PORTRAITS OF A NUMBER OF CAODAI EARLIEST APOSTLES

9. A CONCISE CAODAI HISTORY: THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS 1920-1926

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[Archie J. Bahm 1964]. The World’s Living Religions. New York: Dell Pub. Co.

[Huệ Khải 2008a]. Đất Nam Kỳ – Tiền Đề Pháp Lý Mở Đạo Cao Đài / Cochinchina as a Legal Precondition for the Foundation of Caodaism. Hà Nội: Nxb Tôn Giáo.

[Huệ Khải 2008b]. Đất Nam Kỳ – Tiền Đề Văn Hóa Mở Đạo Cao Đài / Cochinchina as a Cultural Precondition for the Foundation of Caodaism. Hà Nội: Nxb Tôn Giáo.

[Huệ Khải 2008c]. Ngô Văn Chiêu – Người Môn Đệ Cao Đài Đầu Tiên / Ngô Văn Chiêu – the First Caodai Disciple. Hà Nội: Nxb Tôn Giáo.

[Huệ Khải 2010]. Tam Giáo Việt Nam – Tiền Đề Tư Tưởng Mở Đạo Cao Đài / The Three Teachings of Vietnam as an Ideological Precondition for the Foundation of Caodaism. Hà Nội: Nxb Tôn Giáo.

[Huệ Khải 2015]. Lược Sử Đạo Cao Đài: Khai Minh Đại Đạo 1926 / A Concise Caodai History: the 1926 Inauguration. Hà Nội: Nxb Tôn Giáo.

[Huệ Khải 2016]. Hành Trạng Tiền Khai Nguyễn Ngọc Tương 1881-1951. Hà Nội: Nxb Hồng Đức.

[Huệ Khải 2017]. Hành Trạng Tiền Khai Lê Văn Trung 1876-1934. Hà Nội: Nxb Hồng Đức.

[Huệ Nhẫn 2005]. Lịch Sử Đạo Cao Đài. Quyển 1. Hà Nội: Nxb Tôn Giáo.

[Hương Hiếu I-II]. Đạo Sử Xây Bàn. Quyển I, II (mimeographed). Tòa thánh Tây Ninh, không năm xuất bản.

[Lalaurette 1932]. “Le Caodaisme”. Tây Ninh: Report, 01 January 1932 (typewritten).

[Lê Anh Dũng 1996]. Lịch Sử Đạo Cao Đài Thời Kỳ Tiềm Ẩn 1920-1926. Huế: Nxb Thuận Hóa.

[Ngô Văn Chiêu 1962]. (Không ghi tác giả). Lịch Sử Quan Phủ Ngô Văn Chiêu. Sài Gòn.

[Nguyễn Trung Hậu 1957]. Đại Đạo Căn Nguyên. Sài Gòn.

[Paulus Của 1895]. Đại Nam Quấc Âm Tự Vị, Tome I. Sài Gòn: Imp. Rey, Curiol & Cie.

[Paulus Của 1896]. Đại Nam Quấc Âm Tự Vị, Tome II. Sài Gòn: Imp. Rey, Curiol & Cie.

[R.B. Smith 1970]. “An Introduction to Caodaism”, BSOAS. University of London, Vol. XXXIII, Part I, pp. 335-349.

[R.B. Smith 2012]. Pre-Communist Indochina, edited by Beryl Williams. London and New York: Routledge.

[Trần Văn Khê 2000]. Văn Hóa Với Âm Nhạc Dân Tộc. TpHCM: Nxb Thanh Niên.

[Vương Hồng Sển 1969]. Sài Gòn Năm Xưa. Sài Gòn: Nxb Khai Trí.

8. A CONCISE CAODAI HISTORY: THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS 1920-1926

IN LIEU OF
A CONCLUSION

From the Caodai history perspective, the Caodai legal entity establishment ended the latent years of the new faith, started off its Cochinchina-wide diffusion, and simultaneously paved the way for its Inauguration in November 1926.⁽[1]⁾ In other words, Caodai history began a new page with its landmark, namely the Caodai legal entity establishment. Only three or four years subsequent to the said event, the fledgling religion expanded at a phenomenal rate, and this fact is affirmed by Professor Jayne Susan Werner as she writes, “Caodaism was the first large mass movement to appear in Cochinchina...” ⁽[2]⁾

Western and Vietnamese writers are apt to interpret the emergence of Caodai faith as a political movement under the guise of a religious form. Tracing Caodaism back to its latent years, the reader realises that Caodaism is simply and purely a religion, a path of self-cultivation. If any political colour has been added to this faith, it entirely results from worldly desires of humans, and it itself is a catastrophe for Caodaism.

