Sunday, March2,1958 THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE Page Nine
THE CAO DAI
A Buddhist, Christian, Confucian, Hindu, Jewish and Taoist Synthesis
By RICHARD HALLORAN Buddhist pagoda, nor Moslem \ ' to superiors, and indulge in no
N MODERN man's religious life, mosque, nor Hebrew synagogue. worldly practices.
ItMEN ans rousnlife, is a grotesque combination of Their reward for such virtuous
fragmentation is commonplace. architectural features from all the ,- beairsprmsontetr
Christianity is split among Catho- rhieur earsfrml tebehavior is permission to enter
Cistnyis, aon styles associated with those re- i the priesthood on an equal foot-
inOtods. andaProtes ded ligions. ing with men. Even if a woman is
nominations. Judaism is divided a
into Orthodox and various Reform As one observer describes it, the r married, she may take the cloth.
groups. Buddhism has two major cathedral has "church towers like .,- In this case, she must live with
divisions, Hinayana and Maha- an Occidental church, a clean . her husband as brother and sister
yana, each with several sub- sweep of tiled floor like a mosque, instead of man and wife.
divisions. Everywhere is seen di- and the triangle of the Hebrew Cao Dai ethical doctrine stresses
versity not unity of religious be- synagogues. Plaster cobras and , the individual's duties to his fam-
lief. dragons give it the atmosphere of SOUT ily, society, and all humanity. The
From time to time, however, a pagoda." CHINA Cao Dai believer is counselled to
movements toward unity crop up. The cathedral has the long SEA despise luxury and to seek que-
Conferences among Protestants ground plan, side aisles, choir, SE tude of soul by worshipping Cao
have attempted to resolve differ- nave and gallery of a Christian Dal and venerating the "Superior
ences in doctrine. Last month, church, Outside the portals two Spirits of the Occult August HIer-
Catholics held a week of prayer Buddhist warrior statues stand archy."
for religious unity. Others, such guard, one kindly and the other '4 ,
as Bahai, attempt to synthesize all grim. On the roof are Oriental AO DAISM was successful from
doctrines and spiritual thought figures of the unicorn, tortoise, IA M its earliest days. Le Van Trung
into one body of belief. phoenix, and dragon. Inside are 4'% I was careful to appoint capable
Such syntheses are not confined depictions of Christ, Confucious, administrators to positions of re-
to the Western world. In the Buddha, Lao Tze, and the Hindu ? sponsibility within the hierarchy.
south-east corner of the vast Asian trinity of Brahma, Siva and They built congregations quickly
continent, in the pocket-sized re- Vishnu, and the sect grew from 20,000 in
uc o n Viethem, pokstee re-ion 1926 to about 300,000 in 1934, when
public of Vietnam. is a religion
known as Cao Dal. This sect's be- THIS amalgamation of art and - Trung died. Geographically, most
liefs are a conglomeration of ritual architecture symbolizes Cao Cao Dal adherents are located in
Dai theology. According to this, Cochin China and Annam, the
Christian, Confucian, Hindu, Jew- the First Amnesty of God occurred southern and central portions of
ish, Moslem, and Taoist teachings. in the Orient and was granted Vietnam.
The spiritual guide for between through Lao Tze and Buddha. The eWith the ascension of Tac to
one and two million souls, Cao Dai Second Amnesty was presented in' power as "pope,' Cao Deism be-
is a twentieth century faith con- the West by Moses and Christ. ' ' A came much more a political force
tending that all religions are one, The first two amnesties were hu- than previously. The sect later
that all men's diverse religious be- man in form, say the Cao Dei, but 4 prospeedin rolithe post-World
* liefsa are reconcilable, the third, the coming of Cao Del a edn oeinteps-ol
CtO ru a relgon born oruth through the higher medium day, although it has lost some of
mAO AIs a eliion ornof ies formal political power, Can
m s 1 of mysticism. Deism is a distinct influence in
little island of Phu Quoc in the The CaO Doi say they have a world at different times and in consulted as honorable members Vietnamese political and religious
Gulf of Siam, Ngyuen Van Chieu, message for the entire world, con- different places, each manifesta- of the family. In Cao Deism, the affairs.
a Vietnamese working for the taining elements from every re- tion based upon the customs of departed make their presences One final word, in evaluation of
French colonial administration, ligion. Pham Cong Tac, present those to whom religion was re- felt through mediums and seances. Cao Daism as a religion. Too
took to seances to pass his lonely leader of the sect, once wrote "the vealed. But disharmony grew out The dead supposedly guide the many men and women have sub-
hours. According to his later tes- multiplicity of religions is not an of this multiplicity and religion living in choosing leaders formu- scribed to it in a genuine fashion
timony, the first manifestation of obstacle to harmony if there is a was robbed of its value by men's lating law, and outlining religious to underestimate its effect on the
the spirit of Cao Dal, the Supreme subtle but nonetheless real bond ignorance, codes. Even the senior human rug- lives of both adherents and non-
Being, appeared to him that year, which serves as a point of con- Cao Dai thus decided to unite in is t livi he's adherents in locales where it ex-
This spirit told Chieu he was the tact. This subtle but real bond, the world with a single simple Ug Ta ig ia th centur Chinese sists. As one writer points out,
one to proclaim a new religion, Cao Daism, brings to every un- creed, a creed that took its doc- poet Some of the other departed 'Amongst the Can Dei dignitaries
the visible sign of which would be prejudiced person, in all sincerity, trine from the truths already n otable rogh the eparvalent of are men of an extraordinarily
one all-seeing eye surrounded by in all fraternity, its message: Life, present in existing religions. From saints in the Christian sense, are naive purity of soul who live as-
sun rays. Love, an4 Truth Confucianism came the philosophy Waiiam Shakespeare Victor cetic lives." The Westerner may
Chieu apparently didn't do Another Cao Dai elaborates on of the G o 1 d e n Mean; from Hugo, Joan of Arc, and Georges see many absurdities in this tiny,
much about preaching the new his religion's unity-in-diversity Buddhism, devotion and charity; H ,emenceau far-away religious sect but he
faith until his return, in 1924, to this way: "Cao Deism does not be- from Taolsm, worship of truth should be careful not to dismiss
Saigon, the leading city in the lieve in a single true and uniquely and discipline of character. ALTHOUGH Cao Dai ritual Is a it as a complete swindle.
