Note: Ven. Thich Huyen Quang was nominated along with Ven. Thich
Quang Do for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978, by the two Irish
nonviolent activists who had won the prize the previous year. At
the time of their nomination both were imprisoned. In fact both
monks have spent most of the last 23 years in prison or under
house arrest. The Unified Buddhist Church which they led was the
major Buddhist organization in South Vietnam during the war and a
leading advocate of peace and human rights in Vietnam.
 - Steve Denney

-----------------------------------------

Indochina Journal, Fall 1992

Ven. Thich Huyen Quang Protests Religious Repression in Vietnam:
Documents

Ven. Quang's Funeral Oration for Thich Don Hau, May 3, 1992

     (Editor's note: The following document was published in Giao
Diem magazine, a Vietnamese Buddhist publication based in
southern California, and is translated from Vietnamese by Buu Ha.
We will begin with the Giao Diem's editor's note:)
     (Giao Diem note: Below is the transcription by Nguyen Thai
of Ven. Thich Huyen Quang's statement recorded in an audio
cassette sent from Vietnam. The press in Vietnam has never
publicized it, not even a single line. Ven. Huyen Quang, Acting
Head of the Institute for the Propagation of the Dharma of the
Vietnam Unified Buddhist Church, has been detained for the past
ten years in Quang Ngai and was forbidden to travel to Hue to
attend the funeral of the late Supreme Patriarch Ven. Thich Don
Hau. After a day of hunger strike in protest, the Hoi Phuoc
authorities gave in, and allowed him to go there after all. But
when he arrived in Hue, the government organized funeral
committee for Ven. Hau forbade Ven. Quang from speaking at the
ceremony. In disregard of this illegal order, he stood up and
spoke before some 30,000 Buddhist faithful at the Linh Mu Pagoda
on the morning of May 3, 1992, at the entombment ceremony of the
late Ven. Thich Don Hau. When he started speaking, the Police cut
off the electricity and public address system. The crowd was in
an uproar over this and shouted their protests, but the Buddhist
committee in charge of public order asked them to keep quiet in
order to insure the solemnity of the ceremony. Though the public
address system was switched off, Ven. Thich Huyen Quang went on
and managed to complete his statement. Buddhist clergymen and
faithful who stood close to him could hear him speak very
clearly.) 

