THE BUDDHISM CULTURAL HERITAGE IN THE CULTURAL LIFE OF VIETNAMESE PEOPLE

Purpose: This research focuses on analyzing how did Buddhism creates heritages, how did that the Buddhism heritage becomes the cultural heritage of the Vietnamese people, how have Buddhist heritage is involved in cultural life, and the contribution of Buddhist cultural heritage to Vietnamese culture. The value of Buddhism’s cultural heritage in the current life of the Vietnamese people. Methodology: It was a qualitative study and data were collected by observation, in-depth interviews; each interview took between 15 – 25 minutes. I have also studied many ancient documents that have valuable, records on the history of Buddhism in Vietnam; the epitaphs are kept in pagodas, temples, communal houses; the books of the history of Vietnam; documents of famous authors studying culture and religion. Main Finding: The results of this study showed, in history and the present, Buddhism holds an important position in the cultural life of Vietnamese people. Today, along with the development of the country, these legacies continue to contribute to the cultural activities of the people through many pagoda festivals and many religious activities, becoming an inseparable part of the cultural life of most Vietnamese people. Implications/Applications: This research can be used as teaching material in universities; in research institutes on religion and culture. It can also serve as a reference for tour guides in the process of introducing visitors to the cultural heritage of Buddhism in Vietnam. Novelty/Originality: This research explores ways to create the cultural heritages of Buddhism, how Buddhism’s cultural heritages become Vietnamese cultural heritages.


INTRODUCTION
Buddhism was spread to Vietnam very early. Regarding the specific time, there is still no historical document to determine the exact time when Buddhism came to Vietnam. There are conflicting theories regarding whether Buddhism first reached Vietnam during the 3rd or 2nd century BCE via delegations from India (Lang, 1974) or during the 1st or 2nd century from China (Giau, 1973;Thu, 2008). Discussing this issue because of the view that in fact, Buddhism in Vietnam was Buddhism in Chinese colors, because Buddhism was spread into China before being spread into Vietnam. In either case, by the end of the second century CE, Vietnam had developed into a major regional Mahayana Buddhist center centering on Luy Lau 1 , northeast of the present-day capital city of Hanoi. Luy Lau was the capital of the Han region of Jiaozhi and was a popular place visited by many Indian Buddhist missionary monks en route to China. The monks followed the maritime trade route from the Indian sub-continent to China used by Indian traders (Giau, 1973).
Buddhism in Luy Lau with the center at Dau pagoda had a significant impact on the thinkers of Lac Viet. "When Buddhism was peacefully introduced into Vietnam, with the compassionate and selfless mindset of Buddhism was quickly absorbed by indigenous people and became the consciousness of the ancient Vietnamese people" (Thuan, 2004, p. 70). Lac Viet nation at that time had a wet rice agricultural civilization, but the state and religious organizations were simple. Meanwhile, that country had always been threatened by Northern enemies (Chinese feudal dynasties) and had risk was invaded. Most likely (Giau, 1973), Buddhism contributed a part in promoting the ideological role of the Vietnamese against the Chineseization 1 Luy Lau was recorded which was an ancient citadel with a history of 2,000 years old, dating back to the Eastern Han Dynasty (Dai Viet Su KyToan Thu, 1697). In today's location in Bac Ninh province, for more than 800 years (from the 2nd century to the Tang dynasty at the beginning of the 9th century AD), Luy Lau was both the headquarters of the northern colonial government and an important center about economic, cultural and religious in Jiaozhi(Dai Viet Su KyToan Thu, 1697), now northern Vietnam and part of South China.To prove Luy Lau's role as the center of Buddhism (Quang& An, 2019), "archaeologists have discovered tile-top heads on which decorated lotus flowers, or human faces, that had who thought these were symbols of Buddhist culture spread directly into Vietnam". "Artifacts like bricks and tiles, or hundreds of brick tombs, prove the life of the mandarins who ruled the Han Dynasty in Jiaozhi" (Quang&An, 2019).
Along with the Ly Dynasty, the Tran Dynasty was one of the most prosperous dynasties in the history of feudal Vietnam, also known as one of the periods when Buddhism truly integrated into the heart of the nation (Lang, 1974). Factors leading to the success of Buddhism in the Tran Dynasty were inseparable from the cause of preserving, building, and defending the fatherland. Buddhism has been penetrating for a long time and, over many centuries, has been adapted to Vietnamese customs, beliefs, and people. Under the Tran Dynasty, Buddhism became the "essence" and integrated into the national culture, speaking in the Buddhism way as "water with milk" (Nguyen, 2019). Many large-scale pagodas, towers were built during this period, such as Pho Minh pagoda, Binh Son tower, BoiKhe pagoda, Thai Lac pagoda, etc. which has still existed to today. The Tran Dynasty formed a Zen sect that was the Truc Lam Zen sect, a very specific sect of Vietnam (Dai Viet Su KyToan Thu, 1697).
After the peak of the reign of the Ly Dynasty and the Tran Dynasty, to the Le Dynasty and the Nguyen Dynasty, Buddhism "gave way" to Confucianism. Buddhism was no longer used by the kings of the Le Dynasty and the Nguyen Dynasty (Giau, 1973). Buddhism returns to its starting point of influencing folk (Thuan, 2004). But it was in this familiar "land" that Buddhism created other values (Lang, 1974). Buddhism was no longer the religion of the court, of kings, it was the religion of the people.
In the process of existence and development in Vietnam, Buddhism has left many tangible and intangible heritages. Many large-scale pagodas that were built under the feudal dynasties of Vietnam still exist today. Many woodblocks of Buddhist scriptures have been recognized by UNESCO as a world document heritage. Many Buddhism festivals have been held every year, especially in the spring (three months after the Vietnamese Lunar New Year) with the participation of thousands of people. The teachings of Buddhism have been "deeply ingrained", "rooted" in the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people. Many famous monks in the history of the nation were worshiped and revered by generations of Vietnamese people. All of these have created a very rich Buddhism heritage, becoming an inseparable part of Vietnamese culture.

Tangible Heritage
The pagodas system: If we go all over Vietnam, we will notice that in any village of Vietnam, there is a Buddhism pagoda. The size of these pagodas is different. There are small-scale pagodas of several thousand meters with two or three buildings, but there are big pagodas of dozens of hectares with hundreds of large and small buildings. There is a special thing, these pagodas are built in areas with very beautiful scenery, and have mountains, rivers or areas with many trees.
Because the Ly and Tran Dynasties were the periods of the devotion of Buddhism, so in Thang Long capital, apart from the architectural system of palaces, multi-storied houses, the Ly Kings had built many Buddhism architectural works that famous as Ngu Hung Thien pagoda (in 1010), Van Tue pagoda (in 1011), Chan Giao Pagoda (in 1024), DienHuu pagoda (in 1049), etc.
Outside Thang Long capital, the court had also built many large-scale, pagodas worship Buddhism such as Phat Tich pagoda, Dam pagoda (Bac Ninh), Ngo Xa pagoda (Nam Dinh), Long Doi pagoda (Ha Nam), Tuong Long tower (Hai Phong), etc. Under the Tran Dynasty, Buddhism continued to develop with many large pagoda architectural such as Pho Minh pagoda and tower (Nam Dinh), Binh Son tower (Vinh Phuc). King Tran Nhan Tong who was the devotion to Buddhism, after leaving the throne and retransmit to his son, specialized in research Buddhism studies and founded the famous Truc Lam Zen school in the history of Vietnam (Quang Ninh province today), etc.
Building the pagoda was an important job for kings, and affecting the whole royal dynasty. Therefore, to build a pagoda, in addition to choosing a good land position (the left side has a blue dragon, the right side has a white tiger, the back of the pagoda relies on the mountain, in front of the temple gate there must be rivers, lakes flowing through it) (Hinh, 1992). The selection of materials to build the pagoda was also very important. Building materials include greenstone (Thanh Hoa province has the best stone), fired bricks (Bat Trang, Gia Lam, Thang Long) (Hanoi today), ironwood (usually perennial). These were important materials to build the pagoda. When the king had the school owner build pagodas, the localities had must be responsible for finding materials to transfer to the capital.