south of what was then French sanctifying belief. The Creator Christianity, coming after these Moslem, Christian, and Orien-
Indo-China. Gathering together a has scattered the seeds of truth older philosophies and religions, tal mixture, the religion's organi-
group of intellectuals interested in over the continents of the earth. acts as a link, the coordinator of cation and terminology are simi-
mysticism, Chieu began describing Jesus or Buddha or Lao fie; their gye wisdom taken from the others, lato and teCtol simi-
his ideas and holding seances. message is, at bottom only a form emphasizing goodness and virtue. Can Dai hierarchy includes sixChF
But Chieu's initial talks about of the great divine truth. In their In the Cao Dai religion, as in O F SA
the revelation of Cao Dai and his depths, all religions coincide." some other Oriental religions, the cardinals, 61 bishop, and about
attempts to win converts were not dead are thought to dwell with
successful until after a seance on CAO DAI doctrine teaches that the living. Contrary to popular At the head of this structure is THOSE WITHOUT SHAD-
December 25, 1925. Then the spir- the Supreme Being caused Western beliefs, ancestors are not a "Pope." The first, Le Van Trung, OWS. By Francoise Sagan.
- it of Cao Dai supposedly manifest- spiritual worship to come into the worshipped but are reverenced and was "disincarnated" after his New York: Dutton Co., 125
ed itself to Chieu and his fellow death in 1934, meaning that one pp. $2.95
mystics, telling them that he had ay he will return in anotherYATES
come to "teach the truth to the
people of Vietnam." Trung was succeeded by the HIS IS the third slim volume
Attending this seance was Le present "pope," Pham Cong Tac, in what will probably come to
Vand this sdespiceg as Lewho does not carry the same title be known as the Sagan Saga.
merchant on he :ai e of fina- Triung did, in anticipation of Once again, as in Bonjour, Tris-
cia filure Hecaise Cio nasm Trung's reincarnation. Trung was tesse and A Certain Smile, we
o d im sthe Great Master, Tac is referred have a young heroine, not unlike
ol em oic i his lime o to as the Superior. the author in her age and sur-
iOuk h redil' eoed it and Cao Dai worship requires four roundings, who falls into amorcus
Tri a' si si sa inlelec- masses" a day, at 6 and 12 in liaisons without the generation of
tral. was soon to be the mopins the mornma, and 6 and 12 at much resistance.
force in ihe spread of the new night. When a gong sounds to call However, in Those Without
cult. Cliieiu, the foncder, was a re- the faithful to worship, priest ap- Shadows this heroine does not
tiring scholar who lacked the drive pear robed in red, blue, or yellow provide the frame for viewing the
to preach the Cao Dai gospel. Con- eowns, representing Confucian, other characters who populate the
sequently, Trug pushed himsef Taoist, and Buddhist influence, story. On the contrary, young
to the fore and became the first t respectively. Intoning a liturgical Joser is nearly lost in the midst
Gr t M ter f C i , Anvil 4_.. chant, they bow to the giant all- of the shifting and constantly re-
a ein eye and mon nin prat
1126, jusI ario jo lh n ecsfoens vine, and mount nin p1.t- aligning group of Parisians with
tabihnt, forms from the nave to the choir, whom she associales.
In Nomber of eht yraa ach suggesting one of nine stages
amidst miuch pomp and ccimosy of perfection. Midnight "mass" is N THE absence of a unifying
i a e t C he most solemn service, and X "eye" for the story of am al am-
* ciaimed the founding of Gas Dan ig u h igetd.ntre bitios and sin.li accomplish-
Tam Ky Pho Do, Cao Daism s full of the sect. ments among the young, liberated
and proper name, meaning the A place for women is included pseudo-artistic set in Paris, the
Third Amnesty of 00d The short- , witbin the hierarchy, an almost numerous love affairs chronicled
cc and better known "Cao Dai unique feature for any organized in the present novel seem only
ignifies "High Palace "a symbol religion, Women are instructed to disperse and unrelated to any
of "theffect a calm and receptive spirit, definite point Mademoiselle Sa-
Universe." oultivate a capacity for obedience gan might be trying to make.
True, once again the lucid, con-
T TAY NINH, a city about 35 rr aRichard Halloran, former cise and remarkably effective
miles north of Saigon, the Cao Daily Editorial Director, con- style of this young French writer
Dai built a cathedral that dem- tributed several articles to the is evident. But unfortunately, the
onstrates the universality of their Magazine last year. He spent free-flowing prose of her narra-
religion. Against the background ' three months in Vietnam dur. tive seems to trickle away and
of the black mountain Niu Ba ing his military service and be lost, like water seeping from a
-Den, sacred to Buddhists, they CAO DAI CATHEDRAL--Located at Tay Ninh, the interior fea- received a Master's Degree in cracked vase. On finishing the
constructed an edifice that is tures depictions of Christ, Confucious, Buddha, Lao Tze and the Far Eastern Studies last year. novel, one has the feeling of be
neither Christian church, nor Hindu trinity. ing left with nothing.