     (TEXT)  To all students and disciples of the late Most
Venerable Secretary General in charge of the Supreme Council of
the Sangha,
     To all mourning disciples, families, and fellow Buddhists
present here today,
     To Ven. Nhat Lien with my request for permission to go to
the altar to perform the funeral rites for the late most
Venerable, 
     To the Enlightened Spirit of the most Venerable,
     Owing to distance and many other obstacles and difficulties,
it is only today that I can manage to come respectfully in front
of your casket to express my feelings on your most Venerable's
passing, in the hope that you would kindly accept them. 
     To your Most Venerable's Enlightened Spirit,
     The An Quang Vietnam Unified Buddhist Congregation came into
existence almost 30 years ago. At that time, the congregation had
the deep sorrow of accompanying Supreme Patriarch Thich Tinh
Khiet to the mausoleum tower. (ed. note: in Vietnam, deceased
monks are buried vertically in a special tower.) Today, in a few
more hours, the congregation together with monks, nuns and
Buddhist faithful will once more have the sad experience of
accompanying your most Venerable to the mausoleum tower, place of
eternal repose. 
     Before you passed away, we had many last minute matters to
confide to you. Unfortunately, it was too late. Even my planned
visit to Hue was denied me, although Nhat Lien and the disciples
of Linh Mu later received me with open arms. In spite of this
banishment, I should not go back empty-handed, should I? I
therefore unequivocally declare that it was illegal to forbid my
trip to Hue in order to perform the funeral services for his Most
Venerable.
     For more then ten years, our Congregation has fallen into
stagnation and suffered oppression. Buddhists throughout the
country are heartbroken in witnessing the fragmentation of the
Congregation: individuals are being oppressed and the law is not
respected. In your lifetime, you raised your voice to oppose
those pressure groups which caused trouble for the An Quang
Congregation. But serious illness hindered your pursuit. Today
before your casket I would like to say that our congregation was
not only formed by top ranking Buddhist monks, by a few sects
within certain chapters which drafted charters, but also by the
entire congregation which on her own, has stood up and taken
shape through 150 years of persecution, terrorism and pillage. As
a model of undaunted resistance for the protection of her faith,
for the equality of religion, and for individual freedom was the
country-side struggle of Buddhists during a six month period in
1963 against the Ngo Dinh Diem regime. Tens of thousands of
monks, nuns and lay people were detained and imprisoned. A great
number of pagodas and temples were attacked and forced to close
down. Because it did not respect the equality of religions and
did not respond to the legitimate demands of the Buddhist
faithful, the Ngo Dinh Diem regime saw its downfall. Afterwards
the congregation was restored. But since the restoration, the
congregation was not able to live in peace and enjoy freedom of
belief and equality of religion. It was because of flunkeys of
dark foreign powers who want to destroy Buddhism still there, who
continued a policy of vendetta.
     To your most Venerable Enlightened Spirit,
     The event of April 30, 1975 took place. The war ended. Your
most Venerable as well as ourselves thought that our congregation
could at long last enjoy an era of peace to carry out our
Buddhist duties. Unexpectedly, however, other obstacles and
opposing forces have cropped up.
     These obstacles stem from the fact that a State Buddhist
Congregation was given birth at Quan Su Pagoda in Hanoi, set up
by the government authorities at the beginning of 1981. I must
repeat "set up by the authorities" and not "elected by monks and
nuns of the Buddhist clergy". As a result, monks, nuns and lay
people have endured in silence and despair much oppression. 
     How can our congregation survive as a heroic pledge to the
blood and bones, the prison punishment of our Buddhist clergy and
laity, those martyred saints?
     Why is the Hanoi congregation which was so recently born
considered a legal institution, while the An Quang congregation
does not enjoy legal protection? The An Quang congregation, a
congregation which has been built over the years with the blood
and bones, the sufferings and dedication of many generations of
Buddhists has been repudiated. 
     What one must know is that up to now, there have been no
decrees or orders which formally banished the An Quang
congregation. The An Quang congregation therefore, from the
social and temporal point of view, is still legally in existence.
     One would wonder why for more than ten years we have not
been able to perform our Buddhist duties as we wish. This
question is pertinent, necessary and when raised in earnest makes
one ponder. But there are complacent individuals who would say we
are lacking in leadership. I must affirm right away that this is
not true of Buddhist leaders, who have contributed with their
sacrifices to the building up of the An Quang congregation, and
there ares still many such people. 
     They are found everywhere, here at home as well as abroad.
As a result, it is not easy to disband our Congregation in one
day, one month, or one year. No one has the power to disband it
or to close it down at any moment on his own initiative. 
     To his most Venerable Enlightened Spirit,
     I am still here, and Quang Do is still there. The ranking
Buddhist clergy at home and abroad are still there. We will
continue the normal conduct of our Buddhist affairs until our
Congregation can win its freedom of activity as in the days
before 1975. May your most Venerable Enlightened Spirit give us
protection to bolster the steps of monks, nuns and devotees who
are following the Congregation, to strengthen their faith in
perpetuating the mission of a traditional congregation.
     What is a traditional congregation? It is a congregation of
monks, nuns and laity set up by the most venerable and well known
ranking monks and not by any temporal authorities against the
will of the Buddhist community. Consequently all monks, nuns and
