Cao Dai is a syncretist, monotheistic religion, officially established in Tây Ninh, southern Vietnam, in 1926.
Estimates of the number of Cao Dai adherents in Vietnam vary, but most sources give two to three million. Some estimates are as high as eight million adherents in Vietnam. An additional 30,000 (primarily ethnic Vietnamese) live in the United States, Europe, and Australia.
Caodaists credit God as the religion’s founder. They believe the teachings, symbolism and organization were communicated directly from God, which is symbolized by an eye.
Its pantheon of saints includes such diverse figures as the Buddha, Confucius, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Pericles, Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo, and Sun Yat-sen.
Picture shows Sun Yat-sen, Victor Hugo and Nguyn Bnh Khiêm (a Vietnamese poet considered a saint by Caodaists) signing a covenant between God and humanity:
