Phan Xich Long - Aftermath and Legacy

Aftermath and Legacy

The damage inflicted on Long's organisation led many of his followers to disperse and join a group that has now developed into the Cao Dai politico-religious sect based in Tay Ninh. Nevertheless, Long's uprising was significant because of its abnormal roots. It was the first uprising led by a self-styled religious leader whose support base came about due to man-made discontent. Prior to Long, peasant uprisings with religious themes had always been preceded by floods, outbreaks of disease, famine, crop failure or other natural phenomena, as sections of the rural populace attributed such disasters to the wrath of the heavens and sought help from leaders who purported to have supernatural powers.

Long's demise did not end the sequence of self-proclaimed mystics who raised armies and engaged in politics. During the interwar period, a sorcerer named Chem Keo claimed to be Long's reincarnation. During World War II, Huynh Phu So claimed to be a living Buddha and quickly gathered more than a million supporters. He raised a large peasant army and battled both the French and the communist Vietminh independence movement, before being killed by the latter. In another case in 1939, a Taoist attempted to demonstrate that he was immune to French bullets. Furthermore, in the years immediately after World War II, the Cao Dai's numbers swelled to 1.5 million.