Buddhist Philosophy in the Play “The Fateful Ferry Crossing”

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-539-3_49How to use a DOI?

Keywords

The Fateful Ferry Crossing; Crossing the River; Buddhist Philosophy [dào bǐ àn]: “reach the other shore”

Abstract

The Buddha affirmed that all people are equal in suffering and that each individual can walk their own path toward liberation from it; no deity can offer help other than one’s own continuous cultivation of faith, morality, and wisdom on the journey to enlightenment. The play Đến bờ bên kia was adapted by writer Nguyễn Huy Thiệp from his short story Sang sông. It was premiered by Thiên Đăng Theatre on September 12, 2024, under the title Chuyến đò định mệnh, directed by People’s Artist Trần Minh Ngọc.

The Fateful Ferry Crossing is a profoundly humanistic story reflecting the innate goodness of humankind. The play embodies Buddhist philosophy through the image of a ferry crossing from the murky shore to the clear one - an allegory of life and death, reminding us that death is inevitable: to live is to die. Humanity, from its origins in ignorance, journeys through impermanence and non-self to find personal enlightenment.

The ferry serves as a powerful artistic symbol - representing a miniature society filled with various human fates, encompassing all social classes and ages, both good and evil - on their journey to “the other shore”, a concept deeply rooted in the Buddhist philosophy of Dào bǐ àn (crossing to the shore of enlightenment).

This article analyzes the play’s script and performance in comparison with selected Buddhist sources, clarifying the message conveyed by the author through its three acts: Boarding the Ferry - Causality, On the Ferry - Human Nature, and Disembarking - Form and Emptiness. The Fateful Ferry Crossing, as a metaphorical passage across the river, offers an insightful reflection on life and humanity through the lens of Buddhist philosophy.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Do Lenh Hung Tu
AU  - Vo Thi Yen
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/17
TI  - Buddhist Philosophy in the Play “The Fateful Ferry Crossing”
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Culture and Humanity in the Era of Rising and Integration (ICDHV 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 726
EP  - 736
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-539-3_49
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-539-3_49
ID  - Tu2026
ER  -