For the second type of pagoda: In the process of establishing the village and since Buddhism was introduced to Vietnam (3rd century BC) (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, 1993), besides the image that to be considered Institutions of the village such as banyan tree, water wharf, communal house yard, almost every village had a temple. Vietnamese proverb wrote "king land, village pagoda", most pagodas belongs to the village community. Building pagodas was always a big deal for the Vietnamese village (Chu, 1960). The pagoda and the village communal house were typical works of the whole village. Not only was architectural work, but the pagoda has been also a symbol of aspiration of the people. After all the busy living, everybody to pagoda feels peaceful and pure in the soul.
Choosing land to build pagodas was often dominated by the concept of Fengshui (Hinh, 1999), to build a pagoda, village people had to choose a good land, a good day, a good time. Good land was a place on the left that was empty or had rivers, lakes, and streams; the right must have a mountain (white tiger). The white tiger mountain (or tiger's hand) on the right is high and thick. Rivers and lakes must be winding, and surround pagodas or in the shape of a lotus flower or dragon-shaped, etc.
The pagodas in villages and communes of Vietnam were usually built with familiar materials such as bamboo, wood, bricks, stone, etc. (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, 1993). But the people often give the pagoda the best materials. Materials, as well as money used for the construction of the temple, have had often donated in all of the people, called "merit." The people of the village believed that they would enjoy happiness, peace, health, etc. from offering materials or money for the construction of the pagoda. On wood pillars without termites, some pagodas etched the names of contributors. Also, these names have had recorded in stone altars or on crockery, porcelain such as incense bowls, vases, lamp platforms, etc. in a long list.
The first day of building the pagodas as well as the inauguration day were all meaningful moments in the life of the people of the Vietnam countryside. There have had a usually special day during these days, such as the village's founding anniversary, the anniversary of the death of a village's tutelary god, the first day of the Lunar New Year, etc.
Vietnamese pagodas were usually not a single building, but an architectural complex, consisting of houses arranged side by side or connected (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, 1993). Depending on the layout of these houses, people divide them into different types of pagodas. However, the village pagoda always has had a temple gate, the main hall worshiping Buddha, the right, and the left is two house blocks. These two house blocks are often used to rest or prepare for Buddha worship during the pagoda's major holidays.
From the perspective of Buddhism art architecture, we see that many pagodas deserve to be honored as typical architectural art relics and lively "museums of sculpture". Vietnamese often say: "The pagoda roof protects the soul of the nation". That shows how important and close the Buddha has been to the people of Vietnam. In each pagoda, there has been a Buddhist worship main house with the system of Buddha statues and Bodhisattvas, each of which has been a complete wooden sculpture, arranged in an order to convey the history of Buddhist thought and teachings. Accordingly, standing in front of the Buddha worship main house, all Buddhists can worship and receive much Buddhist knowledge at the same time. The cultural space of the Buddhism pagoda has been quite standard, systematic and synthesized, an organic attachment between architecture, sculpture, painting and natural landscape (pagoda gate, pagoda yard, the main house is to worship Buddha, ancestral house, bell tower, place of worship for the Mother Goddess, etc). For example, Tay Phuong pagoda, Thach Xa commune, Thach That district, Hanoi has been a complex of 3 parallel houses. In particular, the Tay Phuong pagoda has 72 very special Buddha statues. It can be considered as a museum of sculpture in Vietnam.

Woodblocks of Buddhism Scriptures:
Along with the pagoda and tower architecture, one of the Buddhism heritage to have become a unique heritage of Vietnam that is the woodblocks of Buddhist scriptures. Currently, there has been no full research on the existence of how many woodblocks of Buddhist scriptures exist in Vietnam, so that there cannot fully appreciate the importance and value of this heritage in the history of the nation. However, only need two blocks of the woodblocks of the Buddhist scriptures at Vinh Nghiem Pagoda and Bo Da pagoda showed the great value of it.
