Hòa Hảo Buddhism (Vietnam)
Vietnamese Buddhist new religion founded by Huỳnh Phú Sổ (1939) emphasising lay practice, simplicity, and millenarian elements. Severely persecuted by Vietnamese state and historical political conflicts.
CLCI radar
BITE breakdown
0 — Vietnamese Buddhist new religion; mainstream-low CLCI.
Profile facts
In context
Hòa Hảo Buddhism emerged in 1939 Vietnam under Huỳnh Phú Sổ (the 'Mad Monk') as a reformist lay-Buddhist movement emphasising simplicity over institutional Buddhism. Sổ disappeared in 1947, presumed killed by the Viet Minh. The movement was historically a political-religious force in southern Vietnam. Day-to-day religious life is light; political and social tensions with the Vietnamese state continue.
Key control doctrines
- Huỳnh Phú Sổ's simplified lay Buddhism
- Millenarian / messianic expectations
Recovery resources
- ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association) — General referral and cult-aware therapist directory.
- INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) — LSE-founded UK research-based information service covering new religious movements.
- Freedom of Mind Resource Center — Steven Hassan's organisation; BITE-model resources and family-side exit guidance.
See the full curated list at /resources.
Legal cases & controversies
- Vietnamese state suppression / restriction of Hòa Hảo organisations
This profile is in progress — history, deeper BITE evidence and survivor voices are still being added. Contributions welcome via GitHub.
Timeline
- 1939Huỳnh Phú Sổ founds the movement
- 1947Sổ disappears
- 1975Vietnamese state takeover of religious institutions
Sources
We cite sources by name and outlet rather than fabricating links. Where a source includes its own URL, the open ↗ link opens it directly; otherwise search ↗ runs a Google Scholar query for the cited title — useful for verifying academic sources. For news outlets, search the outlet's own archive.
Change history
Substantive edits logged per the score-updates policy.
- 2026-05-29Phase 1 Batch J: per-group recovery resources applied via programmatic palette (closest-fit by category + subCategory + score). Palette: Mainstream-comparator lighter.
- 2026-05-20Source-density flags derived from existing free-text sources[]: academic sources. Heuristic auto-flag; subsequent editorial pass will populate structuredSources[] with reliability tiers.
- 2026-05-20Score band scheme migrated from 4 bands to 5 (Minimal 0–5 / Low 6–12 / Moderate 13–20 / High 21–30 / Extreme 31–40). No CLCI value changed; the new Minimal band was carved out of the bottom of the previous Low band.
Key terms in this profile
Relevant hubs
Curated entry points on CLCI Hub for situations connected to this group.
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We accept correction requests from anyone — current and former members, researchers, journalists, family members, and the listed organisation. Submissions are reviewed by an editor; we do not auto-publish.