Thich Quang Duc
Devamitra <devamichael@yahoo.co.uk>
date Dec 3, 2006 4:40 AM
subject [Vsg] Thich Quang Duc
I am currently attempting to gather material for a book about Thich Quang Duc intended for educated Asian and Western Buddhist practitioners rather than for the scholarly community. However, I am concerned that it should be as historically sound and unbiased as possible.
So far as I have been able to discover, there is very little information about his life available in English apart from accounts of his self immolation. I gather there is quite a bit of literature in Vietnamese, but I have been told that there are lots of disagreements within it. I should add that I have no knowledge of Vietnamese, myself.
I shall be visiting Vietnam in February for a month in an attempt to find out as much as I can about him – his personal history, places associated with him, family background etc. It has already been suggested to me to contact Ven. Tri Sieu (Le Manh That) and Ven. Duc Nghiep when I am in HCMC. In the meantime, can anyone help me further my project by suggesting useful contacts in Vietnam, providing me with links to any relevant websites and a list of any appropriate books or articles whether in Vietnamese, French, English or any other language?
Devamitra
T. Nguyen <nguyenthanhbl@yahoo.com>
date Dec 3, 2006 9:18 AM
subject Re: [Vsg] Thich Quang Duc
When you are in Ho Chi Minh City, try to connect with
Thich Thong Buu of Quan Am Temple. Thong Buu is Quang
Duc's student and studied with Quang Duc for a while.
You should also meet Vo Dinh Cuong and Tong Ho Cam of
the Buddhist Youth Family when you are there.
If you can, try to contact other historical
participants of the time who are now living out of
Viet Nam. Thich Tam Chau in Montreal,Canada; Thich
Giac Duc in Washington D.C.; and Thich Ho Giac in
Houston, Texas. These monks were the top leaders of
the Buddhist movement then.
Good luck to you in your collection of information.
Cheers,
Thanh
Hoang Ngo <ngohoang@gmail.com>
date Dec 3, 2006 1:47 PM
subject Re: [Vsg] Thich Quang Duc
You can try the following link for some articles on Thich Qu?ng D?c -- in both Vietnamese and English.
http://www.thuvienhoasen.org
I'm actually writing a paper on the Buddhist Peace Movement, with Thich Qu?ng D?c's self-immolation as one of the key events. Most of the Vietnamese sources, printed in either Vietnam or the US, that I've come across are very teleologic. For instance, two thirds of Le Cung's "Phong Trao Ph?t Giao Mi?n Nam Vi?t Nam, Nam 1963" [The Buddhist Movement in South Vietnam, 1963], published in Vietnam in 2003, are used for denouncing the cruelty of Di?m's regime toward Buddhists rather than for exploring the movement itself. The same goes for some works, published in the US, by Kiem D?t and Ly Khoi Vi?t.
Good luck!
hoang
MA student, University of Washington
Stephen Denney <sdenney@ocf.berkeley.edu>
date Dec 3, 2006 5:21 PM
subject Re: [Vsg] Thich Quang Duc
There have been some books published in English on this subject, such as:
- Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea if Fire, by Thich Nhat Hanh, published around
1966
- Saigon USA, by Alfred Hassler, of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, who
focused largely on the Buddhist antiwar movement, published around 1971.
- The Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam: 15 years of reconciliation, by
Jim Forest, published by the International Fellowship of Reconciliation
around 1978; not many pages, but some worthy documents, the first public
protests of Buddhist leaders against repression in the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam.
- Learning True Love: How I learned the art of social change, by Sister
Chan Khong, who was very active in the Buddhist peace and social work
movement. Published around 1994. She now lives in Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum
Village Community of France.
- Steve Denney