5. COCHINCHINA AS A CULTURAL PRECONDITION FOR THE FOUNDATION OF CAODAISM

The K'hors

IV. MULTINATIONAL AND MULTIRELIGIOUS FEATURES OF COCHINCHINA

1. MULTINATIONAL FEATURE

According to Huỳnh Lứa, “In the beginnings of its reclamation, Southern Vietnam [Cochinchina] generally and the Mekong Delta particularly housed various nationalities, which is a noteworthy characteristic of this region in comparison with others in Vietnam.” [1]

Indeed, including the Viets (also called the Kinhs), there are fifty-four nationalities (ethnic groups) in Vietnam. In Cochinchina alone, besides the Viets and the Chinese there are seven other nationalities: the Khmers, the K’hors, the Chams, the Mnongs, the Stiengs, the Mas and the Churus.[2]

The Viets. The Viets started reclaiming and settling in Cochinchina in the 17th century. The Viets’ unceasing migration took place throughout the civil war between the Trịnhs and the Nguyễns. The migration accelerated when the Nguyễn lords carried out their Southward march policy.[3]

The Chinese. In the late 18th century, according to Huỳnh Lứa, Chinese immigrants from Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Chaozhou, and Hainan came and settled down in Cochinchina (Mỹ Tho, Biên Hòa, Hà Tiên provinces and the Mekong Delta).[4]

The Khmers. Before the 17th century, according to Đinh Văn Hạnh, when Chinese, Vietnamese and Cham emigrants did not settle in Cochinchina, the Khmers with their culture was predominant in the region.[5]

According to Đinh Văn Liên, the population of the Viets, the Chinese, and the Khmers in Cochinchina in the late 19th century was as follows:[6]

	VIETS	CHINESE	KHMERS
1862-1888	1,629,224	56,000	151,367
1895	1,967,000	88,000	170,488

The Mnongs, Sông Bé 1962. Photo: Les Frazier (http://www.bidness.com)

The Chams. In the 17th and 18th centuries, part of the Cham ethnic group in the south of Annam (Central Vietnam) immigrated to Cambodia and Siam (Thailand), where they were in contact with and under the influence of Indian-born and Malayan-born inhabitant groups. In the 19th century, returning to Vietnam and settling down in Châu Đốc as well as in other Cochinchinese provinces, those Chams brought back what they had got from Cambodian, Siamese, Malayan, and Indian cultures.[7] In 1880, the population of Chams in Châu Đốc province made up to around 13,200.[8]

Other ethnic groups. Besides ethnic groups living in Cochinchina before the Viets arrived, there had been other nationalities in the region. This fact was recorded in many works written in the late 18th and the early 19th centuries. For example:

– Gia Định thành thông chí (Gazetteer of Gia Định citadel) by Trịnh Hoài Đức (1765-1825) reads, “Gia Định is a southern part of Vietnam. In its early time of reclamation, Vietnamese migrants lived among the immigrants from China, Cambodia, France, England, Macao, and Java. However, each ethnic group maintained their own customs and practices.” [9]

– Cổ Gia Định phong cảnh vịnh (Poems about landscape of old Gia Định), ascribed to Ngô Nhơn Tịnh (?-1813), reports that when white European and curly-haired black Javanese immigrants arrived in Cochinchina, their strange appearances made girls run away from the market square and oarsmen watch them with curiosity:[10]

Westerners with pale complexion,

deformed mouths, and strange stature,

who looked like monsters and demons,

scared away girls carrying shopping baskets.

Curly-haired and thick-lipped Javanese,

who were as black as soot,

and looked like celestial generals or thunder god,

made oarsmen watch them with curiosity.[11]

Ethnic groups arrived and settled down in Cochinchina at different times. They were much different in terms of social, economic, and religious development levels. For example, Cochinchinese villages were not as well organized as those in Annam and Tonkin. They were established when Vietnamese migrants reclaimed and shared the land with other ethnic groups (the Khmers, the Chams, and the Chinese).[12] “This fact is significant in intercommunication and mutual impact of customs and beliefs among ethnic groups.” [13] Thạch Phương writes, “Many practical culture elements from the Chinese, the Chams and the Khmers were selectively absorbed by Vietnamese migrants without prejudice or allergic reactions.” [14]

Due to Cochinchina’s convenient location, cultural exchange took place not only among local ethnic groups but also between natives and foreigners from Malaya, Siam (Thailand), Java and so on. Cochinchinese inhabitants also had some relations with age-old South Asian cultures.[15]

Đinh Văn Hạnh observes, “… living among other ethnic groups (the Chinese, the Chams and the Khmers), who also have religious tolerance, Cochinchinese inhabitants in Southern Vietnam [Cochinchina] have a unique and diverse religious life. Southern Vietnam [Cochinchina] admits more religions than any region in Vietnam, with special characteristics found nowhere else. The process of introduction, formation, and development of religious beliefs in Southern Vietnam [Cochinchina] was linked with the ups and downs in history as well as socio-economic and cultural features peculiar to the region.” [16]

The Stiengs (http://belleindochine.free.fr)

● In short, before the birth of Caodaism, the coexistence of different nationalities in Cochinchina during some 200 years had enabled the new region to have an open condition for cultural exchange and association. We could say that Cochinchina had allowed a multi-cultural tendency from its very beginning, thus it showed no allergic attitude toward a syncretic belief like Caodaism. That is why the seed of Caodaism sown in Cochinchina could develop well in spite of harsh conditions in history.