The woodblocks are wooden boards reverse engraving used to printing books (Dan, Zhang Xi, 1989). According to many ancient document sources, and opinions of researchers (Woodside, 1988; Tinh, 2015; Hue, 2016); in Vietnam, the method of carving on wood also has a long history, lasting more than a thousand years. The woodblocks that still exist today proved for those statements; that are the woodblocks at Vinh Nghiem Pagoda and Bo Da pagoda (BacGiang province today), the Nguyen Dynasty woodblocks and Truong Luu woodblocks in Ha Tinh (today).
Through actual research at Vinh Nghiem and Bo Da pagodas, the number of woodblocks is very large. In Vinh Nghiem pagoda, the number of woodblocks is nearly 3,000, in Bo Da pagoda the number of woodblocks is nearly 2,000. All of these woodblocks are preserved almost intact. The texts engraved on the woodblocks here were texts of Buddhism scriptures, with the function of transmitting Buddhism scripture from India to Vietnam, including the selected Sutras with quintessential content (Su, 2016). Most of the Buddhism scripture writings reflect the precepts of the Buddha but were expressed in Nom script in the form of six-syllable verses so that it was easy to remember and understand (Chu, 1960). It is easily transmitted from person to person, generation to generation, such as scripture of "Quoc Am NguGioi", "Quoc Am ThapGioi", "UyNghi Quoc Am" and "UyNghi Quoc Ngu", etc. at Vinh Nghiem Pagoda; scripture of "Lang Nghiem Chinh Mach", "Yet Ma Hoi Ban", "Nam Hai KyQuy", etc. at Bo Da pagoda.
To make woodblocks, choosing wood is an important first job (Su, 2016). The "Long Muc" tree, also known as the "ThungMuc" tree, the "Nha Dong Moc" tree (Bang, 1970;Cam, 2006), was distributed in some provinces of Central -Highlands of Vietnam. The tree was soaring, straight, and softwood, like white ivory. According to folk experience, in addition to timber, the "Long Muc" tree was also used as folk medicinal plants; all stems, leaves, roots, and flowers were used as medicine. In particular, the wood of the "Long Muc" tree had been used for carving woodblock prints in feudal times, because of the characteristics of softwood, had not the eyes, not warped, cracked, beautiful, light color, etc. had been suitable for sculpture and printing book. The Book "Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi" (Su, 2016), compiled under the Nguyen Dynasty states that the wood used for woodblock printing was the "Long Muc" tree, the grain was white and shiny like ivory.
The festival of the pagoda is held in the spring (the first 3 months of the year, according to the Vietnamese lunar calendar) (Anh, 2005;Binh, 2005). For Vietnamese agricultural residents, this is a "free time" (farmers do not have to go to the field to work). The Vietnamese proverb said: "Thánggiênglàthángănchơi, thánghaicờbạcthángbahộihè" (January is the month of entertainment, February is to play chess, and March is to go to festivals); so they have time to go to the temple to worship Buddha, pray for peace, health and wealth. Also, to the temple festival to familiarize and make friends. Due to busy yearround work, people do not have time to familiarize themselves and interact with people outside the village, only festivals people have the opportunity to exchange, make friends, especially the young boys and girls. A festival is a place for boys and girls to get acquainted and be able to proceed to marriage. Many have become couples from pagoda festivals. According to Phan KeBinh (2005), the festival in general and the temple festival is where good things have been sublimated.
The literature of Buddhism: Vietnamese Buddhist literature is a part of world Buddhist literature and is also an important component of Vietnamese literature. It is a massive treasure and scale. It is not only massive and massive in content but also extremely rich in genres and languages; it is one of the main sources, the beginning of erudite literature and writing the literature of Vietnam, with the thought of rescue as a special inspiration (Hai, 2002). In terms of genre, Buddhist literature has contributed to national literature with many achievements in the genres of poetry, story, theory, and translation-glossary in both Han and Nom sections (Lang, 1974).
