises on Pure Land and Thien teachings.
Biography
In his early years, Tue Trung was the eldest son in a branch of the royal clan of
Tran with the
lay name
A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of registration of the birth and which then ...
of Trần Tung (陳嵩). He was the elder brother of the Queen of Vietnam, Nguyên Thánh Thiên Cảm (wife of King
Tran Thanh Tong
Tran may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Tran'' (novel), a novel in the ''Janissaries'' series named for a fictional planet
* '' Dr. Tran'', an animated miniseries
People
* Trần (陳), a Vietnamese surname, including a list of people nam ...
and mother of King
Trần Nhân Tông
Trần Nhân Tông (7 December 1258–16 December 1308), Vietnamese name, personal name Trần Khâm, temple name Nhân Tông, was the third emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1278 to 1293. After ceding the thron ...
), and of the famous general-saint
Trần Hưng Đạo
Trần Hưng Đạo (; 1228–1300), real name Trần Quốc Tuấn (陳國峻), also known as Grand Prince Hưng Đạo (''Hưng Đạo Đại Vương'' – 興道大王), was a Vietnamese royal prince, statesman and military commander of Đại ...
.
In the Tran campaigns that confronted the
Sino-Mongolian invasion of
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...
, in 1285 and 1288, Tran Tung was among the generals who repelled the Mongol invasions.
When the campaigns had concluded, he retreated from worldly activities and became a Buddhist practitioner.
His teacher was a monk named
Tieu Dao, a representative of the
Wu Yantong
Wu Yantong (, known in Vietnam as Vô Ngôn Thông, 759?-826 C.E.) was a Chinese Buddhist monk influential in the propagation of Buddhism in Vietnam.
Biography
Born into a wealthy family, upon coming of age he renounced that lifestyle for a mo ...
lineage of Buddhism, named for its founder, a student of
Baizhang Huaihai
Baizhang Huaihai (; pinyin: ''Bǎizhàng Huáihái''; Wade-Giles: ''Pai-chang Huai-hai''; ) (720–814) was a Zen
Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that dev ...
who had come to Vietnam. Tue Trung is considered Tieu Dao's best pupil. He would not leave home for monastery, but his vast education and his ability to explain the Buddhist doctrine made him the most famous Buddhist teacher of his time.
In his turn, Tue Trung made his spiritual heir
Trần Nhân Tông
Trần Nhân Tông (7 December 1258–16 December 1308), Vietnamese name, personal name Trần Khâm, temple name Nhân Tông, was the third emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigning over Đại Việt from 1278 to 1293. After ceding the thron ...
, the king who after abdication founded the
Trúc Lâm
Trúc Lâm Yên Tử (竹林安子), or simply Trúc Lâm ("Bamboo Grove"), is a Vietnamese Thiền (i.e. Zen) sect. The school was founded by Emperor Trần Nhân Tông (1258–1308) showing influence from Confucian and Taoist philosophy. Trúc L ...
(Bamboo Grove) school, the tradition of Buddhism that is sometimes considered to be the first Vietnamese-born Buddhist tradition.
Via Trần Nhân Tông, Tue Trung is part of the lineage of such modern Buddhist masters as
Thích Nhất Hạnh
Thích Nhất Hạnh ( ; , Huế dialect: ; born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo; 11 October 1926 – 22 January 2022) was a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk, peace activist, prolific author, poet, and teacher, who founded the Plum Village Tradition, ...
.
Teaching and heritage
Being essentially a Chan Buddhist tradition, the teaching of Tue Trung emphasized non-duality up to demonstrative negation of the value of formal meditation and rituals.
Tue Trung's
magnum opus
A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship.
Historically, ...
, ''The Analects of Tue Trung Thuong Si'', is a Buddhist text written in form of dialogue, which survives to this day. Several of Tue Trung's poems are still cited.
Tue Trung became a legendary master often referred to in Buddhist lectures and literature. The most popular is the example of him stepping on horse's manure in silent reply to the question of the nature of Buddhism. He is being actively referred to as a central Vietnamese Buddhist image to this day.
[for example see ''Thich Nhat Hanh.']
Finding Our True Home: Living in the Pure Land Here and Now. Parallax Press, 2003.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tue, Trung
1230 births
1291 deaths
Engaged Buddhists
Vietnamese religious leaders
Thiền Buddhist monks
Zen Buddhist spiritual teachers
People from Hải Dương province
People from Haiphong
Trần dynasty Buddhist monks