The Mas, Biên Hòa (Đồng Nai) 1920s  (http://hinhxua.free.fr/autrefois/ethnies)

2. MULTIRELIGIOUS FEATURE

The multinational feature of Cochinchina inevitably resulted in its multireligious feature explained by Hồ Lê as follows, “Lots of wars occurred in over 200 years, from the 17th to the 19th century. Lots of people were killed and lots of families were separated… To reclaim land at border regions means to risk one’s neck. In such a condition, Southern Vietnamese [Cochinchinese] people had naturally to trust in luck. And to avoid bad luck, they had to beg help and support from gods, ancestors and other invisible powers as well. Partly due to this circumstance, Southern Vietnam [Cochinchina] became fertile ground for seeds of various beliefs or religions.” [17]

Đinh Văn Hạnh confirms, “Compared with other regions, Southern Vietnam [Cochinchina] has much more religions whose followers accounts for the highest rate in the whole country.” [18]

Though the beliefs of different ethnic groups in Cochinchina have not been surveyed thoroughly, it can be briefly said that Cochinchina has a variety of religious beliefs besides the Three Teachings (Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism) and Christianity. For instance:

– The Khmers follow Hinayana Buddhism (i.e., Theravada).[19] Believing in the afterlife or rebirth (samsara), they live peacefully with others, avoiding the rat race. Having saved a large sum of money, they often help building pagodas or support monks in order to accumulate blessing for a better afterlife.[20] Khmer boys have to spend three years in pagodas learning general subjects and Buddhist teachings. After that they can either become monks or return to secular life.[21]

– The Chams follow matriarchy [22] and are deeply influenced by Islamism and Hinduism (Brahmanism).[23] They believe in doomsday, the last judgement, and rebirth.[24]

– The Stiengs are polytheists and their most dominant deity is sun god.[25]

– The Churus follow matriarchy. Their place of worship is usually a big age-old tree near their village.[26] In other words, they are animists.

– The Chinese, arriving in Cochinchina in the second half of the 17th century, introduced their own religious practices into the new land. Moreover, they also imported their traditional tendency to form secret societies which blended politics with religions.[27]

Despite its multiple types of beliefs, Cochinchina is free from religious conflicts. Huỳnh Lứa writes, “The coexistence of residents of different origins, religions, and development levels during many centuries never hinders the solidarity between different nationalities who share the land of Southern Vietnam [Cochinchina].” [28]

Huỳnh Lứa observes, “A remarkable feature of the spiritual and cultural life in Cochinchina is that the Viets, the Khmers, the Chinese, and the Chams, while following their diverse religions, can peacefully coexist owing to their religious tolerance.” [29]

“The Viets have numerous cultural exchanges with other ethnic groups in the region in all aspects (...). During these exchanges, the Viets absorb foreign influences selectively, thus their culture has been improved and enriched with many distinctive features.” [30]

● Thus, with their religious tolerance, the Cochinchinese found it easy to approach Caodaism and then accept it with their open mind. For its part, Caodaism is not against other religions already present in Cochinchina.[31] This explains why Cochinchina became a successful starting point for Caodaism in the early 20th century.

HUỆ KHẢI

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[1] [Thạch Phương 1992: 43].

[2] [Trần Văn Giàu 1998: 203].

[3] [Đinh Văn Hạnh 1999: 26].

[4] [Thạch Phương 1992: 28-29].

[5] [Đinh Văn Hạnh 1999: 23].

[6] [Mạc Đường 1991: 96].

[7] [Đinh Văn Hạnh 1999: 25].

[8] [Mạc Đưòng 1991: 284].

[9] [Huỳnh Lứa 1987: 45].

[10] [Trương Vĩnh Ký 1997: 26-27].

[11] [Trương Vĩnh Ký 1997: 26-27].

[12] [Nguyễn Phương Thảo 1994: 22].

[13] [Đinh Văn Hạnh 1999: 29].

[14] [Thạch Phương 1992: 251].

[15] [Đinh Văn Hạnh 1999: 29].

[16] [Đinh Văn Hạnh 1999: 31].

[17] [Thạch Phương 1992: 107].

[18] [Đinh Văn Hạnh 1999: 5].

[19] [Nguyễn Khắc Tụng 1981: 39].

[20] [Đinh Văn Hạnh 1999: 24].

[21] [Lưu Văn Nam 1999: 277].

[22] [Nguyễn Khắc Tụng 1981: 151-152].

[23] “Most of the Chams in Châu Đốc province follow Islamism while those in Thuận Hải province (in the south of Central Vietnam) follow Brahmanism.” [Mạc Đường 1991: 63].

[24] [Đinh Văn Hạnh 1999: 25].

[25] [Nguyễn Khắc Tụng 1981: 56].

[26] [Nguyễn Khắc Tụng 1981: 156].

[27] [Đinh Văn Hạnh 1999: 24-25].

[28] [Thạch Phương 1992: 43].

[29] [Thạch Phương 1992: 43].

[30] [Thạch Phương 1992: 44].

[31] Among the earliest Caodaist apostles were those who used to be followers and priests of other religions, for example, Trần Đạo Quang (a Minh Sư priest), Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ and Lâm Thị Thanh (Buddhists), Phạm Công Tắc (Christian), etc.

Jayne Susan Werner writes, “Indeed, the Cao Dai cult can be seen in part as an attempt to revitalize the Buddhist faith - traditional religious leaders such as ‘Buddhist’ monks, Daoist priests, and Minh sect practitioners flocked to Caodaism when it was first founded. Cao Dai organizers also used Buddhist pagodas for their services throughout Cochinchina, before their own temples were built, and some of the bonzes who headed these pagodas converted to Caodaism. In areas swept by Caodaism, pagoda congregations were known to switch en masse to the sect.” [Werner 1981: 13].