THE
PSYCHOLOGY OF CAODAISTS
AS
VIEWED FROM
THE VIETNAMESE PSYCHOLOGY
How many specific characteristics is the
psychology of the Vietnamese made up of? This is, indeed, a question not easy
to answer. Perhaps due to the perplexing issue, in her thin book published in
1993, entitled Tâm Lý Dân Tộc: Tính Cách
Và Bản Sắc (The Ethnic Psychology: Characteristics and Identities), Phạm
Bích Hợp failed to offer the reader even a short list, except for the five
characteristics cited from Nguyễn Hồng Phong (p. 75). Her said shortcoming
seems to be partly compensated by Tâm Lý
Người Việt Nam
Despite the fact that it is quite
thicker, the latter is merely an anthology of writings by numerous authors;
consequently, it lacks systematicness and is still not an expected reply to the
question raised at the beginning of this essay. Fortunately, included in the
latter is Bùi Quốc Châu’s detailed list (pp. 172-173), which enumerates
thirty-seven good and bad characteristics. It is possible to say that his
listings might be somewhat not different from some other co-authors’ ideas.
Based on the two said books (whose titles
are respectively shortened as TLDT, and
TLVN), I expediently pick out six
typical psychological characteristics of the Vietnamese in terms of their
approval by the majority of authors. Here, of course, the characteristics
presented in the preceding essay entitled “Some
Psychological Traits of Caodaists” (pp. 46-63) are not repeated. Relying on
my selection, I try out a survey of the Caodaists’ psychology. The order of
these six psychological characteristics listed herein does not matter indeed.
*
1.
Community psychology
Community psychology is considered a
trait of the Vietnamese psychology (TLVN,
p. 61). Especially for the settlers in Cochinchina (the cradle of Caodai
religion), perhaps their community psychology shortly resulted from their needs
to live gregariously in the remote past; gradually, the simple primary
gregariousness flourished into villages so that those pioneers could not only
get free from the inferiority complex of migrants (TLVN, p. 157) but also create good conditions to live dependently
upon one another in the new land, whose harsh environment and too narrow
circumstances they permanently had to deal with.
The traits of community psychology are
immanent in Caodaists’ religious practice, and identified in Tân Luật (the New Law) promulgated by
the Caodai Holy Assembly. The first 1927 edition of the New Law (14 pages,
15x24cm) was printed in Saigon at Commerciale
C. Ardin printing house [see Plate 4].
Although Caodai religion was split into fragments during the 1930s, the New Law
remains the common code for most Caodai branches.
Emerging in
Vietnam within the context of “the country defeated and the home lost”, Caodai
religion not only suffered all kinds of shortages but also endured permanent
persecutions by both colonial rulers and Huế Court mandarins (please consult Huệ
Khải, Cấm Đạo Cao Đài Ở Trung Kỳ
1928-1950 / Caodaism under
Persecution in Central Vietnam 1928-1950. Hà Nội: Tôn Giáo publishing
house, 2012). Therefore, Caodaists were
to gather, relying on one another for survival and growth. The founding of họ đạo (parish) is stipulated by the New
Law as follows:
“Any
congregation having at least about five hundred followers is authorised to
found a parish, with its own holy house, under the administration of a
dignitary as its head.” (Religious
Law, Chapter III, Article 16.)
Founding a parish to gather congregants
is just a superficial or physical guarantee. For its stability and growth,
every parish needs something sentimental or spiritual. Thus, congregants in the
same parish are to be cordial enough so that they can promptly help one another
when in need, especially events of wedding, funeral, or misfortune. The New Law
stipulates three obligations as follows (Secular
Law, Articles 5, 14, 19):
(b) “When
a congregant passes away, the rest of the parish are to gather for helping the
defunct’s family and offering condolences to that family’s head.”
(c) “When
a congregant has an accident, the rest of the parish are to offer contributions
proportional to their means so that their coreligionist can survive the
critical time.”
