PART I Introduction to Caodaism
and Globalization in Caodaism
 

* By Sergei Blagov
Caodaism has been labeled as a sect, socio-religious or politico-religious group, secret society, occult syncretic religion, syncretist religious movement - and now "good for all" definition remains a matter of debatẹ
The Cao Dai movement has been often described as "a sect". But the term sect denotes a religious conflict society which arises in opposition to an established church, emphasizing individual conviction in religion and ethics and have offered a counterbalance to the system of collective dogma and authority with high degree of separation from external society - and this is obviously not the case concerning the Cao Daị So the term "sect" is not only value-laden and partisan, but also heuristically unsatisfactorỵ And by mere use of the term "movement", the author thereby marks the limits and the extent of this study of a millenarian movement as new religions in the making. Such movements inhabit that frontier area where the amalgamation of religious and political factors takes placẹ
In 1926 Le Van Trung made his request because official authorization was needed in Cochinchina for establishing new religious communitỵ The French accepted the application of October 7, 1926 and indicated that the document would be studied. This letter briefly stated that Caodaism was a new religion, that perfected the Three Religions - Tam Giao - of Viet Nam.
Cao Dai was believed to be The Universal Creator, communicating directly via spirits and mediums. The declared goal of Caodaism was to propagate new teachings in a spirit of peace and mercỵ The time of mass adherence was not long in coming - Caodaism gained more than 20,000 adepts in less than two months, and 500,000 by 1930.
The words "Cao Dai" mean "High Palace", referring to the supreme palace where the Supreme Being dwells. Caodaists worship the Supreme Being, the Creator of the Universe and of all religions, the Father of Mankind - therefore the peoples of the world are viewed as brothers and sisters, members of one universal familỵ
Caodaists believe that their doctrine provides the synthesis of five great teachings of the past: Buđhism, Taoism, Confucianism, cult of ancestors, Western religions. According to Caodaism, the teaching shows the way for overcoming intolerance of earlier salvations. The full name of Cao Dai religion - "The Great Way of the Third Era of Salvation" signifies universalistic and ecumenical essence of the doctrinẹ
The "First Era of Salvation", according to Caodaist doctrine, chronologically associates with Moses, Buđha Dipankara, and Chinese deities Fu Hsi and Tai Shan Dao Guan. The "Second Era of Salvation" is believed to be represented by Buđha Shakyamuni, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Jesus Christ and Mohammed. Caodaists claim that the salvations of the past did not reach necessary degree of perfection and subsequently failed, because the divine message was delivered through prophets, thus being subject to distortion by mutually anathematizing adepts. Caodaists believe that the divine message is communicated to the humanity by various means and by different prophets, and slowly but surely, the true doctrine became polluted by human ignorancẹ The "Third Era of Salvation" is supposed to be the highest form of religious revelation as the humans are granted an opportunity to communicate with the transcendental world via mediums. The Caodaists deny the possibility of the fourth salvation.
The Sacred Sayings, Caodaist canonical scripture, is the key revelation of the new religion, being a collection of spirits messages. The Caodaists believe these revelations have proved more important to the human race than any communications yet received. The earlier messages became the cornerstone of Caodaist doctrine and cult. It was the message of February 25, 1926 which institutionalized rituals of the new religion, including the veneration of the Celestial Eyẹ The text of November 20, 1926 introduced Caodaist hierarchy - this message of key importance was detailed in the canonical books - The New Law and Religious Codẹ Some messages comprise prophecies of disasters and conflicts, including World War II as well. Nevertheless, millenarian motives do not enjoy the dominant position in early Caodaist scriptures: its most important element may be summed up as a concept of institutionalization of the movement. On October 27-28, 1926 two more messages were delivered in French. Millenarian motives were evident in the first text:
"Humanity was suffering from all kinds of vicissitudes. I sent Allen Kardec. I sent Flammarion, as I also sent Elijah and John the Baptist, precursors of the advent of Jesus Christ. One was persecuted, the other killed. Who did it? Humanitỵ Even My Son was killed by you; you worship Him in spirit but not in holiness. I wanted to talk to you just once during Moses day on Mount Sinai, but you could not understand Mẹ The promise I made to your ancestors for your redemption, the advent of Christ, was prophesied but you did not care to listen. Now I must make use of spiritual means so as to convince yoụ" .
The messages in French were concluded by the call for Franco-Vietnamese harmony, destined to live in a community of life and interests. The use of French language in spiritistic communication was explained on December 19, 1926: "Many of you know French, so I use it for better understanding". But despite these overtures, some messages however were viewed with suspicion by the French colonial authorities, notably the text of September 1, 1926 insisted that Caodaism had to become the state religion of Vietnam, and by October of the same year Caodaist expansion abroad was predicted.
By introducing the hierarchy, Caodaism seems to rely on charisma of the office, Amtscharismạ The Caodaists believe that adepts future status in the transcendental world is determined by ones earthly status in the hierarchỵ
Apart from Three Religions syncretism, many adepts believe that Caodaism includes the esoteric teaching of Non-Exertion and the Religion - popular teaching of prozelitism. Thus Caodaism comprises two "true teachings" - esoteric and popular.
Its a question that all religions and philosophies have grappled with over the millennia - how authentic is a religious messagẻ The Caodaists believe they are the first religious community so far which enables the adepts to have direct communication with transcendental world - via divine messages, "the ax for the frozen sea inside us," putting it in Kafkas words. Thus the practice of spiritism is one of the central element of Caodaism, both doctrinally and organizationallỵ According to Caodaism, this world is a school for the spirit. Thus the mediumism is believed to be the instrument for establishing the new religion. The Heavenly Alliance Palace (Hiep Thien Dai) is the legislative body which has the duty of communicating with the transcendental world to receive spiritist messages, as well as to uphold the religious laws. The role of the members of the legislative body is to act as mediums, and exercise control over the dignitaries in the administrative body (called Cuu Trung Dai or Nine Spheres Palace or Temple of Nine Degrees of Evolution). The legislative body plays a role of intermediary between the spirits and all living creatures.
The Cao Dai adepts often deny the existence of the direct ties between their faith and Western spiritism. As one of the recent Tay Ninh leaders put it, Caodaism was not influenced by spiritism. But Western adepts of Caodaism seemed to be attracted to this movement in larger measure by its spiritist revelations. The most famous of them Gabriel Gobron or "Frere Gago" indicated that Caodaism was born by the spiritism. The first Caodaists published "La Revue Caodaiste" which was ađressed to "public europeen quaux Annamites de culture Francaise". This magazine included short "Golden Words" - quotations from Bhagavath Gita, Allan Kardec, Annie Besant or "plus haut Mme Blavatsky". The message of the spirit of Leon Denis also was published. According to Allan Kardec, only pure souls are able to contemplate the divine majesty because God is everywherẹ The French spiritist believed that everybody could become medium, and his books were compiled in the form of a collection of spiritist messages.
Many founders of Caodaist movement were said to be ardent readers of the French spiritualist and theosophical authors, who also believed in God, unique and universal, omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. The Caodaist concept of microcosm-macrocosm essential unity was reflected not only of Chan Buđhism: it was also the motto of spiritist literaturẹ Caodaists believe that the form of religious revelation corresponds to the current level of the development of mankind - Kardec would also subscribe to that point of view.
The theosophical concept of perispirit was mentioned in the second message of Caodaist canon, as well as other texts. According to Kardec, human being was made of three substances, while perispirit was viewed as a link between material and immaterial. Perispirit concept, first developed in India by Sri Ramakrishna and expounded to the West by Annie Besant, is primarily Theosophist, however the Cao Dai believers deny the influence of Theosophỵ But the vocabulary of Caodaist mediumship practices tends to be translated via terms of Western spiritism.
Foreign involvement of Caodaism commenced in Cambodia and some even claimed that the influence of Caodaism among the Cambodians initially was stronger than among the Vietnamese in the south. As early as in 1927 a huge crowd of Cambodians attended rituals in Tay Ninh, the estimates varied from 5,000 to 30,000. The French source indicated the presence of Cambodian pilgrims in the vicinity of Tay Ninh Holy See by the end of 1926 and early 1927.
The Caodaists erected a huge statue of Siđhartha riding a horse at the entrance to their new property purchased in early 1927 in Long Thanh, Tay Ninh. This statue, according to other source, was moved from Go Ken to Long Thanh with the help of hundreds of volunteers, mostly the Khmers. Reports state that thousands of Cambodians came to see that statue because rumors that it was representation of one of their old Cambodian monarchs who would return to restore a golden age in Cambodiạ Many Cambodians believed that the advent of the new king, symbolized by the statue of Siđhartha in Tay Ninh, would mean the beginning of the new erạ
In April 1927 Pham Cong Tac visited Phnom Penh and he was seen instrumental in setting up Caodaist Foreign mission. Because of the frequent seance appearances to the Caodaist mediums in Phnom Penh, Victor Hugo was named the chief spirit of foreign missions. Just in one year Phnom Penh congregation won more than 10,000 adherents. The royal decree was issued 8 February 1928, formally prohibiting Caodaism in Cambodiạ However, most of the Caodaists in Cambodia - ethnic Vietnamese subject to the French jurisdiction - were still able to practice and propagate their cult. But local authorities commenced to persecute Caodaists: the adepts were detained, property seized on dubious grounds of holding "illegal Caodaist ritual" inside private houses.
