Cao Dai Great Divine Temple, Tay Ninh西宁高台教圣座（至尊台）

Type

Overseas Daoist Temples

Location

Vietnam · Tay Ninh Province · Hoa Thanh District · Phạm Hộ Pháp Boulevard, about 100 kilometers northwest of Ho Chi Minh City

Coordinates

11.3039, 106.1333 Map ↗

First built

The religion was founded on 7 October 1926; the foundation stone of the Great Hall was laid in 1931, construction began in 1936, and it was completed in 1947 · Some tourist materials instead give 1933–1955; both accounts circulate. It belongs to a new syncretic religion, not traditional Daoism

Overview

Caodaism (Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ) was formally established as a religion on 7 October 1926, growing out of a spirit-writing (扶乩) circle in Saigon in 1925; its founders included the colonial civil servants Cao Quỳnh Cư, Cao Hoài Sang, Lê Văn Trung, and Phạm Công Tắc. The Great Divine Temple at the Tay Ninh Holy See had its foundation laid in 1931, construction began in 1936, and it was completed in 1947; it measures about 97.5 meters long and 22 meters wide, with twin towers on the west façade rising 27 meters. The interior is divided into three sections with twelve doors — the Hiệp Thiên Đài (Palace of Legislative and Judicial Powers), the Cửu Trùng Đài (Palace of the Nine Spheres), and the Bát Quái Đài (Palace of the Eight Trigrams) — the latter topped by a sphere 3.3 meters in diameter representing Heaven and Earth (Quả Càn Khôn). The temple's principal object of worship is the Supreme Being (Cao Dai, identified with the Jade Emperor), symbolized by the Divine Eye (Thiên Nhãn). This entry is included for its relationship to Daoism: Caodaism absorbs Confucian ethics, Daoist internal-alchemical cultivation and spirit-writing (cơ bút) practice, and the Buddhist doctrine of karma and rebirth, while borrowing the hierarchical organization of the Catholic Church; it belongs to the type of new religion built on the "Three Teachings Returning to One Source," and its spirit-writing tradition descends directly from the Daoist phoenix-writing altars (luantan) of Vietnam and southern China. According to official Vietnamese statistics, its followers number about 4.4 million (including all branches, about 6 million). It should be made clear: this is not a Daoist temple in the traditional sense.

Highlights

• Founded through spirit writing and "Three Teachings Returning to One Source"
• The Divine Eye and the Globe of Heaven and Earth
• Three sections: Hiệp Thiên Đài, Cửu Trùng Đài, and Bát Quái Đài
• Vietnam's third-largest religion