Home in exile for Vietnamese Catholics
August 1995
CARTHAGE, Mo. - For 20 years a Roman Catholic order of Vietnamese has flourished in this small southern Missouri town, an exile group kept intact largely because of a bishop's generosity. But the group of more than 200 has never lost sight of its first priority - evangelism in Vietnam.
Every day the priests and brothers pray to rejoin the members of their religious group who are trapped in communist Vietnam. And over 18 years, their prayers and rituals have created the largest annual gathering of Vietnamese in the United States.
More than 50,000 Vietnamese are expected to come to Carthage for a Marian Days celebration that began Thursday and ends this morning with an outdoor Mass. Carthage's population is 11,000.
The Vietnamese visitors come to honor the Virgin Mary, reconnect with their culture and reunite with relatives.
"The main reason we come is to worship Mother Mary," said Quy Nguyen of Overland Park, Kan. "But it is also a reunion for all of the Vietnamese Catholics."
'Mary is our hope'
The priests and brothers, all members of the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, began the four-day celebration 18 years ago.
They believe that Mary helped keep them safe in their escape from Vietnam and that she will help lead them back there.
"Mary is our hope," Brother John Nghi said. "We relied on her for our exodus, and we rely on her to help us with our lives."
"She is human," said Brother Phillip Kha. "She can feel for us, what we feel."
Like the priests and brothers, most who come to the annual Marian Day events are refugees. They fled Vietnam by boat after Saigon fell to communist forces in 1975.
The first Marian Days drew about 1,500 people. The next year 4,500 came, then 6,000, then 8,500. Since 1986, the numbers have surpassed 40,000.
"We never thought it would grow into this," said Nghi.
A city of tents was erected Thursday, with tarps, ropes and plastic awnings intertwining on nearly every open spot of the order's 30 acres. Wooden arrows painted with city names point out the camp sites. Chicago, Albuquerque, Memphis, Denver, New Orleans, Fort Worth. Every state is represented, the brothers said.
Only teen-agers, most of whom were born in the United States, tend to converse in English. Older visitors speak Vietnamese.
Sixteen Masses are said over the course of the four-day celebration. Thursday, a reverent silence fell over the crowd of more than 5,000 as an opening Mass took place at dusk. The most noticeable movements were of the cool worshipers in the humid, 85-degree air.
Second exodus
Communion was given by more than 60 priests who fanned out into the crowd. The people formed a procession after the Mass, following the priests and carrying paper lanterns with lighted candles. Slowly the crowd filled the courtyard surrounding a 7-ton, 33-foot-tall statue of Mary holding Jesus. A third figure, representing the Vietnamese boat people, is carved at Mary's feet.
More than 170 members of the Co-Redemptrix order left Vietnam by boat in 1975. It was the second exodus for the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, which began in 1953 in North Vietnam.
The order was forced to move to South Vietnam in its first year of existence because of religious persecution by the communists, Nghi said.
Although the majority of people in Vietnam are Buddhist, the order had grown to about 624 by 1975, according to the order's history.
Only about 170 of the brothers and priests made it out of the country before the communists took control of Saigon. Once in the United States, they settled on land formerly owned by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, thanks to the intervention of Bishop Bernard Law, now a cardinal in Boston.
Showing posts with label Religion n Beliefs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion n Beliefs. Show all posts
Ancient customs show durability of old ways in modern Vietnam
Ancient customs show durability of old ways in modern Vietnam
by Kristin Huckshorn, Mercury News Vietnam Bureau, 3/1996
On a recent morning, exactly at 4 a.m., Nguyen Danh Hoa slung a shovel over one shoulder and strode through dense mist into a graveyard. I followed, curious to witness an ancient custom that demonstrates the durability of old ways in modern-day Vietnam.
"This is a job that you do from the heart," explained the 44-year-old Hoa, a North Vietnamese soldier during the Vietnam War. "If you don't have a strong love for this, you can't do it."
Hoa is what is called a "happy burial" gravedigger. It is his job to dig up, wash and arrange bones of the dead for a final burial among ancestors in their home village. Although more popular in the north, this custom is observed throughout Vietnam. It apparently has not been transplanted to the United States.
These second burials, three years after a person died and was buried, usually take place at night, at a time selected by a fortuneteller. "The dead person belongs to the negative world, the world of the night," said Hoa. "The sunlight belongs to a separate world."
On this particular early morning, the sisters of a man named Kim had come to this cemetery on Hanoi's outskirts for their brother's exhumation. He died in 1993 at age 61, and his skeletal remains were ready for their happy burial.
As Hoa dug to unearth the coffin, the two sisters kept a graveside vigil-burning incense and chanting Buddhist prayers.
From the coffin, Hoa lifted handfuls of bones into a pail. When he had finished, Kim's nephews lit a small fire. Into the pyre they placed a set of men's clothing, all made of paper-pants, a shirt, sandals and a paper pith helmet. Kim's sister explained that her brother could wear these new clothes on the journey to his final resting place in Nam Ha province, the home of his ancestors.
Washing the bones
Our small band walked back through the mist to an open-air, concrete shell lined with sinks. Here, Hoa hand-washed each pungent bone, then arranged the bones in a ceramic box the size of a small orange crate lined with gold paper.
Relatives believe that bones must be stacked in an order resembling that of the human skeleton. To perfect their ability as arrangers, gravediggers like Hoa undergo a one-year apprenticeship.
After fitting Kim's bones into the box, Hoa swaddled them in more gold paper and tissue as if tucking in a baby. "We want to make him comfortable," he said. Hoa left the eye sockets of the skull uncovered "so that he can see everyone and meet the new underground landlord," Hoa said.
Kim's family loaded the box of bones into a van that would take them to Nam Ha, south of Hanoi. Hoa trotted back into the graveyard to keep a 6 a.m. appointment with another family.
Such rituals clash with my image of a communist country dashing headlong toward capitalism and modernization. But they remind me that, even as many people here rush to learn English idioms and purchase Honda motorbikes, they cling to traditions that bind them to the past.
A friend who has given birth to a baby girl warns me to remark on the infant's ugliness when I first see her, lest a compliment bring bad luck.
Virgins for carrying
A friend who was married last week had hunted for six women to carry ceremonial plates of food to the house of his bride-to-be for the official "asking and engagement." The women had to be virgins.
And recently I bought the requisite wreath and three packages of incense joss sticks for the funeral of a man I knew well.
Nguyen Hai Son, 39, was the personable deputy director of the Foreign Ministry office that supervises visiting journalists. He was the first official I met when I arrived in 1994. In a country where the common response from most officials is "No," he was an uncommon man.
Others cited rules and put up barriers to traveling and reporting. Hai Son sought solutions. No approval for a visit ? "Go as a tourist," he would suggest with a wink. "Just don't tell them I said so."
He crashed on a motorcycle and died alone in a hospital morgue, shunted there, still breathing, by doctors who decided his head injury rendered him a hopeless case.
To his funeral the next day, my husband and I brought a wreath shaped like a large shield and covered with yellow, red and orange flowers-the identical wreath brought by everyone else.
Arriving at the funeral hall, we were given inch-square pieces of black ribbon to pin to our clothes.
Expressing sympathy
Our names were announced. We walked into the hall with our wreath. A videographer taped our entrance. A had heard at other funerals here.
My husband was handed three incense sticks to place in a jar on an altar at the foot of the coffin. I put an envelope with money for Hai Son's children on the altar, along with the three packages of incense-an odd number for luck.
We circled the coffin to express our sympathies to the family. His wife and two daughters were swathed in traditional ghostly white gauze.
After two hours of such entrances, Hai Son's coffin was carried to a truck. Family members began to shriek and wail-an outpouring that seemed more honest to me than the Jackie Kennedy-like composure many Americans have grown to expect from grieving relatives.
The truck, covered with wreaths and carrying the coffin and Hai Son's family, led a caravan through Hanoi. We stopped twice-once at Hai Son's mother's house, once at his own. The family scattered slips of paper along the route so that Hai Son could find his way home.
Outside Hanoi, amid rice paddies, the caravan arrived at the crematorium. Today, unlike Kim, more people are being cremated-something the government encourages because land is at a premium. But the overwhelming majority of Vietnamese still bury their dead.
At the crematorium, mourners crowded into a sterile, white room. A television monitor suddenly switched on, displaying the opening to a back room oven that resembled a wood-burning pizza oven. White-suited attendants appeared on the monitor. They set the coffin on a conveyor belt.
As we watched the monitor, the coffin rolled into the oven.
Arriving back in Hanoi, I went to a downtown pagoda where I was scheduled to give an English lesson. Following the custom of burning fake money for people to use in the afterlife, I bought a stack of phony $100 bills from an old woman selling offerings on the sidewalk.
Reporters often complained to Hai Son that his office charged visiting journalists exorbitant fees for assistance. I put the paper money in the temple's naming pit and told Hai Son it was the last cash he would get from me.
I knew he would enjoy the joke.
by Kristin Huckshorn, Mercury News Vietnam Bureau, 3/1996
On a recent morning, exactly at 4 a.m., Nguyen Danh Hoa slung a shovel over one shoulder and strode through dense mist into a graveyard. I followed, curious to witness an ancient custom that demonstrates the durability of old ways in modern-day Vietnam.
"This is a job that you do from the heart," explained the 44-year-old Hoa, a North Vietnamese soldier during the Vietnam War. "If you don't have a strong love for this, you can't do it."
Hoa is what is called a "happy burial" gravedigger. It is his job to dig up, wash and arrange bones of the dead for a final burial among ancestors in their home village. Although more popular in the north, this custom is observed throughout Vietnam. It apparently has not been transplanted to the United States.
These second burials, three years after a person died and was buried, usually take place at night, at a time selected by a fortuneteller. "The dead person belongs to the negative world, the world of the night," said Hoa. "The sunlight belongs to a separate world."
On this particular early morning, the sisters of a man named Kim had come to this cemetery on Hanoi's outskirts for their brother's exhumation. He died in 1993 at age 61, and his skeletal remains were ready for their happy burial.
As Hoa dug to unearth the coffin, the two sisters kept a graveside vigil-burning incense and chanting Buddhist prayers.
From the coffin, Hoa lifted handfuls of bones into a pail. When he had finished, Kim's nephews lit a small fire. Into the pyre they placed a set of men's clothing, all made of paper-pants, a shirt, sandals and a paper pith helmet. Kim's sister explained that her brother could wear these new clothes on the journey to his final resting place in Nam Ha province, the home of his ancestors.
Washing the bones
Our small band walked back through the mist to an open-air, concrete shell lined with sinks. Here, Hoa hand-washed each pungent bone, then arranged the bones in a ceramic box the size of a small orange crate lined with gold paper.
Relatives believe that bones must be stacked in an order resembling that of the human skeleton. To perfect their ability as arrangers, gravediggers like Hoa undergo a one-year apprenticeship.
After fitting Kim's bones into the box, Hoa swaddled them in more gold paper and tissue as if tucking in a baby. "We want to make him comfortable," he said. Hoa left the eye sockets of the skull uncovered "so that he can see everyone and meet the new underground landlord," Hoa said.
Kim's family loaded the box of bones into a van that would take them to Nam Ha, south of Hanoi. Hoa trotted back into the graveyard to keep a 6 a.m. appointment with another family.
Such rituals clash with my image of a communist country dashing headlong toward capitalism and modernization. But they remind me that, even as many people here rush to learn English idioms and purchase Honda motorbikes, they cling to traditions that bind them to the past.
A friend who has given birth to a baby girl warns me to remark on the infant's ugliness when I first see her, lest a compliment bring bad luck.
Virgins for carrying
A friend who was married last week had hunted for six women to carry ceremonial plates of food to the house of his bride-to-be for the official "asking and engagement." The women had to be virgins.
And recently I bought the requisite wreath and three packages of incense joss sticks for the funeral of a man I knew well.
Nguyen Hai Son, 39, was the personable deputy director of the Foreign Ministry office that supervises visiting journalists. He was the first official I met when I arrived in 1994. In a country where the common response from most officials is "No," he was an uncommon man.
Others cited rules and put up barriers to traveling and reporting. Hai Son sought solutions. No approval for a visit ? "Go as a tourist," he would suggest with a wink. "Just don't tell them I said so."
He crashed on a motorcycle and died alone in a hospital morgue, shunted there, still breathing, by doctors who decided his head injury rendered him a hopeless case.
To his funeral the next day, my husband and I brought a wreath shaped like a large shield and covered with yellow, red and orange flowers-the identical wreath brought by everyone else.
Arriving at the funeral hall, we were given inch-square pieces of black ribbon to pin to our clothes.
Expressing sympathy
Our names were announced. We walked into the hall with our wreath. A videographer taped our entrance. A had heard at other funerals here.
My husband was handed three incense sticks to place in a jar on an altar at the foot of the coffin. I put an envelope with money for Hai Son's children on the altar, along with the three packages of incense-an odd number for luck.
We circled the coffin to express our sympathies to the family. His wife and two daughters were swathed in traditional ghostly white gauze.
After two hours of such entrances, Hai Son's coffin was carried to a truck. Family members began to shriek and wail-an outpouring that seemed more honest to me than the Jackie Kennedy-like composure many Americans have grown to expect from grieving relatives.
The truck, covered with wreaths and carrying the coffin and Hai Son's family, led a caravan through Hanoi. We stopped twice-once at Hai Son's mother's house, once at his own. The family scattered slips of paper along the route so that Hai Son could find his way home.
Outside Hanoi, amid rice paddies, the caravan arrived at the crematorium. Today, unlike Kim, more people are being cremated-something the government encourages because land is at a premium. But the overwhelming majority of Vietnamese still bury their dead.