Mistaken notions about Caodaism have existed ever since its dawn. So, at the very beginning of the 1970s, Professor Ralph Bernard Smith (1939-2000), University of London, remarked:

“Few phenomena in the modern history of Asia can have been so completely misunderstood by Westerners as the Vietnamese religious (and political) movement known in European languages as ‘Caodaism’. Based upon a syncretic approach to religion, in which a key role is played by spirit-seances, it has inevitably been regarded by Christian writers with the same suspicion (if not contempt) as occidental ‘spiritualism’; and this initial lack of sympathy is compounded by the fact that the spirits who have revealed themselves at Caodaist seances include such familiar figures as Victor Hugo and Jeanne d’Arc. Then there is the show-piece temple of the Caodaists at Tây Ninh, which drew forth Mr. Graham Greene’s description of ‘Christ and Buddha looking down from the roof of the Cathedral on a Walt Disney fantasia of the East, dragons and snakes in Technicolor’.⁽[3]⁾ This superficial notion of the religious element in Caodaism fitted in very well with the cynicism of political observers, notably Bernard Fall, who saw in Caodaism no more than a political movement anxious to preserve its private armies and local power, using its religious ideas merely to dupe a credulous peasantry.⁽[4]⁾ In these circumstances, it is perhaps not surprising that the real nature and origins of Caodaism have been lost from view, and even its history has never been adequately summarized in any Western language.” ⁽[5]⁾

Today, the above eminent British professor’s words are still worthy of note. Especially in the era of Internet, dishonest information about Caodaism can be spread more and more easily, which forms a thick fog discouraging the novices at the threshold of this religion.

Aged twenty-two, I first read Professor Smith and was deeply influenced by his advice, “To some extent Western ignorance about Caodaism is the responsibility of the Caodaists themselves.” ⁽[6]⁾ His hauntingly convincing recommendation has urged me to begin publishing a few books of mine in mid-1990s. Later, I could publish more than ten Vietnamese-English booklets on Caodaism, sponsored by the Programme of Joining Hands for Free Caodai Publications, which has been active since mid-2008.

Although Professor Janet Alison Hoskins, teaching anthropology and religion at the University of Southern California, once too generously called me “the most sophisticated and careful Caodai historian inside Vietnam”,⁽[7]⁾ I am not at all a historian. Neither am I “a modern Vietnamese scholar”,⁽[8]⁾ as referred to in the two books by Dr. Sergei Blagov, lecturer on Vietnamese history and religions at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at the Moscow State University. Indeed, I am just a simple, white áo dài ⁽[9]⁾ wearing disciple of Caodaism, for which my love causes me to ignore my own limitations and riskily get involved in the karma of writing in hopes of making every effort to present the true identity of Caodaism, a faith having to suffer extravagant distortions.

Professor Winfried Löffler, Austrian, teaching at the Institute for Christian Philosophy (Institut für Christliche Philosophie), Innsbruck University, after having read the three booklets as my humble gift to him at an end-of-year-2014 international workshop on religion in Hanoi, sent me an e-mail dated 11 January 2015 from his homeland. Subsequent to his nicest remarks, he conluded, “In sum: my picture of Caodaism has changed very much.” ⁽[10]⁾

I do expect that my present pages on the latent years of Caodaism might help the reader share the same idea as Professor Löffler. And if so lucky, I am very grateful to you, my dear readers.

Phú Nhuận, 14 January 2017

Huệ Khải

---

⁽[1]⁾ For detailed information, please read [Huệ Khải 2015].

⁽[2]⁾ [Huệ Khải 2008b: 57].

^([3]) Graham Greene, The Quiet American (Penguin Books, 1962), p. 81.

^([4]) Bernard B. Fall, “The Political-Religious Sects of Viet-Nam”, Pacific Affairs, XXVIII, 3, 1955, pp. 235-53.

^([5]) [R.B. Smith 1970: 335], or [R.B. Smith 2012: 115].

^([6]) [R.B. Smith 1970: 335], or [R.B. Smith 2012: 115].

