Brief overview on Vietnamese folk religion and its influence on other religions in Vietnam By Timo Schmitz, Philosopher

Transcription

1 Brief overview on Vietnamese folk religion and its influence on other religions in Vietnam By Timo Schmitz, Philosopher Vietnamese folk religion is very close to Chinese folk religion, as Vietnam was influenced by China and also was part of China several times in history. In addition, the northern parts of Vietnam are still Chinese-speaking nowadays. However, they speak Cantonese dialects and Mandarin is rather learnt in schools or studied in universities, thus only optional. Just like in China, there is not only one religion, but there are many local religions. Thus the term folk religion just serves as an umbrella term, and might be partly used as classification as an ethnic religious cluster, since it is not widespread in other countries, and in other countries where it is spread, it can be mainly found by one ethnicity (sometimes residing in several countries) or several ethnicities from one country. The Chinese, as well as the Vietnamese folk religion in its term can be easily compared to Hinduism, which also fulfills the above mentioned criteria, as it is just used as an umbrella term for different local traditions among different ethnic groups in one country that probably share the same root and also share a canonical tradition. However, this comparison is just useful for formal conditions (many local beliefs that go back on shared scripture), but in its content, it is not comparable. Indeed, Hinduism and Taoism have several similarities, such as their involvement of yoga in sexuality, however, Chinese folk religion definetly has a lot of differences. In addition, Chinese folk religion is often mixed up with Confucianism, which is not totally wrong, but also not totally correct. Confucianism itself is mainly a strict system of values, with heavenly emphasis. However, the ritual tradition is mainly added from folk religion as well as the pantheon, and thus both are joined. Vietnamese folk religion is also stressed a lot by Confucianism, and thus it is often seen as Vietnamese-styled Confucianism, which in fact is not completly correct. Several Vietnamese traditional religions are famous as own religions since they became formalised or are widespread in a common consent in more than just a local area. The most famous example is probably Cao Đài, known as Caodaism in English. It is a joined religion of the three religions of China (Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism) with Vietnamese mythological features. In Caodaism, Cao Đài is the God, who shares Christian attributes like being almighty and acts according to its will. However, at the same time, one should be careful to call it Christian-borrowed, since Confucianism also knows the divine will.

2 religions in Vietnam -2- Anyways, we can call Cao Đài Christian-influenced. Caodaism took the threefold revelation of Buddhism. In Buddhism, it is reported that there are three stages of the revelation: the Earliest (through Dipankara Buddha), the Recent (by Gautama Buddha), and the One to Come (by Maitreya who will become a buddha). In addition, Laozi and Confucius are emphasised as important sages who have received divine power. Caodaism was formally established in the 1920s, and thus also venerates prominent people that can not be found traditionally in East Asian belief, such as Jesus, Lenin and Shakespeare (Hoskins, 2015, pp ). Caodaism is hierarchical and also incorporates the principle of yin and yang, where the creator is seen to be male, and the mother of humanity is female. Hoskins argues that Caodai religious teachings provided a response to these Orientalist binaries, initially through a simple inversion of their terms, in which the Taoist Jade Emperor was recognized as the Supreme Being who had sent all other religious teachers (Buddha, Confucius and Lao Tse), and was also the father of Jesus. Through the image of the Left Eye of God, Caodaism created a masculine monotheism, activist and dynamic, which would absorb Christian teachings into a more encompassing Asian pantheon, and within which the Vietnamese people would be given the spiritual mission to spread this message and unite the nation. The radicalism of this religious vision was initially played down in presentations of its doctrine in French, where the symbolism of the left eye as yang (dương) --- forceful, positive and expansive---was not revealed. Instead, messages to the French government stressed the concern of elite groups that traditional values had become corrupted, and a return to moral standards was in order. (Hoskins, 2012, p. 3). An old branch of Vietnamese folk religion is Đạo Mẫu, which comes from Chinese Dao Mu ( 道母 ), meaning the Mother of the Way. It refers to the Mother Goddesses in Vietnamese belief (Vu, 2006), and it is believed to have its roots in prehistory when the Vietnamese worshipped the spirits of nature (Vu, 2006, p. 27). Vu also adds that It is possible that the concept of the Mother Goddess came to encompass the many different spirits of nature becoming one spirit manifesting itself in many different forms or deities (ibid.). Although Hoskins and Vu point out the emphasis that nationalism and national identity had in folk religion, I doubt that folk religion primarily serves this political cause. Vietnamese folk religion goes back to shamanic traditions. Later, they had to compete with foreign religions, that came from China to Vietnam. Later on, folk religion also had to compete with Christian missionaries during the colonial era. Thus, it might be no surprise that nationalist tendencies found their way when several branches were formalised or new religious movements (such as Caodaism, as mentioned above) that are based on folk belief were founded. However, the