At the crematorium, mourners crowded into a sterile, white room. A television monitor suddenly switched on, displaying the opening to a back room oven that resembled a wood-burning pizza oven. White-suited attendants appeared on the monitor. They set the coffin on a conveyor belt.
As we watched the monitor, the coffin rolled into the oven.
Arriving back in Hanoi, I went to a downtown pagoda where I was scheduled to give an English lesson. Following the custom of burning fake money for people to use in the afterlife, I bought a stack of phony $100 bills from an old woman selling offerings on the sidewalk.
Reporters often complained to Hai Son that his office charged visiting journalists exorbitant fees for assistance. I put the paper money in the temple's naming pit and told Hai Son it was the last cash he would get from me.
I knew he would enjoy the joke.
Archbishop in exile
Archbishop in exile
by Bruce Nolan, San Jose Mercury News 05/18/96
New Orleans - As a prisoner of the communists, the former archbishop of Saigon celebrated Masses on the palm of his hand with crumbs of bread and drops of wine, wrote a book that he smuggled out page by page and was forced to confront the Christian mandate to love his enemies. "I had nothing, but I was rich," Archbishop Francis Xavier Thuan Van Nguyen told Catholic seminarians here at Notre Dame Seminary earlier this month. "I had the love of Christ to offer my guards."
In 13 years in prison-nine in solitary confinement- Nguyen, now 68, "contaminated" his guards by refusing to hate, he told the seminarians. In return for his gifts of tutoring and satisfying their odd appetite to learn Latin hymns, they allowed him pencil and paper and looked the other way as he carved the small wooden cross he still wears at his breast, hung from a handmade chain of electrical wire.
Exiled from Vietnam after his release in 1988, Nguyen works in Rome for a Vatican office promoting peace and justice. He was in New Orleans to speak at the seminary's commencement and to meet with Vietnamese-Americans here -hero to many of them. "Older people remember him and respect him. Even middle-aged people and children know him through his book, which is widely circulated through the Vietnamese community," said the Rev. Joachim Hien of Spokane, Wash., president of the Federation of Vietnamese Catholics of the USA.
"For Vietnamese people he is a symbol of unity and strength and trust in the Lord, especially in his liberating power." Much of that spirit is in "The Road of Hope," a series of reflections Nguyen scribbled on the backs of old calendars and smuggled out with the help of a small boy. For that book, and two others he wrote in prison, Human Rights/Asia Watch honored Nguyen last year for his courage in response to persecution.
At 47, Nguyen was one of the youngest bishops in Vietnam when the Vatican appointed him deputy archbishop of Saigon a week before the capital fell to communist tanks in the spring of 1975. Because Nguyen was the nephew of deposed South Vietnamese dictator Diem Dinh Ngo, the victors saw the appointment as an attempt by departing Western forces to booby-trap the new regime by planting an opposition figure in its midst.
Four months later Nguyen was called to the presidential palace and arrested on the spot. He disappeared without charge into a succession of distant prisons and rural re-education camps until his release in 1988.
Nguyen recounted hungers so deep he and fellow prisoners ate raw herbs in the fields where they found them. He experienced at times such spiritual disorientation that "Ave Maria"-"Hail, Mary"-was the only prayer he could manage. But prison was made livable, he said, because prisoners were able to maintain some community of faith, smuggling bits of consecrated hosts among themselves at the mandatory indoctrination sessions.
Five years after his release, the Vatican tried to reappoint Nguyen archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnamese government, which asserts veto power over all church appointments, flatly refused, leaving Nguyen to minister to Vietnamese over short-wave radio and by visiting their scattered global communities.
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) is still technically without an archbishop, Nguyen said.
"It's important, I think, fur people to hear his story and to understand the conditions the church faces in some parts of the world," said Monsignor Gregory Aymond, the seminary rector who invited Nguyen to the United States. According to the State Department and human rights groups, the Vietnamese government keeps a chokehold on all religious expression, apparently taking a lesson from the potent marriage of religious sentiment and political opposition that helped the Soviet empire implode.
The Vietnamese government maintains an attitude of frank hostility to Buddhism, the faith of most Vietnamese. It tolerates the Catholic Church only under the most stringent conditions. Catholics represent about 10 percent of Vietnam's 70 million people. The government now permits public worship, according to human rights groups. But Catholic schools are closed, and the state limits the number of seminarians who can be trained, approves priests' assignments and censors sermons.
Still, Nguyen said, that represents some improvement. Moreover, the church understands that those strictures, though difficult, are more easily borne than its experience in China, where it is almost cut off from its people. Nguyen said he accepts his exile as he learned to accept prison. He almost certainly will never live in Vietnam again.
But in an interview in Aymond's office he fingered the prison cross at his breast, now encased in an open frame. As a prisoner he fashioned the cross in a camp near Vinh Phu, not far from the mountain where stood, in Vietnamese legend, the temple of the Hung kings at the dawn of Vietnamese civilization 3,000 years ago.
"I am still near the roots of my homeland," he said.
by Bruce Nolan, San Jose Mercury News 05/18/96
New Orleans - As a prisoner of the communists, the former archbishop of Saigon celebrated Masses on the palm of his hand with crumbs of bread and drops of wine, wrote a book that he smuggled out page by page and was forced to confront the Christian mandate to love his enemies. "I had nothing, but I was rich," Archbishop Francis Xavier Thuan Van Nguyen told Catholic seminarians here at Notre Dame Seminary earlier this month. "I had the love of Christ to offer my guards."
In 13 years in prison-nine in solitary confinement- Nguyen, now 68, "contaminated" his guards by refusing to hate, he told the seminarians. In return for his gifts of tutoring and satisfying their odd appetite to learn Latin hymns, they allowed him pencil and paper and looked the other way as he carved the small wooden cross he still wears at his breast, hung from a handmade chain of electrical wire.
Exiled from Vietnam after his release in 1988, Nguyen works in Rome for a Vatican office promoting peace and justice. He was in New Orleans to speak at the seminary's commencement and to meet with Vietnamese-Americans here -hero to many of them. "Older people remember him and respect him. Even middle-aged people and children know him through his book, which is widely circulated through the Vietnamese community," said the Rev. Joachim Hien of Spokane, Wash., president of the Federation of Vietnamese Catholics of the USA.
"For Vietnamese people he is a symbol of unity and strength and trust in the Lord, especially in his liberating power." Much of that spirit is in "The Road of Hope," a series of reflections Nguyen scribbled on the backs of old calendars and smuggled out with the help of a small boy. For that book, and two others he wrote in prison, Human Rights/Asia Watch honored Nguyen last year for his courage in response to persecution.
At 47, Nguyen was one of the youngest bishops in Vietnam when the Vatican appointed him deputy archbishop of Saigon a week before the capital fell to communist tanks in the spring of 1975. Because Nguyen was the nephew of deposed South Vietnamese dictator Diem Dinh Ngo, the victors saw the appointment as an attempt by departing Western forces to booby-trap the new regime by planting an opposition figure in its midst.
Four months later Nguyen was called to the presidential palace and arrested on the spot. He disappeared without charge into a succession of distant prisons and rural re-education camps until his release in 1988.
Nguyen recounted hungers so deep he and fellow prisoners ate raw herbs in the fields where they found them. He experienced at times such spiritual disorientation that "Ave Maria"-"Hail, Mary"-was the only prayer he could manage. But prison was made livable, he said, because prisoners were able to maintain some community of faith, smuggling bits of consecrated hosts among themselves at the mandatory indoctrination sessions.
Five years after his release, the Vatican tried to reappoint Nguyen archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnamese government, which asserts veto power over all church appointments, flatly refused, leaving Nguyen to minister to Vietnamese over short-wave radio and by visiting their scattered global communities.
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) is still technically without an archbishop, Nguyen said.
"It's important, I think, fur people to hear his story and to understand the conditions the church faces in some parts of the world," said Monsignor Gregory Aymond, the seminary rector who invited Nguyen to the United States. According to the State Department and human rights groups, the Vietnamese government keeps a chokehold on all religious expression, apparently taking a lesson from the potent marriage of religious sentiment and political opposition that helped the Soviet empire implode.
The Vietnamese government maintains an attitude of frank hostility to Buddhism, the faith of most Vietnamese. It tolerates the Catholic Church only under the most stringent conditions. Catholics represent about 10 percent of Vietnam's 70 million people. The government now permits public worship, according to human rights groups. But Catholic schools are closed, and the state limits the number of seminarians who can be trained, approves priests' assignments and censors sermons.
Still, Nguyen said, that represents some improvement. Moreover, the church understands that those strictures, though difficult, are more easily borne than its experience in China, where it is almost cut off from its people. Nguyen said he accepts his exile as he learned to accept prison. He almost certainly will never live in Vietnam again.
But in an interview in Aymond's office he fingered the prison cross at his breast, now encased in an open frame. As a prisoner he fashioned the cross in a camp near Vinh Phu, not far from the mountain where stood, in Vietnamese legend, the temple of the Hung kings at the dawn of Vietnamese civilization 3,000 years ago.
"I am still near the roots of my homeland," he said.
The Coconut Monk
The Coconut Monk
By Vu Trinh, Vietnam magazine, 1974
Phoenix Island, S. Vietnam. On a floating pagoda near this lush island on the great Mekong River there lives a strange man with many names and hundreds of followers. He is known to some as Cau Hai (Uncle Hai) and the Prophet of Concord. Others regard him as one of the world's unique living tourist attractions. Most everyone who has heard of him knows him as Dao Dua, or the Coconut Monk.
Followers regard him as a saint, or at least a holy man. Detractors regard him as a crank, an impostor or a mad monk. In the past he has invited world leaders to the conference hall on his floating Christian-Buddha pagoda to settle the problem of peace in Vietnam. His airy abode is located near My Tho in the Mekong Delta, about two hours by car from Saigon over a good highway, but world leaders haven't shown up yet. When the Paris Accord was announced in 1973, the Coconut Monk invited the Joint Military Commission to his conference hall so that "peace will come three hours later." The helipad on his sunny pagoda was ready to receive the JMC helicopter with American, Communist and Saigon dignitaries, but for undisclosed reasons the Joint Military Commission did not arrive.
The Coconut Monk, appearances notwithstanding, is not the product of an Oriental fairy tale. In fact he is a former well-to-do French-educated engineer. (His floating pagoda is a pleasant and very clever construction). Since his retirement from engineering he has been especially attracted to publicity, Jesus, Buddha and the meat and juice of coconuts. It is believed that he subsists, as a coconut vegetarian, on nothing but coconuts.
Followers
According to an official estimate, the Coconut Monk has 3,516 followers in the Mekong Delta's Dinh Tuong Province. (The estimated Protestant population- there is 3,512). Of his 1,000 disciple monks, most are young "deserters from both sides," according to Dao No, a brown-robed young monk. The floating pagoda is recognized as a sanctuary, and the Government (of Republic South Vietnam) has maintained a hands-off policy. The young monks who leave the pagoda, though, are liable to find themselves exchanging their brown robes for olive-drab fatigues. Most of them seem content to remain here.
The man responsible for it all, the Coconut Monk, was born Nguyen Thanh Nam sixty odd years ago. In 1971, during the national elections, he decided to run for the Presidency of South Vietnam. But he did not make much headway. Today, despite his strange statements, he is allowed complete freedom, so long as he remains on his floating pagoda in the fertile Mekong Delta.
Our press contingent arrived too late for a spoken interview with the Coconut Monk. He observes a daily two-hour period of silence from noon till two o'clock, but will give written replies to questions.
The young brown-robed monk, Dao No, led us to his master. From My Tho we had reached the floating pagoda and Phoenix Island by motorized launch. The green-brown waters of the great Mekong glittered in the tropical sunlight. Aboard the pagoda Dao No guided us through a pop-art maze of towers, pennants, Christian crosses, Buddhist swastikas and colorful ornaments. It resembled a kind of Delta Disneyland with religious overtones.
Thwarted Mission
Dao No informed us that in 1969 the old Coconut Monk set out on a one-man peace mission to Hanoi, by bicycle. He pedaled up through the Mekong Delta, continued north of Saigon and got as far as the highlands, about 300 kilometers from his floating pagoda. In the highlands a tribe of Montagnards intercepted him and he was forced to turn back.
The monk's self-assigned peace mission to Hanoi was thwarted, so he decided to make the trip symbolically. Dao No showed us two towers rising from the floating pagoda. One represents Saigon, the other Hanoi.
"Now in his small world he can go from Saigon to Hanoi."
Dao No said that his master makes these Saigon-Hanoi-Saigon. round trips often.
We arrived in the breezy open air reception room. The wizened little Coconut Monk was sitting on a raised dais designed with dragon motifs of Vietnamese lore. In greeting he thrust an index finger skyward. A humorous sparkle crossed his eyes. In front of him stood a wood carving with huge buffalo horns which he hoped to present as a gift to President Nguyen Van Thieu.
On sheets of paper His Coconutship penciled replies to questions. Dao No agreed that the monk had nothing new to say. To achieve peace and a satisfactory cease-fire it was still necessary for the hostile parties to hold direct negotiations under the Coconut Monk's auspices. But the Prophet of Concord made one concession. He seemed willing to hold the peace parleys within the framework of the Joint Military Cornmission provided by the Paris Accord.
So far, the Joint Military Commission has not announced an appointment with the Coconut Monk.
We asked for details on how peace would come if the Joint Military Commission agreed to convene here beneath the tall painted figures of Jesus and Buddha.