Dignitaries, non-dignitary officials, and
congregants always cooperatively conduct the funeral of their coreligionist
thoughtfully and whole-heartedly for no charge. The defunct’s family must not
offer any money or gifts in kind to dignitaries, non-dignitary officials who
come to celebrate the sacraments and perform all burial rituals (from shrouding
the corpse to back-filling the grave) as well as the periodically repeated
sequence of refinement and salvation rituals (from placing the corpse into the
coffin to completing the mourning period which lasts for 581 days from the day
of death). If the defunct’s family is too poor, the congregants will earnestly
club together to pay off all funeral expenses. If the defunct’s family is wealthy
enough, all money contributed to the funeral will be poured into charities.
The majority of Caodaists are poor. For
the defunct’s relatives, consequently, it is not always easy for them to find a
place for burial. The following stipulation of the New Law might be considered
a suggestion: “Every parish had better
establish its own cemetery.” (Secular
Law, Article 14.) Before 1975, indeed, many parishes managed to carry out
the stipulation.
2.
Factionalism, localism, separatism, and partialism
It sounds like a paradox to say that
community psychology exists parallel with its opposing one which is denominated
factionalism, localism (TLVN, p. 93),
separatism, and partialism (TLVN, pp.
99, 172, 173).
During the 1930s, the fragmentation in
Caodaism split the religion into various branches. Naturally, each “dissident”
inevitably needed to try hard for its own growth as well as its own reputation
and prestige. For the root, it had to tightly defend itself so as to prevent
the growth of more branches. Gradually, branch after branch converted to new
Holy Assemblies and of course the root considered all of them unorthodox or
heretical. Every Holy Assembly (whether the root or branch) readily had a few
leaders of great prestige and influence; thus, each tried harder for its
leaders’ increasing prestige and influence so that other leaders’ images could
become dimmer.
Presently, the actual history of Caodai
religion shows its two opposing effects: On the one hand, while trying hard to
develop Caodaism within its own “territory”, each Holy Assembly can really make
effective contributions to the rapid development of Caodai religion. On the
other hand, contrarily, the more each Holy Assembly endeavours to achieve
development in its own manner, the more it expands the distances among it and
other Holy Assemblies, and the more it poses obstacles in the path of unifying
Caodai religion.
Maybe each Holy Assembly owns certain
strong points; overall, however, the strength of the whole religion is being
scattered badly. If the Caodai Holy Assembly is a unified and integrated
entity, Caodai religion can naturally win its collective strength to contribute
to shortening the path of as well as the time for accomplishing the ultimate
purpose of the Third Universalism of the Great Way
3.
Respect for family sentiments, regarding the family as the base and the village
as the extended family (TLDT,
pp. 82-83)
This trait of the Vietnamese psychology reveals itself in the Caodai
hierarchy of dignitaries. The congregants’ common family is their parish: the
greatest family is the Holy Assembly. The head of the Nonuple hierarchy is the
Pope, also called the Eldest Brother, and all followers are His siblings. God
(the Master) is Father, and the Eldest Brother is authorised to teach His
siblings on the Father’s behalf, which is a tradition in the Vietnamese
society. This Pope’s role is stipulated
right at the beginning of the New Law:
“The
highest rank is the Pope, also called the
Eldest Brother, who is authorised to represent the Master to lead all
followers on religious and worldly paths.” (Religious Law, Chapter I, Article 1.)
Four ranks below the Pope is the Bishop.
As stipulated by the New Law, the relationship between the Bishop and followers
is also the one between siblings in the same family:
“Bishops
are to care for followers as elder
brothers do for their younger ones. (…) Bishops must be close and
helpful to followers like siblings
in the same family.” (Religious Law, Chapter I, Article 5.)
The Secular
Law is the second part of
the New Law. Right at the beginning, it reiterates that the relationship
between followers and their dignitaries is the one between siblings under the
same roof, i.e., children of the same Father (the Master, God):
“Disciples
of the same Master are children of the same
Father. They must love one another, maintain the connexion between one
another, help each other, honestly behave towards each other, and lead one
another on religious and worldly paths.” (Secular Law, Article 1.)
