Caodaism

Caodaism is a Vietnamese monotheistic syncretic religion that combines "ethical precepts from Confucianism, practices from Taoism, theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, and a hierarchical organization from Catholicism". It was officially established in the city of Tây Ninh in Southern Vietnam in 1926. The full name of the religion is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ (chữ Hán: 大道三期普度 'The Great Faith [for the] Third Universal Redemption'). Adherents engage in practices such as prayer, veneration of ancestors, nonviolence, and vegetarianism with the goal of union with God and freedom from saṃsāra. Estimates of the number of Caodaists in Vietnam vary; government figures estimate 4.4 million Caodaists affiliated to the Cao Đài Tây Ninh Holy See, with numbers rising up to 6 million if other branches are added. The United Nations found about 2.5 million Caodaists in Vietnam as of January 2015. An additional number of adherents in the tens of thousands, primarily ethnic Vietnamese, live in North America, Cambodia, Europe and Australia as part of the Cao Dai diaspora.