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Generational Theory Book Series

World View: Vietnam, Buddhism and the Vietnam War - John J. Xenakis

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Most people know nothing about Vietnam except that their grandfathers fought in something called "the Vietnam War." And yet, as guardian of the maritime routes from Europe to India, Malaya and China, Vietnam has for millennia been a dominant player in world trade.

And now, with China illegally annexing the South China Sea, which controls $1.3 trillion in trade, Vietnam's historic role as guardian of the South China Sea could bring the two countries to full war, for the first time in thirty years.

This book describes Vietnam's history since ancient times, through rule by China, through independence, through multiple dynasties, through colonization by France, and through the Indochina wars since World War II, before becoming an economic powerhouse. Those seriously interested in living in or doing business in Vietnam should understand that historically it's not a country in the European sense, but is composed of "Vietnam Villages" that define its culture and business dealings, and should understand the interaction between Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity in the villages and guilds.

The book has extensive coverage of the history and theology of Buddhism, and how it spread from India to Vietnam and China, in one of the most sigificant events in the history of religion. The book explains how this was possible because of the specific interactions of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism, and how Chinese and Vietnamese leaders played one religion off of one another as needed to control the population. In today's Vietnam, these tensions still exist, especially between North and South.

The author's previous book on the history of Iran has extensive coverage of the history and theology of Islam and Christianity, while his book on China does the same for Confucianism and Daoism. Putting the three books together provides a comprehensive understanding of the world's religions.

This is a particularly satisfying personal accomplishment for the author. When he was a student at MIT, he was fascinated by religions, and for four semesters he sat in on the course "Religions of the World," given by the great Professor Huston Smith, and has been studying the history and theology of the religions of the world ever since.

The book also has extensive coverage of what "really happened" in the Vietnam war. Most people, even those who fought in the war, or who had family and friends who fought in the war, nonetheless have no idea what the Vietnam War was about. Even Vietnamese people under age 50 don't know what it was about. This book will tell you what actually happened -- not what the politicians and ideologues say happened, but what actually did happen, and why it happened. 


Table of Contents


Part I. Vietnam, Buddhism and the Vietnam War -- Vietnam today
  Chapter 1. Importance of Vietnam
  Chapter 2. Overview of Contents
  Chapter 3. Objectives of this book
  Chapter 4. Description of Buddhist theology
  Chapter 5. Getting a 'feel' for Vietnam
    5.1. Vietnam country names
  Chapter 6. Brief summary of generational eras


Part II. Vietnam's Doi Moi economic reforms (1986-present)
  Chapter 7. Vietnam's legal and economic history
    7.1. Nations, kingdoms, empires, leaders, kings, emperors, dynasties
    7.2. Economic influences in historical Vietnam
    7.3. Vietnam's economy after French colonization (1858)
    7.4. Social etiquette
  Chapter 8. The collapse of Communism, Socialism, Marxism in Asia
    8.1. China -- Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward
    8.2. Russia -- Perestroika and Glasnost
    8.3. South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong -- the 'Asian Tigers'
    8.4. The Doi Moi economic reforms
  Chapter 9. Details of Doi Moi reforms
    9.1. Reforming centrally-planned to market oriented economy
    9.2. Land reform
    9.3. Abolishing the dual-pricing system
    9.4. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
    9.5. Financial crisis in 2009-12
  Chapter 10. Vietnam's economic crisis during Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic (2020)
    10.1. Vietnam focuses on foreign investment and trade
    10.2. Government heightened focus on high tech and artificial intelligence
    10.3. Human Rights


Part III. Overview of Asian religions and theology
  Chapter 11. Evolution of great religions
    11.1. Evolutionary framework of great religions
    11.2. Documentation -- written law of the great religions
    11.3. Written law in Hinduism and Buddhism
    11.4. Etiquette in engaging with Buddhists
  Chapter 12. Overview of Buddhist theology
    12.1. Achieving Nirvana
    12.2. Theravada Buddhism ('Path of the Elders')
    12.3. Mahayana Buddhism ('The Great Vehicle')
    12.4. Hinayana Buddhism ('Modest Vehicle')
  Chapter 13. The school of meditation: Ch'an / Zen Buddhism
    13.1. Rise of Ch'an/Zen Buddhism in China
    13.2. Philosophy of Daoism
    13.3. Ch'an / Zen Buddhism and sudden enlightenment
    13.4. Zen Buddhism in the West
  Chapter 14. Other schools of Buddhism
    14.1. The evolution and simplification of Buddhism
    14.2. Pure Land Buddhism
    14.3. Tantric (Vajrayana, Tibetan) Buddhism
    14.4. Bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism
    14.5. The Maitreya in Buddhism


