Performing Dualism: Experiences of Caodaism |
* by Chris Hartney |
The following paper was presented by Chris Hartney to
the Annual Conference of Australian Association for the Study of Religions (AASR),
held at St John's College, University of Queensland, 10-13 July 1997. Besides
the key addresses, there were over 50 papers presented by academics, scholars,
and researchers from different universities and religious organisations in
Australia and overseas. The topics covered different aspects of various
religions in the world.
Chris Hartney is a postgraduate student at the University of Sydney where he
tutors and lectures on Chinese Religions (Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism). He
has a combined honours degree (first class) in Comparative Religion and
Performance Studies. His paper was presented to the conference at 4.30pm Friday
11 July.
Note: This paper has been written after a number of formal contacts with the
Caodaist Community at Wiley Park (New South Wales, Australia), particularly with
the Community Leader Mr Nguyen, Chanh-Giao and after several informal
discussions with Dao, Cong-Tam.
Caodaism originated in Viet Nam in the 1920's. Its beginnings
were by direct spiritual revelation. Mr Ngô Minh Chiêu, was the first disciple
of 'Cao Dai' - which means 'on high' or 'tall tower' - an epithet which
avoids attributing human characteristics to Duc Cao Dai - or God the
Father. The religion expanded throughout the decade until the 17 October 1926,
when the Foundation of the Cao Dai Religion was formally announced to
the French Governor of Co-chin-china. Today Caodaism reputedly has four to five
million adherents, primarily in southern Viet Nam and Cambodia and following the
Vietnamese Diaspora to Australia, America, Canada, Japan and Europe... and my
home suburb of Bankstown, where, the first purpose-built Australian Caodaist
temple is to open soon.
The overall quest of the Caodaists, is summed up in the words of His Holiness
The Ho-Phap Pham Cong Tac before the 'Great Sacerdotal Assembly' of
1938,
'The Divine Master [Duc Cao Dai] came to gather us together again, to
unite us and to encourage us to live in peace like children in one large
family. The prediction of His coming in the Christian Gospel is fulfilled.
"I have other wandering sheep to bring back to the fold." This means
that He has to unify many religions.' "A 'super-theosophy'..."As Garry Trompf has noted (See
G.W.Trompf - address to
Fifth
Australian Caodaist Conference 1989), one which plans to "...bring
harmony to all spiritual beliefs and philosophies." The structure of
Caodaism very strongly recognises the distinctions of Confucianism, Taoism and
Buddhism and their influence on this faith. However, Caodaism is more universal
than simply an amalgam of these three predominantly Chinese traditions.
Victor L. Oliver in Cao Dai Spiritism 1976:9 "In their pristine form the
revelations given by these human messengers [Christ, Buddah etc] were 'truth,'
but because of the human frailty of the messengers and their disciples, the
messengers were corrupted. The Caodai also believe these messengers were
culture- bound, being applicable only to the people of the area in which the
founders lived: moreover these were only intended for specific ages. In all,
the effect of the revelations given during these two periods gave but a
partial picture of Cao Dai's will, therefore, Cao Dai decided to give a third
and final amnesty and revelation through His new religion, Caodaism.
CaoDaism avoids the failures of past religious leaders because spirits are
used to communicate divine truth" Thus it is a faith which attempts to appropriate the 'other' by means of
syncretism and weld that into a new unity. This process of syncretism has to be
by dualistic means - of identifying two sometimes disparate or opposing
phenomena or principals and, by understanding the differences, weld them into a
unity. This theme is best explained by looking at Caodaism's background.
Any history book of Viet Nam, will be in one dimension or another a history
of how this country has dealt with foreign influences, invasions and ideas.
