Ngo Minh Chieu [1878-1932] was a mandarin out of place. He was born into a family that had been a part of the literati - his grandfather had served at the imperial court at Hue in high Confucian tradition, but the family fled the chaos brought about by the French. After this escape the family fell on hard times. Ngo Minh Chieu was well educated and would have been able to pass the hellish entrance exams that regulated admission to the Vietnamese civil service. If things had have been otherwise, he may have upheld the highest ideals of Confucius. But instead of working for his Emperor and nation, he worked for the French, he studied at the prestigious Collège Chasseloup-Laubat and commenced his first appointment in 1899. It was all that a young person could do to support his family. While growing up, economic circumstances meant that he was required to live with his aunt. This woman was married to a wealthy Chinese herbalist. It has been suggested that this man encouraged the young boy's fascination with Taoist-based mediumship. With this sort of background and a mastery of French, Ngo Minh Chieu was able to read the works of French Spiritists, including the medium Flammarion, possibly as early as 1902. It has been said that he also read the works of Alan Kardec, Leon Denis and the writings of the then President of the Theosophical Society, Annie Besant. His after-work activities included attendance upon the spirit voices summoned by spirit mediums in the Taoist-Shamanistic tradition. Sometimes these trance sessions were conducted by women, or sometimes by young children who were prized for their spiritual innocence. Mediums would reveal the voices of spirits, or the Cau Co or 'spirit pen' would be raised to heaven and from its tip, the ink would reveal heaven's will. Ngo Minh Chieu's enthusiasm for spiritism increased as he sought at first remedies, and later solace, for his dying mother. During these communications, he was put in contact with traditional Chinese deities including the great red-face demon slayer Guan di Gong. In time these spirits introduced him to an extremely authoritative voice, one which would only reveal itself through the mystical name Cao Dai Tien Ong Dai Bo Tat Ma-Ha-Tat. Finally his spiritual journey reached a high point when, on the island of Phu Quoc, which was a part of the jurisdiction he was administering, the Divine Eye (or Thien Nhan), was granted to him in a vision. Blagov dates this vision as occurring sometime during April 1921. From that point on, the spirit of Cao Dai began to dominate this humble administrator's life. In 1924 French authorities posted Ngo Minh Chieu back to Saigon and it was here that he started collecting disciples and developing methods by which he could worship Duc Cao Dai