Ngô Văn Chiêu (28 February 1878 – 18 April 1932) was the first disciple of Đức
Cao Đài. His religious name is Ngô Minh Chiêu.
[Serguei A. Blagov Caodaism: Vietnamese Traditionalism and Its Leap Into Modernity "Ngô Văn Chiêu - Atomization of Caodaist movement commenced when the first disciple of the new doctrine, Ngô Minh Chiêu, broke away. He left Phò Loan on April 24, 1926, rejected their seance pronouncements and chose his own mediums, usually young"]
Life
He was born in 1878 and raised by his aunt and grandparents. He developed an interest in
Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion comprises a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. This includes the veneration of ''Shen (Chinese folk religion), shen'' ('spirits') and Chinese ancestor worship, ances ...
during this period. Later he served in the colonial bureaucracy and developed a fascination with
spiritism
Spiritism may refer to:
Religion
* Espiritismo, a Latin American and Caribbean belief that evolved and less evolved spirits can affect health, luck and other aspects of human life
* Kardecist spiritism, a new religious movement established in ...
. He declined his appointment as the first Caodaist Pope and was not involved in the official establishment of Caodaism in 1926. Instead, he chose to withdraw to a life of
seclusion. Thus, the role went to Venerable
Lê Văn Trung, who accepted on the condition that his title be Acting Pope.
In 1926, Lê Văn Trung and over two hundred others signed the "Declaration of the Founding of the Cao Đài Religion"; Chieu was not among the signers. He had accepted another entity as Đức Cao Đài and is credited as founder of the Chiếu Minh sect of Caodaiism. He died at 3:00 PM, 18-4-1932.
References
External links
Cao Dai page at Religious MovementsPartial at Britannica
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngo, Van Chieu
1878 births
1932 deaths
Vietnamese Caodaists
Founders of new religious movements
Date of death missing