Аннотация:Caodaism is a Vietnamese religious movement that appeared in colonial Cochinchina in the 1920s. What are the sociological roots of Caodaism? The author attempts to answer this question through an analysis of the Caodaist networks that developed in the early 20th century in Cochinchina. Setting out some ethnographic materials concerning the Chinese Minh religions, the author focuses on only one of the five Minh religions in Vietnam, called Minh Lý (“Enlightened Reason”). He sheds new light on the esoteric roots of Caodaism, on the political regulation of the religious sphere and, finally, on the religious and political map of Southern Vietnam.
