FROM HEART TO HEART
In order to expound and develop Caodaism
sustainably, Caodai followers are required to have a good understanding of its
history. Essential to gaining such understanding is learning about the
biographies of the earliest Caodai apostles, who contributed to Caodai God’s establishment of Caodaism in
Cochinchina in 1926. With this awareness, I have taken an early interest in
studying the Caodai history. In recent years, to the best of my limited
ability, I have shared some of what I have learned through my own personal
journey of exploration with my fellow believers.
Not counting memoirs or autobiographies, historical
writing generally falls into three categories: general history, biographies,
and chronicles.
1.
General history and biographies are two types which are easy to read if the
writer can coherently connect events and moderately add appropriate comments.
Among my printed books, the following three titles fall under the category of
general history:
– Lịch
Sử Đạo Cao Đài Thời Kỳ Tiềm Ẩn 1920-1926. Huế: Thuận Hóa
publishing house, 1996.
– Lược
Sử Đạo Cao Đài Thời Tiềm Ẩn 1920-1926 / A
Concise Caodai History: The Earliest Beginnings 1920-1926. Hà Nội: Hồng Đức
publishing house, 2017, 2023.
– Lược
Sử Đạo Cao Đài: Khai Minh Đại Đạo 1926. / A Concise Caodai History: The 1926 Inauguration. Hà Nội: Religion publishing house, 2015.
As a biography, another book of mine is Ngô Văn Chiêu – Người Môn Đệ Cao Đài Đầu
Tiên / Ngô Văn Chiêu – the First
Caodai Disciple. (Hà Nội: Religion publishing house, 2008, 2009, 2012).
During my working process, I have encountered
a major obstacle: Determining the dates of historical events. Hence, I immediately
thought about accumulating data for a planned chronicle of the Caodai history.
2. The chronicle has the disadvantage of
being dry, with events involving the same character or issue not being
connected but scattered along the timeline. However, it offers the advantage of
allowing the writer to present the issue without commentary, temporarily
setting aside some events that have not been verified or should not be
disclosed because the time is not ripe, not appropriate. Moreover, once the
chronicle is established, it serves as a valuable foundation, contributing to
the verification of historical materials.
As chronologies, my following complimentary
books on three venerable Caodai apostles were published:
– Hành
Trạng Tiền Bối Cao Triều Phát. Hà Nội: Religion publishing house, 2010,
2012.([1])
– Hành
Trạng Tiền Khai Nguyễn Ngọc Tương 1881-1951. Hà Nội: Hồng Đức publishing
house, 2016.
– Hành
Trạng Tiền Khai Lê Văn Trung 1876-1934. Hà Nội: Hồng Đức publishing house,
2017.
*
At the very beginning of the year 2024,
while preparing to reprint Hành Trạng
Tiền Khai Nguyễn Ngọc Tương 1881-1951, I am indescribably grateful to
receive two very elaborate and meticulous suggestion letters on 06 and 13 February 2024 to help
me revise and supplement my 2016 printed version. Here, I sincerely express my
deep gratitude to the two Caodaists of the Bến Tre Holy Assembly: brother Thái
Hoàng Tú (pen name Thanh Minh, originally from Long An province), and brother
Phạm Khoa (from Bến Tre province).
I am also wholeheartedly grateful to all of
my fellow believers, near and far, who have always been loving, trusting, and
supportive both financially and spiritually for over fifteen years, to sustain
the year-after-year operation of the Programme of Joining Hands for Free Caodai
Publications.
*
O dear God, the Great Merciful Father,
please bestow blessings upon all of my benefactors and their ancestral
generations.
Namah Caodai the Immortal, the Mahabodhisattva mahasattva.
Nhiêu
Lộc, in the early days of spring 2024
Huệ Khải