With such a huge and rich treasure, Buddhism literature has contributed a lot of concepts and words enriching the Vietnamese language, and through the process of translating-annotating, compiling, and composing. It has contributed significantly to cultivating the voice, contributing to making Vietnamese a symbolic language that can express aspects of social life and people (Hai, 2002). The concepts of Buddhism are no longer specific within the scope of Buddhism but have come to life, become the voice of the people, and a close material to compose literature and art.
It was not until the Ly and Tran Dynasties that a "Buddhism literature" was present, as some have asserted in an easy (Hai, 2002). With a history of more than two thousand years of development and attachment to the nation, Vietnamese Buddhism has a huge literature and the scale that the sketches are just the first step to introduce it.
At the beginning of the era, in our country, there were classical classics according to Mahayana Buddhist ideology, which was Buddhists received and sent their conception about life when they translated into Vietnamese language and spread in the folk (Giau, 1973;Hinh, 2007;). These sutras not only serve as a guideline in the spiritual-religious life of the Buddhism but also a theoretical basis for Vietnamese Buddhism in the early stages, to establish the powerful Buddhist ideology, and its effects on literature in particular and national culture, in general, are great (Hai, 2002).
Through the development stages of Buddhism (Hai, 2002), meeting the requirements of the times, the important ideologies of Buddhism have been introduced into Vietnam. In that context, many works of translation, commentary, essay, and literary composition were born, many great literary authors also appeared. Especially since the time of King Tran Nhan Tong with the open Buddhist ideology that he advocated, in the general situation, Buddhist literature has entered many areas of the country's life, both on the literary parts Nom and Han script. In particular, Buddhism literature has made a very important contribution to the formation and development of a section of literature written in the national language (Nom script).
Ethical standards, the way of life of Buddhism: The ethics of Buddhism consists of tightly related precepts, norms, and categories (Lang, 1974). Buddhism has built a complete moral system from awareness, reasoning to practice, and its application to build a good lifestyle. Also, Buddhism has built up that kind of virtuous person who is compassionate, happy, In the process of development in Vietnam, Buddhism did not only conveys the beliefs to people but also plays a part in maintaining social morality. In addition to the points that have been consistent with human emotional morality, Buddhism ethics have had also practiced through affection, belief in life, and belief in the teachings. Therefore, Buddhism's ethical sentiments are absorbed by the Vietnamese, forming a spiritual faith within and dominating their behavior in community relations. Due to observing the moral precepts of Buddhism, Vietnamese people have lived and behaved in the right manner, contributing to making society better and better .
Thought and morality of Buddhism: Can affirm the ideology, ethics are the unique intangible heritage of Buddhism. Thought of "Từ bi" (compassion), "Hỉ" (happiness), "Xả" (pardon) of Buddhism are the "medicine" (Bai, 2019) that makes the morale life more transparent, including the Spirituality life of Buddhists before the pressures of life. Hoang Nhu Mai (2014) once remarked: "If the Buddhism precepts are partly imbued to humanity, then society will reduce how many crimes and life will be better and more harmonious".
The Buddhism philosophy of tolerance, peace, improve and prevention of evil has contributed to awakening people's conscience, enabling people to live in peace, kindness, proactively preventing evil and war threats, ethnic and religious conflicts. In a country, the desire to live peacefully in a peaceful country is only realized when life is built on the moral basis of "selflessness", for each individual to become a member of positive and socially responsible.

METHODOLOGY
To search for the materials to write up my article, the author conducted practical surveys in many localities and was directly involved in the worshiping rituals in the Northern, Central, and Southern regions of Vietnam.
Regarding the location in Vietnam, the author surveyed 10 provinces and cities, including Hanoi capital, Hai Phong City, Thai Binh province, Nam Dinh province, Bac Ninh province, Nghe An province, Thua Thien Hue province, Khanh Hoa province, Ho Chi Minh City, and An Giang province.