Putting it in words of a contemporary human rights activist, the Caodaists were brutalized, imprisoned, their temples were burned, their statues were destroyed, because the new religion was stubbornly viewed as a dangerous secret societỵ
In 1931 Tran Quang Vinh [1897-1975] went to France to attend an international fair in Vincennes - he was also keen to propagate the new religion. His efforts were supported by former prime minister Edouard Daladier, minister Albert Sarraut, Emile Kahn, head of the Ligue des Droits de lHommẹ
Tran Quang Vinh also converted several Western adepts, including French writer Gabriel Gobron [1895-1941]. "Frere Gago," the author of several mystic novels and the translator of German and Italian spiritist writers. In 1935 Tay Ninh leaders received a letter of a Society of German Gnostics, comprising an invitation for Caodaist delegation to visit Germanỵ Gnostics also expressed intention to visit Tay Ninh in early 1936. But the response of Tay Ninh church never reached Germany: Caodaists suspected that the French censors cut all international mail links of the communitỵ During the 1930s Caodaists reportedly also tried to establish ties with "Mouvement Reformateur en Brasil", there were moves to attend the Conference of World Religions in Chicagọ
Officially propagation of Caodaism was allowed in those areas of Indochina which were under direct French rule "les pays dadministration directe", but it was forbiđen in protectorates. But French restrictions on Cao Dai proselytization seemed to be not the sole reason the Cao Dai were unable to pick up strength in the northern regions. Restrictions, political as well as on freedom of movement, were also placed on Cao Dai in Cochinchina, and yet they seem to have had a minimal effect in slowing down recruitment in the south. Also, persecutions and arrests of Caodaists in Tonkin and Annam were well-publicized by Tay Ninh in Francẹ For instance, in 1938 when local authorities ordered the demolition of a Caodaist temple in central Binh Dinh province, Le Van Bay successfully intervened with the French government and human right activists via "Frere Gago".
As a result, Cao Dai meetings in Tonkin and Annam were held despite the official ban, and the sect continued to recruit adherents in the northern regions up to about 1940. Since 1928 Tay Ninh church secretly sent missionaries to central Vietnam. Despite the prohibition, since 1938 Tay Ninh church appeared in Phu Yen, Tien Thien sect in Binh Dinh and Quang Nam, Ben Tre sect in Quang Ngaị
Caodaist congregation in Hanoi was joined by two Frenchmen, Gabriel Abadie and De Lagarde, who became dignitaries. By 1935 Tay Ninh Caodaists established some presence in Hai Phong, in Hanoi suburban townships of Ha Dong and Son Tay, and in the Northern towns of Hon Gai and Cam Phạ
Le Van Bay was the head of Caodaist Foreign Mission until 1937, when he came to Hanoi to propagate the religion. But his ways were somewhat independent as he met many leaders of Caodaist sects.
Furthermore, in 1938 Pham Cong Tac sent a dignitary to establish Pham Mon in Hanoi, but Le Van Bay refused to implement the order. Tay Ninhs answer was to send him to Yunnan province in Southern China to propagate the religion. But his mission was deemed to failure as Le Van Bay with his Parisian accent had no knowledge of Chinese whatsoever, and he was to rely on an interpreter. In October 1939 he abandoned his Chinese mission and returned to Vietnam without Tay Ninhs approval.
By 1941 more than 2 million people in Southern Vietnam became adepts of Caodaism. However, after taking the office, admiral Decoux, pro-Petain governor of the French Indochina, closed down the central Caodaist temple and a number of provincial oratories. On July 27, 1941 the Cao Dai leaders, including Pham Cong Tac, were arrested. Tay Ninh was occupied - French troops seized the Holy See, allowing Caodaists just 24 hours to vacate the areạ Decoux exiled the Cao Dai leaders to Madagascar. Beginning in 1942, in an imitation of the Vichy government, the Decoux administration organized raids against Freemasons and Jews. The French demanded the Japanese to arrest Tran Quang Vinh, Huynh Phu So and Tran Van An, but the demand was refused. In October 1943 Tran Van An went to Formosa, in November Prof. Tran Trong Kim became subject to anti-Masonic measures, and the Japanese transferred him to Singapore, while Ngo Dinh Diem moved to Hue under Japanese protection.
In November 1942 Tran Quang Vinh contacted the Japanese in Saigon. In February 1943 the Japanese helped Vinh to restore Ruling Committee of the Tay Ninh church in Saigon under the Japanese aegis. The Caodaist committee adhered in September 1943 to Tran Van Ans Viet Nam Phuc Quoc.