Owing to the
sense of family, the New Law emphasises admonishment rather than punishment.
After specifying prohibitions, therefore, the New Law stipulates the way to
deal with violators as follows:
“If a
follower violates one or more of the above precepts, the others who know must
try to dissuade the violator. If in vain, the violation must be informed
to the parish head for his teaching.”
(Secular Law, Article
22.)
4.
Fondness for festivals, through which socialising with people in the same
village or from different ones (TLDT, pp. 82-83)
This psychology might be considered relevant to Vietnamese
people’s community psychology. Existing as a psychological trait of Caodaists,
fondness for socialising with people in the same village or from different ones
converts to fondness for socialising with congregants in the same parish or
from different ones.
Vietnamese people are very keen on festivals. According to
a 2004 statistics released by the Ministry of Culture and Information, the
year-round total of festivals in the whole Vietnam amounted to 8902, of which
traditional folk festivals added up to 7005, and religious ones made 1399 (http://www.tienphong.vn).
Thus, it is not surprising that Caodaists also celebrate a lot of their own
festivals and anniversaries. Some of them are for the whole religion; some
others are for a specific Holy Assembly [see
Plate 4]. Some of them are related to merely a parish but not restricted to
its own parishioners; thus, no invitation is requested and all Caodaists are
warmly welcome.
The constructive effect of this practice is mutual
assistance; indeed, whenever joining another parish’s anniversary, for example,
participants always willingly offer voluntary contributions. This
thoughtfulness and kindness raises considerable sums of money circulating
amongst parishes, especially helping the poor ones.
Each festival or anniversary usually
includes a sermon; so, it also helps participants enrich their understanding.
Thanks to such a preaching session, participants can be partly compensated if
their own parish fails to provide two preaching sessions on the first and the
fifteenth of every lunar month, in compliance with the New Law’s stipulation (Religious law, Chapter III, Article 19).
This is why Caodaists never regard their participation as a chance to amuse
themselves; instead, it is formally denominated “liên giao hành đạo”, literally translated “connexion for doing the Dao”. In the early morning, hence,
Caodaists willingly leave Saigon for an event
in Long An, Tiền Giang or Bến Tre provinces, etc. or vice versa.
Caodaists dress in white. White can match with any
other colour. Thus, Caodaists are apt to emphasise that white symbolises
harmony. Further than that, those who want to enter the White Jade Capital
(God’s abode in heaven) must depend upon harmony. Caodai God says:
Harmony is a
treasure of miracle,
And a key to
open the door
to the White
Jade Capital.
(Đại Thừa Chơn Giáo / The Mahayana Orthodox Teaching. Saigon 1950, p. 132.)
Caodai religion is a grand family in which
dignitaries and followers are disciples of the same Master (God), also siblings
of the same Father. As coreligionists, hence, they are to lead a life of
benevolence, righteousness, and harmony. During an evocation seance on 20
February 1926, Caodai God said:
As
coreligionists, regardless of consanguinity,
You are
siblings of the same Father
in the same
family.
So, let your
whole lives
be righteous,
benevolent,
And teach one
another to live in harmony.
(Thánh
Ngôn Hiệp Tuyển / An Anthology of
Holy Sayings, vol. I, 1964, p. 8.)
Harmony is not only emphasised in Caodai teaching
but also embodied in Caodai law. Generally, every lawsuit can easily break
harmony. To maintain harmony, lawsuits are to be prevented. In a family, for
this purpose, children should be dissuaded by dad; siblings by their elder
ones. In a parish, such dissuasion is the duty performed by the parish head. The New Law stipulates “sanctions” which are to be
carried out only after “conciliation”:
“In
parishioners’ worldly lives, in case of disagreements, they must present
themselves before the parish head for conciliation.” (Religious Law, Chapter VII, Article 28.)
The New Law requires superiors to
conciliate their inferiors, and it conversely obliges inferiors to humbly obey
superiors’ conciliation. In case of faults, superiors must listen to their
inferiors’ reasonable arguments:
“Obey
superiors’ advice; do not feel ashamed of inferiors’ dissuasion. Reconcile
others with propriety. In case of faults, do confess them repentantly.” (Religious Law, Chapter V, Article 22.)