The Coconut Monk picked up his writing pad. Bright pennants fluttered in the Mekong winds on the sunny deck and helipad which is ready to receive a JMC helicopter. In an airy cage to the monk's right a fine-looking baby bear and white-haired ape were co-existing peacefully.
Dao No read the written reply:
"The Coconut Monk has a plan but cannot reveal it yet."
After bidding farewell we left the floating pagoda and coasted by launch past green Phoenix Island and back to the languorous Delta town of My Tho where they serve excellent shrimp and prawns.
By Vu Trinh, Vietnam magazine, 1974
Phoenix Island, S. Vietnam. On a floating pagoda near this lush island on the great Mekong River there lives a strange man with many names and hundreds of followers. He is known to some as Cau Hai (Uncle Hai) and the Prophet of Concord. Others regard him as one of the world's unique living tourist attractions. Most everyone who has heard of him knows him as Dao Dua, or the Coconut Monk.
Followers regard him as a saint, or at least a holy man. Detractors regard him as a crank, an impostor or a mad monk. In the past he has invited world leaders to the conference hall on his floating Christian-Buddha pagoda to settle the problem of peace in Vietnam. His airy abode is located near My Tho in the Mekong Delta, about two hours by car from Saigon over a good highway, but world leaders haven't shown up yet. When the Paris Accord was announced in 1973, the Coconut Monk invited the Joint Military Commission to his conference hall so that "peace will come three hours later." The helipad on his sunny pagoda was ready to receive the JMC helicopter with American, Communist and Saigon dignitaries, but for undisclosed reasons the Joint Military Commission did not arrive.
The Coconut Monk, appearances notwithstanding, is not the product of an Oriental fairy tale. In fact he is a former well-to-do French-educated engineer. (His floating pagoda is a pleasant and very clever construction). Since his retirement from engineering he has been especially attracted to publicity, Jesus, Buddha and the meat and juice of coconuts. It is believed that he subsists, as a coconut vegetarian, on nothing but coconuts.
Followers
According to an official estimate, the Coconut Monk has 3,516 followers in the Mekong Delta's Dinh Tuong Province. (The estimated Protestant population- there is 3,512). Of his 1,000 disciple monks, most are young "deserters from both sides," according to Dao No, a brown-robed young monk. The floating pagoda is recognized as a sanctuary, and the Government (of Republic South Vietnam) has maintained a hands-off policy. The young monks who leave the pagoda, though, are liable to find themselves exchanging their brown robes for olive-drab fatigues. Most of them seem content to remain here.
The man responsible for it all, the Coconut Monk, was born Nguyen Thanh Nam sixty odd years ago. In 1971, during the national elections, he decided to run for the Presidency of South Vietnam. But he did not make much headway. Today, despite his strange statements, he is allowed complete freedom, so long as he remains on his floating pagoda in the fertile Mekong Delta.
Our press contingent arrived too late for a spoken interview with the Coconut Monk. He observes a daily two-hour period of silence from noon till two o'clock, but will give written replies to questions.
The young brown-robed monk, Dao No, led us to his master. From My Tho we had reached the floating pagoda and Phoenix Island by motorized launch. The green-brown waters of the great Mekong glittered in the tropical sunlight. Aboard the pagoda Dao No guided us through a pop-art maze of towers, pennants, Christian crosses, Buddhist swastikas and colorful ornaments. It resembled a kind of Delta Disneyland with religious overtones.
Thwarted Mission
Dao No informed us that in 1969 the old Coconut Monk set out on a one-man peace mission to Hanoi, by bicycle. He pedaled up through the Mekong Delta, continued north of Saigon and got as far as the highlands, about 300 kilometers from his floating pagoda. In the highlands a tribe of Montagnards intercepted him and he was forced to turn back.
The monk's self-assigned peace mission to Hanoi was thwarted, so he decided to make the trip symbolically. Dao No showed us two towers rising from the floating pagoda. One represents Saigon, the other Hanoi.
"Now in his small world he can go from Saigon to Hanoi."
Dao No said that his master makes these Saigon-Hanoi-Saigon. round trips often.
We arrived in the breezy open air reception room. The wizened little Coconut Monk was sitting on a raised dais designed with dragon motifs of Vietnamese lore. In greeting he thrust an index finger skyward. A humorous sparkle crossed his eyes. In front of him stood a wood carving with huge buffalo horns which he hoped to present as a gift to President Nguyen Van Thieu.
On sheets of paper His Coconutship penciled replies to questions. Dao No agreed that the monk had nothing new to say. To achieve peace and a satisfactory cease-fire it was still necessary for the hostile parties to hold direct negotiations under the Coconut Monk's auspices. But the Prophet of Concord made one concession. He seemed willing to hold the peace parleys within the framework of the Joint Military Cornmission provided by the Paris Accord.
So far, the Joint Military Commission has not announced an appointment with the Coconut Monk.
We asked for details on how peace would come if the Joint Military Commission agreed to convene here beneath the tall painted figures of Jesus and Buddha.
The Coconut Monk picked up his writing pad. Bright pennants fluttered in the Mekong winds on the sunny deck and helipad which is ready to receive a JMC helicopter. In an airy cage to the monk's right a fine-looking baby bear and white-haired ape were co-existing peacefully.
Dao No read the written reply:
"The Coconut Monk has a plan but cannot reveal it yet."
After bidding farewell we left the floating pagoda and coasted by launch past green Phoenix Island and back to the languorous Delta town of My Tho where they serve excellent shrimp and prawns.
Shiva in Saigon
Shiva in Saigon
By Tran My, Vietnam Magazine, 1974
"Come to Vietnam and see an authentic Shiva temple." Sound absurd ?
South Vietnam, everyone knows, is a land of Buddhists, Christians, Confucianists and animists. Shiva reigns in Hindustan. But a wide variety of sects and religions flourish in this country, and Shiva himself is worshipped everyday in Saigon temples. His devotees are both Indians and Vietnamese.
Mariammane Temple
The next time you're in Saigon and want a genuine touch of India without going there, take a taxi or pedicab down to the Central Market and stop at 45 Truong Cong Dinh Street. We did, and found that the crowd of worshippers outside were mostly women. There's a reason for that. Of the three Southern Indian temples in Saigon, this one, Mariammane Temple, is for women.
Sculptured Indian deities, perched high on the facade of the temple, were looking over the Saigon street scene of cyclo drivers, coconut carts, a woman astrologist and kiosks selling beer and soft drinks. Inside the temple was C. Vellaichamy of Madras State, an ash mark between his eyebrows. He stood in a white cotton wasthi, surrounded by his gods and the sensuous, aromatic flavors of burning incense and sacramental malikai flowers.
"Every day about 2,000 people come for prayer, every day," he said. 'Seventy percent are women. " The women we saw were mostly Vietnamese, and they looked devout. They had come for prarthani (prayer) and to worship the virtues of Shiva in his manifold reincarnations. One of these reincarnations included the supreme lingam of the god, potent phallic symbol of fertility and everlasting reproduction. In a scene not unrelated to one of the scenes in D.H. Lawrence's novel, Lady Chatterly's Lover, the women were placing sweet-scented flowers on the immortal organ of Shiva. The ritual seemed very charming, naive and deeply human. It did not smack of the hard, automaton pornography that flourishes in certain urban areas of the modern world today. Vellaichamy stood under a picture of Mahatma Ghandi that was framed and draped with a garland of flowers. "Many beggars also come to Mariammane Temple," he said. Vellaichamy arrived here in 1970 from Southern India. "I am temple accountant. I also buy bananas and coconuts for the gods."
Mariammane temple, named after a very large temple in India, was built by Indian craftsmen about 80 years ago. Of the two other Southern Indian temples in Saigon, the one on Cong Ly Street was built about 100 years ago and the one on Ton That Thiep Street is 60 years old. These two temples are for men. Only Mariammane is ladies' temple.
Advocates of Women's Lib. might find some objectionable images in the temple. Vellaichamy was standing beneath one of them, or rather two of them: The male god, Paramasivam located next to his wife. Parvathi. Parvathi was holding one of their two sons, Murgan. But Paramasivam was decked out far more splendidly than his wife. In addition to a golden trident and a variety of lively green cobras he was equipped with four arms. His wife Parvathi, however, was equipped with fairly plain dress and only two arms.
But the faithIul still come to the temple. Of the more than 1000 Indians in Saigon, many are Muslims who attend the local mosque. Vellaichamy estimates thar 450 are Hindus. This indicates that most of the ladies who come to the gods at Mariammane Temple are Vietnamese or Chinese. They are drawn to the jasmine-scented aura of Shiva, Vishnu and the female entourage that includes the golden-skinned Valambigal, Kanniga, Kammatchi, Amman, the two-armed Andal and Birman, the lady goddess of three faces.
"All Hindus come here. Buddhist people come too, come for the prayer. They like the Mariamane. Indian Muslim donot come because only have one god, named Allah. But Buddhist people, like Hindu, have many gods."
The artistic riot of graven images around the temple bears witness to this polytheistic profusion. The gods are everywhere. The temple, drenched with incense, seems almost drunk with them.
"In Southern India we have many lady gods, many man gods. We have 1,000 temples, 200 gods. Shiva the number one god, main god."
And who was Vishnu and the blue-skinned Krishna?
"Krishna best friend of Shiva. Vishnu same as Krishna, in different form."
The guru of the temple is Vaithinata Iyar, 65 years old. "He comes every morning at 9 o'clock. every evening at 6 o'clock, to lead the prayer."
By Tran My, Vietnam Magazine, 1974
"Come to Vietnam and see an authentic Shiva temple." Sound absurd ?
South Vietnam, everyone knows, is a land of Buddhists, Christians, Confucianists and animists. Shiva reigns in Hindustan. But a wide variety of sects and religions flourish in this country, and Shiva himself is worshipped everyday in Saigon temples. His devotees are both Indians and Vietnamese.
Mariammane Temple
The next time you're in Saigon and want a genuine touch of India without going there, take a taxi or pedicab down to the Central Market and stop at 45 Truong Cong Dinh Street. We did, and found that the crowd of worshippers outside were mostly women. There's a reason for that. Of the three Southern Indian temples in Saigon, this one, Mariammane Temple, is for women.
Sculptured Indian deities, perched high on the facade of the temple, were looking over the Saigon street scene of cyclo drivers, coconut carts, a woman astrologist and kiosks selling beer and soft drinks. Inside the temple was C. Vellaichamy of Madras State, an ash mark between his eyebrows. He stood in a white cotton wasthi, surrounded by his gods and the sensuous, aromatic flavors of burning incense and sacramental malikai flowers.
"Every day about 2,000 people come for prayer, every day," he said. 'Seventy percent are women. " The women we saw were mostly Vietnamese, and they looked devout. They had come for prarthani (prayer) and to worship the virtues of Shiva in his manifold reincarnations. One of these reincarnations included the supreme lingam of the god, potent phallic symbol of fertility and everlasting reproduction. In a scene not unrelated to one of the scenes in D.H. Lawrence's novel, Lady Chatterly's Lover, the women were placing sweet-scented flowers on the immortal organ of Shiva. The ritual seemed very charming, naive and deeply human. It did not smack of the hard, automaton pornography that flourishes in certain urban areas of the modern world today. Vellaichamy stood under a picture of Mahatma Ghandi that was framed and draped with a garland of flowers. "Many beggars also come to Mariammane Temple," he said. Vellaichamy arrived here in 1970 from Southern India. "I am temple accountant. I also buy bananas and coconuts for the gods."
Mariammane temple, named after a very large temple in India, was built by Indian craftsmen about 80 years ago. Of the two other Southern Indian temples in Saigon, the one on Cong Ly Street was built about 100 years ago and the one on Ton That Thiep Street is 60 years old. These two temples are for men. Only Mariammane is ladies' temple.
Advocates of Women's Lib. might find some objectionable images in the temple. Vellaichamy was standing beneath one of them, or rather two of them: The male god, Paramasivam located next to his wife. Parvathi. Parvathi was holding one of their two sons, Murgan. But Paramasivam was decked out far more splendidly than his wife. In addition to a golden trident and a variety of lively green cobras he was equipped with four arms. His wife Parvathi, however, was equipped with fairly plain dress and only two arms.
But the faithIul still come to the temple. Of the more than 1000 Indians in Saigon, many are Muslims who attend the local mosque. Vellaichamy estimates thar 450 are Hindus. This indicates that most of the ladies who come to the gods at Mariammane Temple are Vietnamese or Chinese. They are drawn to the jasmine-scented aura of Shiva, Vishnu and the female entourage that includes the golden-skinned Valambigal, Kanniga, Kammatchi, Amman, the two-armed Andal and Birman, the lady goddess of three faces.
"All Hindus come here. Buddhist people come too, come for the prayer. They like the Mariamane. Indian Muslim donot come because only have one god, named Allah. But Buddhist people, like Hindu, have many gods."
The artistic riot of graven images around the temple bears witness to this polytheistic profusion. The gods are everywhere. The temple, drenched with incense, seems almost drunk with them.
"In Southern India we have many lady gods, many man gods. We have 1,000 temples, 200 gods. Shiva the number one god, main god."
And who was Vishnu and the blue-skinned Krishna?
"Krishna best friend of Shiva. Vishnu same as Krishna, in different form."
The guru of the temple is Vaithinata Iyar, 65 years old. "He comes every morning at 9 o'clock. every evening at 6 o'clock, to lead the prayer."
