Thích Nữ Diệu Không, Moral Education, and Female Leadership in Vietnam’s Buddhist Protests of 1963

Abstract

Between 1963 and 1966, Buddhists monks and laypeople, especially those from Hue, led protests government forces. Initially, these protests called for reforms and ultimately the removal of the Republic of Vietnam’s president Ngo Dinh Diem, but after Diem’s ouster, these protests continued, calling for the return to civilian government, a withdrawal of the United States presence in Vietnam. Events of this period have elevated the names of male monks, such as Thich Quang Duc and his self-immolation and the leadership roles of Thich Tri Quang and Thich Nhat Hanh, have become well known in Vietnamese history and the history of the Vietnam War. However, several nuns also took leadership roles in this period, and their stories remain more obscure. This essay will focus on two figures: Thich Nu Dieu Khong (1905-1997) and her younger sister Thich Nu Dieu Hue. The essay will focus on two aspects of their leadership. The first is how Dieu Khong used her position as founding editor of the influential Buddhist Journal Lien Hoa Nguyet San to influence the direction of the movement, and the second is how both Dieu Khong and Dieu Hue intentionally used their family connections to the former Nguyen Royal Family and to their uncle and grand-uncle and RVN ambassador to the United Nation Nguyen Phuc Buu Hoi to influence the reaction of the Diem government and society at large to Buddhist protests.