⁽[7]⁾ Janet Alison Hoskins, The Divine Eye and the Diaspora: Vietnamese Syncretism Becomes Transpacific Caodaism. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2015, p. 209.

⁽[8]⁾ Sergei Blagov, The Cao Dai: a New Religious Movement. Moscow: The Institute of Oriental Studies, 1999, p. 22; Caodaism: Vietnamese Traditionalism and Its Leap Into Modernity. New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc., 2001, p. 1.

⁽[9]⁾ white áo dài: Caodai adherent’s long white tunic with slits on either side and worn with loose white pants. For a male disciple, áo dài is accompanied with a black turban on his head.

⁽[10]⁾ Đại Đạo Văn Uyển, Tập Nguyên (13), Xuân Ất Mùi. Hanoi: Religion Publishing House 2015, p. 90. 

7. A CONCISE CAODAI HISTORY: THE EARLIEST BEGINNINGS 1920-1926

THE CAODAI
LEGAL ENTITY ESTABLISHMENT

I. PREPARATION FOR THE CAODAI LEGAL ENTITY ESTABLISHMENT

At 8.00 pm on Wednesday night of 29 September 1926 (the twenty-third of the year Tiger’s eighth month), at Nguyễn Văn Tường’s home at 237 bis on an alley off Galliéni boulevard, district 1, Saigon (today 208 Cô Bắc street),⁽[1]⁾ there was a large meeting to prepare for the registration of Caodai legal entity.

According to a Caodai holy message received on Tuesday 22 and into the small hours of Wednesday 23 September 1970,⁽[2]⁾ this historical event was first named Khai Tịch Đạo (the Caodai legal entity establishment). Also, as stated in the said holy message, the name Khai Minh Đại Đạo, i.e., the Caodai Inauguration,⁽[3]⁾ was given to the ceremony to ordain the earliest dignitaries of the fledgling Holy Assembly (Hội Thánh) in Long Thành village (Tây Ninh province) on Thursday 18 and into the small hours of Friday 19 November 1926 (in the Mouse’s hour on the fifteenth of the year Tiger’s tenth month).

Right before the meeting, a torrential rain poured down long hours and flooded many parts of the surrounding area. Consequently, the meeting was isolated from curious outsiders, especially the colonial police. Then, any meeting of twenty people or more was to be authorised by colonial rulers.

Co-chaired by apostles Lê Văn Trung (Daoist Cardinal Thượng Trung Nhựt), Lê Văn Lịch (Confucius Cardinal Ngọc Lịch Nguyệt), and Cao Quỳnh Cư (Thượng Phẩm 上品: Superior Dignity), the historic meeting was attended by over two hundred earliest Caodai dignitaries and followers.

As a result, an eleven-page list of two hundred and forty-five Caodaists’ full names as well as their signatures was enclosed with the legal entity registration dossier whereas the over-five-hundred-word text in French dated 07 October 1926 bore the names of twenty-eight Caodai apostles chosen by Caodai God. Then, Lê Văn Trung himself took all the dossier to Cochinchina Governor’s Palace and submit it to Acting Governor Le Fol on Thursday 07 October 1926,⁽[4]⁾ exactly as instructed by Caodai God, “I recommend you, Trung! Within next Thursday, you must go and see Le Fol to register the Caodai legal entity in time.” ⁽[5]⁾

II. THE REGISTRATION TEXT OF THE CAODAI LEGAL ENTITY

The registration text of the Caodai legal entity was written in French,⁽[6]⁾ and below is its English translation:

Saigon, 07 October 1926

Dear Mr. Governor,

We, the undersigned, are honoured to respectfully inform you of the following:

In Indochina there have been Three Religions (Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism). Our ancestors religiously practised these three teachings and thus they lived a happy life strictly obeying the good precepts taught by these Religions’ Founders.

The ancient humans were so carefree that they could sleep without closing the doors and no one picked up objects dropped on the road. (Gia vô bế hộ, lộ bất thập di [家無閉户, 路不拾遺] is the saying recorded in our annals.)

Alas! That wonderful era is defunct due to the following reasons:

1. The adherents of those religions have managed to separate themselves from one another while the purpose of all religions is the same, that is, doing good deeds and avoiding evil ones, and piously worshipping the Creator.

2. They have completely distorted the significance of these sacred and precious teachings.

3. The rush for worldly comfort as well as secular honour, and man’s desires are also the main causes of the today divergences of opinions. The present Vietnamese people have completely abandoned their good customs and traditions handed down from ancient times.

