No systematic examination of how Buddhist education began and developed in Vietnam has been hitherto attempted, to the best of my knowledge. The importance of tracing the history of Buddhism in general and Buddhist education in particular is enhanced by the fact that Vietnam is geographically the meeting point of the eastern expansion of Indian culture and the southern expansion of Chinese culture. These two significant cultures met and flourished in Vietnam.

This work on Vietnamese Buddhism from its beginnings through the 20th century provides much evidence requiring Western Buddhologists to radically revise their heretofore accepted time-table for the arrival and development of Buddhism in Vietnam. It provides previously unknown data, details of nomenclature, time, and place, scrupulously gathered from archeological finds and ancient archival records by Vietnamese researchteams. Providing much historical analysis and cultural interpretation along the way, this work carries its project forward through the various royal dynasties and the French colonial period.