A brief description of Hoa Hao buddhism
A brief description of Hoa Hao buddhism
Published by HOA HAO BUDDHIST CHURCH, Overseas Office
1. BACKGROUND
In 1939, Prophet Huynh Phu So, a native of Hoa Hao village in Tan Chau district, Chau Doc province, founded Hoa Hao Buddhism. Since then, it has grown rapidly into a major religion. Its influence has spread over the Mekong River Delta which is the Western part of South Vietnam notably n the following provinces: Chau Doc, An Giang, Sa dec, Kien Phong, Vinh Long, Phong Dinh, Chuong Thien, Kien Giang, Ba Xuyen, Bac Lieu, An Xuyen, Dinh Tuong, Long An, Kien Hoa, Kien Tuong, and the capital, Saigon-Gia Dinh.
Prophet Huynh Phu So
The highly fertile area of the Mekong Delta plays a very important part in the agricultural economy of Vietnam. In fact, most of the rice exported come from here, known as the Rice basket of Vietnam.
The Western Area covers an area of 18,850 square kilometers of farm land which yields 3,000,000 tons of rice per year, in addition to fishery and animal husbandry, and various other crops.
South Vietnam, with a total area of 173,260 square kilometers, has about 30,000 square kilometers being farmed. The Western Area where Hoa Hao Buddhism was founded, occupies 60 percent of the total cultivable land of the country.
2. ORIGIN
The mountains of the Western area have been the source of many unexplainable mysteries. The most famous of these are the Sacred Mountains of That Son on the border of Chau Doc and Cambodia.
Since 1849, a living Buddha reverently known as Master Buddha of Tay An made His First appearance on the Sacred Mountain of That Son and began his salvation mission by creating BUU SON KY HUONG Buddhism. About 90 years later, exactly in 1939, also near That Son mountains, another living Buddha, Prophet Huynh Phu So, continued the tradition of Buu Son Ky Huong and founded Hoa Hao Buddhism.
Therefore, although Hoa Hao Buddhism was founded in 1939, it is a continuation of the Buu Son Ky Huong established in 1849. Thus its existence is over a century old.
Both Master Buddha of Tay An and Prophet Huynh Phu So have been revered throughout South Vietnam as two Buddhas coming into the world to save mankind from sufferings. They have also been respectfully regarded as two genuine patriots. (See the Book: Biography and Teachings of Prophet Huynh Phu So.)
3. HOA HAO FOLLOWERS
The total number of Hoa Hao followers is estimated at over two million people representing more than one third the population of the Western Area, or 10 percent of the population of South Vietnam.
In such provinces as Chau Doc, An Giang, Kien Phong, and Sa dec, Hoa Hao Buddhist accounts for 90 percent of the population. In other provinces, this proportion varies from 10 to 60 percent.
In elections in Vietnam, Hoa Hao Buddhists have won the majority of seats. At the 1965 Provincial Councils elections held in An Giang and Chau Doc, Hoa Hao followers won all the Council seats; in Kien Phong, Vinh Long and Phong Dinh, they won 80 percent of the seats. This proportion was the same in the 11-09-1966 elections to the Constituent Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam, and the electoral list that won the greatest number of votes in the entire nation was that of Hoa Hao adepts of An Giang province.
4. CHARACTERISTICS OF HOA HAO BUDDHISM
THE FIRST characteristic of Hoa Hao Buddhism lies in the fact that from Buu Son Ky Huong to Hoa Hao, it has always been a Buddhism for the peasants.
During his lifetime, Master Buddha of Tay An used to preach Buddhism and at the same time encouraged agriculture under the slogan PRACTICING BUDDHISM WHILE FARMING YOUR LAND.
Prophet Huynh in continuing the tradition of Buu Son Ky Huong also encouraged agriculture. This is the reason why He chose the most fertile part of Vietnam to begin his evangelical mission, and why the majority of Hoa Hao faithful are farmers.
In the human and social fields, it is known that the farmers, by their pure and simple nature, are predisposed to study religion and self-improvement.
THE SECOND characteristic is that both Hoa Hao Buddhism and Buu Son Ky Huong advocate the practice of Buddhism at home. The reason was that both Master Buddha of Tay An and Prophet Huynh Phu So shared the same view that Buddhism should not only be preached in pagodas and temples, but also be propagated largely into every family.
For this reason, Hoa Hao followers are not required to shave their head and take refuge in pagodas. Instead they are allowed to live with their families, to lead normal lives tilling their land while trying to improve themselves by observing Shakyamuni’s Teachings.
"STUDY BUDDHISM TO IMPROVE YOURSELVES" is the guideline of Hoa Hao Doctrine. in order to attain Nirvana and free ourselves from the cycle of reincarnation, we must follow to the letter the genuine teachings of Buddha, keep a clear mind and improve ourselves to fulfill our duty in our present life.
A Hoa Hao Buddhist practicing Buddhism for self-improvement must first of all do his best to comply with the Four Debts Of Gratitude:
1. Gratitude to our Ancestors and Parents.
2. Gratitude to our Country.
3. Gratitude to the Three Treasures: Buddha, Buddhic Law (Buddhist teachings), Shangha (monks).
4. Gratitude to our fellow countrymen and to mankind. (See Biography and Teachings of Prophet Huynh Phu So.)
To show our thankfulness to our Country, we must be ready to sacrifice ourselves for our country when required.
THE THIRD characteristic is the modernization of the methods of self improvement by discarding all futile rites and superstitious practices. The purpose is to promote the essence of Buddhism in accordance with Buddha’s genuine teachings.
Here are some modifications advocated by Hoa Hao Buddhism:
No pagodas or statues should be built besides the existing ones. Instead, let us reserve our money to come to the assistance of the poor and the needy, a really beneficial act unlike building a large pagoda or casting tall statues.
Let us not require the services of sorcerers, magicians, astrologers, and fortune tellers. Let us not offer food as offerings to Buddha because Buddha would never accept such bribery.
Let us not use flags, banners or streamers. Let us not burn votive paper because this is a futile waste...
Let us not cry or conduct expensive funerals; instead let us pray quietly for the deliverance of the deceased’s soul.
Let us not compel our children to marry the one they do not like. Let us not demand large financial gifts from the bridegroom or organize big wedding parties, because this will result in impoverishing ourselves.
In short, the reform advocated by Hoa Hao Buddhism is aimed at bringing us back to the original teachings of Buddha who taught: OUR BELIEF MUST COME FROM OUR HEART. It is only a matter of heart rather than a matter of rite and ceremony.
5. WORSHIPPING
According to the reform, worshipping in Hoa Hao Buddhist home should be very simple.
No Buddha statue, bell or gong may not be displayed on the altar. Only a piece of brown cloth symbolizing human harmony and the color of Buddhism should be used. This is Buddha’s Altar.
Under the Buddha’s Altar is the Ancestral altar for the cult of Ancestors.
In front of the house a Heaven’ s altar is set up to enable communication with the Universe ( sky and earth), the four sky Directions and the ten Buddhic Directions.
No food of any kind including fruits may be used to worship Buddhas. Only fresh water, flowers and incense sticks are needed. Fresh water represents cleanliness , and flowers purity. Incense sticks are to freshen the air.
Hoa Hao followers must worship Buddha at least twice a day, morning and evening. On the 1st and 15th each lunar month and on Buddha’s Holy days, they have to go to pagodas or Hoa Hao Meeting Halls or Preaching Halls to pray and listen to sermons.
Prayers are to be in a low voice while no bells or gongs may be used. When the time or worship comes, if we are away from home, let us turn Westwards to pray to Buddha. We should also encourage others to pray silently in their hearts wherever they may be.
At each hamlet, there is at least a Preaching Hall equipped with loud speakers. Every day, at specific hours, a Preacher would go there to say prayers or to give sermons to the audiences.
Hoa Hao Buddhist Preaching Halls are small Pagodas used for the unique purpose of preaching. As they do not have residential quarters, they are much smaller than pagodas or temples, because as said before, Hoa Hao Buddhism puts more emphasis on the practice of Buddhism at home.
Hoa Hao Preaching Halls with their special architectural design are found today at many places throughout South Vietnam. The 1965 Census mentioned a number of 390 Hoa Hao Preaching Halls.
6. HOA HAO BUDDHIST FLAGS AND INSIGNIAS.
Hoa Hao flags are rectangular and brown, bearing no characters or pictures.
Hoa Hao insignias are round and brown, and bearing the picture of a white Lotus and four initials P.G.H.H.(Phat Giao Hoa Hao, literally meaning Hoa Hao Buddhism)
7. HOA HAO HOLY LAND
Hoa Hao Holy Land has been established at Hoa Hao village, the native land of Prophet Huynh Phu So and also the bit place of Hoa Hao Buddhism. There is no sumptuous building nor massive monument here, because Hoa Hao followers are taught to lead a peaceful and religious life in a simple way.
8. SYSTEM OF ORGANIZATION
The Hoa Hao Buddhist Community is administered by a system of Administrative Committees set up at each hamlet, village, district and province, at the top of which is a Central Council of Administrators. A Hamlet Administrative Committee is composed of several subcommittees.
Thanks to this close knit system Hoa Hao leaders can keep close contacts with the masses, all activities are effectively managed and all instructions given have been carried out by all levels, from the central council to the grass-roots subcommittees.
The principle of Centralized Democracy is the guiding principle of Hoa Hao organization and management.
a. ELECTIONS
Hoa Hao faithful elect their representatives to the Administrative Committees at the hamlet level. The latter then elect the committee at the village level and this process continues up to the elections of the district and provincial committees.
The Central Council of Administrators is elected by the Administrative Committees from the hamlets, villages, districts and provinces.
b. LEADERSHIP
As the Administrators have been chosen through elections according to their virtues and in compliance with the principle of democratic centralization, they will naturally have enough prestige to carry out their task.
Each Board of Administrators consists of 10 to 15 members.
The Central Council of Administrators has 23 members.
Beside the Central Council of Administrators there exists a Supervisory Council in charge of applying the Commandments of Hoa Hao Buddhism.
The Supreme Head of the Church is Prophet Huynh Phu So, the Founder of Hoa Hao Buddhism.
9. ACTIVITIES
Hoa Hao Buddhism was created in 1939 when Vietnam was a French colony. French authorities applied every possible means to oppress and prevent Prophet Huynh Phu So from preaching His doctrine.
After the Japanese troops’ invasion of Indochina, Japanese officials expressed their desire to help the Vietnamese nationalist and religious groups reclaim their Independence from the French. In 1942, they helped liberate Prophet Huynh from Bac Lieu where He was being placed under administrative surveillance by the French, and took Him back to Saigon.
Prophet Huynh was grateful for His liberation, but this did not prevent Him from incessantly asking the Japanese government to grant back Independence to Vietnam.
Since 1945, Hoa Hao Buddhist community organized a guerrilla resistance against the French, and later against the Communist Viet Minh who began to implement a totalitarian communist regime in Vietnam.
Following the signing of the Geneva Agreement in 1954, the Hoa Hao Community underwent another period of oppression by a dictatorial regime headed by Ngo Dinh Diem.
Only since the overthrow of this regime on 11/11/1963 did Hoa Hao Buddhism have the opportunity to re-organize its ranks and elect its Boards of Administrators.
The North Vietnamese conquest of South Vietnam in 1975 ushered in another dark period of persecution. Together with other religions, Hoa Hao followers again have to face systematic communist tactics of religious annihilation including requisition of Church facilities and arrest of Hoa Hao leaders.
All Hoa Hao Church’s efforts are concentrated on the achievement of two main objectives: first, to propagate Hoa Hao doctrine in and outside of the country; second, to carry out social work and come to the help of the poor.
The propagation of Hoa Hao faith is considered as a sacred mission to foster and promote virtues in society in order to reform mankind. The carrying out of social work serves the purpose of raising the standards of living of the people in line with the 20th. century progress.
Over two millions of Hoa Hao followers practicing Buddhism at home not only do their best to improve themselves physically and spiritually, but they also contribute greatly to the development of the agricultural economy of their country. Moreover, when required, the Hoa Hao followers are always ready to sacrifice their lives to defend the Fatherland.
The 18th of the 5th month of Lunar Year is the anniversary of Hoa Hao Buddhism. On this day, an important ceremony is held at Hoa Hao Holy Land and throughout the Mekong Delta area. The main traits of Hoa Hao Buddhism are observed on this celebration.
10. IN THE WORLD BUDDHIST COMMUNITY
Hoa Hao Buddhism is today one of the four most important religions in Vietnam. With a mass of over two millions faithful closely united in their faith, Hoa Hao Buddhism become an influential force in Vietnam. This force is so well organized that it can not only survive but still develop through severe trials and hardships.
Hoa Hao Buddhist Church has been a founding member of the Vietnamese Council of Religions, a body set up with a view of promoting harmony between major religions in Vietnam such as: Catholicism, Buddhism, Hoa Hao Buddhism, Caodaism,... At the same time, the Hoa Hao Community is taking part in activities at the national level befitting a state religion. Outside the country, Hoa Hao Buddhist Teachings have received warm welcome and praise from many intellectual circles in the East as well as in the West.
Where do the successes of Hoa Hao Buddhism come from? The answer is simple: Hoa Hao Buddhism is not an entirely new religion in Vietnam. It is in fact a Buddhism based on the fundamental teachings of Sakyamuni combined with two other greatest and oldest oriental philosophies, Confucianism and Taoism , whose deeply imprinted influence in the heart of the Vietnamese people for centuries has formed a typically Vietnamese system of religious thinking.
With over two millions faithful and the extreme richness of its doctrine, Hoa Hao Buddhism has been a very influential Vietnamese Church which, along with other Buddhist Churches in the world, is working for the propagation of Buddhist thought and is guiding mankind toward a new society, new spiritual values, and the deliverance of mankind.