Facing these heartbreaking situations, a group of Vietnamese, fervent traditionalists and religionists, has studied and recast these religions into a sole and unique one, namely Caodaism or Đại Đạo (the Great Dao).

The name ĐẠI ĐẠO TAM KỲ PHỔ ĐỘ (the Third Universal Amnesty) ⁽[7]⁾ was granted by the Supreme Being, who descended to earth, helping the undersigned establish this new religion.

God has come to this secular world under the name NGỌC HOÀNG THƯỢNG ĐẾ (the Jade Emperor), namely CAODAI or GOD, the Supreme, the Omnipotent.

Through mediums at evocation seances, NGỌC HOÀNG THƯỢNG ĐẾ has bestowed holy teachings upon the undersigned in order to crystallise and preach the noble truth of the ancient Three Religions.

This new religion will teach people:

1. The sublime moral principles taught by Confucius.

2. The virtues taught in Buddhism and Daoism. These virtues include doing good deeds and avoiding evil ones, loving mankind, living in harmony with others, and completely avoiding dissension and war.

We, the undersigned, are honoured to enclose herewith:

1. Some excerpts from the collection of Holy Sayings by the Jade Emperor. His teachings are considered more valuable than any existence on earth.

2. The translation of some passages from the prayers that NGỌC HOÀNG THƯỢNG ĐẾ has taught us.

The objective of the undersigned is to bring mankind back to their ancient days of peace and harmony. Thus, humans will aim at a new era of indescribable happiness.

On behalf of the majority of the Vietnamese who entirely approve these studies and whose name list is enclosed herewith, we the undersigned have the honour to notify that we will spread this sacred teaching to the whole humanity.

Persuaded in advance that this new religion will bring all of us peace and harmony, we the undersigned request you to receive our notification officially.

We, the undersigned, would like to ask you, Mr. Governor, to acknowledge our respect and sincerity.

III. TWENTY-EIGHT APOSTLES’ NAMES LISTED IN THE REGISTRATION TEXT OF THE CAODAI LEGAL ENTITY

After having an eleven-page list of two hundred and forty-five Caodaists’ full names together with their signatures,⁽[8]⁾ the apostles held an evocation seance. Caodai God told Cao Quỳnh Diêu to read aloud each name, one by one. Whenever the beak of the evocation instrument tapped on the table after a name, the chosen name was to be listed in the registration text of the Caodai legal entity.⁽[9]⁾

Twenty-eight names ⁽[10]⁾ chosen by Caodai God include:

1. Mrs. Lâm Ngọc Thanh, proprietor, Vũng Liêm district. / 2. Mr. Lê Văn Trung, ex-member of the Government Council of Indochina, Knight of the Legion of Honour, Chợ Lớn province. / 3. Mr. Lê Văn Lịch, priest, Long An village, Chợ Lớn province. / 4. Mr. Trần Đạo Quang, priest, Hanh Thông Tây village, Gia Định province. / 5. Mr. Nguyễn Ngọc Tương, tri phủ, Cần Giuộc district chief. / 6. Mr. Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ, proprietor, Saigon. / 7. Mr. Lê Bá Trang, đốc phủ sứ, Chợ Lớn province. / 8. Mr. Vương Quan Kỳ, tri phủ, Poll-Tax Service, Saigon. / 9. Mr. Nguyễn Văn Kinh, priest, Bình Lý hamlet, Gia Định province. / 10. Mr. Ngô Tường Vân, thông phán, Construction Service, Saigon. / 11. Mr. Nguyễn Phát Đạt,⁽[11]⁾ proprietor, Saigon. / 12. Mr. Ngô Văn Kim, landowner, senior village chief, Cần Giuộc district. / 13. Mr. Đoàn Văn Bản, headmaster, Cầu Kho primary school, Saigon. / 14. Mr. Lê Văn Giảng, accountant, Hippolito company, Saigon. / 15. Mr. Huỳnh Văn Giỏi, thông phán, Immigration Service, Saigon. / 16. Mr. Nguyễn Văn Tường, interpreter, Police Station, Saigon. / 17. Mr. Cao Quỳnh Cư, clerk, Railway Service, Saigon. / 18. Mr. Phạm Công Tắc, clerk, Customs Service, Saigon. / 19. Mr. Cao Hoài Sang, clerk, Customs Service, Saigon. / 20. Mr. Nguyễn Trung Hậu, headmaster, Dakao private school, Saigon. / 21. Mr. Trương Hữu Đức, clerk, Railway Service, Saigon. / 22. Mr. Huỳnh Trung Tuất, proprietor, Đũi Market, Saigon. / 23. Mr. Nguyễn Văn Chức, canton chief, Chợ Lớn province. / 24. Mr. Lại Văn Hành, village chief, Chợ Lớn province. / 25. Mr. Nguyễn Văn Trò, teacher, Saigon. / 26. Mr. Nguyễn Văn Hương, teacher, Dakao. / 27. Mr. Võ Văn Kỉnh, village primary teacher, Cần Giuộc district. / 28. Mr. Phạm Văn Tỉ, village primary teacher, Cần Giuộc district.

