The Cao Dai Church suffers tragic losses institutionally. During the years 1975-76, all its temples, houses of worship, and religious, social, and cultural establishments at the Tay Ninh Holy See were confiscated. The Church’s dignitaries and prominent personalities were arrested and executed. The victims of execution numbered about 4,000. Terrorism plagued Cao Dai communities, paralyzing the Church’s life. Witnesses reported that on the eve of the Communist takeover of South Vietnam, an unprecedented atmosphere of awe and apprehension pervaded all through the 19 Cao Dai communities around the Tay Ninh Holy See.
On April 24, 1975, when fierce fighting between the troopers from North Vietnam and the Armed Forces of the Republic still went on everywhere, thousands of Cao Dai followers crowded the Holy See to seek refuge and protection. The Holy See was their only asylum and last hope of escape from terror. On April 30, 1975, the whole Tay Ninh City was entirely exposed to total confusion. The Communist troops launched fierce attacks on the city. From early morning, they fired rockets into the Holy Site, and, at noon, they overwhelmed the township and marched into the Holy Site (Vo Ha Quyen. Ban An Viet Cong Ket Toi Giao Phai Cao Dai Tay Ninh. Mimeograph. Canada, 1985: 5-6).
The following days, local Communist cadres seized the administration and executed strict measures to force the dignitaries and key members of the Church to resign in submission. To eliminate outright the Church’s organization, they dissolved the supreme body of leadership of the Church. and instituted in their place the Communist agent Truong Ngoc Anh the Church’s leader, liquidated the Holy See administration, abrogated the Church ‘s constitutional laws, disqualified the Church’s highest dignitaries. banned religious practices and activities, and placed under house surveillance the Church’s highest dignitaries, among whom were His Protector of the Faith Ho Tan Khoa, His Excellency Ngoc Nhuong Thanh. His Excellency Tran Quang Vinh, the former Commander-in-chief of Cao Dai Militia, and the Honorable Thuong Nha Thanh, Brigadier General Nguyen Tan Manh. Other notables were arrested and banished to the reeducation camps. After six months, some of them were released due to old age or poor health. They were nevertheless forbidden to serve their faith. Many others put into prison.
On May 1, 1975, a band of undesirable students at the Cao Dai Institute for Faith denied their faith and left the Holy See. Some returned to their homes. Others went over to the Communists and pledged their allegiance to them. Order was restored, but anxiety and fear reigned inside and around the Holy See. Several days after that, Lam Ba Huu alias Hong Nham and a number of agents, who had covertly worked for the Communists at the Cao Dai Charity Establishment, made their appearance. They lent a hand to the Communist cadres to obliterate the Church’s leadership. His Eminency Conservator Ho Tan Khoa was removed from his position, being falsely accused of having had connections to Communist China and Japan. The dignitary was humiliated and dismissed from the Legislative Body of the Cao Dai Church. His Eminency Instructor Nguyen Van Hoi, His Eminency Instructor Nguyen Van Kiet, Bishop Nguyen Thanh Danh, and Priest Le Van Mang were summoned to the reeducation camp.
Terrorism took place. The prominent Cao Dai dignitaries Nguyen Van Manh, Nguyen Van Nho, and Phan Ba Hung were brought to stand trial before the People’s Court and sentenced to imprisonment terms for unfounded charges. Other prestigious Cao Dai believers such as Pham Ngoc Trang, Nguyen Thanh Liem, Huynh Thanh Khiet, Ho Huu Hia, and Le Tai Thuong were given the death penalty on false charges and persecuted. Elsewhere in the country, Cao Dai believers were arrested, and their whereabouts were unknown. Witnessing the tragedy that plagued the Holy Site and other communities, Archbishop Nguyen Van Hieu and other dignitaries were resigned to reconcile with the local Communist authorities. The Cao Dai Church was then administered by a body of dignitaries whose functions were only nominal (Van Chuong, VHRW 1 (September 1991).
Tragic incidents engulfed the Church into the darkness of oblivion. His Excellency Thuong Vinh Thanh Tran Quang Vinh, who was then 80 years-old, was arrested without a notice. He was taken away while he was in his sickbed. He was carried on bearers and shoved into a truck. No one ever knew where he was after that. According to his son, Tran Quang Canh, His Excellency Tran Quang Vinh was executed somewhere in Central Vietnam. His Excellency Thuong Nha Thanh Nguyen Van Nha was arrested on April 30, 1975. He was tortured and detained for 5 years in a reeducation camp. His Excellency Nguyen Tan Manh was arrested on April 30, 1975. The Dignitary was well-known for his devotion to the Church. He had sacrificed himself for religious services and consecrated himself to humanitarian aid. His Excellency Truong Luong Thien was arrested in 1975. He was tortured to death in Chi Hoa Prison, Saigon.
