QUANGNAM BUDDHISM IN THE NGUYEN LORDS PERIOD (1558 – 1777)

Abstract

Quangnam was formed by a special historic marriage between Huyen Tran Princess (Dai Viet) and Che Man King (Champa) in 1306; however, up to the Nguyen Lords period (XVI century), a lot of Vietnamese people came and settled  here. Buddhism was one of the important factors making the Nguyen Lords transform Quangnam region into the promised land of Vietnamese immigrants. Based on historical and fieldwork documents, we reconstruct physiognomy, infer the characteristics of Quangnam Buddhism in the Nguyen Lords period and analyze Nguyen Lords^’ attitude and policies on  Buddhism. This is essential in order to clarify the reason for territorial expanstion to the South of Vietnam as well as the cause of the Nguyen Lords