Huynh Fhu So was a Buddhist religious scholar who was a native of the Mekong river delta. His role in arousing the anti-imperialist sentiments : (i) Founder of Hoa Hao Movement: Huynh Phu was the founder of the Hoa Hao Movement which drew on religious ideas popular in the anti-French uprisings of the nineteenth century. (ii) Social reformer : He was a great social reformer as he opposed the sale of child brides, gambling, and the use of alcohol and opium. (iii) Struggle against foreign rule: Huynh Phu So faced a great deal of trouble when he began to spread his ideas of religion, because most of his followers were Vietnamese nationalists. The colonial government declared him mad, called him the Mad Bonze, and put him in a mental asylum. The French authorities exiled him to Laos, and sent many of his followers to concentration camps.