Published by HOA HAO BUDDHIST CHURCH, Overseas Office
1. BACKGROUND
In 1939, Prophet Huynh Phu So, a native of Hoa Hao village in Tan Chau district, Chau Doc province, founded Hoa Hao Buddhism. Since then, it has grown rapidly into a major religion. Its influence has spread over the Mekong River Delta which is the Western part of South Vietnam notably n the following provinces: Chau Doc, An Giang, Sa dec, Kien Phong, Vinh Long, Phong Dinh, Chuong Thien, Kien Giang, Ba Xuyen, Bac Lieu, An Xuyen, Dinh Tuong, Long An, Kien Hoa, Kien Tuong, and the capital, Saigon-Gia Dinh.
Prophet Huynh Phu So
The highly fertile area of the Mekong Delta plays a very important part in the agricultural economy of Vietnam. In fact, most of the rice exported come from here, known as the Rice basket of Vietnam.
The Western Area covers an area of 18,850 square kilometers of farm land which yields 3,000,000 tons of rice per year, in addition to fishery and animal husbandry, and various other crops.
South Vietnam, with a total area of 173,260 square kilometers, has about 30,000 square kilometers being farmed. The Western Area where Hoa Hao Buddhism was founded, occupies 60 percent of the total cultivable land of the country.
2. ORIGIN
The mountains of the Western area have been the source of many unexplainable mysteries. The most famous of these are the Sacred Mountains of That Son on the border of Chau Doc and Cambodia.
Since 1849, a living Buddha reverently known as Master Buddha of Tay An made His First appearance on the Sacred Mountain of That Son and began his salvation mission by creating BUU SON KY HUONG Buddhism. About 90 years later, exactly in 1939, also near That Son mountains, another living Buddha, Prophet Huynh Phu So, continued the tradition of Buu Son Ky Huong and founded Hoa Hao Buddhism.
Therefore, although Hoa Hao Buddhism was founded in 1939, it is a continuation of the Buu Son Ky Huong established in 1849. Thus its existence is over a century old.
Both Master Buddha of Tay An and Prophet Huynh Phu So have been revered throughout South Vietnam as two Buddhas coming into the world to save mankind from sufferings. They have also been respectfully regarded as two genuine patriots. (See the Book: Biography and Teachings of Prophet Huynh Phu So.)
3. HOA HAO FOLLOWERS
The total number of Hoa Hao followers is estimated at over two million people representing more than one third the population of the Western Area, or 10 percent of the population of South Vietnam.
In such provinces as Chau Doc, An Giang, Kien Phong, and Sa dec, Hoa Hao Buddhist accounts for 90 percent of the population. In other provinces, this proportion varies from 10 to 60 percent.
In elections in Vietnam, Hoa Hao Buddhists have won the majority of seats. At the 1965 Provincial Councils elections held in An Giang and Chau Doc, Hoa Hao followers won all the Council seats; in Kien Phong, Vinh Long and Phong Dinh, they won 80 percent of the seats. This proportion was the same in the 11-09-1966 elections to the Constituent Assembly of the Republic of Vietnam, and the electoral list that won the greatest number of votes in the entire nation was that of Hoa Hao adepts of An Giang province.
4. CHARACTERISTICS OF HOA HAO BUDDHISM
THE FIRST characteristic of Hoa Hao Buddhism lies in the fact that from Buu Son Ky Huong to Hoa Hao, it has always been a Buddhism for the peasants.
During his lifetime, Master Buddha of Tay An used to preach Buddhism and at the same time encouraged agriculture under the slogan PRACTICING BUDDHISM WHILE FARMING YOUR LAND.
Prophet Huynh in continuing the tradition of Buu Son Ky Huong also encouraged agriculture. This is the reason why He chose the most fertile part of Vietnam to begin his evangelical mission, and why the majority of Hoa Hao faithful are farmers.
In the human and social fields, it is known that the farmers, by their pure and simple nature, are predisposed to study religion and self-improvement.
THE SECOND characteristic is that both Hoa Hao Buddhism and Buu Son Ky Huong advocate the practice of Buddhism at home. The reason was that both Master Buddha of Tay An and Prophet Huynh Phu So shared the same view that Buddhism should not only be preached in pagodas and temples, but also be propagated largely into every family.
For this reason, Hoa Hao followers are not required to shave their head and take refuge in pagodas. Instead they are allowed to live with their families, to lead normal lives tilling their land while trying to improve themselves by observing Shakyamuni’s Teachings.
"STUDY BUDDHISM TO IMPROVE YOURSELVES" is the guideline of Hoa Hao Doctrine. in order to attain Nirvana and free ourselves from the cycle of reincarnation, we must follow to the letter the genuine teachings of Buddha, keep a clear mind and improve ourselves to fulfill our duty in our present life.
A Hoa Hao Buddhist practicing Buddhism for self-improvement must first of all do his best to comply with the Four Debts Of Gratitude:
1. Gratitude to our Ancestors and Parents.
2. Gratitude to our Country.
3. Gratitude to the Three Treasures: Buddha, Buddhic Law (Buddhist teachings), Shangha (monks).
4. Gratitude to our fellow countrymen and to mankind. (See Biography and Teachings of Prophet Huynh Phu So.)
To show our thankfulness to our Country, we must be ready to sacrifice ourselves for our country when required.
THE THIRD characteristic is the modernization of the methods of self improvement by discarding all futile rites and superstitious practices. The purpose is to promote the essence of Buddhism in accordance with Buddha’s genuine teachings.
Here are some modifications advocated by Hoa Hao Buddhism:
No pagodas or statues should be built besides the existing ones. Instead, let us reserve our money to come to the assistance of the poor and the needy, a really beneficial act unlike building a large pagoda or casting tall statues.
Let us not require the services of sorcerers, magicians, astrologers, and fortune tellers. Let us not offer food as offerings to Buddha because Buddha would never accept such bribery.
Let us not use flags, banners or streamers. Let us not burn votive paper because this is a futile waste...
Let us not cry or conduct expensive funerals; instead let us pray quietly for the deliverance of the deceased’s soul.
Let us not compel our children to marry the one they do not like. Let us not demand large financial gifts from the bridegroom or organize big wedding parties, because this will result in impoverishing ourselves.
In short, the reform advocated by Hoa Hao Buddhism is aimed at bringing us back to the original teachings of Buddha who taught: OUR BELIEF MUST COME FROM OUR HEART. It is only a matter of heart rather than a matter of rite and ceremony.
5. WORSHIPPING
According to the reform, worshipping in Hoa Hao Buddhist home should be very simple.
No Buddha statue, bell or gong may not be displayed on the altar. Only a piece of brown cloth symbolizing human harmony and the color of Buddhism should be used. This is Buddha’s Altar.
Under the Buddha’s Altar is the Ancestral altar for the cult of Ancestors.
In front of the house a Heaven’ s altar is set up to enable communication with the Universe ( sky and earth), the four sky Directions and the ten Buddhic Directions.
No food of any kind including fruits may be used to worship Buddhas. Only fresh water, flowers and incense sticks are needed. Fresh water represents cleanliness , and flowers purity. Incense sticks are to freshen the air.
Hoa Hao followers must worship Buddha at least twice a day, morning and evening. On the 1st and 15th each lunar month and on Buddha’s Holy days, they have to go to pagodas or Hoa Hao Meeting Halls or Preaching Halls to pray and listen to sermons.
Prayers are to be in a low voice while no bells or gongs may be used. When the time or worship comes, if we are away from home, let us turn Westwards to pray to Buddha. We should also encourage others to pray silently in their hearts wherever they may be.
At each hamlet, there is at least a Preaching Hall equipped with loud speakers. Every day, at specific hours, a Preacher would go there to say prayers or to give sermons to the audiences.
Hoa Hao Buddhist Preaching Halls are small Pagodas used for the unique purpose of preaching. As they do not have residential quarters, they are much smaller than pagodas or temples, because as said before, Hoa Hao Buddhism puts more emphasis on the practice of Buddhism at home.
Hoa Hao Preaching Halls with their special architectural design are found today at many places throughout South Vietnam. The 1965 Census mentioned a number of 390 Hoa Hao Preaching Halls.
6. HOA HAO BUDDHIST FLAGS AND INSIGNIAS.
Hoa Hao flags are rectangular and brown, bearing no characters or pictures.
Hoa Hao insignias are round and brown, and bearing the picture of a white Lotus and four initials P.G.H.H.(Phat Giao Hoa Hao, literally meaning Hoa Hao Buddhism)
7. HOA HAO HOLY LAND
Hoa Hao Holy Land has been established at Hoa Hao village, the native land of Prophet Huynh Phu So and also the bit place of Hoa Hao Buddhism. There is no sumptuous building nor massive monument here, because Hoa Hao followers are taught to lead a peaceful and religious life in a simple way.
8. SYSTEM OF ORGANIZATION
The Hoa Hao Buddhist Community is administered by a system of Administrative Committees set up at each hamlet, village, district and province, at the top of which is a Central Council of Administrators. A Hamlet Administrative Committee is composed of several subcommittees.
Thanks to this close knit system Hoa Hao leaders can keep close contacts with the masses, all activities are effectively managed and all instructions given have been carried out by all levels, from the central council to the grass-roots subcommittees.
The principle of Centralized Democracy is the guiding principle of Hoa Hao organization and management.
a. ELECTIONS
Hoa Hao faithful elect their representatives to the Administrative Committees at the hamlet level. The latter then elect the committee at the village level and this process continues up to the elections of the district and provincial committees.
The Central Council of Administrators is elected by the Administrative Committees from the hamlets, villages, districts and provinces.
b. LEADERSHIP
As the Administrators have been chosen through elections according to their virtues and in compliance with the principle of democratic centralization, they will naturally have enough prestige to carry out their task.
Each Board of Administrators consists of 10 to 15 members.
The Central Council of Administrators has 23 members.
Beside the Central Council of Administrators there exists a Supervisory Council in charge of applying the Commandments of Hoa Hao Buddhism.
The Supreme Head of the Church is Prophet Huynh Phu So, the Founder of Hoa Hao Buddhism.
9. ACTIVITIES
Hoa Hao Buddhism was created in 1939 when Vietnam was a French colony. French authorities applied every possible means to oppress and prevent Prophet Huynh Phu So from preaching His doctrine.
After the Japanese troops’ invasion of Indochina, Japanese officials expressed their desire to help the Vietnamese nationalist and religious groups reclaim their Independence from the French. In 1942, they helped liberate Prophet Huynh from Bac Lieu where He was being placed under administrative surveillance by the French, and took Him back to Saigon.
Prophet Huynh was grateful for His liberation, but this did not prevent Him from incessantly asking the Japanese government to grant back Independence to Vietnam.
Since 1945, Hoa Hao Buddhist community organized a guerrilla resistance against the French, and later against the Communist Viet Minh who began to implement a totalitarian communist regime in Vietnam.
Following the signing of the Geneva Agreement in 1954, the Hoa Hao Community underwent another period of oppression by a dictatorial regime headed by Ngo Dinh Diem.
Only since the overthrow of this regime on 11/11/1963 did Hoa Hao Buddhism have the opportunity to re-organize its ranks and elect its Boards of Administrators.
The North Vietnamese conquest of South Vietnam in 1975 ushered in another dark period of persecution. Together with other religions, Hoa Hao followers again have to face systematic communist tactics of religious annihilation including requisition of Church facilities and arrest of Hoa Hao leaders.
All Hoa Hao Church’s efforts are concentrated on the achievement of two main objectives: first, to propagate Hoa Hao doctrine in and outside of the country; second, to carry out social work and come to the help of the poor.
The propagation of Hoa Hao faith is considered as a sacred mission to foster and promote virtues in society in order to reform mankind. The carrying out of social work serves the purpose of raising the standards of living of the people in line with the 20th. century progress.
Over two millions of Hoa Hao followers practicing Buddhism at home not only do their best to improve themselves physically and spiritually, but they also contribute greatly to the development of the agricultural economy of their country. Moreover, when required, the Hoa Hao followers are always ready to sacrifice their lives to defend the Fatherland.
The 18th of the 5th month of Lunar Year is the anniversary of Hoa Hao Buddhism. On this day, an important ceremony is held at Hoa Hao Holy Land and throughout the Mekong Delta area. The main traits of Hoa Hao Buddhism are observed on this celebration.
10. IN THE WORLD BUDDHIST COMMUNITY
Hoa Hao Buddhism is today one of the four most important religions in Vietnam. With a mass of over two millions faithful closely united in their faith, Hoa Hao Buddhism become an influential force in Vietnam. This force is so well organized that it can not only survive but still develop through severe trials and hardships.
Hoa Hao Buddhist Church has been a founding member of the Vietnamese Council of Religions, a body set up with a view of promoting harmony between major religions in Vietnam such as: Catholicism, Buddhism, Hoa Hao Buddhism, Caodaism,... At the same time, the Hoa Hao Community is taking part in activities at the national level befitting a state religion. Outside the country, Hoa Hao Buddhist Teachings have received warm welcome and praise from many intellectual circles in the East as well as in the West.
Where do the successes of Hoa Hao Buddhism come from? The answer is simple: Hoa Hao Buddhism is not an entirely new religion in Vietnam. It is in fact a Buddhism based on the fundamental teachings of Sakyamuni combined with two other greatest and oldest oriental philosophies, Confucianism and Taoism , whose deeply imprinted influence in the heart of the Vietnamese people for centuries has formed a typically Vietnamese system of religious thinking.
With over two millions faithful and the extreme richness of its doctrine, Hoa Hao Buddhism has been a very influential Vietnamese Church which, along with other Buddhist Churches in the world, is working for the propagation of Buddhist thought and is guiding mankind toward a new society, new spiritual values, and the deliverance of mankind.
