Diệu Đế Temple
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Diệu Đế Temple (Vietnamese: Chùa Diệu Đế) is a Buddhist
Architecture
The pagoda entrance is on the banks of the Dong Ba canal. The temple gates face southwest; directly on the other side of the canal is the Dong Ba gate of the eastern side of the
Buddhist crisis and temple raids
South Vietnam's Buddhist majority had long been discontented with the oppressive rule of President Diệm since his rise to power in 1955. Diệm showed favouritism towards Catholics and discrimination against Buddhists in the army, public service and distribution of government aid. In the countryside, Catholics were de facto exempt from performing
As the tension increased and opposition to Diệm intensified, the turning point came shortly after midnight on 21 August, when Ngô Đình Nhu's Special Forces raided and vandalised Buddhist pagodas across the country, rounding up thousands of monks and leaving hundreds dead.[4] The most determined resistance to the Diệm regime occurred outside the Diệu Đế Pagoda. As troops attempted to stretch a barbed wire barricade across the bridge leading to the pagoda, a large crowd of pro-Buddhist laypeople and anti-government protesters tore it down with their bare hands. The crowd then fought the heavily armed military personnel with rocks, sticks and their bare fists, throwing back the tear gas grenades that were aimed at them. After a five-hour battle, the military finally won control of the bridge at dawn by driving armored cars through the angry crowd. The defense of the bridge and Diệu Đế left an estimated 30 dead and 200 wounded. Ten truckloads of bridge defenders were taken to jail and an estimated 500 people were arrested in the city. The total number of dead and disappeared was never confirmed, but estimates range up to several hundred.[4][5]
After the deposal and assassination of Diệm, the temple later became the center of anti-American and anti-war protests by Buddhists and students against the Vietnam War. During a period of chaos and protest in 1966, the temple was stormed by police and the army under General Tôn Thất Đính, who had been sent in by Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ to quell the anti-government protests. Many monks were arrested, along with their supporters and student protesters.[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 1-74059-677-3.
- ^ Jones, pp. 142-43.
- ^ Jacobs, pp. 247-50.
- ^ a b Jacobs, pp. 152-53.
- ^ "The Crackdown". Time. 30 August 1963. Archived from the original on July 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
Sources
- Jacobs, Seth (2006). Cold War Mandarin: Ngo Dinh Diem and the Origins of America's War in Vietnam, 1950–1963. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-4447-8.
- Jones, Howard (2003). Death of a Generation. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505286-2.
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