Play marking King Tran Nhan Tong’s entry into Nirvana presented in Hanoi

The production is expected to chart a new path, bringing traditional arts closer to younger audiences while promoting the cultural, historical, and enduring values of the nation.

The circus–cai luong production "King Tran Nhan Tong" aims to mark the 717th anniversary of Emperor-Monk Tran Nhan Tong’s passing into Nirvana; the Vietnam Circus Federation and the Vietnam National Traditional Theater announced a press conference held on December 17.

According to People’s Artist Tong Toan Thang, the “King Tran Nhan Tong” play is a large-scale artistic project, marking the third time circus arts have been combined with cai luong (Southern reformed opera). Unlike conventional historical productions that tend to be in an academic way, this work was conceived from the outset as a production aimed at younger audiences, including school and university students as well as tourists accustomed to fast-paced, visually driven forms of storytelling.

Choreographer Tuyet Minh described the production as akin to condensing a voluminous epic into a concise documentary, rich in imagery and enhanced by modern visual effects.

The production offers a comprehensive portrayal of the life of Buddhist Emperor Tran Nhan Tong, from his birth and coming of age to his ascension to the throne, his leadership of Dai Viet’s forces to victory against the Mongol–Yuan invaders, and his later journey of abdication, renunciation, and spiritual awakening as the First Patriarch of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen school.

Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308) was the third king of the Tran Dynasty to practice and propagate Buddhism. He founded the Truc Lam School of Zen 700 years ago. After defeating Mongol invaders, the king abdicated his throne at the age of 35 and spent the rest of his life on Yen Tu Mountain. During that time, the King-Monk worked to unify different sects of Vietnamese Buddhism into Vietnamese Zen Buddhism.