Twenty-five Cao Dai dignitaries were ordered to report and register with the local security police for reeducation. Among them were His Excellency Nguyen Van Hoi, His Excellency Nguyen Van Kiet, His Excellency Thuong Danh Thanh, the Reverend Le Ngoc Khai, the Reverend Thuong Mang Thanh, and the Reverend Ngoc Anh Thanh. To black out the Church's clergy, the Communist authorities dismissed from the Church’s positions the personalities of the Church who had served at the Holy See almost all their lives. The whole legitimate clergy of the Church was dismantled within a short time. The State-created Hoi Dong Chuong Quan came into force in replacement of the body of legitimate leadership.
Dispossession of the Church’s religious, charitable, educational, and cultural institutions, establishments, and facilities followed suit. They confiscated the Church's granary that could feed for a year a thousand followers who came to work free-wage at the Holy See. They burned down the Church's History Department. They destroyed all Church's files and documents. They reviewed and confiscated files and documents at the Secular Affairs Department in the Hiep Thien Dai (the Heavenly Union Palace). Under continual political pressure, His Eminency Conservator Truong Huu Duc, His Eminency Reformer Pham Tan Dai, His Eminency Cardinal Thuong Sang Thanh, and His Excellency General Inspector Dang Cong Khanh suffered humiliation and died one after another.
Having eliminated the Church’s prominent leaders and the religious personnel at the Holy Site, the Communist administration in Tay Ninh created the Hoi Dong Chuong Quan (Supreme Council of Administrators) and infiltrated with their men in the Church's other religious institutions and establishments to seize monopoly of authority. Upon completion, this Communist-installed organization was placed under the direction of the Tay Ninh Fatherland Front whose main seat was located at Long Hoa Stadium, Tay Ninh City. They established the so-called Holy Site Management Teams to administer the Church’s facilities All religious offices, cultural institutions and schools, and social establishments were placed under the management of the local administration. The Church's religious practices were equally subject to change.
Repression persisted. The administration tightened control on the Church's traditional religious life. All forms of repression were used to eradicate the Church’s leadership, regardless of the faithful’ s wrath and anger. To repress all acts of dissidence, Communist agents executed artful tricks, to smuggle arms and ammunitions into Cao Dai communities and planted them in caches near the Holy See they had prepared beforehand. Using them as the evidences, the Communists arrested the suspected dissidents. Prestigious members of the Church were eliminated on charges of subversive activities and brought to stand trial before the People's Court. Among the first Cao Dai who were subject to repression were Hien Trung, Nguyen Duy Minh, Nguyen Van Chiem, Trinh Quoc The, Nguyen Ngoc Huong (female), Engineer Hoa, Le Van An, Nguyen Chi Buu, Nguyen Van Hiep, and some other 50 Cao Dai.
During the second wave of repression, November 1976, the Communist authorities in Tay Ninh arrested the Cao Dai Pham Ngoc Trang and a number of other prominent Cao Dai. The dissidents were brought to stand trial in a People's Court in Tay Ninh Province during July 21-22, 1978. After 19 months in detention, they were convicted on ungrounded charges of waging subversive activities against the "Revolution’ without having the right to defend themselves. A number of other followers suffered the same fate. The following list recognizes their verdicts:
1. Pham Ngoc Trang was given the death penalty; 2. Nguyen Thanh Diem was given the death penalty; 3. Dang Ngoc Lien was given the the death penalty; 4. Nguyen Minh Quan was entenced to to the life imprisonment sentence; 5. Cao Truong Xuan was sentenced to the life imprisonment; 6. Ly Thanh Trong was sentenced to the life imprisonment sentence; 7. Chau Thi My Kim (female) was sentenced to the life imprisonment; 8. Tran Van Bao was sentenced to the 20- year imprisonment; 9. Le Ngoc Minh was sentenced to the 20-year imprisonment; 10. Phan Thanh Phuoc alias Rai was sentenced to the 20-year imprisonment; 11. Nguyen Van Dong was sentenced to the 20-year imprisonment; 12.Nguyen Van Doi was sentenced to the 18-year imprisonment; 13. Nguyen Thanh Minh was sentenced to the 15-year imprisonment; 14. Do Trung Truc was sentenced to the 15-year imprisonment; 15. Tran Van Phi was sentenced to the 15- year imprisonment; 16. Nguyen Tan Phung was sentenced to the 12- year imprisonment; 17. Phuong Van Duoc was sentenced to the 8-year imprisonment; 18. Ngo Van Trang was convicted to the 8 years in prison sentence; and 19. Ta Tai Khoan was sentenced to the 7-year imprisonment.
