A fact from Buddhist temples in Huế appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 26 February 2008, and was viewed approximately 1,907 times (disclaimer) (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:
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The article doesn't mention what happen to these temples after the end of the war. They are still hotbeds of Buddhist political activism. In 1992-1993, large public protests again flared in Hue against the communist government [1][2]. DHN (talk) 08:13, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Righto. I didn't know that. It wasn't in my sources, but then again Buddhism Today was inside VN so they would probably refrain from bagging the VCP. Teh bit about the riot outside Thien Mu was from lonely planet. Having said that, there were stacks of history books about the Buddhist crisis - a lot more than the minor protests. Blnguyen (vote in the photo straw poll) 08:16, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
They were hardly minor protests. I remember hearing the state media denouncing the "crazy monks" back then, and I think I read recently on the BBC that the recent Catholic protests in Hanoi were the largest since the Hue protests in 1993. DHN (talk) 08:20, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I can't say I was too knowledgable about these protests, I had never heard of them, but surely there weren't 5000 people in the street and running battles between the civilians and the cong an. Or the political circus that occurred with Diem. Did they have martial law, army raids and stuff like that. And of course, communist media in VN, PRC etc are always rather vociferous and rather emotive when talking about "reactionaries" - ie, anyone who disagrees with them. Anyway, what happened in Hanoi with Catholic protests? Blnguyen (vote in the photo straw poll) 08:24, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Read the "Confrontations with the Government, 1992-1993" section in the HRW link for more info on those protests. For info on the Catholic protest, see [3] (the Buddhists are now getting involved). DHN (talk) 08:27, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I see. I guess the reason the protests didn't have a big international impact is because the VCP weren't stupid enough to shoot the protestors in broad daylight. They might be quietly sent to jail though. The Buddhist crisis was front page news in its day. Blnguyen (vote in the photo straw poll) 08:39, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I remember seeing footage of the protests on TV, even the overturned burning car (I was staying at a rich relative's house for the summer). Four of the monks were sentenced to 4 years in jail [4]. DHN (talk) 08:57, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Also, self immolations are quite (relatively) common in Vietnamese Buddhism. There were a lot before the Diem days, and also, In Sydney in 2002, a monk that I knew did it. Not for any protest, he just decided to move on. Also, quite a few monks burn off a finger or two and place it on an altar to remind themselves to keep their vows and such. Blnguyen (vote in the photo straw poll) 08:19, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
There are apparently many Korean Buddhist films of the 1970s that depict monks "moving on" in this manner, a tradition that continues to the present day. Badagnani (talk) 08:25, 26 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