Caodaism
Caodaism
By James Wilson
Cao Dai temple in Tay ninh province
As we have Iearned, the Vietnamese people and their culture have withstood centuries of domination by foreign powers. Both China and France have tried to conquer not only the land but the spirit of its people by attempting to impose their cultural standards and beliefs on the Vietnamese people. The Vietnamese people accepted only those cultural beliefs they saw as sensible and harmonious with their own beliefs in the ways of life. Throughout all this, the Vietnamese people have remained strong in their resolution to maintain their own culture. They have endured many hardships and grown culturally due to their ability to take only the best from their invaders while retaining their own core culture.
This can most readilv be seen through the many religious influences mixed in the Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese people accepted many religious philosophies into their culture because they viewed them as natular and sensible additions to society. Many embraced Buddhism because it stressed endurance of misfortune based on the belief that life is suffering and suffering is caused by man's desire for material comfort and sensual pleasure; one's present life is only the result of ones' desire in previous lives. This belief helped the Vietnamese people face many difficulties during their occupation by invading forces. Many Vietnamese also accepted the beliefs of Taoism because it stresses closeness with nature. Taoism teaches that one should live in harmony with nature to ensure health, happiness and long life. Because the majority of Vietnamese people have a strong attachment to their land, this belief was also viewed as sensible. Confucianism has had the widest acceptance and greatest influence on Vietnamese culture because it is a source of high moral and social values. Confucianism stresses social responsibilities, social relations and social organization. Confucianism also stresses the importance of family structure which is where the root of the Vietnamese extended family comes from. Other religions such as Christianity, Hinduism and Islam have also influenced Vietnamese culture to a lesser degree.
Cao Dai icon
The ability of the Vietnamese people to take the best parts from other cultures and religions and blend them with their own culture has led to the formation of an unusual religious sect known as the Cao Dai. "Cao Daism is a colorful mixture of bits and pieces of the many religions known to Vietnam during the early 20th century: Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and native Vietnamese spiritism" (Robinson). Cao Daism is an attempt to create the perfect religion based on religious philosophies from both Eastern and Western cultures (Robinson).
"Cao Daism was founded by Ngo Minh Chieu (also known as Ngo Van Chieu; born 1878), a civil servant who once served as district chief of Phú QuÓc Island". Ngo Minh Chieu was well versed in both Eastern and Western religious philosophies. He was also known to be an active participant in seances, at which it was said his presence greatly improved communication with the spirit world. In 1919, during a seance, "he began to receive a series of revelations from Cao Dai," which means literally high tower or palace, in which the tenets of Cao Dai doctrine were set of the soul and the use of mediums to communicate with the spiritual world (Robinson). In 1926. in South Vietnam's Tây Ninh Province, Cao Daism was officially proclaimed a religion and the temple known as the "Holy See" was built.
Within one year, Cao Daism had over 26,000 followers; by 1990 there were an estimated three million Cao Dai foIlowers (Robinson).
Followers of Cao Dai believe history is divided into three significant periods of divine revelation. The first began when "God's truth was revealed to humanity through Moses and figure associated with Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism (Robinson).
The second period of revelation came through Buddha, Lao Tze, Confucius, Jesus and Mohammed. The Cao Dai believe God's messages were limited in scope to the specific period in time and the area the messengers lived in. They also believe God's "messages were corrupted because of the human frailty of the messengers and their disciples." Cao Daism sees itself as the product of the "Third Alliance Between God and Man", the third and final revelation. (Robinson).
Cao Dai followers believe the failures of the first two periods, due to human frailty, are avoided because divine truth is communicated through spirits, "who serve as messengers of salvation and instructors of doctrine" (Robinson). Communication with spirits is done in Vietnamese, Chinese, French and English through mediums using calligraphy brushes or pens and paper. "Spirits who have been in touch with the Cao Dai incIude deceased Cao Dai leaders, patriots, philosophers, poets, political leaders and warriors as well as ordinary people" (Jones). Among the many spirits who have been in contact with the Cao Dai are the founder of the Chinese Republic Sun Yat-sen, French poet and novelist Victor Hugo, Vietnamese prophet Trång Tŕnh, Joan of Arc, William Shakespeare and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
Inside the Cao Dai temple, during and after a ceremony
The doctrine of Cao Daism is based on the Buddhist belief in self-development through life's cycle of reincarnation. "The ultimate goal of the disciples of Cao Daism is to escape the cycle of reincarnation" (Robinson). Only through the performance of certain human duties can the cycle of suffering through reincarnation be broken. Much like Buddhism, Cao Dai ethics profess this goal may only be reached be the good person who follows the prohibitions against killing, stealing, sensuality and luxurious living (Robinson). Cao Dai priests practice celibacy and vegetarianism, while followers practice vegetarianism only six days a month as a cleansing process (Jones). The Cao Dai consider vegetarianism to be of service to human kind because it does not involve harming fellow beings during the process of their spiritual evolution. Other practices of the Cao Dai include maintenance of the cult of ancestors, reverence of the dead and self-cultivation through meditation (Robinson).
Cao Dai priests
The Cao Dai sect is structured in a hierarchical order based in large on the Roman Catholic Church (Jones). The head of the sect is the Pope, followed by cardinals, archbishops and priests. Members of the clergy dress in different colors, which is determined by the branch of faith concerned. "The Confucianist branch concerned with temple rites wear purple robes; the symbol of authority. The Taoists wear azure gowns; the symbol of tolerance. The Buddhists wear saffron yellow robes; the symbol of virtue" (Jones).
Women are welcome in all but the highest levels of the clergy. However, when male and female officials of the same rank are serving in the same area, male clergy are in charge (Robinson).
The Supreme Being "God" is symbolized by a large eye emitting radiant light and is seen on the front of all Cao Dai Temples (Jones). In the temple of the Holy See, in Tây Ninh Province, the all seeing eye radiating light is emblazoned on a huge starspeckled sphere that takes up the largest portion of the main altar. Eight plaster columns, with multicolored dragons curled around them, support a giant dome above the sphere in representation of the heavens (Robinson). The great temple is built on nine levels, which represent the nine steps to heaven. "A mural in the front entry hall depicts the three signatories of The Third Alliance Between God and Man. The Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen holds an ink stone while Vietnamese poet NguyÍn B̀nh Khiem and French poet Victor Hugo write 'God and Humanity' and 'Love and Justice' in Chinese and French" (Robinson). Prayers are conducted at 6 am, noon; 6 pm and midnight of each day. Following the Taoist duality of Yin and Yang, there are two principal deities, the Mother Goddess, who is female, and God, who is male (Robinson). There is an ongoing debate among the Cao Dai as to which deity was the source of creation.
The Holy See
Throughout the history of Vietnam, the Vietnamese people have been able to take the best aspects of other culture and combine them with aspects with their own culture. This ability has enable the Vietnamese people to grow culturally where other countries have failed. The Cao Dai religious sect is a good example of this ability. While other countries arold the world wage wars based on differences of religious belief, the Cao Dai have successfully combined religious philosophies from around the world to create a colorful new religion. A religion built on the strengths and beliefs of both Eastern and Western philosophies. The Cao Dai efforts to bring differences together, to create one strong whole based on pieces of all, is the culmination of the Vietnamese ability to accomplish the unexpected.
By James Wilson
Cao Dai temple in Tay ninh province
As we have Iearned, the Vietnamese people and their culture have withstood centuries of domination by foreign powers. Both China and France have tried to conquer not only the land but the spirit of its people by attempting to impose their cultural standards and beliefs on the Vietnamese people. The Vietnamese people accepted only those cultural beliefs they saw as sensible and harmonious with their own beliefs in the ways of life. Throughout all this, the Vietnamese people have remained strong in their resolution to maintain their own culture. They have endured many hardships and grown culturally due to their ability to take only the best from their invaders while retaining their own core culture.
This can most readilv be seen through the many religious influences mixed in the Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese people accepted many religious philosophies into their culture because they viewed them as natular and sensible additions to society. Many embraced Buddhism because it stressed endurance of misfortune based on the belief that life is suffering and suffering is caused by man's desire for material comfort and sensual pleasure; one's present life is only the result of ones' desire in previous lives. This belief helped the Vietnamese people face many difficulties during their occupation by invading forces. Many Vietnamese also accepted the beliefs of Taoism because it stresses closeness with nature. Taoism teaches that one should live in harmony with nature to ensure health, happiness and long life. Because the majority of Vietnamese people have a strong attachment to their land, this belief was also viewed as sensible. Confucianism has had the widest acceptance and greatest influence on Vietnamese culture because it is a source of high moral and social values. Confucianism stresses social responsibilities, social relations and social organization. Confucianism also stresses the importance of family structure which is where the root of the Vietnamese extended family comes from. Other religions such as Christianity, Hinduism and Islam have also influenced Vietnamese culture to a lesser degree.
Cao Dai icon
The ability of the Vietnamese people to take the best parts from other cultures and religions and blend them with their own culture has led to the formation of an unusual religious sect known as the Cao Dai. "Cao Daism is a colorful mixture of bits and pieces of the many religions known to Vietnam during the early 20th century: Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and native Vietnamese spiritism" (Robinson). Cao Daism is an attempt to create the perfect religion based on religious philosophies from both Eastern and Western cultures (Robinson).
"Cao Daism was founded by Ngo Minh Chieu (also known as Ngo Van Chieu; born 1878), a civil servant who once served as district chief of Phú QuÓc Island". Ngo Minh Chieu was well versed in both Eastern and Western religious philosophies. He was also known to be an active participant in seances, at which it was said his presence greatly improved communication with the spirit world. In 1919, during a seance, "he began to receive a series of revelations from Cao Dai," which means literally high tower or palace, in which the tenets of Cao Dai doctrine were set of the soul and the use of mediums to communicate with the spiritual world (Robinson). In 1926. in South Vietnam's Tây Ninh Province, Cao Daism was officially proclaimed a religion and the temple known as the "Holy See" was built.
Within one year, Cao Daism had over 26,000 followers; by 1990 there were an estimated three million Cao Dai foIlowers (Robinson).
Followers of Cao Dai believe history is divided into three significant periods of divine revelation. The first began when "God's truth was revealed to humanity through Moses and figure associated with Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism (Robinson).
The second period of revelation came through Buddha, Lao Tze, Confucius, Jesus and Mohammed. The Cao Dai believe God's messages were limited in scope to the specific period in time and the area the messengers lived in. They also believe God's "messages were corrupted because of the human frailty of the messengers and their disciples." Cao Daism sees itself as the product of the "Third Alliance Between God and Man", the third and final revelation. (Robinson).
Cao Dai followers believe the failures of the first two periods, due to human frailty, are avoided because divine truth is communicated through spirits, "who serve as messengers of salvation and instructors of doctrine" (Robinson). Communication with spirits is done in Vietnamese, Chinese, French and English through mediums using calligraphy brushes or pens and paper. "Spirits who have been in touch with the Cao Dai incIude deceased Cao Dai leaders, patriots, philosophers, poets, political leaders and warriors as well as ordinary people" (Jones). Among the many spirits who have been in contact with the Cao Dai are the founder of the Chinese Republic Sun Yat-sen, French poet and novelist Victor Hugo, Vietnamese prophet Trång Tŕnh, Joan of Arc, William Shakespeare and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
Inside the Cao Dai temple, during and after a ceremony
The doctrine of Cao Daism is based on the Buddhist belief in self-development through life's cycle of reincarnation. "The ultimate goal of the disciples of Cao Daism is to escape the cycle of reincarnation" (Robinson). Only through the performance of certain human duties can the cycle of suffering through reincarnation be broken. Much like Buddhism, Cao Dai ethics profess this goal may only be reached be the good person who follows the prohibitions against killing, stealing, sensuality and luxurious living (Robinson). Cao Dai priests practice celibacy and vegetarianism, while followers practice vegetarianism only six days a month as a cleansing process (Jones). The Cao Dai consider vegetarianism to be of service to human kind because it does not involve harming fellow beings during the process of their spiritual evolution. Other practices of the Cao Dai include maintenance of the cult of ancestors, reverence of the dead and self-cultivation through meditation (Robinson).
Cao Dai priests
The Cao Dai sect is structured in a hierarchical order based in large on the Roman Catholic Church (Jones). The head of the sect is the Pope, followed by cardinals, archbishops and priests. Members of the clergy dress in different colors, which is determined by the branch of faith concerned. "The Confucianist branch concerned with temple rites wear purple robes; the symbol of authority. The Taoists wear azure gowns; the symbol of tolerance. The Buddhists wear saffron yellow robes; the symbol of virtue" (Jones).
Women are welcome in all but the highest levels of the clergy. However, when male and female officials of the same rank are serving in the same area, male clergy are in charge (Robinson).
The Supreme Being "God" is symbolized by a large eye emitting radiant light and is seen on the front of all Cao Dai Temples (Jones). In the temple of the Holy See, in Tây Ninh Province, the all seeing eye radiating light is emblazoned on a huge starspeckled sphere that takes up the largest portion of the main altar. Eight plaster columns, with multicolored dragons curled around them, support a giant dome above the sphere in representation of the heavens (Robinson). The great temple is built on nine levels, which represent the nine steps to heaven. "A mural in the front entry hall depicts the three signatories of The Third Alliance Between God and Man. The Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen holds an ink stone while Vietnamese poet NguyÍn B̀nh Khiem and French poet Victor Hugo write 'God and Humanity' and 'Love and Justice' in Chinese and French" (Robinson). Prayers are conducted at 6 am, noon; 6 pm and midnight of each day. Following the Taoist duality of Yin and Yang, there are two principal deities, the Mother Goddess, who is female, and God, who is male (Robinson). There is an ongoing debate among the Cao Dai as to which deity was the source of creation.
