{"id":35927,"date":"2015-01-02T17:52:02","date_gmt":"2015-01-02T17:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/queme.org\/en\/?p=35927"},"modified":"2020-03-12T17:59:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T17:59:38","slug":"profile-of-venerable-thich-quang-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/profile-of-venerable-thich-quang-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Most Venerable Thich Quang Do, Supreme Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (1928 – 2020)"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"Most
Most Venerable Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9, 1928-2020 (Photo IBIB)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Venerable TH\u00cdCH QU\u1ea2NG \u0110\u1ed8, <\/strong>secular name \u0110\u1eb7ng Ph\u00fac Tu\u1ec7, was the Fifth Supreme Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam and a leading advocate of religious freedom, human rights and democracy in Vietnam. Sixteen times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, he won worldwide recognition for his non-violent actions for freedom in Vietnam. His refusal to be silenced by intimidation, imprisonment and internal exile for over four decades has inspired Vietnamese of all generations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was the first person to forge links of solidarity between dissidents from the north and south, thus bridging a decades-long geographical and ideological divide. He was also an eminent scholar, former lecturer in oriental philosophy and Buddhist studies, and well-known writer, with over a dozen published works including novels, poetry, translations and studies of Vietnamese Buddhism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Th\u00edch\nQu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was born on 27 November 1928 in Thanh Ch\u00e2u village in Th\u00e0i B\u00ecnh\nprovince (northern Vietnam). He became a monk at the age of 14. In 1945,<\/strong>\nwhen he was just 17, he witnessed the summary\nexecution of his religious master by a revolutionary People\u2019s Tribunal. \u201cAt\nthat precise moment\u201d,<\/em> wrote Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 in an Open letter to Communist\nParty Secretary-general \u0110\u1ed7 M\u01b0\u1eddi in 1994, \u201c<\/em>I vowed to combat fanaticism\nand intolerance in all its forms, and<\/em> devote my life to the\npursuit of justice through the Buddhist teachings of non-violence, tolerance\nand compassion. I have never regretted this decision. But little did I realise\nhow this simple vow would lead me down a path paved with prison cells, torture,\ninternal exile and detention for so many years. I soon learned that all tyrants\nfear the truth, and one must be ready to pay the price \u2013 sometimes a very high\nprice \u2013 to defend the convictions and values one believes to be right\u201d.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An\noutstanding scholar and talented writer, from 1951-1957<\/strong>, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9\nspent 6 years as a Research Fellow of Buddhist and Indian philosophy at several\nuniversities in Sri Lanka and India, including the Vishava Bharati University\nin Santiniteketan, Bengal. During the 1960-70s,<\/strong> he was Professor of\nOriental Philosophy and Buddhist Studies at V\u1ea1n H\u1ea1nh Buddhist University\n(Saigon), the Faculty of Letters of Saigon University and the H\u00f2a H\u1ea3o Buddhist\nUniversity in Can Tho. In 1971-72<\/strong>, he taught Buddhist studies at the\nPontifical College Pius X in Dalat. Despite his exile and banishment by the\ncommunist authorities in 1982, his scholarship and vision earned him widespread\nrespect, even in Communist Party circles. In the official magazine V\u0103n H\u1ecdc<\/em>\n(Literary Studies, No<\/sup> 4, Hanoi, July- August 1992), Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9\nis highly praised for his wisdom and extensive knowledge by a communist scholar\nwho visited him during his years in internal exile in Vu Doai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Thich
Thich Quang Do speaks at a rally for religious freedom in Saigon, 1963<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9\u2019s convictions led him to oppose\nauthoritarianism under different political regimes. After Vietnam was partitioned\nby the 1954 <\/strong>Geneva Agreement, he became a prominent figure in the\nprotest movement against the anti-Buddhist policies of the Ng\u00f4 D\u00ecnh Di\u1ec7m regime\nin the South. On the night of 20 August 1963<\/strong>, he was arrested along with\nthousands of Buddhists\nin a massive Police sweep\nlaunched by the Diem government in Hue and Saigon. Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was brutally\ntortured. Yet he continued resistance in prison, secretly translating articles\nfrom the international press on the Buddhist struggle which were smuggled in by\nBuddhists with his meals. Released after the fall of the Diem regime on 1st<\/sup>\nNovember<\/strong>, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9\u2019s health was seriously damaged by the brutal\ntorture. He suffered from tuberculosis for three years, and was sent to Japan\nin 1966 for a lung operation. Before returning to Vietnam, he spent two years\ntravelling and studying in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Burma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Unified\nBuddhist Church of Vietnam<\/strong> (UBCV) regained its legitimate status in 1964, Th\u00edch\nQu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was appointed UBCV Spokesman and Inspector of the UBCV\u2019s Executive Institute (Vi\u1ec7n\nH\u00f3a \u0110\u1ea1o, <\/em>the Institute for the Dissemination of the Dharma) in 1972.<\/strong>\nHe became the Institute\u2019sSecretary-general in 1974. Throughout the\nVietnam War, along with other UBCV leaders, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 took an active\nstance in favour of peace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Communists\ntook power in 1975,<\/strong> a fierce campaign to suppress Buddhism was launched\nin South Vietnam. UBCV property was confiscated, its institutions dismantled,\nthousands of monks were arrested or forcibly drafted into the army. As the UBCV\nSecretary-general, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 sent thousands of letters to the authorities\nprotesting specific cases of religious repression. All copies of the letters\nwere destroyed in July 1982 when Police seized the UBCV\u2019s headquarters at \u1ea4n\nQuang Pagoda. It took 5 days to burn the UBCV\u2019s documents and files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Th\u00edch
Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 in internal exile in a derelict pagoda in Th\u00e1i B\u00ecnh province, northern Vietnam in 1982<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Tension reached a\nclimax on 3rd<\/sup> March 1977, <\/strong>when Police attacked and seized the\nQu\u00e1ch Th\u1ecb Trang orphanage in Saigon. That day, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 signed a\nCommuniqu\u00e9 summoning all Buddhists to prepare for a non-violent struggle to\ndefend the UBCV and protect religious freedom. This led to his arrest in April\n1977<\/strong>, along with Th\u00edch Huy\u1ec1n Quang and several UBCV leaders on charges of \u201canti-revolutionary activities\u201d<\/em> and\n\u201cundermining national solidarity\u201d.<\/em> Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was detained in solitary confinement in\nPhan Dang Luu Prison for 20 months. Following international pressure, he was\nreleased after a brief trial on 10th<\/sup> December 1978. The same year, Th\u00edch\nHuy\u1ec1n Quang and Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by\nIrish laureates Betty Williams and Mairead Maguire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 25th<\/sup>\nFebruary 1982<\/strong>, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was again arrested for opposing the creation\nof the State-sponsored \u201cVietnam Buddhist Church\u201d, an organization controlled by\nthe Communist Party\u2019s \u201cVietnam Fatherland Front\u201d, and for resisting efforts to\nmake the UBCV join this State-run body. He was sent into internal exile in the\nremote village of V\u0169 \u0110\u00f2ai in Th\u00e1i B\u00ecnh Province (northern Vietnam), where he\nspent 10 years under house arrest. The only reason given\nfor detention was “by carrying out\nreligious activities, you are <\/em>ipso facto\nengaged in political activities”.<\/em> His 84-year-old mother was exiled\nwith him. She died in 1985 from malnutrition and lack of medical care. In 1990,\nthe Minister of Public Security Mai Ch\u00ed Th\u1ecd, one of the regime\u2019s most powerful\nfigures, invited Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 to take up a post in the State-sponsored\nVietnam Buddhist Church in Hanoi. Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 refused. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Th\u00edch
Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 prepares his food in internal exile in V\u0169 \u0110o\u00e0i village, Th\u00e1i B\u00ecnh province<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 1992,<\/strong>\nTh\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 broke out of internal exile and went back to the Thanh Minh Zen\nMonastery in Saigon. Shocked by the government\u2019s widespread campaign to\nsuppress the UBCV, in August 1994<\/strong>, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 set up a sign on his\nMonastery inscribed \u201cExiled Secretariat of the Unified Buddhist Church of\nVietnam\u201d<\/em> and called on Buddhists all over the country to restore UBCV\nnameplates torn down by the Communist authorities. The same year, he sent an\nOpen Letter to VCP Secretary-general \u0110\u1ed7 M\u01b0\u1eddi along with a 44-page document\nentitled “Observations on the\ngrave offences committed by the Vietnamese Communist Party against the\nVietnamese people and against Buddhism”,<\/em><\/strong> detailing persecution\nagainst Buddhism since 1945. A copy was smuggled to the UBCV\u2019s International\nSpokesman in Paris, V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i, requesting that he publish it within 6 months if\nthe government made no reply. In 1994,<\/strong> Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 also began\norganizing the UBCV\u2019s activities, mounting a rescue mission for victims of\ndisastrous floods in the Mekong Delta which had left 500,000 people homeless.\nThis was the very first public UBCV mission since the church was banned in\n1981. Police intercepted the UBCV convoy as it prepared to leave Saigon on 5\nNovember 1994, confiscated all relief aid and arrested the organizers. Th\u00edch\nQu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was arrested on January 4, 1995. He was put on trial as a \u201cVietnamese\ndelinquent\u201d,<\/em> not as a Buddhist monk.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Th\u00edch
Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 is sentenced to 5 years in prison at the Ho Chi Minh City Supreme People\u2019s Court on 15 August 1995, Photo AP<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

For\nthese \u201ccrimes\u201d, on August 15, 1995<\/strong>, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was sentenced to 5\nyears in prison and 5 years house arrest on charges of “sabotaging\nnational solidarity\u201d <\/em>and \u201ctaking advantage of democratic freedoms to\nviolate the interests of the State and social organizations\u201d.<\/em> Initially\ndetained in Ba Sao Camp, he was transferred to the notorious B14 Prison near\nHanoi, one of Vietnam\u2019s harshest prisons. Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9\u2019s health deteriorated due\nto harsh conditions and lack of medical care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Th\u00edch\nQu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9\u2019s arrest sparked off strong international protests among human rights\ngroups across the globe. Four Nobel Prize Winners (HH the Dalai Lama, Jos\u00e9\nRamos-Horta, Mairead Corrigan Maguire and Fran\u00e7ois Jacob) formed a support\ncommittee for his release. The then US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright\nalso demanded his unconditional release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Four
Four Nobel Peace Prize laureates set up a Committee for the Release of Th\u00edch Huy\u1ec1n Quang, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 and other UBCV leaders<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As a\nresult, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was released in a government amnesty on 2nd<\/sup>\nSeptember 1998.<\/strong> He returned to the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Saigon, but\nwas placed under house arrest and strict Police surveillance, with his phone\ncut and all visits monitored – \u201cI have<\/em>\nleft a small prison only to come into a\nlarger one\u201d, <\/em>he said. In October 1998,<\/strong> the UN Special Rapporteur on\nReligious Intolerance, Abdelfattah Amor was physically impeded from visiting Th\u00edch\nQu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 by Security Police. Despite these restrictions, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9\ncontinued his peaceful combat by writing appeals in a spirit of dialogue to the\nVietnamese leadership for the respect of human rights, the release of prisoners\nof conscience, the abolition of the death penalty, and national reconciliation\nbetween Vietnamese of all different opinions. He also pursued his efforts to\ndraw international attention to the human rights situation in Vietnam, writing\nletters to the European Union with a list of 31 political prisoners in 1999, to\nthe US Congress etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1999,<\/strong> Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was appointed President of the\nUBCV\u2019s Institute for the Dissemination of the Dharma (Vi\u1ec7n Ho\u00e1 \u0110\u1ea1o), thus\nbecoming the second-ranking UBCV dignitary after the Patriarch Th\u00edch Huy\u1ec1n\nQuang. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Venerable
Venerable Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 in the Mekong Delta<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Th\u00edch
Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 leads a UBCV relief mission to aid flood victims in the Mekong delta<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the following years, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 worked tirelessly to\norganise UBCV welfare, social and humanitarian programmes<\/strong> to promote social\njustice and aid people in need. In 2000, <\/strong>he personally <\/strong>led a relief mission\nto aid flood victims in the Mekong Delta. These efforts brought him renewed\narrests, interrogations, harassment and accusations of \u201cviolating national\nsecurity\u201d.<\/em> He also made frequent attempts to visit the Patriarch Th\u00edch\nHuy\u1ec1n Quang, under house arrest in Qu\u1ea3ng Ng\u00e3i and B\u00ecnh \u0110\u1ecbnh, but was\nsystematically intercepted. In 2006<\/strong>, he was arrested as he\ntried to board a train to make a New Year visit to the Patriarch, and released\nonly after 40 UBCV monks staged a hunger strike on the station platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\""Keeper
“Keeper of the Flame” by Ken Stier (AsiaWeek, 30 June 2000)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

On February 21st<\/sup> 2001<\/strong>, confronted with the impossibility of any dialogue with the Vietnamese authorities, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 launched an \u201cAppeal for Democracy in Vietnam\u201d<\/a>, <\/strong>calling on Vietnamese from all political and religious families to rally together arounda radical 8-point transition plan for democratic change. The Appeal received overwhelming support, with endorsements of over 300,000 Vietnamese, and over 200 MEPs, Members of the US Congress and international personalities. The government reacted by sentencing Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 (without trial) to two years \u201cadministrative detention\u201d on June 1st<\/sup> 2001<\/strong>. He was detained incommunicado <\/em>at theThanh Minh Zen Monastery, deprived even of medical treatment for his diabetes and high blood pressure. Euro-MP Olivier Dupuis staged a demonstration outside the Monastery in protest on June 6th<\/sup> 2001.<\/strong> He was arrested and expelled from Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Released\non June 27th<\/sup> 2003<\/strong> as a result of concerted international\npressure, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was arrested again along with Th\u00edch Huy\u1ec1n Quang and\nseveral other UBCV leaders on October 8th<\/sup> 2003<\/strong> after he\nparticipated in the UBCV Assembly convened by Patriarch Th\u00edch Huy\u1ec1n Quang to\nelect a new UBCV leadership. Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 and Th\u00edch Huy\u1ec1n Quang were never\nformally charged, but were accused of \u201cpossessing state secrets\u201d<\/em> \u2013 an\noffence which carries the death penalty in Vietnam \u2013 and placed under strict\nsurveillance at their respective monasteries. The US Congress and European Parliament adopted simultaneous\nResolutions condemning the crackdown and calling for the immediate release of\nthe new UBCV leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Th\u00edch
Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 visits Th\u00edch Huy\u1ec1n Quang in 1999 in Qu\u1ea3ng Ng\u00e3i where he is under house arrest. It was their first meeting in 17 years<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Th\u00edch
Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 and Th\u00edch Huy\u1ec1n Quang meet in Qu\u1ea3ng Ng\u00e3i<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 2005,<\/strong> marking the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and the 30 years of the UBCV\u2019s movement for religious freedom, democracy and human rights, Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 launched two vibrant appeals to the international community and the people of Vietnam. In a video message<\/a><\/strong> addressed to the United Nations <\/strong>in April 2005, he argued that even economic development was untenable without democracy and freedom: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat can we do to bring stability, well-being and development to the people of Vietnam? During my long years in detention, I have thought deeply, and I have come to the conclusion that there is only one way \u2013 we must have true freedom and democracy. We must have pluralism, the right to hold free elections, to choose our own political system, to enjoy democratic freedoms \u2013 in brief, the right to shape our own future, and the destiny of our nation. Without democracy and pluralism, we cannot combat poverty and injustice, nor bring true development and progress to our people. Without democracy and pluralism, we cannot guarantee human rights, for human rights cannot be protected without the safeguards of democratic institutions and the rule of law\u201d.  <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n