Below are some of the above-listed apostles’ biographical notes:

1. Huỳnh Trung Tuất (1873-1947)

Approximately in late March or early April 1926, Huỳnh Trung Tuất converted to Caodaism. He had three children from the marriage with Nguyễn Thị Hòa (1872-1963).⁽[12]⁾

2. Huỳnh Văn Giỏi (1880-1954)

Huỳnh Văn Giỏi was from Giồng Luông village (today belonging to Đại Điền village, Thạnh Phú district, Bến Tre province). His parents were Huỳnh Văn Ngôn and Nguyễn Thị Được. His spouse Phạm Thị Thêu (1881-1953) bore him eight children. He worked for the Immigration Service as a thông phán, and dwelt on Bourdais street, next door to Cao Quỳnh Cư’s home.⁽[13]⁾

3. Lại Văn Hành (1878-1939)

Lại Văn Hành, who was a village chief, was initiated into Caodaism on Tuesday 05 October 1926 at an evocation seance in Tân Kim village, Cần Giuộc district, Chợ Lớn province. Trần Thị Chốt (1885-1968) was his spouse.⁽[14]⁾

4. Lê Bá Trang (1878-1936)

Lê Bá Trang was born on Monday 18 February 1878 in Tân Quy Đông village (later belonging to Tân Vĩnh Hòa village, Châu Thành district, Sa Đéc province). His parents were Lê Văn Lâu and Trần Thị Nga. From the first marriage with Trần Thị Ngoạn (1878-1926), he had a daughter named Lê Thị Mạnh (1900-1966). After his wife’s death, he got married to Huỳnh Thị An, from Sa Đéc province, who bore him no child. After graduating from collège Chasseloup-Laubat in Saigon, he passed a civil service examination and became a secretary for the Government General of French Indochina (Gouvernement général de l’Indochine) in Saigon. Later, at the rank of tri huyện, he was transferred to the Bến Tre province government. While working as chief of Thủ Đức district (Gia Định province), he was promoted to first-class tri phủ. In 1925, he was chief of Châu Thành district (Chợ Lớn province), and later was raised to the rank of đốc phủ sứ. In March 1927, he relocated to Vũng Tàu district as its chief, after his Caodai discipleship began in May 1926.⁽[15]⁾

5. Lê Văn Giảng (1883-1932)

Lê Văn Giảng was from Phong Thới village, Vũng Liêm district, Vĩnh Long province. His parents were Lê Văn Thoại and Võ Thị Lương. He and his spouse Huỳnh Thị Chính (1886-1973), together with some of their seven children, joined the meeting to prepare for the registration of Caodai legal entity. Then, dwelling at 85 Lagrandière street, he was an accountant for Hippolito company in Saigon.⁽[16]⁾

6. Ngô Văn Kim (1868-1940)

Ngô Văn Kim was a landowner and senior village chief, from Trường Bình village, Cần Giuộc district (today belonging to Long An province); Chung Thị Tạo (1868-1925) was his spouse. On Tuesday 02 February 1926, in Cần Giuộc district, he was initiated into the new faith by Caodai God.⁽[17]⁾

7. Nguyễn Phát Đạt (1881-1942)

His real name was Trần Phát Đạt, whose parents were Trần Đăng Khoa and Võ Thị Phú. He had worked for the Customs Service before running his own small rubber farm.⁽[18]⁾

8. Nguyễn Văn Chức (1873-1956)

In 1926, Nguyễn Văn Chức became a Caodai disciple while he was chief of Phước Điền Trung canton (Chợ Lớn province). Trần Thị Trầm (1871-1947) was his spouse.⁽[19]⁾