The Holy SeeThroughout the history of Vietnam, the Vietnamese people have been able to take the best aspects of other culture and combine them with aspects with their own culture. This ability has enable the Vietnamese people to grow culturally where other countries have failed. The Cao Dai religious sect is a good example of this ability. While other countries arold the world wage wars based on differences of religious belief, the Cao Dai have successfully combined religious philosophies from around the world to create a colorful new religion. A religion built on the strengths and beliefs of both Eastern and Western philosophies. The Cao Dai efforts to bring differences together, to create one strong whole based on pieces of all, is the culmination of the Vietnamese ability to accomplish the unexpected.
Common Vietnamese Beliefs
Common Vietnamese Beliefs
By Kim NguyenAmong the Vietnamese, the honest man is born amidst traditions and rites; as an adolescent, he seeks to improve himself through culture; and in maturity, he aims at wisdom through following the spiritual path. This pattern is not an abstract ideal but a way of life which often leads to an attitude of tolerance and detachment. The bulk of the Vietnamese people lived for centuries in this environment of ancestral beliefs and religious doctrines.
Popular Beliefs
Nowhere. on earth, according to the philosopher Jung, does a society exist which is not convinced of the immortal and transcendental nature of the human soul, em-bodied in a psychic principle capable of surviving the disintegration of the body
With the Vietnamese, as with a great number of others who have lived under Chinese influence, this psychic principle consists of a number of more or less pure elements: man possesses three souls ( hon ), and seven vital principles ( phach ). Whereas the three souls command the superior functions (life, intelligence, perception), the seven vital principles are concerned with the visceral functions. For this reason, woman is said to have nine vital principles instead of seven, because of her supplementary responsibilities of childbearing. The plants have only the soul-life ( sinh hon ), whereas the animals have an additional sensory soul ( giac hon ). Human beings, having a monopoly on intelligence, are the only creatures which possess three souls, of which the linh hon is the transcendental one. While the principles related to the organic functions wane with life, the linh hon possesses the capacity for survival. This is the origin of the Cult of the Ancestors, which Confucius elevated to level of a moral duty. regulated by strict rites.
According to pure Confucianist doctrine, one must honor the dead on a par with the living; and the greatest misfortune conceivable is to die without leaving a male descendant to perpetuate the Cult of the Ancestors. Later, this rule was relaxed to permit daughters to carry on the cult, in case there were no male descendants. If a man dies without leaving any descendants at all, how-ever, the souls of the dead, for lack of homage and honor on the occasions of traditional feasts and anniversaries, are doomed to eternal wandering - one of the most appalling maledictions which could afflict any family. It is thus that the custom of polygamy among the Vietnamese was ex-plained, and justified in the eyes of the law :it more or less assured that there would be a descendant to perpetuate the cult. Adoption was considered to be a last resort.
The cult of the ancestors is accompanied by a certain number of beliefs and practices, some of them deriving from Confucian teachings, and others originating from popular superstitions and Taoist rites. Many people, whether scholars or common folk believe that the souls of their ancestors are the natural protectors of the family line: it is to them that prayers are addressed, imploring, for example, the curing of a sick child; their influence, and the sum of good actions they accomplished in the lifetimes are also used to explain success in business, in examinations. and all other fortunate developments.
In wealthy families, the ancestors' altar is a piece of furniture of great value, made of hand-carved wood, red and gold painted. On which are arranged copper candlesticks and perfume pans. The names of the ancestors for the past four generations are inscribed on mahogany tablets: beyond that generation, the dead are supposedly already reincarnated. The altar itself is placed in the main room of the house, where it is ordinary shielded from view by a red silk curtain. Carved and painted panels fixed on the walls or against the pillars, bear inscriptions whose texts are usually composed by scholars who are personal friends of the family. But whether the ancestors' altar is richly adorn-ed, or consists merely of a white-painted. ordinary wooden table, it is always the place where the entire family gathers on the occasions of the main feasts of the year. It is the rallying place - a symbol of family solidarity. Around the altar, in the presence of the ancestors, all discord must disappear and it is before the altar that major decisions are made, and marriages consecrated.
The cult of the ancestors, which has no connection with religious faith, exerts a profound influence on the daily life of the Vietnamese people. The recollection of the ancestors - the fear of offending them or soiling their reputations - coupled with the desire to please them, are sources of inspiration, which guide the actions of the descendants. Even for a hardened sinner, to lack respect for the ancestors is the worst offense imaginable.
Memorial of Le Van Duyet in Saigon
The kindnesses of my father are comparable to the Thai mountain.
Those of my mother, to a perennial Spring.
With great fervor I venerate my father and my mother
In order to conduct myself as a pious son.
In every family, as a rule, a part of the inheritance will be set aside for use the cult of the ancestors, to assure the perpetuation of the rites. This part of inherited property is called worshiped property ( huong hoa), and is entrusted to the most worthy of the heirs, frequently the eldest son, who receives a life annuity from this source. For fear that any impious son might venture to sell this inalienable property, the Gia Long Code stipulated that any descendant who attempted illicitly to sell the property bequeathed to him by his parents, and de-signed to cover the expenses of the ancestral cult. will be severely punished.
Confucianism
The doctrine of Confucius is set forth in the four classical texts called Tu Thu and in the five canonical works called Ngu Kinh . The origins of the world did not hold much interest for Confucius and this is why he chose to dedicate himself instead to social problems. He founded his doctrine on the basis of etiology. As a realist he proceeded as a sculptor would, realizing that the final form can be molded only after the starting materials have been properly prepared. Thus, the stability of a regime depends on an ideal, and this ideal can have value. only if it is based on great examples from the past.
Starting with this conception, Confucius instituted the cult of the ancestors, which places the dead relatives in the very heart of the household; since this time, the family has been required to respect this tradition, because none would dare to offend or provoke the souls of the dead.
In order to comprehend the doctrine of Confucius, it is necessary to sketch the mainlines of his philosophy, which encompasses his conception of the universe, of man and his principles of government - in short, all his guiding ideas.
Cosmology. According to Confucius, in the beginning there was no God, but rather, an ether which was laden with molecules called Khi , which carried within them-selves a creative and moving force called ly , the force of gravitation. The ether, which was inert in the beginning, was trans-formed by the action of this force with the result that matter was created. Living creatures in turn, were created from the matter thus produced. According to Confucius, the world undergoes periodic changed: at the beginning of each one of these great trans-formations, all molecules are freed to move unhindered in space. Under the influence of the Ly gravitational force, a sort of cosmic fermentation takes place, and in this way the matter for the following period is produced. The lighter molecules then rise to form the firmament, while the heavier ones descend to make up the planets. All of the creatures which are produced from this original cosmic matter are categorized as either male or female, and are thus subject to the general laws which govern male and female behavior
The Innate Goodness of Man. According to Mencius, the most distinguished of Confucius' disciples, man is inherently good; and to preserve this inherent goodness, it is only necessary to keep passions in check. If men do not live up to their potential goodness, it is because they neglect their intellect, which atrophies in the hum-drum routine of everyday life. The wise man, in contrast to the ordinary man, improves himself through study; lie knows himself, and is the master of his passions. For this he will be honored by his heirs, and his soul will have peace in the hereafter. In sum, those who do good are rewarded and those who do evil must suffer the consequences.
Self-Perfection. According to Confucius, there are four rules which must be followed to achieve perfection. First, one must be interested in everything which exists, and second, be able to penetrate the secret, inner essence of things. The third requirement is clear thinking, and the fourth is a pure heart.
Social Relations. Confucianism is a doctrine of social hierarchies, whose effectiveness has been demonstrated by history; the status quo was maintained by the doctrine better than it could have been by the use of force. Confucianism defines the attitudes which each member of the society should have by rigid rules; and it prescribes the formula for three all-important sets of social interaction, called Tam Cuong . These interactions are between ruler and subject, Quan Than , between father and son, Phu Tu , and between husband and wife, Phu Phu. It also dictates a moral code for the man of virtue, Quan Tu , who should be a living example of the five cardinal virtues: humanity, equity, urbanity, intelligence and honesty. The man of virtue should also follow a path of moderation: exaggeration in any direction is to be avoided, and equanimity is to be cultivated. This attitude has often been mistaken by Westerners for impassiveness, placidity, or even hypocrisy. This moral perfection may be progressively attained by traversing four essential steps: the improvement of oneself, the management of the family, the governing of the country, and finally, the pacification of the world.
As for the woman, she should in all circumstances conform to the three obediences: obedience to her father until she is married, obedience to her husband after she leaves her father's house, and obedience to her eldest son, should she be widowed. Further, the model woman should possess the four essential virtues : skill with her hands, agreeable appearance, prudence in speech, and exemplary conduct.
Propagation of Confucianism in Viet Nam. Confucianism was introduced to Viet Nam during the period of Chinese domination. Later, even with the period of national in-dependence, 939 to 1407, the Vietnamese did not abandon the traditions of Confucianism. Thus, it is clear that the politico-philosophic system of Confucianism- has left a profound impression on the social structure of the country. The Confucian system of competitive examinations was adopted by the Vietnamese to determine eligibility for admission to civil and military posts. Concerning these competitions, the Annals report that they were first held in 1070, that a temple of literature dedicated to Confucius and 72 wise men was built in 1075, and that the first Vietnamese Academy was instituted in 1086, headed by Mac Hien Tich, a First Doctor of the kingdom. Started at' this time, the literary competitions were held almost without interruption, even up to the beginning of the Twentieth Century, and furnished the country with competent military and civil leaders. At that time, it was thought that the requirements of a military education did not differ very much from those necessary for a ruler. Thus, Vietnamese generals were not only military strategists, but were men of letters as well; and the orders of the day were often written in poetic form.
As far as the distribution of wealth is concerned, Confucianism teaches that poverty is less to be feared than injustice, since the latter engenders hatred and jealousy.
The principle of communal autonomy Is so important in Viet Nam that it is unsurpassed in any other region of the world. An old adage illustrates this very well: The customs, of the village take precedence over the laws of the King . The administration of the village is handled by a Council of Notables, elected by the people. Since the 15th Century, each village has been required to make an annual payment to the national treasury.
The ancient Vietnamese society was, in principle, divided into four loosely defined classes: farmers, artisans, merchants and scholars. No one was a prisoner of his class at birth, because anyone at all could become a Governor or Prime Minister - provided that his culture and his merits enabled him to win in the triennial literary competitions.
According to the principles of Confucianism, the State belongs to everyone. Any ruler who possessed the Mandate of Heaven was considered responsible for both the for-tunes and misfortunes of his people. Since the people knew the will of Heaven, it was the duty of the leaders to respect the people's desires - to love what the people love, and to hate what the people hate. This concept of democracy was condensed by Mencius in the formula, First comes the people, then comes the state, and the King is negligible. It is thanks to these egalitarian principles of Confucianism that the Vietnamese were able, during their long history, to accomplish their social evolution and a democratic apprenticeship without bloodshed or disorder.
Buddhism
The origins of Buddhism in Viet Nam can be traced to the Second Century.
The Philosophy of Buddha. For the Buddhist, life is seen as a vast sea of suffering, in which man wallows hopelessly. In effect, the vicious circle of existence is renewed in the course of endless reincarnations. Buddha himself taught that, All the pain which we suffer is caused by Desire: desire for life, happiness, riches, power, and so on. If desire were suppressed, the cause of pain would be destroyed. The essence of Buddhist teaching is contained in the concept of Kharm, the law of causality: the present existence is conditioned by earlier existences, and will condition those to follow. Thus, the virtuous man should strive constantly to improve himself by doing good deeds, and by renouncing sensual pleasures, so that he can become conscious of the existence of Buddha, who is present in every living being. Con-sequently, desire must first be overcome; and a pure heart is necessary to break the chains binding man to his earthly existence.
Greater and Lesser Vehicles. Born in India, Buddhism spread rapidly throughout Asia. Nevertheless, its disciples - without wanting to - created a schism. In fact, the form of Buddhism which was taught by monks who took the overland route differed significantly from the form taught by those who crossed the Indian Ocean to the lands bordering the Pacific. Thus, the religion propagated along the paths of the great historic migrations was the Mahaynna, or Greater Vehicle, while the religion which was carried over the maritime routes as Hinayana, or Lesser Vehicle Buddhism. The Greater Vehicle Buddhism, in the course of its long migrations, was gradually modified to include a number of minor Buddhas. On the contrary, Buddhism of the Lesser Vehicle kept all the rigor of the teaching of the Buddha: pity, morality, patience, zeal, contemplation and knowledge.
Propagation of Buddhism in Viet Nam. About two-thirds of Viet Nam's approximately 30 million people are of Buddhist faith. Since the Second Century the Vietnamese people were already acquainted with the great Buddhist doctrine which stresses the transitory nature of all things.
In its early stages, during the period of Chinese domination, Buddhism did not receive any official support, since the Chinese were mainly concerned with the doctrine of Confucianism. The brief independence of Viet Nam from 544 to 602, favored the expansion of Buddhism. But it was during the third Chinese domination from 603 to 939 that real progress was made, thanks to the arrival of two foreign missions of the Dhyana sect.
In 939, Ngo Quyen overthrew the Chinese and established a new regime. But the rebellion of the twelve feudal Lords thwarted his ambitions. During this troubled period, which lasted for three decades, Buddhism marked time.
