Đạo Hòa Hảo (Vietnamese: [ɗâːwˀ hwàː hâːw] , Chữ Hán: 道和好), also Hoahaoism, is a quasi-Buddhist religion, founded in 1939 by Huỳnh Phú Sổ (popularly called Phật thầy, "Buddha Master" in Vietnamese), a native of the Mekong River Delta region of southern Vietnam. Adherents consider Sổ to be a prophet, and Hòa Hảo a continuation of a 19th-century Buddhist ministry known as Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương (Sino-Vietnamese: 寶山奇香). The founders of these traditions are regarded by Hòa Hảo followers as living Buddhas—destined to save mankind from suffering and to protect the Vietnamese nation. Hòa Hảo claims approximately ten million followers throughout Vietnam; in some provinces near its delta birthplace, as many as 90 percent of the population practice this tradition. An important characteristic of this mov