The trials were presided by Tran Trong Nghia. There were accusations, but the Court could not produce any evidences. There were no lawyers, and neither were there witnesses. The defendants defended themselves. The verdicts on Pham Ngoc Trang and the other victims served as the first step to systematically exterminate the Cao Dai Church’s clerical leadership and humiliate its fervent followers.
The repression on the Cao Dai continued. The focus was shifted to other prominent Cao Dai whom the Communist administration regarded the most dangerous elements to the regime. In a concerted effort, it sought first to exterminate the potential dissidents among the most fervent Cao Dai. Many of them were arrested on ungrounded charges and sent to the reeducation camps. On November 1, 1978, it convoked 31 prestigious personalities and believers of the Church for reeducation. They were to report themselves to the security police at Hoa Thanh District, Tay Ninh Province. Approximately 200 Cao Dai dignitaries and believers were also ordered to report themselves with the local authorities at Ben Keo Temple, Long Yen Hamlet. His Excellency Ngoc Sam Thanh was forced to sign a declaration pledging allegiance to the new political regime.
The "Verdict on Cao Dai Religion"
On September 20, 1978, the Fatherland Front in Tay Ninh issued an indictment accusing the leaders of the Cao Dai of such crimes as serving as the henchmen for imperialism and the old Republic of Vietnam in South Vietnam. For 50 years, it said, among other things, that "the clique that led the Cao Dai Tay Ninh took advantage of their adherents' blood and property for their purposes. They worked as lackeys for the imperialists in exchange for positions and selfish interests. Therefore, they firmly hold on to all positions in this religion. They had served as intelligence agents for the French and Japanese imperialists, and, particularly, the American imperialists and the reactionary political parties and the intelligence and police of the puppet government. These elements had sought to cough up the interests and positions in the Church to buy and lure the Church’s senior and junior officials into working as intelligence agents for them."
The Reverend Thuong Mang Thanh, in contrast, asserted that "... it’s quite contrary to the truth. The Communist Party itself is the culprit who, from the time of the August uprisings of 1945, have sought by all means to blot out the Church’s existence. Throughout the Vietnam War, in particular, it infiltrated with its agents into the Church, and at the beginning of the Communist takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975, it promoted them to the highest ranks in the Cao Dai Church’s clerical hierarchy to achieve their political schemes.
I myself personally challenged those members of that committee of the Fatherland Front in a meeting. The committee itself had meticulously prepared the so-called "Verdict on Cao Dai." The text was read to several dignitaries and a group of Cao Dai believers in a meeting at Hanh Duong Conference Hall. Their aim was to dishonor our respected and beloved Cao Dai Founding Fathers, obliterate our religious faith, and seize hold of the Cao Dai Holy Site, the Holy Temple, and the Church’s properties.
... That I a vicious slander! The French colonialists arrested His Holiness Pham Cong Tac, a founder of the Cao Dai Church. The Pope had been accused of being an anti-French politician and of using the Cao Dai Church as a shield to usurp the French colonialists. He was given the life imprisonment sentence and exiled to Madagascar. He is without doubt a patriot, but, to Him, preaching Cao Dai Faith is his sole and ultimate goal."
We should remember that, after the coup d'etat on March 9, 1945, the Japanese authorities in Indochina decided to transfer power to Cao Dai political leaders. Committed to their religious creeds, they declined. His Excellency General Tran Quang Vinh, who was then one of the prominent political and military figures, explained to a group of Cao Dai youths in a meeting that their role as patriots had been played, that power should be handed to Emperor Bao Dai, that the Emperor would then choose the ablest politicians to govern the country, and that the people of Vietnam would decide the kind of political regime Vietnam should be. A Cao Dai believer should, first and foremost, perform his duties as a citizen and attend to his faith (Van Chuong, VHRW, 1 (September 1991)."
Concerning the Communist’s false accusations of the Cao Dai dignitaries, the Reverend Le Van Mang stressed:
"The arguments behind these false accusations were arbitrary. The Resistance Movement against the French Expeditionary Corps (1945) in the South was first led by spiritual and patriotic party leaders (September 1945) and not the Viet Minh. The Nationalists of the South had fought against the French invaders long before the Resistance War waged by the Viet Minh (December 1946) in the North. The Viet Minh' s political and military forces in the South at that time were virtually insignificant. The combined political and military forces under the command of the religious and patriotic leaders, by contrast, were imminently strong. There had already been three divisions of militiamen. Divisions I and II, mostly composed of the believers of Hoa Hao Buddhism and Caodaism, was under the joint command of the military leadership of Hoa Hao Buddhism and Cao Dai. Division III, consisting of compatriots from all social strata, was under the command of General Nguyen Hoa Hiep, a Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang (Vietnam National Party) leader in the South. Apprehensive of the political and military forces that would abort their monopoly of power and that eventually annihilate them, the Viet Minh Headquarters in Hanoi sent Tran Van Giau, a politics commissioner, and Nguyen Binh, a military commissioner, to the South preached national union. At the Cao Dai Headquarters of Militiamen, Tran and Nguyen vowed to promote concord and solidarity. They were finally successful in convincing the Nationalist spiritual and political party leaders to dissolve their military forces and place them under the command of the Viet Minh. Militiamen were to go back to their provinces and join the Viet Minh resistance units in the local areas. Only two military detachments were retained.
General Tran Quang Vinh of Cao Dai resigned from his position. The command of the two military detachments was passed down to His Excellency Nguyen Van Chu. On his way back to the Holy Site, General Tran Quang Vinh was arrested at Cho Dem, Long An Province, on the order of Huynh Van Tien, the then-Director of Police in the South. The General was abducted to the Viet Minh Headquarters of the Resistance in Dong Thap and then to their guerrilla zone in Ca Mau where he was to be persecuted. By sheer luck, the general was saved there by Nguyen Van No, an old militiaman who had served the national cause under his command, and who was at that moment a lead-serviceman of the Viet Minh local resistance unit.
Other prominent spiritual and patriotic political party leaders, among them were His Holiness Huynh Phu So, the Founding Father of Hoa Hao Buddhism, and patriotic revolutionary leaders such as the Honorable Huynh Van Nga, the party leader of the Party for National Independence and His Excellency Nguyen Van Sam, the Viceroy in the South of the Imperial Court of Hue, were also abducted to unknown whereabouts by the Viet Minh cadres. They applied the same tricks as the French colonialists had to achieve their vile scheme. The Communists were the first to lay hands on the national leaders, exterminate spiritual leaders of the religions, and execute political leaders of national patriots (Van Chuong. VNHRW 1 (September, 1991)."
Persecution took place again and again. During December 8-9, 1979, the Ho Chi Minh People's Court brought to trial several dozens of prominent Cao Dai. These devout believers were charged with crimes of subversive activities. They ere given the death penalty or long-term imprisonment. The following list recognizes their names and sentences:
1. Nguyen Van Manh was given the death penalty on December 8,1979; 2. Le Van Nho was given the death penalty on December 8, 1979; 3. Pham Ba Hung was given the death sentence on December 8, 1979; 4. Tran Minh Quang was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 8, 1979; 5. Dinh Tien Mau was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 8, 1979; 6. Nguyen Thai Dung was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 8, 1979; 7. Doan Van Bach was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 8, 1979; 8. Nguyen Thanh Liem was given the death penalty on December 11, 1979; 9. Huynh Thanh Khiet was given the death penalty on December 11, 1979; 10. Ho Huu Hia was given the death penalty on December 11, 1979; 11. Le Tai Thuong was given the death penalty on December 11, 1979; 12. Nguyen Anh Dung alias Phan Dang Chuc was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 11, 1979; 13. Truong Phuoc Duc was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 11, 1979; 14. Nguyen Ngoc De was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 11, 1979; and 15. Vo Van Thang was sentenced to the life imprisonment on December 11, 1979 and died in prison.
Altogether, the Tay Ninh authorities arrested as many as 1,291 Cao Dai, sent more than 1000 Cao Dai to the reeducation camps, and executed 39 Cao Dai, from 1975 to 1983. The Cao Dai Church was eliminated as an independent social political force (Porter Gareth, Ibid. 1993: 183).
The persecution ever persisted throughout the country. In a trial in Da Nang, Central Vietnam, the People's Court sentenced to death two senior members of the Cao Dai Boy Scouts Association, Tran Ngoc Thanh and Nguyen Van Bay, on false grounds of "subversive activities against the "Revolution." On August 1, 1985, Ho Thai Bach, the eldest son of His Eminency Ho Tan Khoa, was executed in Saigon on charges of waging a people's war against the Communist regime. Ho Thai Bach was a Cao Dai follower of virtue and prestige. He was the president of the Cao Dai Boy Scouts Association. Surely, his death had links with the local Communist authorities' false accusations against his father. In 1988, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court accused, on unfounded charges, Professor Nguyen Manh Bao of "subversive activities intending to overthrow the administration of the Revolution." He was given the death sentence. The penalty was later commuted to the life imprisonment. He was then reportedly imprisoned in a reeducation camp in Xuan Loc District, Long Khanh Province (Van Chuong. VHRW 1 (September, 1991).