Part IV. How Hinduism and Buddhism spread from India to southern Vietnam
  Chapter 15. Aryan invasion, and rise of Hinduism in India
    15.1. Life of The Buddha (563-483 BC)
    15.2. The Middle Way and Enlightenment
    15.3. Hinduism and Buddhism
    15.4. Popularity of Buddhism
  Chapter 16. Legacy of Emperor Ashoka (304-232 BC, Ruled 273-232 BC)
    16.1. Ashoka commits genocide and ethnic cleansing
    16.2. Ashoka repents and converts to Buddhism
    16.3. Spread of Buddhism north and south -- overview
    16.4. Ashoka's influence on Buddhism
  Chapter 17. Spread of Theravada Buddhism to southeast Asia and southern Vietnam
    17.1. Spread of Buddhism to Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
    17.2. Spread of Buddhism to Burma (Myanmar) and Siam (Thailand)
    17.3. Spread of Buddhism to Malay Peninsula and Indonesia
    17.4. Spread of Buddhism to Cambodia and southern Vietnam (Mekong Delta)


Part V. How Buddhism spread through China to northern Vietnam
  Chapter 18. Spread of Mahayana Buddhism along the Great Silk Road
  Chapter 19. Collapse of China's glorious Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)
    19.1. Significance of China's Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)
    19.2. Decline of the Han Dynasty in the 100s
    19.3. Collapse of the Han Dynasty -- Yellow Turban Rebellion - 184 AD
  Chapter 20. Changes to Daoism and Buddhism during and after Han Dynasty
    20.1. Daoism during and after the declining Han Dynasty
    20.2. Buddhism during and after the declining Han Dynasty
    20.3. Differences between Chinese and Indian languages and culture
    20.4. Role of Daoism in linking Indian and Chinese cultures
  Chapter 21. Sacking by the Huns (311) -- China splits into North and South
  Chapter 22. Spread of Buddhism south of the Yangtze River
    22.1. Buddhism vs Confucianism and Daoism
  Chapter 23. Spread of Buddhism north of the Yangtze River
    23.1. Northern rulers' adoption of Buddhism
    23.2. Northern rulers' misgivings about Buddhism
    23.3. Emancipation of Buddhist ideas from Daoism in the North
  Chapter 24. Spread of Buddhism in Sui and Tang dynasties (589-906)
    24.1. Divergence of North and South during period of disunion
    24.2. Regulation of religions during Sui-Tang dynasties
    24.3. Great Buddhist movements during Sui-Tang dynasties
    24.4. The school of meditation: Ch'an or Zen Buddhism
    24.5. The catastrophic An Lu-shan Rebellion (755-763)
    24.6. Union of Uighurs and Tibetans (765)
    24.7. The Great Suppression of Buddhism (842-845)
    24.8. Revival of Confucianism
  Chapter 25. Zen Buddhism in Japan
    25.1. The Zen Koan: What is the sound of one hand clapping?
  Chapter 26. Buddhism in Vietnam
    26.1. Adulteration / Syncretism of Buddhism in Vietnam
    26.2. Vietnam Communist Party hostility to religion


Part VI. South Vietnam's ancient history
  Chapter 27. Background: Archaeological ages and Geography
    27.1. Archaeological ages
    27.2. Stone age
    27.3. Bronze age
    27.4. Iron age
    27.5. Vietnam's fusion of races, languages and cultures
    27.6. Vietnam's Geography
  Chapter 28. South Vietnam's ancient civilizations -- Sa Huynh, Dong Son
    28.1. Sa Huynh culture (10000 BC - 200 AD)
    28.2. Dong Son (Dong Son) culture
    28.3. Growth of Dong Son culture
    28.4. China-Vietnam disputes over Dong Son cultures


Part VII. The millennium of Chinese rule (111 BC to 938 AD) -- Viets, Funan, Champa, Khmers
  Chapter 29. North Vietnam: Confucian Viet culture, following conquest by China
    29.1. Chinese invasion and conquest (111 BC)
    29.2. Confucianism in Vietnam and role of women
    29.3. Trung Sisters Rebellion (40-43 AD) and reconquest by China
    29.4. The Sinicization of North Vietnam
    29.5. Ly Bi overthrows Chinese rule, creates Van Xuan empire (544-603)
    29.6. Chinese rule by China's Tang dynasty (618-906)
  Chapter 30. Chinese rule ends with spectacular Battle of Bach Dang River (938)
    30.1. Ngo Quyen defeats Chinese in the spectacular Battle of Bach Dang River (938)
    30.2. Dinh Bo Linh's tributary mission to China (968)
  Chapter 31. Far Southern Vietnam: Rise of Hinduized Funan culture, centered in Cambodia
    31.1. Funan Culture and Oc-Eo port city
  Chapter 32. Central Vietnam: Rise of Champa culture
    32.1. Champa culture
    32.2. Cham people today