Regarding ancient bibliographies, the author has studied the Dai Viet Su KyToan Thu book (Complete Annals of Dai Viet), which is a book containing a brief history of Vietnam; documents of famous authors studying Vietnamese culture (Phan KeBinh, Tran Van  The author has interviewed the abbots of the above-mentioned pagodas, the elderly in the village, people who specialize in worship, and many people living in the provinces and cities in which the author conducted the survey.

The Reception and Adaptation of the People
The compatibility between Buddhism values and Vietnamese cultural values: According to researcher Tran Quoc Vuong (2004), religion is a cultural phenomenon, according to the history of birth and maturity, religion is both a product of culture and a component constituent factors of culture. Ngo DucThinh (2014) said that: In the end, every symbolic system of religion and belief is the symbolic system of culture, it contains both the value system of the nation and the expression of the identity and nuances of the nation. In Buddhism, the value system has formed, integrated, and preserved many cultural and artistic phenomena with unique national nuances. If you look at the problem systematically, then it is religion and belief that are the core factors that make up that system (including Buddhism 4 ). And cultural and artistic phenomena are just arising factors. This means that it is impossible to separate the elements of religion, belief, and cultural activities attached. Any kind of religion, belief in its essence is never directed to evil but always encourages to do good, reach beauty, greatness for the sake of oneself and of the community (Ngoc, 2002; . In the minds of Vietnamese people, a pagoda has been a place expressing the philosophy of human life, the spirit of tolerance and harmony in the religious life of the nation (Ngoc, 2002; . The pagoda meets the needs of rural life, eliminating the inequality gap in community activities in the old village. If in the past, most of the rooms in the communal house were for men, seniors, officials to discuss "village affairs", and women were not allowed to participate, the pagoda was the place for the elderly and women and children followed their grandmother and mother to the pagoda. The folk often has said: "children are happy at home, old people are happy at the pagoda". The pagoda in the village has been usually built in a quiet place, maybe in the corner of the village, along with the village or in the center (Lang, 1972). But no matter where it has been located in the village, the pagoda has been still presenting both close and mysterious in the spiritual life of the villagers (Duy, 1999). Therefore, along with the communal house, the pagoda is also a symbol of the village culture, the origin of the national culture. Venerable Thich Tien Dat (2017), abbot of Cu Da pagoda, outside Hanoi, said that Buddhism was introduced into Vietnam from the life of the people, so wherever these have been people, have villages, that place has pagodas. The pagoda has become an indispensable cultural institution of the village people (Hinh, 2007). There is a poet who said: "The pagoda roof protects the soul of the nation and the eternal lifestyle of the ancestors". In folklore, it is often said: "Pagoda is ancestral graves of villagers", so the pagoda is considered to be the ancestral tomb of an entire village, of an entire region. The pagoda is not only a place for spiritual activities, beliefs but also a place to send beliefs and desires of the villagers in life. Buddhism advocates compassion and wisdom, directing people towards the truth, the good, the beautiful so that the pagoda is a support spirituality, morale, culture, etc. of people.
Every lunar New Year and spring comes, pagodas often have been festival. There is a pagoda festival that takes place for three months (Huong pagoda festival), there is a pagoda festival that takes place from 1 to 2 month (Yen Tu pagoda and BaiBinh pagoda festivals) (Anh, 2005). The pagoda festival is a time for all classes of people to come to the Buddha and pray for peace, happiness, health, etc. for their families and themselves. Going to the pagoda at the beginning of the year has long become a beauty in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people.
Many temples, not only worship Buddha but worship Mother Goddess, so the pagoda festival has been a fusion of religious and open beliefs of Vietnamese people. The special thing is that the pagoda festival is usually held together with the same at time traditional festival of the village. Dai DucThich Thong Thuc (2018), who is the head of Na pagoda in Tien Du district, BacNinh province (today), said: The pagoda is not only a place of religious activities for Buddhism but every year, villagers often come to the pagoda ceremony at the beginning of the year. After the ceremony at the communal house, the people went to the pagoda to worship the Buddha.