On October 15-16, 1945 the French troops ransacked the main Caodaist temple and stripped it bare, five dignitaries were murdered. On 9 October 1945 Tran Quang Vinh was arrested by the Viet Minh, but he managed to escape on January 20, 1946. On 17 February 1946 Vinh arrived in Saigon, and he had to hide in Cho Lon. But on 8 May he was arrested by the French. While in detention at the ill-famous Catinat jail, Tran Quang Vinh was tortured by the French policẹ Facing the imminent annihilation of the movement by both the French and the Viet Minh, Vinh had to accept conditions of Bazin, the chief of 2eme Bureaụ On 9 June 1946 the agreement on Franco-Caodaist alliance was signed. The French were to allow Pham Cong Tac and other exiled dignitaries to return to Vietnam; to guarantee the freedom of cult to Caodaists, to permit reopening the Holy See, and all the temples, in Vietnam and Cambodia; to recognize officially Caodaist religion; to halt persecution of the Caodaist dignitaries and adepts. In response Tran Quang Vinh had to order all Caodaist armed groups to halt attacks against the French troops. The Caodaist forces, organized as self-defense troops, were to be turned into Forces Suppletifs of the French Corps Expeditionnaire, with an independent command. However, general approach of the Communists toward Caodaism was highly critical, bordering hostilẹ They argued that Caodaist teaching had nothing deep, mysterious, and Caodaism just used the elements of various teachings for the mass consumption, being politically-oriented from its first days. Caodaism was also blamed of being "profoundly opportunist".
Furthermore, many Caodaist dignitaries, notably Tran Quang Vinh, 77, were subject to reprisals and arbitrary arrests. Vinh disappeared in the Communist GULAG - later his relatives received a note that he died in detention in January 1977, but other sources claim that Vinh was executed in September 1975.
In sum, according to the official data, between 1975 and 1983 the total thirty five "anti-revolutionary" organizations were uncovered in Tay Ninh. 1,291 adepts were arrested, 39 adepts were killed in clashes, 9 were sentenced to death, more than 1,000 were sent to reeducation camps. Actual abolition of the Caodaist hierarchy was symbolically effected by prohibiting the spiritist seances, thus effectively halting inauguration of the new dignitaries. According to article 5 of the edict, the church allegedly conceded that the use of spiritism in the future was no longer necessary and strictly prohibited these practices for all adepts.
However, the true reason for prohibiting spiritist seances was overtly stated in the official reports. One of these documents said that after 1975 the number of dignitaries had not increased exactly because the spiritist seances were not practiced any longer. No big wonder that with the abolition of seances the membership of the Tay Ninh hierarchy declined.
Western analysts agree that few countries treat their religious congregations as badly as Vietnam. The issues range from grievances over the seizure of properties to the oppressive layers of restrictions on the Churches running their own affairs, including the training and appointment of clergỵ The violations of freedom of religion also include the requirement that all religious activity be approved by the state, and restrictions on travel by religious leaders and the contents of their sermons and speeches. Though the religions are already experiencing something of a revival in recent years as heavy restrictions have been eased, but it will be years before they regain their former vibrancỵ
Years of suppression are readily apparent, especially in the largely geriatric religious hierarchỵ
Summing up, since late 1980s more liberal policy towards politico-religious movements of Southern Vietnam was launched. The earlier repressive phase has been replaced by a more liberal recognition of the fact, that the religious element of the movements can not be so easily annihilated, as their administrative structures. During the recent years people were no longer discouraged from attending religious festivals. But it is too early to depict the changes as an acceptable modus vivendi, which has been arrived at between the Communist Party and the movements.
It is believed that before 1946, Caodaism represented a kind of cultural nationalism for some members of upper class who desired to break away from the cultural domination of the French. Adepts prided themselves on their sophistication and their receptivity to modern ideas, but they were also anxious to find within their own culture some spiritual equivalence with the West. The establishing of the True Teaching for the Vietnamese people was believed to be important achievement. It was a sort of Asian "Occidentalism", one of its deepest images of the Other. This also contributed to mass adherence to the movement, as well as the nationalistic overtones.
Although Caodaism drew its inspiration from the syncretic philosophy of the three religions, none of them was philosophically highly developed in Caodaism. But the syncretic and universalistic synthesis may also be viewed in terms of the dialogue between East and West or "planetarization of culture". On the other hand, the syncretists are not usually ecumenical diplomats seeking peace between warring traditions; they are religious persons seeking to respond to new religious tensions and needs. It is not the fact of borrowing, but the selectivity and intention of borrowing that ađ to our understanding of religious thought. And the synthesis remains an exacting ideal - almost inconceivable .