THE SENSE OF ZEN IN NGUYEN TRAI’S POETRY

Abstract

Nguyen Trai is one of the few great authors of classical Vietnamese literature. He was also an outstanding diplomat, a talented military strategist, a great cultural figure, and was honored by the world as a cultural celebrity. Although he was originally a Confucian, his poetry and thought not only expressed Confucian thought but also the thought of Zen Buddhism and Lao Trang.

As for the sense of Zen in Nguyen Trai's poetry, researchers have mentioned it, but have not gone into depth to explain the reasons. Based on two collections of poems, Uc Trai poetry collection and Quoc am poetry collection, this article presents the feelings of Zen in his poetry.