Caodaism

Overview

Caodaism, or Cao Dai, is a Vietnamese religion founded in 1926 that openly sets out to unite the teachings of East and West. Its founder, Ngô Văn Chiêu, a Vietnamese official under French colonial rule, said he received messages from a Supreme Being, Cao Đài, through séances, instructing him that earlier religions had each carried only part of a single truth, now to be reunited. Cao Dai combines Confucian ethics, Daoist spirit communication, Buddhist teachings on karma and rebirth, and a hierarchy of pope, cardinals and archbishops borrowed from Roman Catholicism, and it venerates saints as varied as Buddha, Jesus, Confucius and the French writer Victor Hugo. Centred on a "Holy See" at Tây Ninh, it grew rapidly in southern Vietnam, was repeatedly caught up in the country's politics and wars, and survived suppression after 1975 to become one of Vietnam's largest home-grown religions.^{[1–4, 6–7]}

History

Revelation and founding 1919–1926

Ngô Văn Chiêu, an administrator for the French colonial government, began receiving what he took to be messages from a supreme deity during séances from 1919, using spirit-writing techniques such as table-turning and a basket-and-pencil "planchette", methods that show the clear influence of contemporary Theosophy and French Spiritualism on educated Vietnamese circles. From 1923 the businessman Lê Văn Trung organised Chiêu's revelation into a structured movement, building a hierarchy modelled on the Roman Catholic Church, with himself as its first "pope". The religion was formally inaugurated at a ceremony in Tây Ninh on 18 November 1926 that drew tens of thousands of people.^{[1, 9–11]}

Rapid growth and nationalist politics 1926–1955

Cao Dai's promise of an indigenous, unifying faith appealed strongly to Vietnamese resentful of French rule and the foreign origins of Catholicism; by conservative estimate it counted half a million followers by 1930 and grew to more than a million within the decade, embracing a substantial share of the population of what became South Vietnam. From 1943, during the Japanese occupation, Cao Dai raised its own army, and after the Second World War it became an organised political and military force in southern Vietnam, at times allying with and at times opposing the Saigon government.^{[7, 12]}

Disbanded, then suppressed 1955–1990s

In 1955–56 President Ngô Đình Diệm disbanded Cao Dai's private army and forced its leader, Phạm Công Tắc, into exile, ending the sect's independent political and military power. After the communist victory of 1975, the new government curtailed Cao Dai further, confiscating many of its churches and arresting or laicising clergy, leaving the Tây Ninh Holy See largely inactive; many adherents fled abroad, founding Cao Dai communities in the United States, France, Cambodia and Australia.^[13–15]

Recognition and revival 1990s–present

Religious policy eased gradually from the late 1980s, and in 1997 the Vietnamese state held a ceremony at Tây Ninh formally recognising Cao Dai as an organised religion, though under government-approved governance that some believers accepted only reluctantly. Worship at the Tây Ninh Holy See and at temples across southern Vietnam and the diaspora has continued since, making Cao Dai one of Vietnam's largest religious movements outside Buddhism and Christianity.^[16]

Key moments

1. 1926 CECaodaism · Tây Ninh, Vietnam

Beliefs

Cao Đài · Cao Đài

"High Tower" or "High Palace", a Daoist epithet for the Supreme Being

Cao Dai teaches belief in a single Supreme Being, Cao Đài, the source of all the world's religions, who is never depicted in human form but represented by a Divine Eye set in a triangle, displayed on the façade of every temple.^[2]

Universal convergence

By Cao Dai teaching, God has revealed himself to humanity in stages: two earlier revelations produced Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism and Christianity among others, each suited to its own time and people, and a third, delivered through Chiêu, is now meant to unite and complete them for a new, interconnected age.^[17]

Spirit communication · cơ bút

séance, spirit-writing

Ongoing contact with Cao Đài and other spiritual beings is maintained through mediums using séance techniques inherited from the religion's founding revelations; messages received this way have continued to shape doctrine and to confirm appointments within the church hierarchy.^[9]

Universal sainthood

Cao Dai honours an open-ended company of "saints" who, in its teaching, served humanity or truth in their own time and tradition: alongside the Buddha, Confucius, Jesus and Muhammad stand secular figures such as Joan of Arc, Julius Caesar, Sun Yat-sen and the French novelist Victor Hugo.^[4]

Practice

Temple worship

Cao Dai worship centres on rituals performed in temples up to four times a day, consisting of prayer, chanting and simple offerings of incense, tea, wine and flowers presented with highly stylised ceremony before the Divine Eye.^[18]

Hierarchy and governance

The religion is organised, in deliberate imitation of the Roman Catholic Church, under a pope, a college of cardinals and archbishops, with clergy ranks that believers can rise through; the Vietnamese state has since 1997 required this governance to operate under official oversight.^{[5, 16]}

People

Places

Tây Ninh Holy See

VNM

Cao Dai's central temple and administrative seat, about 60 miles (100 km) from Ho Chi Minh City, built from the 1920s under Lê Văn Trung as the religion's "cathedral" and headquarters; it remains Cao Dai's spiritual and administrative centre today.^{[6, 11]}

Numbers

Followers (rough estimate)

c. 2 million or more^[8]

Reference-work estimate; no census count exists

National censuses

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2021, 'Religious affiliation in Australia' (Table 4), CC BY 4.0. Source: Stats NZ, 2018 Census, licensed by Stats NZ for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Common misconceptions

Glossary

Thiên Nhãn · Thiên Nhãn

The "Divine Eye": the image of a single eye set in a triangle that represents the Supreme Being, Cao Đài, on every temple façade.^[2]

Tòa Thánh · Tòa Thánh

"Holy See": Cao Dai's central temple and administrative seat at Tây Ninh.^[6]

Giáo Tông · Giáo Tông

"Pope": the head of the Cao Dai hierarchy, a title first held by Lê Văn Trung.^[11]

Hộ Pháp · Hộ Pháp

"Protector of the Law": a senior clerical title in the Cao Dai hierarchy, held by Phạm Công Tắc during the religion's years of political power.^[13]

Cơ bút · cơ bút

Spirit-writing or séance communication: the method by which Cao Dai's founding revelations, and later doctrine, were said to be received from spiritual beings.^[9]

Tam giáo · Tam giáo

The "Three Teachings": Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, the three older East Asian traditions Cao Dai claims to unite along with Christianity.^[21]