They can be trusted.' Many officers in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) converted to Roman Catholicism as their military prospects depended on it. Diệm once told a high-ranking officer, forgetting that the officer was from a Buddhist family, 'Put your Catholic officers in sensitive places. In a country where surveys of the religious composition at the time estimated the Buddhist majority to be between 70 and 90 percent, President Diệm was a member of the Catholic minority, and pursued discriminatory policies favoring Catholics for public service and military promotions, as well as in the allocation of land, business arrangements and tax concessions. Self-immolation Religious background Ī memorial to Quảng Đức located on the site of his death When the office of the ABSV was relocated to the Xá Lợi Pagoda, the main pagoda of Saigon, Quảng Đức resigned. After the temple-building phase, Quảng Đức was appointed to serve as the Chairman of the Panel on Ceremonial Rites of the Congregation of Vietnamese Monks, and as abbot of the Phuoc Hoa pagoda, which was the initial location of the Association for Buddhist Studies of Vietnam (ABSV). The street on which the temple stands was later renamed Quảng Đức Street in 1975. The last of the 31 new temples that he was responsible for constructing was the Quan The Am pagoda in the Phú Nhuận District of Gia Định Province on the outskirts of Saigon. Upon his return from Cambodia, he oversaw the construction of a further 17 new temples during his time in the south. During his time in southern Vietnam, he also spent two years in Cambodia studying the Theravada Buddhist tradition. In 1934, he moved to southern Vietnam and traveled throughout the provinces spreading Buddhist teachings. During this period in central Vietnam, he was responsible for the construction of 14 temples. In 1932, he was appointed an inspector for the Buddhist Association in Ninh Hòa before becoming the inspector of monks in his home province of Khánh Hòa. After two years, he went into retreat at the Sac Tu Thien An pagoda near Nha Trang.

Īfter his self-imposed isolation ended, he began to travel around central Vietnam expounding the dharma. He returned in later life to open the Thien Loc pagoda at his mountain retreat. The Vietnamese name Thích ( 釋) is from 'Thích Ca' or 'Thích Già' ( 釋迦), means 'of the Shakya clan.' After ordination, he traveled to a mountain near Ninh Hòa, vowing to live the life of a solitary Buddhism-practicing hermit for three years. At age 15, he took the samanera ( novice) vows and was ordained as a monk at age 20 under the dharma name Thích Quảng Đức. Thích Hoằng Thâm raised him as a son and Lâm Văn Túc changed his name to Nguyễn Văn Khiết. At the age of seven, he left to study Buddhism under Hòa thượng Thích Hoằng Thâm, who was his maternal uncle and spiritual master.

He was born in the village of Hội Khánh, in Vạn Ninh District of Khánh Hòa Province in central Vietnam as Lâm Văn Túc, one of seven children of Lâm Hữu Ứng and his wife, Nguyễn Thị Nương. Eventually, a U.S.-backed coup toppled Diệm, who was assassinated on 2 November 1963.Īccounts of the life of Quảng Đức are derived from information disseminated by Buddhist organizations. Several Buddhist monks followed Quảng Đức's example, also immolating themselves. As protests continued, the ARVN Special Forces loyal to Diệm's brother, Ngô Đình Nhu, launched raids across South Vietnam on Buddhist pagodas, seizing Quảng Đức's heart and causing deaths and widespread damage. However, the promised reforms were not implemented, leading to a deterioration in the dispute.

Quảng Đức's act increased international pressure on Diệm and led him to announce reforms with the intention of mollifying the Buddhists. Kennedy said of one photograph, 'No news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one.' Malcolm Browne won the World Press Photo of the Year for his photograph of the monk's death. Photographs of his self-immolation circulated around the world, drawing attention to the policies of the Diệm government. backed South Vietnamese government of Ngô Đình Diệm, a staunch Roman Catholic. Quảng Đức was protesting against the persecution of Buddhists by the U.S. Thích Quảng Đức ( Vietnamese: ( listen) Hán tự: 釋廣德, 1897 – 11 June 1963 born Lâm Văn Túc) was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who died by suicide by self-immolation at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963. Chairman of the Panel on Ceremonial Rites of the Congregation of Vietnamese Monks.

Self burn gif