Thich Tri Quang
Encyclopedia
Thích Trí Quang is a Vietnamese
Mahayana
Buddhist monk
best known for his role in leading South Vietnam
’s Buddhist population during the Buddhist crisis
in 1963.
His campaign, in which he exhorted followers to emulate the example of Mahatma Gandhi
, saw widespread demonstrations against the Catholic
government of President Ngô Đình Diệm
, and its pro-Catholic and anti-Buddhist policies, attributed to the influence of Diệm’s elder brother, Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục of Huế
. Diệm’s often violent suppression of the demonstrations lead to widespread dismay among the populace, and resulted in a military coup in November 1963 that removed Diệm and his family from power.
In his early days, Thích Trí Quang went to Ceylon to further his Buddhist studies. When he returned, he participated in anti-French activities, calling for the independence of Vietnam
.
In 1963, Vesak
(the birthday of Gautama Buddha
) fell on May 8. The Buddhists of Huế
had prepared celebrations for the occasion, including the display of the Buddhist flag
. The government cited a rarely enforced regulation prohibiting the display of religious flags, banning it. This occurred despite the non-enforcement of the regulation on a Catholic event celebrating the fifth anniversary of Ngô Đình Thục as Archbishop of Huế less than a month earlier. The Buddhists defied the ban and held a demonstration, and congregated at the radio station expecting to hear an address by Thích Trí Quang, as was routine for such a day. The authorities cancelled the speech and opened fire on the crowd, killing nine.
On May 10, Buddhist campaigns for religious equality, compensation for the victims, punishment for those responsible, and the right to fly the Buddhist flag
. Thích Trí Quang urged the demonstrators to not allow Việt cộng to exploit the unrest, and exhorted a strategy of passive resistance. As the crisis deepened, he travelled to the capital, Saigon, for negotiations and further protests after the self immolation of Thích Quảng Đức on June 11. Prior to the August 21 raids
on the Xá Lợi Pagoda
by Ngô Đình Nhu
’s secret police and special forces, he sought refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. He was accepted by U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
, who refused to hand him to Nhu’s forces after they had ransacked the pagodas, fired on and beat monks. In Huế, thirty people died as they attempted to blockade the pagodas from Nhu’s men.
Following the coup on November 1, 1963, which removed Diệm and Nhu from power, it was reported that the military junta wanted Thích Trí Quang to be a part of the new cabinet, but the U.S. State Department recommended against this.
After the 1964 coup
by General Nguyễn Khánh
which deposed the Dương Văn Minh
junta, Khánh had Captain Nguyễn Văn Nhung
, the bodyguard of Minh and executioner of Diệm and Nhu, executed. This generated rumours that pro-Diệm politicians would be restored to power and prompted Thích Trí Quang to cancel a planned pilgrimage to India in order to organise further demonstrations. In late 1964, Khánh revoked his decision to put the General lead by Trần Văn Đôn
from detention in Đà Lạt.
In 1965, demonstrations occurred again when anti-Diệm General Nguyễn Chánh Thi
, the commander of central Vietnam, was stripped of his position by Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
. This time Kỳ had Thích Trí Quang arrested and put him under house arrest in Saigon. When the communists overran South Vietnam in the Fall of Saigon
, Thích Trí Quang was again put under house arrest.
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
Mahayana
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
Buddhist monk
Bhikkhu
A Bhikkhu or Bhikṣu is an ordained male Buddhist monastic. A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni Nepali: ). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline...
best known for his role in leading South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
’s Buddhist population during the Buddhist crisis
Buddhist crisis
The Buddhist crisis was a period of political and religious tension in South Vietnam from May 1963 to November 1963 characterized by a series of repressive acts by the South Vietnamese government and a campaign of civil resistance, led mainly by Buddhist monks....
in 1963.
His campaign, in which he exhorted followers to emulate the example of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
, saw widespread demonstrations against the Catholic
Roman Catholicism in Vietnam
The Roman Catholic Church in Vietnam is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. Vietnam has the fifth largest Catholic population in Asia, after the Philippines, India, China and Indonesia....
government of President Ngô Đình Diệm
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm was the first president of South Vietnam . In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a...
, and its pro-Catholic and anti-Buddhist policies, attributed to the influence of Diệm’s elder brother, Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục of Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
. Diệm’s often violent suppression of the demonstrations lead to widespread dismay among the populace, and resulted in a military coup in November 1963 that removed Diệm and his family from power.
In his early days, Thích Trí Quang went to Ceylon to further his Buddhist studies. When he returned, he participated in anti-French activities, calling for the independence of Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
In 1963, Vesak
Vesak
Vesākha is a holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the South East Asian countries of Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, and Indonesia...
(the birthday of Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
) fell on May 8. The Buddhists of Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
had prepared celebrations for the occasion, including the display of the Buddhist flag
Buddhist flag
The Buddhist flag is a flag designed in the late 19th century to symbolise and universally represent Buddhism. It is used by Buddhists throughout the world.-History:...