Part VIII. Nine centuries of Vietnam independence -- 938 - 1862
  Chapter 33. Reference list of Vietnamese dynasties after independence
  Chapter 34. Vietnam villages
    34.1. Vietnam's guilds and villages
    34.2. Village organization
  Chapter 35. Brief history of Laos
  Chapter 36. Early Le Dynasty (980-1005)
    36.1. Generational summary
    36.2. Defeating another Chinese invasion
  Chapter 37. The First Great Dynasty: The Later Ly Dynasty (1009–1225)
    37.1. Generational summary
    37.2. Development of agriculture in Red River Delta -- and southward move
    37.3. Development of written law
    37.4. Growth of Buddhism in Nam Viet
    37.5. Buddhism in central and south Vietnam
    37.6. Champa Kingdom conquest by Angkor Khmers (Cambodia) (1203-20)
    37.7. Cultural differences: Nam Viet vs Champa
  Chapter 38. The Second Great Dynasty -- The Tran Dynasty (1225-1400)
    38.1. Generational summary
    38.2. Mobilizing eunuchs and slaves - preparing for war
    38.3. Sacking of Champa capital Vijaya (1252)
    38.4. First Mongol War (1257)
    38.5. The Tran vs the Mongols [1284-1287]
    38.6. Tran Dynasty defeats the Mongols (1284, 1287)
    38.7. Mongols face Vietnamese war elephants (1284)
    38.8. Tran soldiers defeat Mongols in Battle of Bach Dang (1287)
    38.9. Tran war with Champa (1312)
    38.10. Buddhism vs Confucianism during the Tran dynasty
    38.11. Growth of Confucianism to modern times
  Chapter 39. Ho Dynasty (1400-1407) -- Vietnam's most hated dynasty
    39.1. Ho general usurps the throne
    39.2. China invades Vietnam in brutal period of governance
    39.3. Ho Dynasty echoes through Vietnam's history
    39.4. War with the Chinese (1417-1427)
  Chapter 40. Later Le Dynasty Part 1: destruction of Champa Kingdom (1428-1527)
    40.1. Generational summary
    40.2. Destruction of Champa Kingdom (1471)
    40.3. Southern expansion (nam-tien) and land settlement (don dien)
    40.4. Aftermath of the destruction of Champa kingdom
    40.5. Decline of the Le Dynasty (1497-1527)
  Chapter 41. Later Le Dynasty Part 2: The warring warlords (1527-1787)
    41.1. Generational summary
    41.2. The Mac family and Nguyen family split Vietnam in two (1527-45)
    41.3. Trinh family joins the struggle (1545-1592)
    41.4. Arrival of the Europeans - 1600s
    41.5. The inevitable war between Nguyen and Trinh begins (1620-1672)
  Chapter 42. The cataclysmic Tay-Son Rebellion (1771-1790, defeated 1802)
    42.1. Background to Tay-Son Rebellion
    42.2. The Ho (Nguyen) brothers begin the Tay-Son rebellion
    42.3. Marxist Socialism before Marx -- Tay-Son rebellion
    42.4. Tay-Son rebels align themselves with Chinese pirates
    42.5. Socialism in the 21st century -- Memories of the Tay-Son rebellion
  Chapter 43. Nguyen Phuc Anh (Gia Long) launches a harsh new Nguyen Dynasty
    43.1. List of kings of the Nguyen Dynasty
    43.2. Generational summary
    43.3. Nguyen Phuc Anh defeats the Tay-Son rebels (1776-1802)
    43.4. Vietnam finally adopts the name Viet Nam
    43.5. The Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945)
    43.6. Nguyen Dynasty and persecution of Christians


Part IX. The Treaty of Saigon and French colonization (1862-1954)
  Chapter 44. Treaty of Saigon, June 1862
    44.1. France completes conquest of French Indochina (1887)
  Chapter 45. Conflicts during French colonization
    45.1. Vietnam Villages during French colonization
    45.2. Vietnam government after the Treaty of Saigon (1862-1954)
    45.3. Truong Dinh -- anti-French guerrilla movement (1858-64)
    45.4. Anti-Catholic violence
    45.5. Vietnamese modernization movements opposing French colonialism
  Chapter 46. Rise of Vietnam nationalism up to World War II
    46.1. Phan Boi Chau and the Rise of Nationalism (1904)
    46.2. Did Ho Chi Minh betray Phan Boi Chau?
    46.3. Rise of Ho Chi Minh and fight for independence from the French
    46.4. European migration to French Indochina until 1945