Interestingly, on the traditional festivals of the village is always the meeting between the Village's Tutelary gods, ie the gods of the village have worshiped in the communal house and the Buddha and Mau worshiped at the pagoda. It is a unique point of Vietnamese Buddhism, of Vietnamese culture, so that it can recognize the position of the temple in the village community of Vietnam (Bien, 1996;Ngoc, 2002;Hinh, 2007). The pagodas and pagoda festivals in the past and present have been being a living entity, helping generations of Vietnamese people to understand and understand more about Vietnamese cultural identity.

The Role of the Constitutional Dynasties of Vietnam
As analyzed above, in the history of Vietnam, some dynasties that worshiped Buddhism, so that the dynasties had many policies to develop Buddhism, namely in the construction of pagodas, casting Buddha statues, "ordination" for the pagoda, appreciating the Zen masters.
The Dai Viet Su KyToan (1697) book states: "In the Year of the Goat (1031) King Ly Thai Tong ordered the building of 950 pagodas in the villages and communes of Dai Viet". The pagoda was built much with the purpose of not only disseminating Buddhism scriptures but also a monastery, a forum for Confucian scholars (Giau, 1973). Many monks are teachers of princes, be a healer for the people, and compose literary works.
There have been many architectural works and sculptures of high artistic value imprinted Buddhist philosophy. The most typical for the Buddhist art at this time are four constructions called "Annam Tu Dai Khi" (Four national treasures of Dai Viet) include: BaoThien tower, Buddha Maitreya statue in Quynh Lam pagoda, Pho Minh cauldron, QuyDien bell. Also, there are many other famous works such as DienHuu pagoda (One Pillar pagoda), Sung Thien Dien Linh tower, Chuong Son tower, etc. All of these heritage sites were ordered by the Kings Ly and Tran Dynasties.
Historically, many famous monks were respected by feudal dynasties. Recognizing the great role of such Buddhist dignitaries, the Ly Dynasty kings, and the Tran Dynasty kings were always looking for ways to respect and enlist their talents into the cause of developing the country. During the Ly and Tran Dynasty, a series of monks were given the title of the "Quoc Su" (The Chaplain) such as Van Hanh, VienChieu, Thong Bien, Vien Thong, and Khong Lo . The main role of the Zen Masters of the Ly and Tran Dynasties was to be effective advisers to help the king understand Buddhism's teachings, also, when necessary, the Zen Masters advised the king on political, diplomatic, military issues and culture (Giau, 1973).  . The fact that the Zen Masters were invited by the king to ask about the discuss the rule of the country, itself was not only pure as a work of promoting Buddhism, derived from the devotion of a believer but rather the erudition and wisdom of the monks helped a lot in solving the difficult problems of running the country of the kings.
In the Le and the Nguyen Dynasties, although Buddhism was no longer "important" as the Ly and Tran dynasties, many kings of the Le and Nguyen dynasties still took actions to support Buddhism. Many pagodas have been newly built or "restored" during this period (Lang, 1974). Many Chinese monks came to the country of "Dang Trong" 5 to successfully evangelize such as VienCanh, VienKhoan, Hung Lien, GiacPhong, PhapBao, Tu Dung, etc. The Zen schools thrived at that time. Truc Lam Zen meditation was restored in the presence of a Vietnamese Zen master who was Huong Hai.
Another thing to mention is that even the Ly and Tran kings themselves were Buddhists. In addition to running the country according to the celestial mandate, the Ly kings also spent time studying Buddhist doctrine, and, they were Buddhists. When the nation needed the ruler, the head of the Government, all the duties and duties, when the peaceful country reigned, they returned to the joy of Buddhism. In the book "ThienUyen Tap Anh"

The Role of Monks and Pagodas
Not only did they act as masters to assist the kings in the affairs of ruling the country, the monks of the Ly and Tran Dynasties were also the "guardians" who helped to build and develop Buddhism (Giau, 1973;Lang, 1974). There has been no denying that Buddhism was respected and supported by kings to have certain advantages to develop, but Buddhism's internal force must also equip itself with the requirements to meet social demands. Having monks ordained "National Masters" is a great advantage for Buddhism to have an opportunity to develop.