After the warring states period (in Chinese History), the Han Dynasty unified
China in 111BCE as a result of this, Nam Viet (the ancient Kingdom of Viet Nam)
fell under China's control. A millennium later, as the (Chinese) Tang dynasty
crumbled the Vietnamese gained independence in 939. Neo Confucianism continued
to be a major influence in the process of self-government.The Chinese
continued to influence the area and at times tried to regain control of Viet
Nam. Then in 1859, the French began to administer Viet Nam and began to increase
the habitable areas of the Mekong delta in the south. It is in this southern
part of Vietnam where CaoDaism is most notable.. The first among the ideas of Chinese influence, writes Neil L. Jamieson, in
Understanding Vietnam is the idea of âm and dụ̀ng or
yin and yang.. (Jamieson 1993:12-15) A dualistic system which stresses balance
between two forces. Jameison spends several pages listing dichotomies that
spring from this central dualism. Ultimately, he writes,
Finding a proper balance between yin (âm) and yang (dụ̀ng), between
duty and feeling, made the construction of a proper life a form of art,
entailing conflict and judgement. (Jameison 1993:15) And part of a proper life for the nation was the reconciliation of influences
both internal and external, so that a proper balance was achieved. During the
1930's - the time that Caodaism was building itself, many debates were 'expressed
in terms of 'the old' versus 'the new' (Jameison, 1993:1). Systems of mediation
and balance between old and new, external and internal, would always need to be
found. Caodaism serves Vietnam at a religious, social, political and even
occasionally military level as one of those systems. It incorporates the old mix
of Chinese and early Vietnamese religions, as well as, via French colonial
influence, being inclusive of the Abrahamic monotheisms. I might also add that
in the dualism of life and death, Caodaism is able to bridge this abyss. In the
aftermath of World War One, as Trompf writes, 'so many senseless deaths in
the trenches led thousands of Europeans to find solace in gatherings to
contact', 'those on the other side'. (see Trompf ‘Introduction to the
English edition of The Constitution of Caodaism’) Victor L. Oliver notes,
through corbeille à bec (automatic writing) and the ouidja board, Descartes,
Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo, Pasteur, Shakespeare and Lenin, as well as major
figures in Viet Nam's history have been contacted, as well as many former
deceased leaders of Caodaism. (see Oliver 1976:10). In death, these figures
watch over and help advise the Holy See and aid in directing the community. The
séance has played a significant role in the formation and development of
Caodaism.
Currently, Caodaism operates in a number of modest spaces around Australia,
usually in converted dwellings. This was the case with Caodaist community in
Sydney, where from July 1983 until recently, a house in St Peters was used by
the community. However, after much lobbying from the community, land was
purchased from the Roads and Traffic Authority at Wiley Park. Building work has
been carried out on this site from December 1991, and Australia's first Cao-Dai
Temple will soon open.
The Temple itself is a tribute to the hard work of the community attached to
it. All of the work on the temple has been completed from donations of money and
labour. Already the community talks of the opening with great enthusiasm. And
when it does open, the Wiley Park Temple will serve as the foremost display of
Cao Dai's place in Australian society.
* * * * * Walking along King George's Road, Wiley Park, a South Western suburb of
Sydney, is a fibro and brick experience. And then you come across the Cao-Dai
Temple. The act of looking at the temple, for a religions scholar, is
vertiginous. Buddhist statuary set into alcoves, two great pagoda-like towers,
Chinese eves and architraves, and at the centre of it all, what seems a great
Masonic Eye - similar to that which stares out at us from the U.S. one dollar
bill. I had heard of Caodaism before, but the sight of this building concretised
that knowledge in a time and a space, and gave me an anchor point to which I
could attach new knowledge - ultimately 'building' this paper.
A Caodaist (Dao, Cong Tam) working on campus (Sydney University), made
contact with the community easier and I found myself invited to this year's New
Year celebrations.
The temple space itself is on the upper level of the building. The downstairs
area includes the kitchen, washrooms and ancestor shrine. Dạ Công Tâm
led me to the front of the building and up the main staircase. Watching over
these stairs is a pictorial representation of the signatories of the Third
Alliance between God and mankind. The first alliance being in the time of Moses,
the second in the time of Christ. Sun Yat-Sen, a Chinese Christian and founder
of the Chinese Republic, Victor Hugo, the French poet/novelist, and Trang-Trinh
the 16th Century Vietnamese poet are portrayed. These three figures have
revealed themselves as guardians of the faith. And each figure is highly
symbolic. Firstly of the religious, creative and political processes their lives
encapsulate. Secondly, of the cultures they represent. The accompanying
explanatory sign hung nearby explains...
Sun Yat-Sen is shown holding an inkstone (symbol of Chinese civilisation
allied to Christian Civilisation giving birth to CaoDai doctrine.) Victor Hugo
and Trang Trinh are writing the words 'God and Humanity (Caodaism) [and] 'Love
and Justice' [which represents] law and the rule of doctrine. The first in
French the second in Chinese [characters] At the point where this representation is hung - the stairs divide into two.