With the coming to power Dinh Bo Link, Buddhism enjoyed an era of prosperity which was to last until 1009. The Emperor Dinh Bo Linh brought a monk into the Court, who taught the Emperor the lessons of the Dharma. In appreciation for this, the Emperor appointed the monk as head of the Buddhist Clergy, which had just been formed. Buddhism continued to benefit from the favors of the Crown under later rulers of this dynasty, and all the great scholars of the Court were drawn from the Buddhist Clergy. Thus, it is easy to understand why the Court continued to give its protection to Buddhism, and favored its expansion.
In the year 1009, a palace revolt put an end to reign of the Le and brought to power a mandarin by the name of Ly Cong Uan, who assumed the royal name of Ly Thai To. He immediately gave his protection to Buddhism, which was soon to attain the highpoint of its development. The successors to Ly Thai To continued to show their piety and devotion to Buddhism. Under the reign of fly Thai Tong, 95 pagodas were built and all the existing temples and statues of Buddha were restored. In 1049, the Emperor had a dream in which he was led to the Palace of the Lotus. As a result of this dream, he ordered the construction of a temple in the form of a lotus flower. This is the famous single pillared temple in Hanoi. The third king of the dynasty, fly Thank Tong, was a living incarnation of Buddhist compassion. During his reign, he ordered food and clothing to be distributed to the needy, and granted pardons to numerous prisoners.
Under the reign of fly Thank Tong, Confucianism entered into the intellectual life of the country via the competitions for recruiting new mandarins. These Confucianist scholars, however, were not concerned with Buddhism. At the beginning of the Tran Dynasty, all the signs indicated that Buddhism would maintain its position despite the renewed competition from Confucianism. But after a period of uncertainty, Buddhism was faced with the challenge of still other competing doctrines. Notably, in 1414, Viet Nam fell under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, which instilled new vigor into Confucianism. The Chinese governors destroyed many temples, and confiscated all the Buddhist books. In 1428, Viet Nam recovered its independence; but the Emperor Le Thai To instituted an examination for the monks, who had to become laymen again if they failed thirty years later, Buddhists were subjected to strict surveillance, and were forbidden to construct any new pagodas. Thereafter, Buddhism survived among the people only as one element in a mixture of religious beliefs.
From 1528 to 1602, thanks to the struggle between the Trinh in the North and the Nguyen in the South, Buddhism regained some lost ground: new Dhyana sects were formed, and many monasteries were restored. In 1601, Nguyen Hoang ordered the construction of the Pagoda of the Heavenly Lady, which can still be seen in the city of Hue.
With the coming to power of the Nguyen in the South, however, Buddhism became apolitical tool, and the monks were reduce to the function of guardians of the pagodas. They decay of discipline in the very heart of the monasteries was to provoke a devastating decline of Buddhism.
Modern Buddhism. 1920 saw the beginning of an organized movement for the restoration of Buddhism throughout the country. Starting in 1931, Associations of Buddhist Studies were established in the South, the Center, and North Viet Nam. The goal of these Associations was the regeneration of the Buddhist community, with a view to providing the country with faithful and educated monks. Many translations of both Greater and Lesser Vehicle Buddhist texts were distributed. The Dhyana sect, however, died out, while amidism - which makes Amitaba, the first historical Buddha, a meta-physical divinity - grew in popularity. The popularization of the doctrine was supported by all the Vietnamese social classes.
Unfortunately these advances were wiped out by the Second World War. In 1948, the monks reassembled in Hanoi. In 1949, an orphanage, a private college and other works of good will for the benefit of war victims appeared both in Hanoi end in the provinces. In South and in Central Viet Nam, the same reorganization took place with equal success. On May 6,1951, a National Congress at Hue brought together many delegates from the buddhist Associations in the country. Among other things, the Congress ratified the pro-position of the Buddhist delegate from the North, that Vietnamese Buddhism join the world Association of Buddhism. The Second World Congress which met in Tokyo in 1952, gave Vietnamese Buddhism a chance to demonstrate its vitality. All things consider-ed, it can be said that Buddhism remains the most wide-spread of Vietnamese religions.
Finally, let us mention the efforts to renovate and reunify Buddhism which have permitted the foundations to be laid for a unified Buddhist Church, and the creation of the Buddhist Institute for the Propagation of the Faith, the Vien Hoe Dao.
Christianity
In comparison with the other religions of Viet Nam, Christianity was introduced relatively recently. In fact, it was not until the 16th century that Christian missionaries began preaching the Gospel to the Vietnamese; and their efforts met with greater success here than elsewhere in Asia. Also, because of the strong regionalism discussed previously, the tendency was for large portions of a community to convert at the same time; as a result, the Catholic population is for the most part grouped into separate communities, which possess a strong sense of unity and coherence.
The first who arrived in Viet Nam to propagate the Catholic faith were Saint Oderic de Pordenone and Saint Francis Xavier. En route to China in the beginning of the 14th century, the former stopped off in the Chaznpa kingdom, located in what is now the province of Binh Dinh, South Viet Nam. The latter, Patron' Saint of the Orient, landed in Central Viet Nam in the 15th century, seeking refuge from a storm which arose during his voyage to Canton.
Later, in 1533, the Emperor Le Trang Tong issued a decree forbidding the teaching of Christianity by a missionary named Inigs Ingace In the villages of Nine Cuong, Quan Anh, and Tra Lu, in the province of Nam Dinh. Nevertheless, the next fifty years saw the arrival of a continuous stream of Catholic missionaries from France, Spain and Portugal. In fact, the Spanish missionary, Ordonnez de Cevallos, was able to convert the sister of Emperor Le The Tong in 1591, as well as several other members of the royal family; however, Vietnamese documents of this period do not mention this.
Following the request of Alexandra de Rhodes, Pope Alexander VII appointed the first two Bishops for the Far East in 1659.Lambert de la Motte and Francois Pallu who were thus designated, took up their posts in Viet Nam, with the former going to the South, and the latter to the North. In 1668, at Yuthia, Siam, the first four Vietnamese priests were ordained by Msgr. Lambert dela Motto; and in the next year, acting for Msgr. Pallu, he ordained seven more priests. In North Viet Nam. Msgr. Pallu, who was in Rome at the time, requested that six new Bishops he chosen for- Viet Nam, from these newly ordained native priests. However, circumstances did not permit this request to be granted.
During the 17th century, persecutions of Catholic priests and their followers took many lives in the North as well as the South. In the 18th century, the persecutions became even more severe: in 1750, Vo Vung expelled 26 foreign missionaries at one time, and there remained in the country only three Vietnamese priests to carry on the work of the Missions.
With the coming to power of Gia Long in 1802, the Church enjoyed a period of relative peace, which was interrupted sporadically under the reigns of Gia Long's successors, notably, during the reign of Tu Duc (1848-1983), the persecution of Catholics was resumed, since this Confucianist monarch feared that the newer religion would undermine the traditional social order.
After all these vicissitudes, the peace of the Church was reestablished in 1888. Since then, the number of converts has continually increased; from 420,000 in 1840, their numbers grew to 1,237,000 in 1927. In 1933, the vietnamese secular clergy saw the consecration of its first Bishop, Msgr. Nguyen Ba Tong; and since this time, the Vietnamese vicarates have gradually been placed under the jurisdiction of native Bishops; although as late as 1960, there were still two which remained under the direction of the Foreign Missions in Paris.
In 1965, there Were reportedly 1,559,077 Catholics in the South's population of approximately 14,764,000 people - that is, roughly 10.5%. As for the clergy, their number at this time was 1771 priests, of whom 1,376 were Vietnamese; also, there were 4,826 nuns, the majority of whom were Vietnamese.
One can only guess at the figures for North Viet Nam. However, it is estimated that in 1960, there were approximately 793,000 faithful and 321 priests.
From the foregoing paragraphs, It is obvious that the dominant Christian influence in Viet Nam has been Catholicism. Protestant religions got a much later start- in Viet Nam, and as a result have not achieved the same popularity as the Catholic Church; however, especially since the end of World War II, Protestant missionaries have taken an increasing interest in Viet Nam, and their influence has steadily, if slowly, increased.
Other Religions
Taoism. Vietnamese Taolsm is derive from the doctrine of Lao Tzu, which is based essentially on the participation of man in the universal order. This order, which is taken for granted, depends on the equilibrium of the two elements Yin (negative ) and Yang(positive), which represent the constant duality of nature: rest and motion, liquid and solid, light and darkness, concentration and expansion, material and spiritual. The material world being imbued with these two principles, the Taoist believes that whoever is able to act according to these principles could become the master of the world. This belief, in turn, has promoted a certain mysticism, reflected in the magical practices of certain sorcerers, who pretend to possess the secrets of the universe. The Taoist refrains from disturbing the Natural Order; on the contrary, he conforms to it in every circumstance. He considers the taking of initiatives to be in vain; and thus, he disdains the active life, which is the basis for the Taoist doctrines of passivity and absence of care. These doctrines, which were adopted by many Confucian scholars as well, are summed up in the Taoist maxim, Do nothing and everything will be accomplished simultaneously. The restitution of the seal and sword to the Emperor by the Imperial mandarins, who preferred retreat to honors and fortune; and the fabulous meetings between fairies and immortals, which have so often been set to verse in Vietnamese literature are of Taoist inspiration.
The supreme divinity of Taoism is the Emperor of Jade. With his Ministers of Death and Birth, he controls the destiny of men. This cult is replete with incantations, charms, amulets and the like, which once made for prosperous trade, with the sorcerers intervening on every possible occasion in life. With progress in education, however. these practices have tended to disappear.
Among the many popular cults attached to Taoism, two are particularly interesting. The first is the cult of the Chu Vi , the Spirits of the Three Worlds : the Terrestrial, the Celestial, -and the Aquatic, of which the feminine divinities are the most famous. This cult is served by female mediums, who permit the faithful to communicate with the divinities. The second cult, called the Nol Dao (Local Religion) is typically Vietnamese. The principle deity of this cult is the national hero, Tran Hung Dao, who is believed to offer protection against evil spirits. The priests of this cult are mediums.
Cao-Daism
Cao-Daism originated in South Viet Nam in the beginning of this century. The founder of this religion, Ngo Van Chieu, was formerly an administrative official in Phu Quoc province. He was known as a holy man -a sweet and inoffensive visionary, who believed passionately in spiritualism. This religion had no real form until 1925, when the Colonial Counsellor, Le Van Trung revised the basis of the religion and established the Ceo Dai religion. Cao-Daism can be considered a mixture of religions, and includes elements of Buddhism. Confucianism, Taoism and Christianity
According to its believers, the spirit of Cao Dai appeared in the form of a raven in November, 1926 and traced cryptic messages in the sand: I am the Supreme Sovereign; the oldest of the Buddha - it is I; I am also Cakya-Mouni; I am Jesus Christ; I now take the name of Cao Dai to teach a new religion.
Cao-Daism considers that the principle founders of religions are nothing more than successive reincarnations of the same entity, the Supreme God, in different times and indifferent places. Although there may be a diversity of rituals due to differences of geography, usage and customs, the essence of all religions is the same. Thus, It is the supreme heresy to oppose one religion to another; on the contrary, it would be preferable to assemble all religions under the same banner and teach the spirit of concord and brotherhood to the members of all religions. Cao-Daism counts 1 million believers, residing principally in South Viet Nam, and there are several thousand residing in other countries as well. Cao-Deism preaches faith in one God; it recognizes the existence of the soul and its successive rein-carnations, as well as the post-humus consequences of human action, subject to the laws of Kharma (causality). It teaches respect for the dead, the cult of the ancestors, love of good end of justice, and; the practice of virtue and of resignation. It foresees the coming of a Messiah, Minh Vuong, the just end en-lightened King, to reestablish the golden age. This original religious system claims Universal excellence by unification of multiple forms of religions; and it numbers among its saints Dr. Sun-Yet-Sen, the Vietnamese prophet Treng Trinh. Victor Hugo, and even Sir Winston Churchill. The Holy See of Cao-Daism is in Tay Nine province, South Viet Nem, at the foot of Ba Den (Black Lady)mountain. This mysterious mountain shelters a number of hermits, who collect medicinal plants end act as oracles.
The Hoa Hao. The Hoe Hao is a Buddhist sect, which originated in 1919 in the village of Hoa Hao; in the region of the delta. The head of this new sect, Huynh Phu So, was taught by a hermit of the Tra Son pagoda, where he was cured of a previously hopeless illness. The holy man, a specialist in the practice of acupuncture, taught him the practice of sorcery, the principles of magnetism and hypnotism, and the art of fabricating lucky talismans. When the hermit died, Huynh Phu So returned to his village; and on the night of a storm, began a speak for several hours without interruption, as though he were possessed. He talked about a doctrine of Buddha, adapted to new circumstances, and declared himself to be the successor of Buddha and the founder of a new religion, Phat Giao Hoe Hao ( Hoa Hao Buddhism).
Huynh Phu So was known for his declamations of semi-religious, semi-prophetic verses. He recommended the simplification of rites and the abolition of temples and intermediaries, in order to enable the faith-full to enter into direct communication with the All-Powerful. In his preachings, he ventured to make prophesies, certain ones of which have been fulfilled. And he healed almost miraculously a number of individuals, which impressed the people even more, and thus assured the success of the new sect.
Hoa Hao Buddhism has 11/2 million adherents in the western part of South Viet Nam.
Among other religions found in Viet Nam, we might mention Brahmanism and Islam, which are practiced by the Hindus and the Pakistanis, as well as by the Chams; and the Bahai religion, which has been brought in only very recently, and claims to be the religion of the future. In a short time, it has succeeded in assembling a rather large following.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)