To maintain harmony, as stipulated by the
New Law, the third party is not to be an indifferent bystander:
“Do
not stay aloof from struggling coreligionists without reconciling them…” (Religious Law, Chapter V, Article 22.)
Further than that, the New Law obliges
believers as follows:
“Having
entered the religion, followers are to forget previous resentments and hatreds.
Jealousy, competitiveness, and lawsuits are to be prevented. Be tolerant of and
harmonious with one another. In case of any disagreement, be willing to obey
the parish head’s conciliation.” (Secular Law, Article 2.)
Amongst the earliest Caodaists were two
typical district chiefs named Ngô Văn Chiêu (1878-1932) and Nguyễn Ngọc Tương
(1881-1951). Due to their fondness for harmony, whenever settling a dispute in
their own districts, they both always managed to conciliate the disputing
parties.
6.
Fondness for living in simplicity and thriftiness (TLDT, p. 75)
For the majority of Caodaists who live in
poverty, whether in rural areas or municipal ones, economising and living in
simplicity is an act of virtue, and also one of the first lessons taught by
Caodai God in the earliest days of Caodaism.
Indeed, during an evocation seance on 12
October 1926, Caodai God said:
“Why
do I want you to dress in coarse cloth? Because dressing in coarse cloth is a
virtuous example. Understanding the Dao, you must know that thriftiness is the
top virtue on earth. I also consider wastefulness and ostentatiousness harmful
to your virtue.” (An
Anthology of Holy Sayings, vol. I, 1964, pp. 47-48.)
According to Đạo
Sử Xây Bàn / Historical Records of the Turning Table Practice, vol. I
(mimeographed), by Cardinal Hương Hiếu (1887-1971) of the Caodai
Holy Assembly in Tây Ninh, during an evocation seance on 27 November 1926
Caodai God told His disciple named Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ (1873-1950) as follows:
“Thơ,
the holy image [the God’s Eye] you make is accepted. You must manage to print numerous copies each
time so as to lower the price a little, my son.” (p. 52)
In response to what Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ said
right after that (which is unknown because Hương Hiếu did not record it),
Caodai God continued:
“One
thing I know is that most of your youngest siblings are poor. A penny saved is
a penny earned, my son.” (p. 52)
Preparing for the construction of the Tây
Ninh Holy See, during an evocation seance at the Thiền Lâm holy house on 28
February 1927, Spiritual Pope Lý Thái Bạch made architectural drawings of the
Holy See. He designed a very grand temple proportional to the future stature of
Caodaism. During a subsequent seance (undated by Hương Hiếu), Caodai God said:
“I’m
not satisfied. If it costs too much, you should reduce the original dimensions
by using ‘thước mộc’, my children.” (Thước mộc is a Vietnamese traditional unit for measuring length
equal to 0.425 metres.)
Despite that, during a seance on 08 March
1927 at the Thiền Lâm holy house, when Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ begged to keep the
original dimensions, Caodai God said, “It
costs badly, my son!” Later, His Holiness Lý Thái Bạch let the earliest
dignitaries know that Caodai God Himself had reduced the dimensions.
Thriftiness is stipulated by the New Law,
typically as follows:
“[Dignitaries] dress normally. Their clothing is made of
white cotton material only, or of coloured material assigned to each branch of
theirs. They must be frugal and unluxurious.” (Religious Law, Chapter II, Article 15.)
“Proportionally
to their circumstances, followers are to dress economically. They had better
use coarse cloth and limit the use of silks.” (Secular Law, Article 21.)
“Burial
had better not be lavish. Funerals had better not last for long days. The
colour white should be used rather than gaudy colours. Sumptuous meals should
be avoided so as not to spoil solemnity and sorrowfulness.” (Secular Law, Article 16.)