. The government cited a rarely enforced regulation prohibiting the display of religious flags, banning it. This occurred despite the non-enforcement of the regulation on a Catholic event celebrating the fifth anniversary of Ngô Đình Thục as Archbishop of Huế less than a month earlier. The Buddhists defied the ban and held a demonstration, and congregated at the radio station expecting to hear an address by Thích Trí Quang, as was routine for such a day. The authorities cancelled the speech and opened fire on the crowd, killing nine.
On May 10, Buddhist campaigns for religious equality, compensation for the victims, punishment for those responsible, and the right to fly the Buddhist flag
Buddhist flag
The Buddhist flag is a flag designed in the late 19th century to symbolise and universally represent Buddhism. It is used by Buddhists throughout the world.-History:...
. Thích Trí Quang urged the demonstrators to not allow Việt cộng to exploit the unrest, and exhorted a strategy of passive resistance. As the crisis deepened, he travelled to the capital, Saigon, for negotiations and further protests after the self immolation of Thích Quảng Đức on June 11. Prior to the August 21 raids
Xa Loi Pagoda raids
The Xa Loi Pagoda raids were a series of synchronized attacks on various Buddhist pagodas in the major cities of South Vietnam shortly after midnight on August 21, 1963...
on the Xá Lợi Pagoda
Xa Loi Pagoda
The Xá Lợi Pagoda is the largest pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was built in 1956 and was the headquarters of Buddhism in South Vietnam. The pagoda is located at 89 Bà Huyện Thanh Quan Street in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City and lies on a plot of 2500 square metres...
by Ngô Đình Nhu
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Ngô Ðình Nhu was the younger brother and chief political advisor of South Vietnam's first president, Ngô Ðình Diệm. Nhu was widely regarded as the architect of the Ngô family's nepotistic and autocratic rule over South Vietnam from 1955 to 1963...
’s secret police and special forces, he sought refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. He was accepted by U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. was a Republican United States Senator from Massachusetts and a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, South Vietnam, West Germany, and the Holy See . He was the Republican nominee for Vice President in the 1960 Presidential election.-Early life:Lodge was born in Nahant,...
, who refused to hand him to Nhu’s forces after they had ransacked the pagodas, fired on and beat monks. In Huế, thirty people died as they attempted to blockade the pagodas from Nhu’s men.
Following the coup on November 1, 1963, which removed Diệm and Nhu from power, it was reported that the military junta wanted Thích Trí Quang to be a part of the new cabinet, but the U.S. State Department recommended against this.
After the 1964 coup
1964 South Vietnamese coup
Before dawn on January 30, 1964, General Nguyen Khanh ousted the military junta led by General Duong Van Minh from the leadership of South Vietnam without firing a shot. It came less than three months after Minh's junta had themselves come to power in a bloody coup against then President Ngo Dinh...
by General Nguyễn Khánh
Nguyen Khanh
Nguyễn Khánh is a former general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who variously served as Head of State and Prime minister of South Vietnam while at the head of a military junta from January 1964 until February 1965. He was involved in or against many coup attempts, failed and successful,...
which deposed the Dương Văn Minh
Duong Van Minh
Minh was born on 16 February 1916 in Mỹ Tho Province in the Mekong Delta, the son of a wealthy landowner who served in a prominent position in the Finance Ministry of the French colonial administration...
junta, Khánh had Captain Nguyễn Văn Nhung
Nguyen Van Nhung
Major Nguyễn Văn Nhung was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . After joining the French Army in 1944 during the colonial era of Vietnam, he soon met and became the aide-de-camp and bodyguard of Dương Văn Minh, and spent the rest of his career in this role as Minh rose up the ranks...
, the bodyguard of Minh and executioner of Diệm and Nhu, executed. This generated rumours that pro-Diệm politicians would be restored to power and prompted Thích Trí Quang to cancel a planned pilgrimage to India in order to organise further demonstrations. In late 1964, Khánh revoked his decision to put the General lead by Trần Văn Đôn
Tran Van Don
Trần Văn Đôn was a general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, and one of the principal figures in the coup d'état which deposed Ngô Đình Diệm from the presidency of South Vietnam.-Family:...
from detention in Đà Lạt.
In 1965, demonstrations occurred again when anti-Diệm General Nguyễn Chánh Thi
Nguyen Chanh Thi
Lieutenant General Nguyễn Chánh Thi was an officer in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam . He is best known for frequently being involved in coups in the 1960s and wielding substantial influence as a key member of various juntas that ruled South Vietnam from 1964 until 1966, when he was...
, the commander of central Vietnam, was stripped of his position by Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
Nguyen Cao Ky
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ served as the chief of the Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South Vietnam in a military junta from 1965 to 1967...
. This time Kỳ had Thích Trí Quang arrested and put him under house arrest in Saigon. When the communists overran South Vietnam in the Fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
, Thích Trí Quang was again put under house arrest.