It is here that the dualistic layout of the temple starts to become evident. As
Oliver notes, ‘The Yin and Yang duality occurs in other aspects of
Caodaism. For Example, Caodai architecture emphasises it.' The temples are built
so that male and female enter on opposite sides...’ (Oliver 1976:16) From
the division of the stairs at the front, right through to the altar, the
architecture stresses this division. Two doors, two distinct sets of kneeling
pads, two candles on the altar.
The temple is not only divided left and right, but front and back. The
western end of the temple houses the Hô Phap’s Altar. The Hô
Phap being head of the Hiep-Thien-Dai/ Legislative Body of the
Hierarchy and His Holiness Pham Cong Tac, a former holder of this office, is
much revered as a guardian of this space. This altar is watched over by a
beautifully stylised Chinese character 'Ch'i' /'Khi' (meaning breath/essence).
In Taoist cosmology Ch'i is related strongly to the creative and sustaining
essence of the universe and the primal, universal mother. So this altar has
connotations of femaleness.
However it is the altar at the Eastern end, the altar of God the Father which
is the focal point during worship. The altar is flanked by representations of
the 8 Chinese Immortals. The eight are represented on both the yin, or right
side, and the yang, or left, again emphasising the split of this space. The
Immortals watch over the religion and the community. Dạ, Công Tâm
explained the altar to me quoting from chapter 42 of the Tao Te Ching.
"The way begets one...' (Ch'i - and indeed there is only one
representation of the Eye of Duc Cao Dai (God). '...one begets
two...' (which are Yin and Yang - the two candles) '...two begets three...',
'...three begets the myriad creatures."
Five incense sticks representing the five elements which are: metal (kim);
wood [plant] (moc); water (thuy); fire (hoa); earth (tho).
And these also represent the five different levels of attainment: Purity;
Meditation; Wisdom; Superior Knowledge; Karmic Liberation.
Here on the altar there are myriad sign systems at work. What interests me
most is that the altar has a symmetry to it except for the Divine Eye(Thien
Nhan), and the Eternal Light (Den Thai Cuc) which burns from a
lamp suspended in front of the eye. According to the Cao-Dai Internet page, this
Eternal Light symbolises the 'universal monad' (the great unity). And this is
what I want to draw your attention to.
It is the bivalence of this space. It is divided from the contract over the
stairs right through to the uniting eye of Duc Cao Dai (God). Yet this
eye itself represents a symbol into the Otherworld, peering, as it does into our
mortal world. An aperture gazing out. It is a spiritual Foucaultian panopticon,
looking down on the community and literally watching over them, not only in the
temple, but at home. The arrangement of this altar is replicated as the domestic
altar in every community member's house.
The main ritual I have witnessed at the temple, only served to reinforce
these themes.
The first part of the New Year's service, is silent meditation accompanied by
music. I was led out of the temple space during this time. Perhaps because
Dạ Công Tâm thought there was nothing observable in this part of the
worship. From downstairs, however, I could hear a drum beating with a slow
rhythm and over the period of an hour the rhythm increased, other instruments
joining in and building to a very multi-layered and strong sound. Once this
first half was completed, Dạ Công Tâm and I returned for the second half
when the 'offerings' stage of the 'service' began. I was standing in the chorale
placed above the Ch'i /Khi altar.
When I entered the two candles on the altar were lit - the Cao-Dai Internet
page explains that the left, yang, or positive candle is always lit first. The
female and male sides of the community bow to each other and three times to the
altar and then knelt and prayers were offered. An aisle was formed between the
men and women and down this aisle the offerings were carried. Slowly, and with a
very ceremonial and highly skilled march, younger men, in ceremonial robes
similar to that of Confucian ceremonial dress, brought offerings from the Ch'i /Khi
altar (Ho-Phap's Altar) forward to Mr Nguyên, Chánh Giáo who knelt
foremost in the congregation. Just behind and to the right of Mr Nguyên, Chánh
Giáo, was the head female of the community, who placed offerings on the yin
side of the altar, while, in turn Mr Nguyên, Chánh Giáo placed other
offerings - this again stressed the duality of the space in performance, Mr Nguyên,
Chánh Giáo's forwardness suggesting the dominance of the male, and the yang.