9. Nguyễn Văn Kinh (1890-1945)

Nguyễn Văn Kinh was a son of Nguyễn Văn Khá and Thái Thị Ban. Having a good command of Chinese characters, he was also an oriental medical physician working at home in Bình Lý village, Bình Thạnh Trung canton, Gia Định province (today belonging to Bình Mỹ village, Củ Chi district, HCM City). Before converting to Caodaism, he had followed Minh Sư faith (1902).^([20])

10. Nguyễn Văn Trò (1886-1949)

Nguyễn Văn Trò was son of Nguyễn Văn Lừa (1846-1914) and Nguyễn Thị Lộc (1847-1942). His spouse Dương Thị Ngại (1885-1965) bore him a daughter. He converted to Caodaism while teaching in Saigon.⁽[21]⁾

11. Nguyễn Văn Tường (1887-1939)

About a month after the death of Nguyễn Văn Tịnh, his father, Nguyễn Văn Tường was born in Lương Hòa Lạc village (later belonging to Chợ Gạo district, Mỹ Tho province). Võ Thị Quyên (1867-1934), his mother, sent him to Saigon, where he lived in the care of his mother’s brother, a civil official, who sent him to school. He became an interpreter for a police station in district 1, Saigon. From the marriage with Đặng Thị Kế (1888-1943) he got a son named Nguyễn Văn Tri (1910-1984) and a daughter named Nguyễn Thị Phẩm (1912-1947). Around 1921, he purchased a 1,474-square-metre lot, located on an alley off Galliéni boulevard (today Trần Hưng Đạo avenue), where his large house No. 237 bis was constructed. He converted to Caodai on Wednesday 23 June 1926.⁽[22]⁾ Over three months later, at his home, a large meeting was held to prepare for the registration of Caodai legal entity.

11. Phạm Văn Tỉ (1887-1949)

Phạm Văn Tỉ was a village primary teacher in Cần Giuộc district. On Saturday 20 March 1926, at an evocation seance held in Tân Kim village, Cần Giuộc district (today belonging to Long An province), he was delivered by heavenly powers. Later, Phạm Văn Tươi, his younger brother, became a high-ranking dignitary at the Tây Ninh Caodai Holy See.⁽[23]⁾

12. Võ Văn Kỉnh (1880-1946)

Primary teacher Võ Văn Kỉnh, whose mother was Lê Thị Liên, was a Buddhist from Thanh Hà village (today belonging to Tân Kim village, Cần Giuộc district, Long An province). He married Lê Thị Ngưu and had four children. He converted to Caodaism on Friday 05 March 1926.⁽[24]⁾

IV. THE LEGAL BASIS FOR THE CAODAI LEGAL ENTITY ESTABLISHMENT

For legal operation, first of all, Caodaism must have its legal entity. Therefore, on Thursday 07 October 1926, Lê Văn Trung himself submitted the documents required by the current law to Le Fol, Acting Governor of Cochinchina.

As a French colony, Cochinchina was soon ruled by the French Law. Just over two years after their occupation of the three eastern provinces of Cochinchina (Gia Định, Định Tường, Biên Hòa) and Côn Lôn island, instead of waiting until the three western provinces (Vĩnh Long, An Giang, Hà Tiên) also fell into their hands, the French colonialists started applying the French Law to the territory they robbed. Indeed, on Wednesday 21 December 1864, Rear Admiral Pierre-Paul de la Grandière, Governor of Cochinchina, promulgated the French Law in the three eastern provinces of Cochinchina.⁽[25]⁾

In the early 20th century, Lê Văn Trung and many other apostles were either district chiefs or high-ranking civil officials in the Government of Cochinchina. Consequently, they had a thorough knowledge of administrative procedures and the French Law being applied in Cochinchina.

When completing formalities for establishing the legal entity of their new religion, Caodai apostles followed the French Associations Law of 01 July 1901,⁽[26]⁾ promulgated by Prime Minister Waldeck-Rousseau (1846-1904). Its full text was made public in the France’s Official Journal dated 02 July 1901. Today, some articles of the Law can be found on Internet.⁽[27]⁾

Excerpt translations of the Associations Law of 1901

Article 2.

Associations can be freely established without prior authorisation or registration; nonetheless, they will enjoy legal capacity only if they comply with the stipulations of Article 5.

