Thích Quảng Đức

Buddhist monk

• Born: 1897
• Birthplace: Hội Khánh, Annam, French Indochina
• Died: June 11, 1963
• Place of death: Saigon, South Vietnam

Significance: Thích Quảng Đức was a Buddhist monk who self-immolated as an act of protest against religious discrimination in South Vietnam in 1963. His public suicide, which involved the cooperation of several of his fellow monks, made international news and drew attention to the discriminatory practices of the Roman Catholic-led government and ultimately led to it being overthrown.

Background

Thích Quảng Đức was born in 1897 in the central Vietnamese village of Hội Khánh, one of seven children born to Lâm Hữu Ứng and his wife, Nguyễn Thị Nương. What little additional information is known about his early years was provided by Buddhist monks after his death. At the age of seven, he entered the Mahayana Buddhist monastery to begin his studies and training. He studied under his maternal uncle, Thích Hoằng Thâm, who became his spiritual advisor. At the age of fifteen, Đức took his novice vows, also known as the samanera vows. When he was twenty, he took his final vows for ordination as a monk. Newly ordained monks take a new name known as a dharma name, which is often chosen by their spiritual instructor. It was at this point that Đức became known as Thích Quảng Đức.

Life’s Work

Đức began his monastic career by retreating to the mountains as a hermit for three years. He then traveled to various locations in Vietnam performing a variety of duties and living out his vows. His tasks during this time included serving as an inspector of monks, overseeing the construction of thirty-one temples, and teaching and studying the precepts of Buddhism.

However, South Vietnam during the 1950s and 1960s was not always a friendly place for Buddhists even though most of the population—as many as 90 percent—were practicing Buddhists. In 1954, Ngô Đình Diệm had come to power. He was a devout Catholic who strongly favored South Vietnam’s Catholic minority. Before long, anyone who wanted any power or hope of advancement, including members of the military, was under pressure to convert. Persecutions began against Buddhists, including the destruction of pagodas and other Buddhist holy sites, and in some cases, entire villages converted to Catholicism to avoid discrimination or outright hostility.

Favoritism toward Catholicism increased as the 1960s began, as Catholics were exempt from mandatory labor policies and some taxes. Catholics were allowed to gather and display the flag from the Vatican, the center of Catholicism. Meanwhile, Buddhist gatherings were often prohibited, and they were not permitted to fly the Buddhist flag, even on special celebrations. When this happened in May 1963 for the celebration of Buddha’s birthday, protests erupted. Nine Buddhists were killed when government forces opened fire on protestors, though the government denied involvement.

Days later, on June 10, 1963, media representatives were informed that something important would happen the next day. Many disregarded the notification because protests had been ongoing for some time, but several did go to the designated location at the intersection of Phan Đình Phùng Boulevard and Lê Văn Duyệt Street (both streets have since been renamed). More than 350 nuns and monks arrived, marching in a procession that began at a pagoda nearby. In their midst was a vehicle that Đức and two other monks were riding in. Amidst the chants and banners of the marching Buddhists, the vehicle stopped, and the three monks got out. One placed a cushion on the road, which Đức sat upon. As he began praying with wooden beads and reciting “Homage to Amitābha Buddha” in Vietnamese, the second monk poured a container of gasoline over him. When he finished praying, Đức struck a match that he was holding and set his clothing on fire. Bystanders said he sat perfectly still and silent as the flames consumed him, while his fellow monks and the nuns surrounded him and laid in front of fire trucks to prevent them from stopping the self-immolation. Đức burned silently before bystanders, many of whom cried or prayed, before toppling over. His body was removed by other monks and the remains were completely cremated.

Đức was not the first person to self-immolate—the practice has a long history in several religious traditions, including Buddhism—but his act was captured on film. Malcolm Browne, the Associated Press bureau chief for Saigon, was there and took several black-and-white photos. He managed to get the photos out of the country with a courier and within days, the image of Đức serenely burning drew attention to the persecution of Buddhists in Vietnam. Then under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, the country’s first Catholic President, the United States pressured South Vietnam to change its policies. Several other monks followed Đức’s example and self-immolated, increasing pressure to resolve what was known as the “Buddhist crisis.” The photos taken by Browne had a profound impact on world opinion about the situation, and on November 2, 1963, a coup supported by the United States ended in Diệm’s assassination. The situation created a power vacuum that some experts say led to the beginning of the Vietnam War.

Impact

The images of Đức’s death horrified the world, inspiring action from foreign governments that changed the power structure in Vietnam. The photo and photographer later won awards, first, the 1963 World Press Photo of the Year award, followed by a Pulitzer Prize for Brown in 1964. For a time, his unburned heart was worshiped as a holy relic, and Đức himself was revered as a bodhisattva, or person on the route to enlightenment. A street in Saigon was named after Đức, and a monument depicting him in flames was erected near where he self-immolated. He became an inspiration for others who chose self-immolation as a means of protest, both in Vietnam and other countries, including the United States and in Soviet bloc countries.

Bibliography

“The Burning Monk.” Rare Historical Photos, rarehistoricalphotos.com/the-burning-monk-1963/. Accessed 29 June 2023.

Lindsay, James M. “TWE Remembers: Thich Quang Duc’s Self-Immolation.” Council on Foreign Relations, 11 June 2012, www.cfr.org/blog/twe-remembers-thich-quang-ducs-self-immolation. Accessed 29 June 2023.

Ngo, Huong. “From Death to Birth: Biography, Religious Context, and Remembering of Thích Quảng Đức and his Self-Immolation.” Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia, kyotoreview.org/issue-35/remembering-of-thich-quang-duc-and-his-self-immolation/. Accessed 29 June 2023.

Oliver, Mark. “Thích Quảng Đức and the True Story of the Burning Monk Photograph.” All That’s Interesting, 16 Oct. 2022, allthatsinteresting.com/thich-quang-duc-burning-monk. Accessed 29 June 2023.

“Thich Quang Duc- The Burning Monk.” University of Nebraska-Lincoln, keever.unl.edu/index.php/articles/extra-vietnam-information/thich-quang-duc-the-burning-monk/. Accessed 29 June 2023.

“Who’s Who in South Vietnam.” PBS American Experience, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/vietnam-whos-who-south-vietnam/. Accessed 29 June 2023.

Worth, Robert F. “How a Single Match Can Ignite a Revolution.” New York Times, 21 Jan. 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/weekinreview/23worth.html. Accessed 29 June 2023.