To address the question of sex - it is plain to see in the rituals of
Caodaism that the yang is always represented as active and therefore ultimately
dominant. However, just because Caodaism recognises a difference between male
and female, this does not automatically mean that the female must be dominated
at every turn by the male. Females are welcomed into the hierarchy of the church
to the level of the office of Cardinal (Dau-Su). The Pope (Giao-Tong)
must be male. Apart from this the status of women in the Community can be
judged from the following quote found of page 120 of the Religious Constitution
of Caodaism
'"The dignitaries whether masculine or feminine who are on the same
level have the same powers.... Equality is for all, but powers [of the
different office bearers] differ according to the dignitaries of the
Sacerdotal Council"' At the New Year's ceremony. The offerings were placed amidst great solemnity,
prayers, musical accompaniment and hymn singing.
As this was a New Year's celebration, a division in time was being addressed
by these rituals. In traditional Chinese cosmology, the year always begins as
Yang. As it proceeds it becomes more Yang. The peak of 'yangness' is the ninth
day of the ninth month. The Chinese wet season then sets in and the year
proceeds as yin until the twenty-fourth of the twelfth month. From the
twenty-fourth until the eve of the last day of the old year, the gods and
spirits return to heaven to report to The Imperial August Jade Emperor. These
spirits - household and village and greater, return for the new year.
In similar fashion, the Cao-Dai ceremony was called, 'Nguon Dan' New
Year (Return of the spirits)'. So this ritual was marking a return of the
spiritual element. It is part of a chronological and religious liminal period
stretching from the twenty-fourth day of the last month through to the first of
the first which marks the old year off from the new. From the twenty four of the
twelfth to the first of the first the temple is not used as the spirits attend
the Council of God. Thus this ritual was marking the division between the old
and the new, the turning of the cosmos from yin back to yang, and the returning
of the spirits. So even here, this ritual concerns itself with the mediation
between two. Firstly between the community and Duc Cao Dai (God), then
between yin and yang, and also between the old year and all the past can
symbolise, and the new year and all of its possible potential.
No clearer was this distinction when the community filed outside and breaking
the solemnity of the ritual, with great joviality greeted each other with the
phrase, 'Chuc Mung Nam Moi' - Happy New Year.
Personal outward show in performance is also a device of bridging and
understanding. On my last visit to the temple Mr Nguyên, Chanh Giáo related
the story of how he had attended a function of the broader Vietnamese Community.
He wore, his Caodaist regulation clothing - white pants and robe (áo dài)
and distinctive black hat (khan dông). This display of difference encouraged
David Landa of the then premier’s office to ask Mr Nguyên, Chánh Giáo about
his dress, himself and Caodaism. This meeting led to Mr Landa helping to
organise an application for land for the Cao-Dai Temple.
A great deal of work then ensued. The Caodaists had to reluctantly enter the
many varied processes of state and government bureaucracy as they applied for
land, and then once having acquired that land, going to council in order to have
their planning applications approved. This included addressing Canterbury
council, explaining Caodaism to the Councillors. This application involved
complications and the community eventually went to the Federal Electorate Office
to ask for help. There they approached Michael Hatton, Now the Federal Member
for Blaxland. Mr Hatton has a very high opinion of the community based on those
people from the community who he has met, of one applicant he said,
The gentleman was a very quiet, but personable, caring individual, who
expressed probably the reservation of a lot of the Vietnamese people in
Australia because of the experiences in their homeland. He was wary of
authority and authority figures, of coming to an electorate office. Of being
in a position where he had to approach a member of parliament's office for
assistance. But there was no other recourse, because of the situation they
were in. I have spoken to a number of persons in the Bankstown community, including,
Catholic and Buddhist Vietnamese and people living in the street directly behind
the temple, all of whom have had some contact with the Caodaists, all of them
mention without prompting, the seeming gentleness and friendliness of the
community members. This might seem circumstantial evidence, but it does
highlight the way in which Caodaists 'seem' in the larger community.
In the community of academics surrounding the School of Studies in Religion,
and at the Religious Radio department of the ABC, where I have some dealings,
everyone knows of Dạ Công Tâm, at Fisher Library (Sydney University).