Article 5. (Excerpt)

Any association which wants to obtain the legal capacity envisaged by Article 6 will have to be made public by its founders.

The prior registration will be made in the province prefecture or the district sub-prefecture where its headquarters is located. It will make known the name and the purpose of the association, the locations of its establishments and the names, professions, residences and nationalities of those who, with their specified titles, are in charge of its administration or its direction. Two copies of the statutes must be attached to the registration. The receipt of this registration will be given within five days.

Article 21 bis.

The present law is applicable to the overseas territories (…).⁽[28]⁾

Complying with Article 5 quoted above, Lê Văn Trung submitted a dossier including:

a. An over-five-hundred-word text in French explaining the name and the purpose of Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ (the Third Universalism of the Great Dao).

b. Some excerpts from Caodai holy teachings and some passages of Caodai prayers translated into French.

c. A list of Caodai adherents.

Right after completing the registration formalities, the apostles earnestly spread Caodaism almost throughout Cochinchina without any permit, since Article 2 quoted above implied that prior permission by authorities was not required.

V. THE FRENCH’S REACTION

Although Article 5 of the Associations Law stipulates that “The receipt of this registration will be given within five days”, over three months after his submission of the dossier, Lê Văn Trung still failed to get a receipt. So, on Wednesday 13 October 1926, Caodai God said to Lê Văn Trung, “My son, Trung! You must tell Le Fol to give you the receipt of the registration. Go and see him tomorrow, and I’ll be with you.” ⁽[29]⁾

On Friday 09 April 1926, Aristide Eugène le Fol, at the rank of first-class administrator (administrateur de 1er classe), was appointed as Acting Governor of Cochinchina,⁽[30]⁾ and his over-eight-month term lasted from 19 April 1926 to 30 December 1926, when Paul Marie Alexis Joseph Blanchard de la Brosse officially took the power.

In his research entitled Le Caodaïsme, about Le Fol’s attitude towards the registration on 07 October 1926, Gustave Meillon writes, “The prudent man [Le Fol] was content to take the document, but did not formally commit to recognising the religion.” ⁽[31]⁾

Thus, against the Associations Law of 1901, Le Fol neglected to issue “the receipt of this registration”. Did his negligence result from his “prudent” nature? Moreover, over a month later, he took a further step. In his report dated 01 January 1932, Inspector Lalaurette writes, “However, by confidential telegraph No. 146-C, dated 14 November 1926, the Governor warned administrators, chiefs of provinces of the religious movement initiated by Lê Văn Trung and his group of missionaries, and he ordered them to secretly keep a watchful eye on the diffusion and send reports to him by confidential correspondence.” ⁽[32]⁾

Four months after Le Fol’s secret telegraph, as quoted in Lalaurette’s said report, Governor Blanchard de la Brosse still mentioned it in his circular No. 52-C dated 07 March 1927: “My predecessor, by Circular No. 146-C, demanded you to pay close attention to the development of Caodaism.” ⁽[33]⁾

As reflected in the two above quotations from Lalaurette’s report, the French’s reaction definitely prove that if whoever says, “Caodaism was founded or authorised by the French,” he is obviously not honest.

VI. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CAODAI LEGAL ENTITY ESTABLISHMENT

The fact that the Associations Law of 1901 was applied in French Cochinchina may help us understand why the earliest apostles of Caodaism could establish their new faith’s legal entity so easily and smoothly in Saigon in the 1926 autumn. This understanding also sheds new light on the choice of Cochinchina, rather than Tonkin or Annam,⁽[34]⁾ for the cradle of Caodaism.

At the outset, the twenty-third of the year Tiger’s eighth month (Wednesday 29 September 1926) was chosen for the meeting to prepare for the Caodai legal entity establishment. Later, the twenty-third of the eighth lunar month turned into an anniversary observed by Caodai congregations.

Before apostle Nguyễn Văn Tường’s death, the anniversary used to be celebrated at his home on an alley off Galliéni boulevard, where the historical meeting had been held.

After Tường’s death, the anniversary celebration was moved to Cầu Kho holy house (also apostle Đoàn Văn Bản’s home). Finally, since the second site was defunct, the anniversary commemoration has been maintained at Nam Thành holy house.⁽[35]⁾

Nonetheless, it should not be thought that the anniversary of the Caodai legal entity establishment is much more significant than the Caodai Inauguration anniversary (on the fifteenth of the tenth lunar month), or vice versa. In point of fact, as quoted at the end of Chapter II (page 155), the first of the year Tiger’s first month should be much more emphasied because Caodai God once asserted, “This day (…) when I established Caodaism…” Furthermore, when the Supreme Being Himself established Caodaism, He naturally needed no “permission”.