Part X. Understanding the context of America's 'Vietnam War'
  Chapter 47. Summary of America's Vietnam War
  Chapter 48. Major findings about America's Vietnam War
    48.1. Disastrous decisions by President Kennedy
    48.2. The question of insanity
    48.3. The question of sophistry
    48.4. Facts and events vs Context
    48.5. Was the Vietnam War worth the cost?
  Chapter 49. Major world events as context of Vietnam War
    49.1. March of Communism
    49.2. North Vietnam's toxic relationships with China and Soviet Russia
    49.3. Vietcong insurgency in South Vietnam
    49.4. Laos coup and the 'Ho Chi Minh Trail'
  Chapter 50. Insanity and Greek Tragedy
    50.1. Understanding Greek Tragedy
    50.2. Insanity
    50.3. Aeschylus and Prometheus
    50.4. The relevance of Greek Tragedy
    50.5. The Vietnam War and Greek Tragedy
    50.6. Setting the scene in 1959-60 -- the seeds of future defeat
    50.7. The main characters
  Chapter 51. Generational issues
    51.1. The Vietnam War and American generations
    51.2. Public moods in Vietnam, France and America after WW II
    51.3. Hannah Arendt -- 'the calm that settles after all hopes have died'
    51.4. Communism on the march -- and the 'Iron Curtain'
    51.5. The Truman Doctrine makes America Policeman of the World (1947)
    51.6. Truman receives NSC-68 report calling for Soviet Communist 'containment' (April 14, 1950)
    51.7. Communist North Korea invades South Korea (June 25, 1950)
    51.8. President Eisenhower explains the Domino Theory (1954)
    51.9. President Kennedy's 'ask not' inauguration speech (1961)
  Chapter 52. From trauma in World War II to a Generation Gap in the 1960s
    52.1. The traumatic World War II
    52.2. Lessons learned: New laws and institutions after WW II
    52.3. Definition of the 'Generation Gap'
    52.4. The Summer of Love (1967)
    52.5. America's generational Awakening era -- 1960s-1970s
    52.6. Generation Gap resolution -- Awakening Climax
  Chapter 53. Examples of generational Recovery and Awakening Eras
    53.1. America after World War II (1945)
    53.2. Iran after Great Islamic Revolution (1979)
    53.3. Zimbabwe after war of independence (1980)
    53.4. China after the Communist Revolution (1949)
    53.5. American Civil War (1865)
    53.6. America's Revolutionary War (1782)
    53.7. Japan after the Meiji Restoration (1868)
    53.8. Japan after World War II (1945)
    53.9. The generational 'Democide Pattern'
  Chapter 54. The political debate over America's 'Vietnam War'
    54.1. The left-wing antiwar view of the Vietnam war
    54.2. The Vietnamese view of the Vietnam war
    54.3. America allies with Ho Chi Minh in World War II
  Chapter 55. Overview of the Vietnam War


Part XI. French Indochina War (First Indochina War, Nov 1946 to Aug 1954)
  Chapter 56. Beginnings of the war
  Chapter 57. Vietminh strategy
  Chapter 58. Battle of Dien Bien Phu


Part XII. Interwar period -- 1954-1959 -- Republic of Vietnam
  Chapter 59. Disagreements between China and Vietnam over who gets the credit
  Chapter 60. History of persecution of Catholics
  Chapter 61. North-South migration after First Indochina war
  Chapter 62. Land reform program
  Chapter 63. Beginnings of American military involvement
  Chapter 64. Le Duan replaces Ho Chi Minh as de facto North Vietnam leader
    64.1. Legacy of Le Duan (1908-1986)
    64.2. Rise of Le Duan
  Chapter 65. North Vietnam ratifies Resolution 16, authorizing war with the South (May 1959)


