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THE 4TH 2025 WORLD SANGSAENG FORUM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

THE 4TH 2025 WORLD SANGSAENG FORUM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Updated 2025-11-04 08:54:45

(Seoul, October 26, 2025 – Report and photos by Thanh Trieu and Thien An)

The 4th 2025 World Sangseang Forum International Conference, organized by the Daesoon Academy of Sciences (DAOS) of Daejin University, South Korea, took place on October 24-25, 2025 at the university.

This conference attracted over 100 scholars and researchers from 18 countries who participated, presented, and shared academic research related to sociology and religious studies. Among them were renowned scholars such as:

1. Professor Eileen Barker – London School of Economics

2. Professor Massimo Introvigne – Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), Italy

3. Professor J. Gordon Melton – Baylor University, USA

4. Professor Livia Kohn – Boston University, USA

5. Professor Bernadette Rigal-Cellard – Bordeaux Montaigne University, France

6. Professor Susan J. Palmer – McGill University, Canada

7. Professor Rosita Soryte – European Association for Freedom of Religion, Lithuania

8. Professor Fiona Hsin-Fang Chang, Vice President of the Academy of Spiritual Studies, Taiwan

9. Professor Christopher Hartney, Head of the Department of Religion, Faculty of Humanities, University of Sydney, Australia.

10. Professor Edward Irons, University of Hong Kong, specializing in Culture, Commerce, and Religion

11. Professor Hiromi Yano, Oomoto Religion, Japan

12. Professor Lee Gyungwon, Daejin University, Korea

13. Professor Eileen Barker, London School of Economics, United Kingdom

14. Professor Holly Folk, Western Washington University, USA

Professor Bae Kyuhan, Director of the Daesoon Jinrihoe Institute for Thought Research, and Head of the Conference Organizing Committee, specially invited Rev. Thượng Cảnh Thanh (Tran Quang Canh) as an honored guest, and also invited several Cao Dai dignitaries and followers to participate in the Conference, including:

-Deaconess Hương Thoàn (Vo Kim Thoan)

-Deaconess Hương Phượng (Phan Ho Ngoc Phuong)

-Deaconess Hương Hường (Le Thi Huong)

-Deaconess Hương Trừ (Le Thi Tru)

-Sub-Dignitary Nguyen Tan Tao

-Sub-Dignitary Nguyen Thi Kim Chau

-Adept Ly Thanh Trieu

-Adept Pham Lam Thien An

In addition, representatives from other East Asian new religious movements such as: Weixin Shengjiao of Taiwan, WURI Holy Mother Palace of Taipei, and Oomoto of Japan also participated in the interfaith discussion session with Cao Dai and Daesoon Jinrihoe followers. This discussion aims to enhance understanding of the history, doctrines, and practices of each religion, particularly through interfaith exchanges such as visiting programs or youth exchange programs (such as the SangSaeng Day Summer Camp at Daesoon Jinrihoe or at the Oomoto Church), or programs involving attending presentations on East Asian new religions at universities in the United States such as Kansas State University, University of the West in California, University of Missouri, USA, University of Vienna, Austria, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, etc.

In total, there were 64 presentations at the Conference, of which four papers focused on Caodaism:

1. Professor Christopher Hartney – University of Sydney, Australia – Presented a paper entitled: “Ways of moving through Heaven: Pilgrimage and Gateway technology in the Caodaist perception of the Heavens”.

2. Associate Professor Dinh Hong Hai – Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam, presented the paper: “The fusion of Maitreya and Messiah symbols in East Asian New Religions: An examination of Daesoon Jinrihoe in Korea and Caodaism in Vietnam”

3. Professor Nguyen Nam – Fulbright University Vietnam – with the paper: “Presence and Plurality: Mindfulness, Caodaism, and the Work of Reconciliation in postwar East Asia”

4. PhD Candidate Nguyen Tuan Em – National Chengchi University, Taiwan – with the paper: “The Buddhist Components of Caodaism and Their Reorientation”

Invited to speak at the opening ceremony of the Conference, Venerable Thuong Canh Thanh gave a brief welcoming address to the entire conference as follows:

“As members of the Cao Dai community, we also wish to learn about other religious traditions and listen to the insightful presentations of distinguished scholars. I believe that this conference is not only a place to present academic works but also a forum for religious exchange, mutual understanding, and harmonious cooperation.”

After the conference concluded, the Organizing Committee guided participants on a field trip to learn about the headquarters (Yeoju) of the Daesoon Jinrihoe and the National Museum of Korea.

It can be said that the Sangseang Conference, organized by the Daos Institute for the Study of the Great Truth (DAOS) at Daejin University, South Korea, is increasingly becoming a prestigious academic forum, attracting a growing number of scholars worldwide, creating a new research movement with a Sangseang (Mutual Existence) orientation in the context of a society facing many challenges of modernization and technological advancement.

In particular, with this Conference, Caodaism has successfully taken a significant step forward: the Conference program included a separate section on Caodaism, with four scholars presenting papers, and most importantly, everyone in the conference all knew about Caodaism in Vietnam and everyone wished to visit the Tay Ninh Holy See. In the future, many more international conferences will want to invite Caodaism to participate, and a prime example is the CESNUR organization, which has already extended an invitation to participate in the CESNUR Conference on October 10, 2026, at Weixin Shengjiao in Taiwan.

Below are some images from the Conference.