*
The psychology of Caodaists is part of
the Vietnamese psychology, which certainly produces both constructive and
unconstructive effects. Those psychological characteristics
do affect the Caodaists’ mentality as well as their manner of practising their
own religion. Those characteristics need to be surveyed so as to minimise
obstacles and simultaneously optimise available advantages in every effort to
develop Caodaism extensively. Nevertheless, the psychology of Caodaists
is a domain which has not been academically studied. This essay should,
consequently, be considered a tentative step on a virgin piece of land.
November 2004
Revised, 25 September 2017
HUỆ KHẢI
*
FOR FURTHER READING
A. For
more knowledge of Caodaism, readers are suggested to consult the following bilingual
Vietnamese-English books by Huệ Khải,
published by the Programme of Joining Hands for Free Caodai Publications in
cooperation with the Tôn Giáo (Religion) and the Hồng Đức publishing houses
since mid-2008:
1. CẤM
ĐẠO CAO ĐÀI Ở TRUNG KỲ (1928-1950) / Caodaism
under Persecution in Central Vietnam (1928-1950). Hà Nội: Tôn Giáo, 2012.
2. ĐẠO
CAO ĐÀI TRONG ĐỜI SỐNG CÔNG CHÚNG / Caodaism
in Public Life. Hà Nội: Tôn
Giáo, 2015 (collaborated with Thiện Quang).
3. ĐẤT
NAM KỲ − TIỀN ĐỀ PHÁP LÝ MỞ ĐẠO CAO ĐÀI / Cochinchina
as a Legal Precondition for the Foundation of Caodaism. Hà
Nội: Tôn Giáo, 2008, 2010.
4. ĐẤT
NAM KỲ − TIỀN ĐỀ VĂN HÓA MỞ ĐẠO CAO ĐÀI / Cochinchina
as a Cultural Precondition for the Foundation of Caodaism. Hà Nội: Tôn
Giáo, 2008, 2012.
5. ĐỐI
THOẠI LIÊN TÔN GIÁO TỪ GÓC NHÌN MỘT TÍN HỮU CAO ĐÀI / Interfaith Dialogues as Viewed by a Caodai Believer. Hà
Nội: Tôn Giáo, 2015.
6. GIA
ĐÌNH TRONG TÂN LUẬT CAO ĐÀI / Family in
the Caodai New Law. Hà Nội: Tôn Giáo, 2014.
7. LƯỢC
SỬ ĐẠO CAO ĐÀI: KHAI MINH ĐẠI ĐẠO 1926 / A
Concise Caodai History: The 1926 Inauguration. Hà Nội: Tôn Giáo, 2015.
8. LƯỢC
SỬ ĐẠO CAO ĐÀI: THỜI TIỀM ẨN 1920-1926 / A
Concise Caodai History: The Earliest Beginnings 1920-1926. Hà Nội: Hồng
Đức, 2017.
9. NGÔ
VĂN CHIÊU − NGƯỜI MÔN ĐỆ CAO ĐÀI ĐẦU TIÊN / Ngô
Văn Chiêu – the First Caodai Disciple. Hà Nội: Tôn Giáo, 2008, 2009, 2012.
10. NGŨ
GIỚI CẤM XƯA VÀ NAY / The Five Precepts
Past and Present. Hà Nội: Tôn
Giáo, 2014.
11. 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: Tôn Giáo, 2010, 2013.
12. TÂM
LÝ NGƯỜI ĐẠO CAO ĐÀI / The Psychology of
Caodaists. Hà Nội: Hồng Đức, 2017.
13.
THIÊN BÀN TẠI NHÀ / The God’s Altar at
Home. Hà Nội: Tôn Giáo, 2014.
14.
TRONG THỜI ĐẠI CHÚNG TA VỚI TÂM TÌNH MỘT TÍN HỮU CAO ĐÀI / Nostra Aetate in a Caodai Believer’s Sentiment. Hà Nội: Tôn Giáo,
2016.
B. Besides,
all English texts of the above-listed titles can be accessed at
http://understandingcaodaism.blogspot.com
THESE
BOOKS ARE NOT FOR SALE.
