Thick Tri Quang is emerging as South Viet Nam's top Buddhist leader.

--TIME. Dec. 11, 1964

THUS, in a cover story on Buddhism 16 months ago, did the editors appraise the little-known, shadowy figure who last week emerged--big. That earlier story, "Buddha on the Barricades," examined the faith and its activist-passivist syndrome and warned that it is a force to be reckoned with. With the reckoning now nearer at hand, Tri Quang became the cover this week.

Telling the complex story of Viet Nam is an every-issue matter with TIME. And, since the climactic fall of the Diem regime in November 1963, the story has required cover treatment no fewer than 16 times.* The team of correspondents who did this week's on-the-spot reporting is unmatched for its expertise, including as it did Hong Kong Bureau Chief Frank McCulloch, who has been covering the war for 2 1/2 years, and James Wilde, an old Viet Nam hand, as well as seasoned reporters Donald Neff, William McWhirter, Zalin Grant, Than Trong Hue and Robin Mannock. Working with their files from Saigon and others from the Tokyo and Washington bureaus, Writer Jason McManus brought his own knowledgeableness to the story: he has written in addition to many of our week-to-week stories on Viet Nam, five of the cover stories, including the 1964 study of Buddhism.

Perhaps the most fascinating confrontation for this week's cover story was the meeting of correspondent and cover subject. "Why do you shave your head?" Tri Quang asked, staring at Frank McCulloch's gleaming pate. Frank said he looked worse with hair. Tri Quang marveled at Frank's close shave and inquired: "Doesn't it hurt you?" The monk drew out an electric razor and said with a smile: "I use this, but it doesn't give a very close shave." Then Tri Quang fixed McCulloch with a thoughtful stare and concluded the preliminaries with an observation that gave the correspondent cause to meditate: "Mr. McCulloch, you ought to wear a monk's robe. It would suit you."

*The others: General Duong Van Minh (Nov. 8, 1963), Prince Sihanouk (April 3, 1964), Henry Cabot Lodge (May 15, 1964), Nguyen Khanh (Aug. 7, 1964), Admiral Ulysses S. Grant Sharp Jr. (Aug. 14, 1964), General William Westmoreland (Feb. 19, 1965), the U.S. Fighting Man (April 23, 1965), Ho Chi Minh (July 16, 1965), the Military Buildup (Oct. 22, 1965), General Harold K. Johnson (Dec. 10, 1965), Man of the Year Westmoreland (Jan. 7, 1966), the U.S. Peace Offensive (Jan. 14, 1966), Dean Rusk (Feb. 4, 1966), Premier Nguyen Cao Ky (Feb. 18, 1966).

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