Part XIII. Second Indochina War 1959-1975 (America's "Vietnam War")
  Chapter 66. Conflicts between Washington and Saigon
    66.1. Core issues - John Kennedy and William Averell Harriman
    66.2. Kennedy's youth and inexperience
    66.3. Two peoples, quite apart in culture, thrown together against a common enemy
    66.4. Ngo Dinh Diem and South Vietnam's imperfect democracy
    66.5. America's conflicting values and policies
    66.6. America's conflicting policies in Vietnam under Eisenhower
    66.7. Kennedy's disastrous international agreement on Laos
    66.8. The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba (April, 1961)
  Chapter 67. Conflicting counterinsurgency (COIN) strategies
    67.1. Summary of conflicting counterinsurgency (COIN) strategies
    67.2. Counterinsurgency (COIN) military doctrine
    67.3. Clear-hold-build counterinsurgency framework
  Chapter 68. Antecedents of Vietnam's Strategic Hamlet program
    68.1. Description of the resettlement strategy for COIN operations
    68.2. Boer War (1899-1902) resettlement operations for counterinsurgency
    68.3. The Malayan Emergency (1948-55) counterinsurgency (COIN) program
  Chapter 69. Vietnam's Strategic Hamlet counterinsurgency (COIN) program
    69.1. Mixed success of strategic hamlet program
  Chapter 70. Military coup and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem
    70.1. Eruption of Buddhist-Catholic conflict (summer 1963)
    70.2. Rise of antiwar activism and assassination of Diem (1963)
    70.3. Summary: Kennedy's two acts of sabotage of the Vietnam War effort
    70.4. Sabotage of the Strategic Hamlet program by Hanoi
  Chapter 71. Why did the Strategic Hamlets program fail?
    71.1. Ethnic and linguistic purity in Malaya and Vietnam
    71.2. Ethnic and linguistic purity in Boer War
    71.3. Counterinsurgency operations in Iraq War and Afghanistan War
    71.4. Ethnic and linguistic purity issue in Afghanistan
  Chapter 72. Lyndon Johnson's war (1964-1967)
    72.1. Battle of Ia Drang (November 14-18, 1965)
    72.2. Chaos in Saigon -- Buddhists vs Catholics
    72.3. Was the war already lost in 1964?
    72.4. Lyndon Johnson's 'limited war' escalation
    72.5. Tet Offensive, January 1968
    72.6. The My Lai Massacre (March 16, 1968)
    72.7. Korean soldiers in Vietnam war
  Chapter 73. Nguyen Van Thieu and the Second Republic of Vietnam (1967-1975)
    73.1. Creation of the Second Republic (1967)
    73.2. American policy mistakes in Vietnam
    73.3. Problems facing Richard Nixon
    73.4. Nixon's 'Vietnamization' policy
    73.5. The Cambodia incursion
    73.6. The Paris Peace Agreement - October 1972
    73.7. The collapse of South Vietnam
    73.8. Le Duan's victory speech (May 15, 1975)


Part XIV. Vietnam - Cambodia - China war (Third Indochina War, 1975-1989)
  Chapter 74. Overview of the so-called 'Vietnam War'
  Chapter 75. Richard Nixon's 'decent interval' policy
  Chapter 76. North Vietnamese post-war massacres and boat people (1975-85)
  Chapter 77. Pol Pot and the Cambodian 'Killing Fields' by the Khmer Rouge
    77.1. Rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia
    77.2. Pol Pot's Killing Fields -- one of the worst genocides of the 20th century
    77.3. War between Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge (supported by the Chinese Communists)
    77.4. Cambodia invades Vietnam (1977)
    77.5. Hanoi attacks the Chinese population in Vietnam (1978)
    77.6. Collapse of Vietnam's economy (1978)
    77.7. History of China and Russia wars and border conflicts
    77.8. Vietnam invades Cambodia
    77.9. China invades Vietnam (1979-89)
    77.10. Le Duan dies and Vietnam opens its markets - Doi Moi (1986)


Part XV. References lists
  Chapter 78. Reference list of names for Vietnam
  Chapter 79. Reference list of Vietnam's dynasties
  Chapter 80. Reference list of 54 Vietnamese Ethnic Groups
    80.1. Eight categories of Vietnamese ethnic groups
    80.2. Alphabetical list of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups
  Chapter 81. Reference list of China's dynasties


Part XVI. Histories of Vietnam's neighbors
  Chapter 82. History of Philippines
    82.1. China's history with the Philippines
    82.2. Ancient history of the Philippines
    82.3. Philippines Spanish colonial period (1521-1898)
    82.4. Philippines under American control (1898-1946) and Japanese occupation (1941-45)
    82.5. Modern generational history of the Philippines republic
  Chapter 83. Brief generational history of Cambodia
  Chapter 84. Brief generational history of Thailand
  Chapter 85. Brief generational history of Myanmar (Burma)


Part XVII. The End
  Chapter 86. About John J. Xenakis
    86.1. Acknowledgments


Part XVIII. Footnotes / References

Copyright © 2002-2021 by John J. Xenakis.