Thích Huyền Quang

Thích Huyền Quang
Religion	Thiền (Zen) Buddhism
School	Lâm Tế (Linji Chan School)
Personal
Nationality	Vietnamese
Born	19 September 1919 Bình Định Province, Vietnam, French Indochina
Died	5 July 2008 (aged 88) Hồ Chí Minh City, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Senior posting
Title	Tăng Thống (Patriarch)

Thích Huyền Quang (19 September 1919 – 5 July 2008^[1]) was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, dissident and activist. At the time, he was the Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, a currently banned organisation in his homeland. He was notable for his activism for human and religious rights in Vietnam.

In 1977, Quang wrote a letter to then-Prime Minister Phạm Văn Đồng detailing counts of oppression by the communist regime. For this, he and five other senior monks were arrested and detained.^[1] In 1982, he was arrested and put on permanent house arrest for opposition to governmental policy after publicly denouncing the establishment of the state-controlled Vietnam Buddhist Church.^[2]

In 2002, he was awarded the Homo Homini Award for his human rights activism by the Czech group People in Need, which he shared with Thích Quảng Độ and Father Nguyễn Văn Lý.^[3]

Death

Quang died peacefully on 5 July 2008, aged 88, at his monastery.^[4][5][6][7] His funeral was held on Friday, 11 July 2008 without incident.^[8]

References

1. Vietnamese Federation For Fatherland's Integrity
2. International Herald Tribune article: "Dissident patriarch of Vietnam Buddhist group dies"
3. "Previous Recipients of the Homo Homini Award". People in Need. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
4. Google News via AFP
5. Dissident Vietnamese monk dies in Vietnam
6. Star Tribune article: "Patriarch of banned Vietnamese Buddhist church dies after years under house arrest"
7. BBC News (2008-07-11). "Vietnamese dissident laid to rest". Retrieved 2008-07-20.
8. Sahil Nagpal (2008-07-11). "Banned Vietnamese monk's funeral held without incident". Retrieved 2008-07-12.

External links

• The Times obituary for Thích Huyền Quang