Monks of Buddhism with their wisdom and morality also make Buddhism gain the trust of the people and Buddhists. The construction of pagodas in many places by the Ly, Tran, Le, and Nguyen dynasties, supporting the people to become monks, sent envoys to the "North" (China) to ask for sutras, engraving and printing Buddhist scripture, build a house to contain Buddhist scriptures, casting bells, carving statues, etc. had made Buddhist activities at that time very exciting and lively. It was not only meaningful to Buddhism but by the figures of the development, Buddhism has reconciled and entered society as an inseparable entity (Lang, 1974), Buddhism, and the harmonious life, the two sides work together for development. Buddhism has also come from life, Buddhism helped life is also helping themselves, life helped Buddhism is also bringing Buddhism to life, to sentient beings.
The pagoda is the base for the activities religion and propagation of Buddhism of monks and nuns (Giau, 1973;Lang, 1974). Everyone, both Buddhists and non-Buddhists can visit the pagoda, listen to sutras, or practice Buddhist rituals. Reading documents on the history of Vietnamese Buddhism (Lang, 1974), it must be acknowledged that the educational role of pagodas in Vietnam has been largely focused on spiritual-moral education rather than social knowledge. It could be said that the Vietnamese Buddhism of the Ly Dynasty and the Tran Dynasty is the most flourishing (Don, 1995). At that time, although Buddhism was considered the state religion, Buddhist education mainly focused on Buddhist morality and spiritual beliefs. Social knowledge was rarely taught to believers except for the few monks who understand Confucianism follow it.
To spread the faith, the Buddha Dharma, and educate the Buddha's teachings, many temples have carved and imprinted Buddhist scriptures, creating woodblock prints of Buddhist scriptures that valuable (Su, 2016). Therefore, the pagodas that have considered centers of culture, also education morality for human, community cultural activities, more than to spread the spirit of compassion, happiness, equanimity, and altruism in life. Except for a small number of Zen masters, including monks and nuns, who could reach high spiritual levels, most Buddhists still practice Buddhism at the house or go to the pagoda (Duy, 1999 Vietnamese Buddhism not only carries within itself the universal essence of Buddhism in the world but is also nationalistic to Vietnamese people. The historical fact has vividly demonstrated that Buddhism has harmonized, supported, and contributed to the building of a stature Vietnamese culture with great achievements in all fields of social life. From customs, traditions, beliefs, rituals, festivals to architecture and sculpture; from history, religion, literature to painting, music, Zen, etc.
In that, we can see that literature, thought and Buddhist temples are areas of great achievements; they have been intimately involved and supporting the spiritual life of Vietnamese people for over 2000 years.
To affirm the role of Buddhism in general and Buddhist cultural heritage in particular in contemporary Vietnamese society, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam -Nguyen Minh Triet(2008) spoke at the opening ceremony of the UN Vesak Celebration in Hanoi: "Vietnam is a multi-religious country where Buddhism is a religion that existed very early, 2000 years ago. Right from the very first day, with the thought of being compassionate and humane, Buddhism has been well received by the Vietnamese people, always accompanying the people with compassion, happiness, and attachment between religion and life, striving for happiness, peace for humans. In all eras, Vietnamese history has always recorded great virtue and great monks helping out and defending the people and nation".

IMPLICATION
It is argued that (1) The most important factor for forming a Buddhism cultural heritage is the role of Zen teachers, especially those who were respected by feudal dynasties; (2) It is necessary to have another important factor for the Buddhism cultural heritage to easily penetrate the cultural life of Vietnamese people and by default become the common culture of all people in this country; (3) It is necessary to further clarify the role of the pagodas (especially the village pagodas) in the cultural life of the villagers of Vietnam.

LIMITATION
This study has only focused on analyzing Buddhism's cultural heritages in the North and Central of Vietnam (Mahayana Buddhist); there are still no conditions to study Buddhism's cultural heritages in the South of Vietnam. This is a major omission, because Theravada Buddhism plays a very important role in the lives of the people of South Vietnam, especially the Khmer in the Mekong Delta provinces of Vietnam.