A GLANCE AT
THE CAODAI MISSIONARY HOLY ASSEMBLY
At the beginning of the 1930s, leaving their home
village Bất Nhị (today belonging to Điện Phước village, Điện Bàn district,
Quảng Nam province), a small group of adolescents who were brothers and
relatives arrived in Saigon and later they were trained to be mediums at the
Đại Thanh holy meditation house (in Gò Vấp district, Gia Định province),
belonging to the Caodai Former Heaven Holy Assembly. Today, Đại Thanh is
located at 465/51 Nguyễn Văn Công
street
Obeying the Heavenly Powers’ order, on Monday 22
October 1934 (the fifteenth of the ninth lunar month of the Dog year), they
returned to their home village for the missionary diffusion of Caodaism. Under
the leadership of Trần Công Ban (1906-?), the mediums included Lương Vĩnh
Thuật (1918-1982), Trần Công Sĩ (1921-?), Lê Văn Qui (1917-1935), and Lê Văn
Phụng (1915-1935). Their holy names respectively were Thanh Long (Blue
Dragon), Xích Lân (Red Unicorn), Kim Qui (Golden Tortoise), and Bạch Phụng
(White Phoenix); therefore, the whole group’s holy name was Tứ Linh Đồng Tử (the Four Supernatural
Mediums).
In mid-July 1935, after both Bạch Phụng and Kim Qui
had passed away, and especially when Xích Lân was no longer suitable for the
mission, the Heavenly Powers ordered Trần Quang Châu (1915-2000) to be a medium
whose holy name was Bạch Hổ (White Tiger). Born in Tư Phú village (today
belonging to Điện Bàn district, Quảng Nam province), Bạch Hổ and Thanh Long
wonderfully cooperated with each other to contribute to the mission of
diffusing Caodaism in Annam (Central Vietnam) under the persecution unceasingly
carried out by both the Huế court and the French colonial rulers.
In December 1934, the first achievement of the Caodai
missionary group in Annam (Central Vietnam) was the birth of the Thanh Quang
holy meditation house (today located in Điện Thọ village, Điện Bàn district,
Quảng Nam province), which was thereafter succeeded by the establishment of
other holy houses, one by one, in various locations.
In mid-February 1948, as commanded by the Heavenly
Powers, a successful congress comprising delegates from Nam Ngãi Bình Phú
(i.e., Quảng Nam, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định, and Phú Yên provinces) resulted
in establishing Cơ Quan Truyền Giáo
Trung Bộ (the Central Vietnam Missionary Organ), which might be regarded
as the forerunner of the present Caodai Missionary
Holy Assembly.
Although every Caodai missionary activity was
completely banned in Annam
by rulers, lots of achievements together with numerous losses and sacrifices
truly contributed much to the emergence of a large, heroic Caodai community in Central Vietnam , where people had to suffer abundant
harsh conditions.
To produce such a fruitful harvest, until mid-century
20, a large number of missionary apostles did bravely dedicate their lives to
the Caodai ideal: Cao Hữu Chí (1904-1953), Huỳnh Ngọc Trác (1898-1945), Lê Trí
Hiển (1879-1943), Nguyễn Đán (1905-1958), Nguyễn Hồng Phong (1894-1947),
Nguyễn Quang Châu (1912-1955), Trần Doãn Cơ (1912-1944, female), Trần Nguyên
Chất (1893-1950), and Trần Nguyên Chí (1914-1957), to name a few.
After two decades of spreading Caodaism unceasingly,
on Monday 28 November 1955 (the fifteenth of the tenth lunar month of the Goat year),
a very solemn cornerstone laying ceremony for Trung Hưng Bửu Tòa (the
Precious Seat for Restoration) was performed in Đà Nẵng. Before that kick-off
ceremony, Bảo Pháp (Dharma Conservator) Thanh Long had to laboriously and
patiently cooperate with architect Hoàng Hùng in Saigon
so that they managed to accomplish architectual
drawings which conformed to the norms required by His Holiness Trần Hưng Đạo. For instance,
during the evocation seance held at the Từ Vân holy house located on Nguyễn Huệ
street (today at 100 Thích Quảng Đức street, Phú Nhuận district), His Holiness
Trần said that the construction was “to
represent the pure spirit of Vietnam”, “to display only Vietnamese characters
inside and outside”, “to be decorated with images and colours in Vietnamese
style”, and so on.
Two weeks later, on
Saturday 19 November 1955, during the evocation held at the Nam Thành holy
house (at 124-126 Nguyễn Cư Trinh street, district 1, Saigon), scrutinising the
architectual drawings for the last time, His Holiness Trần approved them and praised Dharma Conservator Thanh Long. [See Plate 15.]
On Sunday 08 July
1956 (the first of the sixth lunar month of the Monkey year), Trung Hưng Bửu Tòa was very solemnly
inaugurated at 35 Nguyễn Hoàng street (today 63 Hải Phòng street, Hải Châu
district, Đà Nẵng city). On this occasion, the Caodai Missionary Holy Assembly
was officially established under the leadership of its talented and virtuous
head named Huệ Lương Trần Văn Quế. During the same period, to commemorate and
express gratitude to martyr Saints, Linh
Tháp (the Sacred Tower) and Nhà Báo
Ân (the Gratitude Repaying House) were both inaugurated in La Hà (a town in
Tư Nghĩa district, Quảng Ngãi province today). [See Plate 16.]
At present, with a
population of nearly 41,700 congregants active in sixteen cities and provinces
in Southern, Central, and Northern Central Vietnam, the Caodai Missionary Holy
Assembly administers seventy-one parishes and sub-parishes, two holy halls in
Tam Kỳ city (Quảng Nam province) and Quy Nhơn city (Bình Định province), two
monasteries in Tam Kỳ city (one for males, one for females), one meditation
central hall, named Trung Tông Thánh
Tịnh, in Đà Nẵng city. [See Plate 16.]
The Holy Assembly’s
dignitaries from Student-Priests to higher ranks are to follow perpetual
vegetarianism strictly. Daily meditation practice in parallel with strict
vegetarianism is the Holy Assembly’s common trait, popularly existing in even the
majority of ordinary congregants, not only dignitaries and non-dignitary
officials.
Ranked as the fourth
largest when compared with other Holy Assemblies’ populations, the Caodai
Missionary Holy Assembly is always very keen on training its congregants,
upgrading them doctrinally and spiritually. The Holy See is traditionally
successful in building up its youth generation, from teenagers to tertiary
students. Today, its energetic and dynamic youths are present in almost every
parish.
HUỆ KHẢI
