Overview
Buddhism was the largest religion, and thus played an important role in the political life in the South. In 1963, various energetic fractions of the Buddhist Churches in Hue and Saigon launched a campaign of successive mass protests against the regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem. The first clash took place in Hue. The incident occurred as a result of a quarrel between the local administration and the organizer for the celebration of Buddha's birthday. The police had assumedly forbidden the Buddhists from flying the Buddhist banners, and an unprecedented mass protest broke out. Ten thousand laity Buddhists barged into the police headquarters, and violent clashes ensued. On June 11, 1963, in Saigon, the Venerable Thich Quang Duc immolated himself by fire as an act of protest. New incidents of immolation by fire followed. On August 20, 1963, the government violently repressed the movement. The "coup d'etat" on November 1, 1963 by the Revolutionary Council of the Army caused the death of the president, brought down the First Republic of Vietnam, and put an end to the crisis.
Following the political event, Buddhism, in a way, assumed a major political role. It is noted, however, that under the First Republic the vast majority of villagers in the South enjoyed peace and practiced with zeal their faith. People went to the pagoda on holidays during the Vietnam war although many believers were more likely to describe their religion as "ancestor worship" than Buddhism. Religious tolerance was keenly observed. The influence of Buddhism was central in both the Center and South Vietnam. The mass of faithful organizations increased rapidly during the first Republic of Vietnam regime and the early years of the Vietnam War. It even became a rallying point for assembly for political support for military administrations subsequent to the fall of the Ngo Dinh Diem government. Buddhist monks and fervent believers even hoped to see the body of tenets of Buddhism to be the State ideology of worship of the Vietnamese. In 1963, the Buddhist clergy were particularly influential in Hue and Da Nang where the "struggle against" the military leaders in power of the irritating Buddhist fractions became increasingly sour and bitter, and it only reduced after three years of crisis in 1966. By the end of the war, however, Buddhism had declined as a sociopolitical force because of political repression and internal divisions (Porter Gareth. Ibid. 1993: 38).
THE ELIMINATION OF BUDDHIST CHURCHES
IN THE SOUTH
Buddhism after the Fall of Saigon
In 1975, after the fall of Saigon, various sects of Buddhism, especially the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, faced vain attempts to compromise with the Communist regime. The adoration for materialism of Marxism and the compassion for spiritual values of Buddhism was in serious conflict. Although the Communist government promised to respect religious freedom, they quickly carried out a religious policy destined to destroy the infrastructure of all Buddhist sects, subjecting them to unconditional submission.
The Confiscation of Properties
To carry out ahead of time the "Revolution of the People’s Democracy," the Communist administration called for the transfer of ownership of properties of the bourgeoisie, landlords, and religions and transferred their legal ownership to the working class and peasantry. They closed down and confiscated all Buddhist Churches’ religious institutions, establishments, and facilities throughout the country. Among these physical constructions were the Buddhist Central Executive Center, the Institute for the Propagation for Buddhist Faith, Van Hanh University, the Institute for the Youth and Social Work, Hai Duc Institute for Higher of Studies of Buddhism, all institutes of Buddhist studies at the intermediary and elementary levels, Nguyen Thieu Monastery, Nguyen Hung Monastery, all high and elementary schools, orphanages, and child care centers. The Communist administration had its cadres vandalized the Buddhist shrines, such as the 9-meter statue of Kwan Yin in Phan Thiet Province. Of ten thousand (10,000) pagodas that symbolize the traditional historic, cultural, and religious values of Vietnam, only some two hundred stand. The Church still suffered colossal loses. Thousands of secondary and primary schools throughout the country were dispossessed or confiscated.
The Persecution
Elimination of the Buddhist Leadership
Throughout the period that followed the takeover of South Vietnam, the Communist administration eradicated the organizations at the base of the legitimate Buddhist Churches. Buddhist congregations and associations that had preponderantly developed under the Republic of Vietnam were all dissolved. To dismantle these grassroots organizations, they first eliminated the prestigious clergy from the Churches’ leadership. High dignitaries of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church were isolated or arrested. The Venerable Thich Tri Quang was isolated at An Quang Pagoda, Saigon. The Venerable Thich Thien Minh, Vice-president of the Central Executive Council, was arrested and jailed without a trial. The dignitary was tortured to death in prison in 1979.
