The Khmer are an ethnic minority in Vietnam, an ethnic group with a unique folk culture, including a treasure of folklore quite complete in genre, rich in content and diverse in art. expression art. They love composing and popularizing their creations through daily activities, especially during festivals and traditional religious activities. From there, it shows that the cultural life of the Khmer people, including festivals and religions, has provided the environment and material for the sustainable vitality of Khmer folklore. Regarding religion, most Khmer people in Vietnam follow the beliefs of Theravada Buddhism — Theravada Buddhism. Buddhist philosophies and images of Khmer temples have a very important position in the life and spirit of the Khmer people, and are the sacred attachment of a person's life. And Khmer folklore is also under the illuminating light of Buddhist ethics to perform the function of reflecting different aspects of the socio-economic-cultural life of the Khmer.
From the statistical results of Khmer folklore works, the theoretical basis of folklore and Theravada Buddhism, the author will use Theravada Buddhist philosophies to explain the meaning of the details, the shapes and the details. artistic statues, etc. in the works to generalize into the basic characteristics of Buddhism in Khmer folklore. Through this study, the author hopes to contribute to affirming and preserving the unique cultural values of the Khmer people in Vietnam.
When considering works of folklore, the author determines to study details, artistic images, etc., which contain elements and messages bearing the colors of Theravada Buddhism, both close and at the same time. mystery. The spirit of Buddhism in Khmer folklore is the crystallization of wisdom — culture — religion of the whole Khmer nation over many generations.
The author uses statistical methods to synthesize Khmer folklore works in publications published in Vietnam. This statistical result, in addition to confirming the scientific value of the research, also contributes to the recognition of the magnitude of the Khmer folklore corpus that has been documented in Vietnam, as follows: