Cao
Dai priest preparing for daily worship
The
gaudily and idiosyncratically decorated Cao Dai temple, dominated by a large
globe whose most prominent feature is an all-seeing eye borrowed from the traditions
of the Masons.
Caodaism is one of the more flamboyant manifestations of Vietnam's two centuries
of adaptation to external influences. The best explanation I have found of this
process, and of the American experience in Vietnam as well, is Neil Jamieson's
Understanding Vietnam.