lay people who have built up the congregation, lived with it
through thick and thin, who were imprisoned and died for it, will
continue to move forward under its leadership. No one can
recklessly state that our congregation is lacking in legality. 
     What is legality? Here today, legality is a mere piece of
paper written and issued to a newly established organization in
support of special, local and non-Buddhist objectives. On the
other hand, our congregation has been present in the land for
more than 2,000 years. The Dinh, Le Ly and Tran dynasties had
accepted Buddhism. And succeeding dynasties kept accepting. As a
result the following slogans were heard loudly resounding at the
extraordinary congress after 1975 at the An Quang auditorium:
     - The legality of the Buddhist Congregation is her 2,000
years of faith propagated in this land of Vietnam.
     - The social standing of the Buddhist Congregation is a mass
of 80% of the population, old and young, great and small. 
     - The bases of the Buddhist Congregation are rural areas,
cities and towns, highlands and offshore islands. 
     These are strong and everlasting bases. These are the
legality, standing and bases of the Buddhist Congregation.
     Legality of the earthly world can be promulgated and can
also be withdrawn. Would the Buddhist Congregation accept to
kowtow and undergo forever this kind of police treatment? One
therefore should not look at the Buddhist Congregation through
the lends of legality on paper, but through the lens of ethics
and national survival. The latter is true legality. To make it
clear legality here is the just legality. Do you hear that? I
repeat: 
     The legality of the Buddhist Congregation is the just
legality of 2,000 years of ethical history and civilization in
the development and building of our nation. The bases of the
Buddhist Congregation are rural areas, towns, and cities,
mountains, forests and offshore islands under the aura of
intelligence and compassion. The standing of the Buddhist
Congregation is a mass of 80% of the population, old and young,
big and small.
     One cannot cast any doubt about this kind of legality
supported by historical tradition. 
     To his most Venerable Enlightened Spirit, 
     Learning that you were suffering from a long illness, I was
very worried. But the saddest thing is that when I had been
informed of your leaving of this temporal world to join the
Nirvana, I was not authorized to come here and go into mourning
for you. Thanks to my protests and one-day hunger strike in Quang
Ngai I was finally authorized to make the trip. Once arrived in
Hue, I sought permission from the organizing committee to perform
funeral services but my request was turned down. Why are Catholic
priests free to perform services? Why as a Buddhist clergymen am
I not? Who am I? Who are those of you present here today? Why are
we not free to perform services? Such a decision is illegal, and
an infringement upon the freedom of religion. I should truly say
so. I am responsible for my statement, come what may. I swear
before your most Venerable's funeral altar that I will accept
anything including the endangerment to my life at this very time
and at this very hour. 
     Now I have a few words to submit to the State. The State has
"liberated" the South and launched a program of systematic
reform. Our An Quang congregation is ready to accept reform. But
what kind of program is this with regard to Buddhism? For what
purpose has the State set up a State Congregation in parallel
with the An Quang's? If speaking in terms of a religious reform
program, why has the State not set up such a State Congregation
in parallel with the Catholic Congregation? Why has it not done
so with other religious sects? The State has made a serious
mistake. The State intends to smash the Buddhist bloc. What then
will be left of this nation? 
     I have more to confide to you. It is not the story of fifty
or seventy years but of two or three hundred years. I am not yet
allowed and do not have the time to talk to you about our country
and our national code of ethics. The older I am, the more I care
about our country. A country which has undergone many centuries
of suffering and misfortune. Religion, consequently, has been
sharing the same fate. The longer you live the more you can
witness.. You can witness our country's misfortune, the poverty
of our people, and our moral decay. The more you live, the more
you have to sustain sadness and outrage. I have mentioned this
state of affairs to the high ranking officials in Quang Ngai. The
representatives of Quang Ngai are present here today too... those
officials who asked me what am I going to Hue for? Where will I
stay? They also threatened me: If you want to make any
statements, just go back to Quang Ngai and do it! By the way, I
would like to submit to the authorities in Quang Ngai that I have
already discussed all I have to say with them, now I do not feel
the need to return there for any more chit chat. Today I am
talking to his Most Venerable Enlightened Spirit, and to all the
faithful, from everywhere and to all Buddhist clergymen. I dare
speak out and accept my responsibility. It is regrettable that
the program of the ceremony is still a long way to the end and
time does not permit me to continue talking. But I will write,
write of our country's history and Buddhism's history for the
past two or three hundred years. I will write with my mind and my
religious-living heart. For so many years I have not been allowed
to write a single letter, and worse, not allowed to practice my
religion. Would you gentlemen answer me if my speech is false or
I am slandering? I risk my head to say that I myself and my own
congregation have been oppressed for a long time. I risk my head
to accept any upcoming difficulties, or oppressive measures as a
result of my statement. 
     To his most Venerable Enlightened Spirit,
     May his most Venerable understand, support and protect us
and bestow on us will power, clearsightedness, and courage to
preserve and protect our congregation which has been built out of
blood and bones and imprisonment of our martyred saints and
Buddhist faithful. May your Enlightened Spirit accept my prayers.

               THICH HUYEN QUANG