General Announcement to the Public (1926), front cover.
II. A
CAODAI BOOKLET: GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT TO
THE PUBLIC
In the Foundation Declaration dated 07 October 1926, the
earliest Caodai apostles stated:
“Au nom de très nombreux
Annamites
qui ont entièrement approuvé ces études et dont la liste est ci-jointe, les
soussignés ont l’honneur de venir respectueuse-ment vous déclarer qu’ils vont
propager à l’humanité entière cette Sainte Doctrine.” [1]
Translation:
On behalf of the majority
of the Vietnamese who entirely approve these studies and whose list is
enclosed, we, the undersigned, have the honour to declare that we will diffuse
this sacred teaching to the whole humanity.[2]
A few days right after the registration for the Caodai legal
entity mentioned above, the earliest Caodai apostles unceasingly prepared the
Cochinchina-wide diffusion. One of their tasks was the compilation of a booklet
entitled Phổ Cáo Chúng Sanh (General
Announcement to the Public).
Before having their booklet printed, the earliest Caodai
apostles presented the manuscript to Caodai God for revision. At the séance on Wednesday
13 October 1926, the Supreme Being said to apostle Lê Thế Vĩnh, “Vĩnh, read out the text, and wait for my
correction! Whenever I lower the beaked basket (corbeille a bec) please have a pause.” [3]
Later, Phổ Cáo Chúng
Sanh (14 pages, 15x24cm), was printed at l’Imprimerie de l’Union (Saigon ). The cover was made of thin red paper (often used
for file folders). Printed on the front cover was the date 15 October 1926. As an
early publication of the new faith, it was officially spread out during the
Cochinchina-wide diffusion which commenced on Saturday 16 October 1926 and
lasted a month.
1. Summary
of General Announcement to the Public
Phổ Cáo Chúng Sanh (General Announcement to
the Public) contains over four thousand words. At the beginning, it asserts that
all species on earth have come from the same Creator, who has been named
differently by different races at different times and places. Again, it affirms
that all Buddhas, Immortals, Saints, or Lord Jesus Christ (i.e., all existing
religions on earth) have come from Origin, namely Dao.
In the two previous salvation eras, the Supreme Being
manifested Himself on earth under various names like Dipankara the Ancient
Buddha, Shakyamuni, Laozi, and Jesus Christ, etc. Presently, in the Third Era, God
has come to save this world under the name Cao
Đài Tiên Ông Đại Bồ Tát Ma Ha Tát (Caodai the Immortal Mahabodhisattva
Mahasattva). His name implies the Caodai guideline, which says the Three Teachings return to Origin,
because Caodai relates to Confucianism, the Immortal to Daoism, and
Mahabodhisattva Mahasattva to Buddhism.
Also, based on Caodai holy teaching, General Announcement to the Public explains that in the two
previous salvation eras, human beings were subject to geographical separation
and their knowledge was not developed enough; accordingly, God’s teaching had
to be split into Ngũ Chi (Five
Branches), namely the Ways of Man, of Gods, of Saints, of Immortals, and of
Buddhas, so as to accord with local customs and cultures.
In the Third Era, geographical distances have been shortened
and human knowledge has been highly developed; consequently, God has founded
Caodaism to lead the Five Branches back to One (Dao). Unlike in the two
previous eras, the Founder of the new religion is God Himself, not an incarnate
one. In this Era, to bestow holy teaching upon man, the Heavenly Powers use a
traditional way of communion known as cầu
cơ, which means evoking spirits with a beaked basket (corbeille a bec).
Besides, General
Announcement to the Public states that the Caodai icon for worshipping God
is the Left Eye (Thiên Nhãn, the God’s
Eye). On the altar at a holy house (thánh
thất, Caodai temple) are also the icons of the Three-Teaching Founders
(Shakyamuni, Laozi, and Confucius), of the Three-Teaching Founders’
Representatives (Li Taibai, who represents Daoism; Guanyin, Buddhism; and Guan
Sheng, Confucianism), of Jesus Christ (representing the Way of Saints), and of
Jiang Taigong (representing the Way of Gods).
At the end, General
Announcement to the Public reports that on 07 October 1926 “Lê Văn Trung, ex-member of the Conseil
Supérieur de l’Indochine - the
Superior Council of Indochina” submitted the Foundation Declaration to the
French Governor of Cochinchina and he “was
welcomed and praised” (p. 14).
2. Judging General Announcement to the Public
No matter how thin it is, General
Announcement to the Public can truly introduce some crucial points of the
fledgling faith; for instance, its guideline (the Three Teachings return to Origin; the Five Branches return to One),
its slogan (Underlying all religions is
the same principle); its ways of worshipping and teaching, etc.
Under the French colonial yoke, Vietnamese people were always
oppressed if they gathered in large number, or followed a certain “secret
society”… That is why the last page of General
Announcement to the Public tactically mentions the fact that the new
religion’s legal entity was officially registered by such a Cochinchinese
celebrity as “Lê Văn Trung, ex-member of
the Superior Council of Indochina ”. Indeed,
this psychological cleverness implies that Caodai religion is not a “secret
society” and simultaneously affirms the legal status of its Cochinchina-wide
diffusion.
Why could the high social status of apostle Lê Văn Trung (Daoist
Cardinal Thượng Trung Nhựt) indirectly allay the people’s fears? An appropriate
explanation may be as follows:
“… the weekly Lục Tỉnh
Tân Văn (Six Provinces News), issue No. 46, dated 01 October 1908, wrote, ‘Our Vietnamese people are apt to be
scared…’ Accordingly, when starting something considerable, he who wants to
attract the mass should include some civil officers in his key staff. Sơn Nam
HUỆ KHẢI