Thus Dào, Công Tâm has done a good job in networking around campus and having
it be known that he is a very approachable man and willing to speak on matters
pertaining to Caodaism.
In 1989 the fifth Australian Caodaist Convention, was held at the Women's
College, University of Sydney. Professors Garry Trompf and
Eric
Sharpe both addressed this conference. Photos of them addressing the
conference and transcripts of their speeches are now included on the Cao-Dai web
site, and the professor's words preface the recently translated 'Religious
Constitution of Caodaism.' Through ventures such as these, the Caodaists are
asking the scholarly community to understand them, and through us, the wider
community.
Though the story of Nguyên, Chánh Giáo and David Landa could relate to any
religion with specific dress codes, this small event encapsulates what I have
been attempting to say about the work of Caodaism. Caodaism is a very complex
religion, and I am still on the journey of understanding it. However, I do know
that the most obvious theme of Caodaist performance is its dualism. I recognise
that as an life-time Australian, I represent a difference by my very presence in
the community and at their ceremonies as an observer. Because of this, themes of
dualism and relating to the other can not be but foremost in my mind. But I also
wanted to explain to you very simply, a way in which this religion could be
seen, and what Caodaism says about who we are as scholars and Australians.
Looking at the Caodaist performances and how they 'Perform Dualism' as I believe
they do, allows me to stress the following points.
Firstly Caodaism is a product of two thousand years of dealing with external
influences and syncretising those aspects of phenomena most contemporaneously
useful from Chinese and latterly Western influences.
Secondly, that this dualistic and syncretic processes is embodied not only in
the history of Caodaism, but in its outward performances of architecture, the
Internet, its texts, its rituals, and the behaviour of community members.
Thirdly, this mechanism will ensure Caodaism a confident place in our
society. As symbolised by the Cao-Dai Temple in Wiley Park, a building which
represents this community's otherness, and simultaneously their ability and
willingness to integrate external influences.
By way of comparison, when talking of Caodaism, Michael Hatton was very
prompt in stressing his own family's experiences, over generations as
Irish-Catholic in a very Anglo-Masonic Australian society. He hoped Australia
would never revert to such a segregated situation. And I recall my experiences
with the Russian Orthodox Community in Bankstown. Russians who came out to
Australia post-perestroika, declared Orthodoxy here a museum piece of the
fifties (which it was). The society in which Caodaism is finding its place, was
not so long ago divided into, not a dualistic and syncretic culture, but
parallel streams of culture. Streams which had run side-by-side from the
beginnings of white history.
The yin/yang balance, the dualistic machinery of Caodaism - the ability to
encapsulate and perform dualism - that is, syncretise divergent ideals, is part
of the very nature of Vietnamese history. And an integral part of Caodaism. The
temple's very obvious place in Wiley Park, and the community's obvious place
within ours helps define our differences. However the dualistic machinery of
Caodaism means that Caodaists are interested in having the wider Australian
community interested in their message. We should be ready to meet their
invitation, by getting to understand them. And it is our responsibility as
scholars to be foremost in that process.
I end on this point. Asked about the place of Caodaism in the Bankstown
community, and Australia, Michael Hatton averred,
As an amalgam of many faiths, Caodaism is no threat to any other religion nor
to any community in Australia. And it's an expression of our tolerance and
sense that we should be able to welcome a community like the Caodaists who
practise what they preach - who are very open. As they are welcoming, we too
should welcome them. For they will help constitute part of the richer palate
of this new country we've been creating. Author's note: This paper was designed to introduce Caodaism to the
Australian Scholarly Community. Thus I have kept it basic, and perhaps it
remains a little rough. Tâm has expressed his eagerness to include these words
on the Internet. I welcome this move as a chance to communicate with others
interested in understanding Caodaism. As I have no permanent e-mail address at
the moment, please feel free to contact me care of,
|
The School of Studies in Religion |
Bibliography. Interview with Michael Hatton MHR with the author 20 June 1997 Jamieson, Neil. L, Understanding Vietnam University of California Press Berkeley 1993 Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (trans D.C.Lau) Penguin, London 1963 Oliver, Victor L. Caodai Spiritism E.J.Brill, Leiden 1976. Schipper, Kristofer, The Taoist Body University of California Press 1993 (for background on Chinese Cosmologies.) |