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Self-Immolation of Thich Quang Duc
The 11th of June, 1963, will always be remembered as the day the seventy-three-year-old Buddhist monk, named Thich Quang Duc, sacrificed himself in the center of the congested street in Saigon, Vietnam. The Vietnamese Buddhist community viewed Thich Quang Duc as a brave martyr, while the South Vietnamese and America judged his protest as an immoral suicide.
Two Buddhist monks assisted Quang Duc by pouring gasoline over him and his robe. ... Quang Duc then lit a match, engulfing himself in flames. ... Quang Duc looked as though he was experiencing no pain at all. ... Smoke and fire still came from Quang Duc as he was burning away.
“During those endless minutes while the flames leaped up the robes of Quang Duc, obscuring his face, and during the slow fall of the charred body from its upright position, a young bonze with a microphone called out over and over again in Vietnamese and English, ‘A Buddhist priest burns himself to death. ...
When the fire had gone out, two monks helped carry Quang Duc away to give him a proper funeral. “After his funeral, where his remains were finally reduced to ashes, Quang Ducs heart, which had not burned, was retrieved, enshrined, and treated as a sacred relic (Schecter 1967: 179)” (Tang). ... Quang Duc was the most famous due to the graphic pictures taken by Malcolm Browne. ... From the picture of him getting soaked in gasoline, to the picture of him completely charred lying in the street, these pictures are known as the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc.
Some Americans view Quang Duc as someone who only committed suicide.
Approximate Word count = 1376
Approximate Pages = 5.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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