Nhất Chi Mai
Encyclopedia
Nhất Chi Mai born Phan Thị Mai and legally named Thích nữ Diệu Huỳnh, is best known as a female Buddhist who burned herself in an act of self-immolation in Saigon on May 16, 1967 in protest of the Vietnam War
.
. Along with Sister Chan Khong she was one of the first six lay people ordained in Nhat Hanh's Buddhist order, the Order of Interbeing
in February 1966.
's Ngô Đình Diệm administration. Photos of his self-immolation, taken by Malcolm Browne
, were widely circled internationally, and brought attention to the policies of the Diệm regime.
On March 16, 1965 Alice Herz
, an 82 year old pacifist, immolated herself on a Detroit street corner in protest of the Vietnam War. A man and his boys put out the flames, but she died of her wounds ten days later. Herz remarked that she had used all the protest methods available to activists: marching, protesting, writing articles, letters. She believed there was nothing else left for her to do.
On November 2, 1965, Norman Morrison
, a Baltimore Quaker, doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
's Pentagon office.
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Life
She was born on February 20, 1934 in the Thai Hiep Thanh commune in the province of Tay Ninh. In 1956 she graduated from the National Teacher's School. In 1964 she graduated from the University of Saigon Faculty of Letters, and in 1966 she graduated from the Truong Van Hanh Buddhist College. She became an elementary school teacher at Tan Dinh in Saigon after graduation. While in Saigon, she actively participated in the group "Youth Serving Society" and taught within various orphanages. During this time she was a student of Thich Nhat Hanh and was deeply influenced by his vision of Engaged BuddhismEngaged Buddhism
Engaged Buddhism refers to Buddhists who are seeking ways to apply the insights from meditation practice and dharma teachings to situations of social, political, environmental, and economic suffering and injustice...
. Along with Sister Chan Khong she was one of the first six lay people ordained in Nhat Hanh's Buddhist order, the Order of Interbeing
Order of Interbeing
The Order of Interbeing, or Tiếp Hiện in Vietnamese, was founded between 1964 and 1966 by Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Tiếp means "being in touch with" and "continuing." Hiện means "realizing" and "making it here and now." "Interbeing" is a word coined by Thich Nhat Hanh to represent...
in February 1966.
Preceding immolations
On June 11, 1963 Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection. Duc was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by South VietnamSouth Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
's Ngô Đình Diệm administration. Photos of his self-immolation, taken by Malcolm Browne
Malcolm Browne
Malcolm Wilde Browne is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and photographer. His best known work is the award-winning photograph of the self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức in 1963.- Early life :...
, were widely circled internationally, and brought attention to the policies of the Diệm regime.
On March 16, 1965 Alice Herz
Alice Herz
Alice Herz was the first activist in the United States known to have immolated herself in protest of the escalating Vietnam War, following the example of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức who immolated himself in protest of the alleged oppression of Buddhists under the South Vietnamese government. ...
, an 82 year old pacifist, immolated herself on a Detroit street corner in protest of the Vietnam War. A man and his boys put out the flames, but she died of her wounds ten days later. Herz remarked that she had used all the protest methods available to activists: marching, protesting, writing articles, letters. She believed there was nothing else left for her to do.
On November 2, 1965, Norman Morrison
Norman Morrison
Norman Morrison , born in Erie, Pennsylvania, was a Baltimore Quaker best known for committing suicide at age 31 in an act of self-immolation to protest United States involvement in the Vietnam War....
, a Baltimore Quaker, doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara
Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War...
's Pentagon office.
Political suicide
On May 16, 1967 at 7:20 a.m., in District 10 of Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City in front of the Tu Nghiem Pagoda, Nhat Chi Mai lit herself on fire using a petrol accelerant. She was 33 years old when she died from her burns. Prior to her self-immolation she wrote ten messages outlining her anti-war beliefs and calling for an end to the Vietnam War.Further reading
- Chan Khong, Sister. (2007). Learning True Love. Berkeley: Parallax Press. See especially chapter 8, "Sister Mai," pp. 163–183.
- Nhat Hanh, Thich. (1993). "The Path of the Return Continues the Journey" in Love in Action: Writings on Nonviolent Social Change. Berkeley: Parallax Press. pp. 12–37.
- Nhat Hanh, Thich & Daniel Berrigan. (2001). The Raft is not the Shore. Maryknoll (NY): Orbis Books. Especially the chapter on self immolation pp. 63–73.