Arrests of Dignitaries
Mass arrest of other high Buddhist dignitaries and monks began on April 4, 1977. Recognized among them were the Most Venerable Thich Huyen Quang, Vice-chairman of the Executive Council; the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Secretary-general of the Executive Council; the Most Venerable Thich Thuyen An, Head of the Department for the Propagation of the Buddhist Faith; the Most Venerable Thich Thong Buu, Head of the Department for Laity Affairs; the Most Venerable Thich Thong Tue, Chief representative of the Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church in Go Vap District, Saigon; the Venerable Thich Duc Nhuan, the Venerable Thich Tue Sy and the Venerable Thich Tri Sieu, re-known professors at Van Hanh University, and the Venerable Thich Thnh Doa of Phap Vuong Pagoda, Saigon.
Superior and guardian monks in the provinces were also the victims of this mass arrest. Among them were the Venerable Thich Buu Hue, Long Khanh Province; the Venerable Thich Thien Duc, Ba Xuyen Province; the Venerable Thich Duc Quang, Binh Duong Province; the Venerable Thich Chon Khong, and the Venerable Thich Thien Thong, An Giang Province; the Venerable Thich Nguyen Minh, Nghia Binh Province, the Venerable Thich Ke Hoi, Phu Yen Province; and the Venerable Thich Lieu Minh and the Venerable Thich Minh Tam, Thuan Hai Province; As a consequence of religious intolerance , the Most Venerable Thich Tam Hoan and the Most Venerable Thich Thanh Tri were forced to commit suicide in 1981 and 1984, respectively. The Most Venerable Thich Tri Thu, Chairman of the Executive Council, Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, died mysteriously at the Vi Dan Hospital in Saigon, in 1984.
The list of crimes is far from complete due to poor access to the sources. The documents provided by the Most Venerable Thich Thien Minh prior to his arrest in 1997, however, shows that more than a hundred monks had been arrested and ten of thousands of young monks had been forced to return home.
The Reform
To replace the leadership of all Buddhist Churches, the Communist regime set up an organ called the Patriotic Buddhist Liaison Committee. Its purpose was to promote the idea that all patriotic Buddhists had a duty to participate in building a new society and achieve the liberation of man from the shackles of feudalism and neocolonialist influences. This committee had their tasks to rally Buddhist leaders and followers behind the new regime. A satellite organ operating within the orbit of the Fatherland Front, it could never blind public opinion for its nominal function. It was only instrumental in serving the Communist Party’s immediate purpose, drumming up political propaganda for it. The State-affiliated monks’ primary task in the committee was to carry out the Party’s religious policy, consolidate the Party’s organization at the base, and help dismantle the organization of the non-sanctioned Buddhist Churches. They sought to encourage, pressure, and force, if necessary, monks and nuns to return home to lead a secular life. In April 1980, the government formed a national committee of Buddhist groups throughout the country. To obliterate the legitimate Buddhist organizations of Vietnam before 1975, they outlawed the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and other Buddhist Churches and their affiliations. The government-controlled Vietnam Buddhist Church was established in November 1981, and it emerged as the only officially sanctioned organization authorized to represent all Buddhist groups both at home and abroad." (Cima, Ibid. 1989: 122).
State-affiliated monks enjoyed favors from the authorities in recompense for their services. However, favoritism did not last long. By the time the Socialist Republic of Vietnam ended military exemptions for Buddhist monks from the war in Kampuchea, the number of monks decreased by as many as two-thirds --up to ten thousand. To maintain State support, the administration accredited newly-sanctioned Buddhist organizations, and had them established a university-level institution for Buddhist Studies in Hanoi and four high schools of Buddhist Studies in Hue Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi in 1986. Beginning in 1988, some land was returned to the Buddhist monasteries to support those monks begging for food from door to door. In general, the common Buddhist faithful practice their faith and celebrate their own religious festivals in pagodas run by State-affiliated monks and organizations. Fervent Buddhists affiliated with the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam attach themselves to their old Church, regardless of harassment and repression.
