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Cao Dai Temple
Cao Dai is an attempt to create a perfect synthesis of world religions. It is a combination of Christianity, Buddhism , Islam, Confucianism, Hinduism, Geniism, and Taoism . Established in the Southern regions of Vietnam in the early 1920's, the religion was officially codified in 1926. The functioning center of Cao Daism is located in the Tay Ninh province. Cao Dai literally means high tower or palace, a metaphor for the spender of spiritual growth. The central philosophy of Cao Daism pertains to the duty that the faithful perform for themselves, their family, society and the world at large. Much like Confucianism, this element of the Philosophy pertains to how the individual functions within the context of the community.
Caodaism (Dai Dao Tam Ky Pho Do, or Third Great Universal Religious
Amnesty) is a syncretic religion that had its beginnings in Vietnam,
then part of French Indo-China, in the 1920s. Its founder, Ngo Minh
Chieu (or Ngo Van Chieu), was a French civil servant and was also a
mystic who was well-versed in western and eastern religions. In 1919 he
began receiving revelations about the truth of religions from God
(Caodai) that told him to combine the teachings of Buddhism, Hinduism,
Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Islam and other religions into one
religion to promote peace. In 1926 he revealed his seances to the public
as a new belief system. It soon became quite popular.
There are a number of important figures in the Cao Dai pantheon. The
major saints are Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen, the 19c
French writer Victor Hugo and the 16c Vietnamese poet Nguyen Binh Khiem.
Lesser dignitaries who have manifested themselves in seances include
notables such as Joan of Arc, Descartes, V. I. Lenin, William
Shakespeare, and Winston Churchill. The organizational structure roughly
follows that of the Roman Catholic Church with a pope, cardinals,
bishops and priests. There are several million practicioners in (mostly
southern) Vietnam and perhaps over a thousand temples, mostly in the
Mekong delta. There are also practicioners in the west, though these are
primarily in the expatriate Vietnamese communities.
The movement became involved in the Vietnamese nationalist movement
against the French and for a while even were allied with the Viet Minh.
But Cai Dai military units eventually joined the French against the Viet
Minh. After the triumph of the North in the Vietnam war Cao Daiists
suffered much along with other religions.
The Great Temple, or Holy See, is the center of the sect. Constructed
between 1933 and 1955, is about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of
Ho Chi Minh City. It is near the market village of Long Than, and only 5
kilometers from Tay Nihn, the capital of the province of the same name.
There are colorful ceremonies with chanting four times a day, including
the noontime service in January, 1992, depicted here.
Text by Robert D. Fiala
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