The An Nam Buddhist Association was officially established in Hue on August 16, 1932, approved by the Royal Decree of King Bao Dai. At first, the Association was called the Association for Research and Practice of Buddhist Doctrines, headquartered at Truc Lam Pagoda. After a period of time, through practical activities and at the request of the Association, on July 15, 1938, the Resident of Central Vietnam Graffeuil signed a decree approving the adjustment of the Association's name to the Association for Research and Practice of Buddhist Doctrines in An Nam, abbreviated as the An Nam Buddhist Association. From here, the Association's headquarters was moved to Tu Dam Pagoda. During the process of revival activities, to adapt to historical circumstances, the name was changed to the Vietnam Buddhist Association.
When did this Association change its name? This question often makes me curious. On my free days, I often go to pagodas hoping to gain enlightenment and search for books about Buddhism in general and Buddhism in Hue to meditate and I came across:
In the book “The Buddhist Revival Movement in Central Vietnam (1932 – 1951)” by author Duong Thanh Mung, published by Da Nang Publishing House in 2018, on page 103 there is a paragraph: “On December 21, 1945, on the occasion of the Annual General Assembly, the core members of the Buddhist Revival Movement in Central Vietnam reached a consensus on changing the name of the An Nam Buddhist Association to the Vietnam Buddhist Association. The re-elected organizational structure of the Association included: President is Venerable Tri Thu, Vice President Phan Van Phuc, Doctrinal Censor is Venerable Tri Quang, Morality Advisor is Venerable Don Hau, Management Advisor Le Van Dinh, Diplomatic Advisor Trang Dinh, Secretary Pham Van Phuc and Vice President Lu Tam. The charter and rules of the Association were approved by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on June 23, 1946”.
Also in this book, on page 125, the above paragraph is repeated, but with a few different words: “On December 21, 1945, on the occasion of the 13th Annual General Assembly, the monks, nuns, and Buddhists reached an agreement to change the name of the An Nam Buddhist Association to the Vietnam Buddhist Association and elected Venerable Tri Thu to hold the position of President”. The author noted this paragraph as a source (Refer to the book Tam Duc (2010) Like a floating cloud - the life of the Great Elder Venerable Thich Don Hau, published by That Chung Mon Do in the US.
Although the two paragraphs above have slightly different meanings, they both agree that December 21, 1945, was the day the name "An Nam Buddhist Association" was changed to "Vietnam Buddhist Association".
The same content is also written in the book "Vietnamese Buddhism accompanies the nation", by Associate Professor, Dr. Le Cung (Editor-in-Chief), Hue University Publishing House, published in 2022, page 169, with a passage: "In the Central region, after the August Revolution in 1945, the country became independent, Vietnamese Buddhism was no longer bound by foreign powers, so "the Association did not operate under the ironic name of the An Nam Buddhist Association". Therefore, in June 1948, the An Nam Buddhist Association changed its name to the Vietnam Buddhist Association, with Layman Chon An Le Van Dinh as President".
Reading the content of a document from the two books above, there is no consensus on the date, month, and year of changing the name of the An Nam Buddhist Association to the Vietnam Buddhist Association. We do not know the exact time.
Recently, in the process of collecting documents from newspapers published in Hue, from 1975 and before to serve the compilation of "History of Thua Thien Hue Press", we have accessed the Viet Nam Tan Bao, edited by Dr. Thai Can, sponsored by the Tran Trong Kim Cabinet, operating as both a newspaper and an official gazette; the first issue was published on March 21, 1945, the last issue was 124, published on August 21, 1945. On page 2 of issue 34 published on May 3, 1945, we found a document/quarterly about the renaming of the An Nam Buddhist Association to the Vietnam Buddhist Association. For readers to have a wide range of reference, we would like to publish the original text of this document:
“The An Nam Buddhist Association, with the purpose of promoting the Dharma and maintaining the Buddhist spirit among the Vietnamese people, was established over 12 years ago, and is still called the An Nam Buddhist Association. Now that the country is independent, the Association has asked for permission and has been granted permission by the Vietnamese Government to change the word An Nam to the word Vietnam, according to letter No. 1201, dated March 15, the 20th year of Bao Dai, from the Ministry of the Interior (Vietnam Tan Bao, No. 34, published on May 3, 1945, in Hue).
From now on, the Association takes the name Vietnam Buddhist Association; abbreviated as VINPHOH.
So we would like to announce to all Buddhists and followers.
Chief Executive Officer
Le Dinh Tham".
In our opinion, it is possible that the An Nam Buddhist Association has been approved and recognized by competent state organizations many times to change its name at each congress, but the first time the An Nam Buddhist Association changed to the Vietnam Buddhist Association, we need to base on letter No. 1201 dated March 15, the 20th year of Bao Dai, Gregorian calendar, April 26, 1945, which Viet Nam Tan Bao widely published to have a basis for authenticity.
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