HUỆ KHẢI

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⁽[1]⁾ See Plate 11.

⁽[2]⁾ [Huệ Khải 2008a: 53]

⁽[3]⁾ For detailed information, please read [Huệ Khải 2015].

⁽[4]⁾ See Plate 12, Plate 13.

⁽[5]⁾ [Huệ Khải 2017: 41]

⁽[6]⁾ See the French text in the Vietnamese part of this book, p. 80.

⁽[7]⁾ Despite such a primordial explanation by the earliest Caodai apostles, Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ should be translated as the Third Universalism of the Great Dao. (Noted by Huệ Khải)

⁽[8]⁾ That evening, although Trần Đạo Quang was staying elsewhere for a certain religious task, Caodai God included him in the list, at Lê Văn Trung’s request. See Plate 13.

⁽[9]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 281]

⁽[10]⁾ Why was the number twenty-eight? Till now there has not been even a very short explanation although numerology can be found here and there in Caodai teaching. Nevertheless, this number may remind the reader of the twenty-eight constellations, or stellar mansions 二十八宿.

⁽[11]⁾ Also named Trần Phát Đạt, see Plate 14-5.

⁽[12]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 301-303]. See Plate 14-1.

⁽[13]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 301]. See Plate 14-1.

⁽[14]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 303]. See Plate 14-1.

⁽[15]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 406-407]. See Plate 14-2.

⁽[16]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 175]. See Plate 14-2.

⁽[17]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 262]. See Plate 14-2.

⁽[18]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 301]. See Plate 14-5.

⁽[19]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 303]. See Plate 14-3.

⁽[20]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 315]. See Plate 14-4.

⁽[21]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 303-304]. See Plate 14-4.

⁽[22]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 428-429]. See Plate 14-4.

⁽[23]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 304]. See Plate 14-4.

⁽[24]⁾ [Huệ Nhẫn 2005: 304]

⁽[25]⁾ For some main historical landmarks in the process of applying the French Law to Cochinchina, please read [Huệ Khải 2008a: 58-60].

⁽[26]⁾ Loi du 1er Juillet 1901 régissant les associations, Loi du 1 Juillet 1901 relative au contrat d’association, Loi sur les associations 1901. It is often named the Associations Law of 1901 in some English documents. For its original text in French, please read [Huệ Khải 2008a: 73-74].

⁽[27]⁾ For instance, http://mapage.noos.fr/iriv.info/Loi_1901.htm.

^([28]) [Huệ Khải 2008a: 57-62]

⁽[29]⁾ [Huệ Khải 2017: 43]

⁽[30]⁾ In the registration text of the Caodai legal entity dated 07 October 1926, Le Fol was addressed “Mr. Governor” for politeness.

⁽[31]⁾ “Prudent, il se contente d’en prendre acte, sans toutefois s’engager formellement à le reconnaître.”

(http://antruong.free.fr/Lecaodaisme.html, accessed on 04 January 2017.)

⁽[32]⁾ Néanmoins par télégramme confidentiel No. 146-C du 14 novembre 1926, le Gouverneur avisait les administrateurs, chefs de Province, du mouvement religieux que préparait Lê Văn Trung et son groupe de missionaires, et les invitait, “à suivre discrètement cette propagande et à le tenir au courant sous le timbre ‘Sûreté’.” [Lalaurette 1932: 15]

⁽[33]⁾ Mon prédécesseur, par Circulaire 146-C, vous a demandé de suivre attentivement le développement du Caodaisme. [Lalaurette 1932: 19]

⁽[34]⁾ Actually, Annam (Central Vietnam) was not the promised land for Caodai diffusion. My bilingual booklet entitled Cấm Đạo Cao Đài Ở Trung Kỳ 1928-1950 / Caodaism under Persecution in Central Vietnam 1928-1950 (Hà Nội: Religion Publishing House, 2012) provides a chronological record of persecutions unceasingly carried out by the French colonial rulers as well as the Huế court.

⁽[35]⁾ Today located at 124-126 Nguyễn Cư Trinh street, district 1.