3 religions in Vietnam -3- formalisation that I mention above does not refer to written traditions, as folk religion is mainly transmitted orally or through mythology, but several distinct branches of folk religion were founded and share a lot in common thus formalised (in comparison to the village traditions that were taught orally from family to family and temple to temple, thus unformalised ). Vietnam was mainly Chinese in history, but they also had own dynasties which led to the creation of the Vietnamese identity. Of course, the own local religions were connected with this identity, while the religions that came through China were regarded as foreign. At the same time, Vietnamese used Chinese characters for a long period, adopted the Confucian moral system and kept it at least to a certain degree, and Chinese Buddhism in a Vietnamese version is even the most spread organised religion in Vietnam today. Do (2003) points out four classifications of gods in Vietnamese belief: the nature spirits, the guardian spirits, various court-like assemblies, and deities of other ethnic groups (such as the Khmer). The guradian spirits are comparable to Confucianism, and venerates heroes and political figures, while the court-like assemblies are rather Taoist and include immortals (tiên) and holy sages (thành), as well as hevenly imperial deities (p. 2). Do considers four distinct realms: đình the communal house of the village, chùa a private Buddhist or Taoist (or both) temple, mediumship (or trance possesion practise), and the practise of self-cultivation. He chose them arbitrarily to construct openings through which aspects of supernaturalism could be contemplated (ibid.). Ancestral worshipping, as known through Confucianism and shamanism and an alliance of both: Confucianism in its morality and piety, shamanism in the ritual practise is not only limited to the above mentioned, but essential in Vietnamese belief in general. Thus, Household altars offer a sacred space for remembering deceased relatives and paying homage to one s god. These altars, which may be arranged on a shelf or placed on top of a standing cabinet, are also places of formal religious worship. In many households, the religious iconography identifies the family s religious faith: a statue of Quan Am in a Buddhist household, the Virgin Mary in a Catholic one (Truitt, 2006). Some Buddhists also have a small altar hanging on their wall. It is shaped like a gate. The altar is dedicated to one s family, which is noted in a genealogy book (gia phả). This ritual comes from China, and is an important part of the ancestor worshipping ritual. If a woman marries, she moves to the husband s family, and thus might be noted in the husband s genealogy book, according to a Vietnamese believer to whom I talked. However, traditionally, only the men are noted in the family book, called zupu ( 族谱 ), after birth. Especially in Southern China (mainly Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Fujian), ancestral worshipping is

4 religions in Vietnam -4- present. The ancestors are said to be a medium to connect with the supreme power, which the Chinese call Shangdi or Heaven in Confucianism (for further details see Yao and Zhao, 2010, pp. 113 ff). There are temples dedicated to a deity of the same surname, and thus the founder of the kinship and the whole family-tree that goes back to that particuliar surname. In Vietnam, when an elder celebrates birthday, a sorcerer will pray in front of meat, probably pork. After the prayer, it is eaten together. The ritual is called mừng thọ, and might be translated with lonegevity celebration. Longevity celebration is very common in Vietnam and is conducted on the birthday s of people being seventy or elder. Voice of Vietnam states that: Organizing longevity celebration parties has become a tradition in many families and localities in Vietnam. The parties are different in different regions, but their significance is the same to show the society s and families respect for the elders (To Tuan, 2013). Despite the folk religion of the Kinh people, the group which is simply called Vietnamese in the West as they speak Vietnamese language natively, there are 54 minorities. They have their own religions. One ethnic group are the Zhuang, which are classified as Tay and Nung in Vietnam. The religion of the Zhuang is known as Zhuang Shigongism ( 壮族师公教, Zhungzu Shigongjiao) or simply Moism ( 摩教, Mojiao). The spirits in Moism are everywhere, in living and non-living-beings (suxh as flowers), in mountains and water really everywhere. There is a Supreme God, as well as the Flower Mother (who is the wife of the Supreme God and creator of human life). The name derives from the belief that she has a garden with golden and silver flowers. The golden flowers represent men, the silver flower represent women (see Li, 2012). There are good flowers and bad flowers, and thus people who live according to the rules receive good flowers, while the others receive bad flowers. Thus, moral values and their behavior are connected with the family s fate. One can conclude that in this way, the ancestors tried to make their following generation obeying. In addition, this concept shows societal classification, as men are compared to gold and women to silver, which gives women a lower rank by divine will in the religion (since gold is worthier), which hinders emancipation, since they have to accept their role given to them by Heaven. The Zhuang religion has three elements, and human-beings have three souls. The concept of elements might be a result of Taoism and the concept of souls also shares some similarities with Chinese folk religion. Same as in Chinese folk religion, there is a celestial soul that goes to heaven and a terrestrial soul that stays in the body (see Schmitz (2015) for the concept of

5 religions in Vietnam -5- Chinese religion). However, the Zhuang have a third soul that goes to the family of the deceased. It can be expected that the Nung in Vietnam and Laos have the same custom. However, from contact with natives I know that there are also a lot of Nung that do not believe in any god, but believe that once a person dies, the deceased has a new life in another world, thus the soul goes to the new world and life goes on. This principle strongly remembers me of samsara from Buddhism, however here it shows folk religion elements, as one does not necessarily need to be reborn in this world (to be strictly, even in Buddhism, one can be reborn in another world by being reborn in another realm), however, the belief in an underworld where life goes on also exists in folk religion where the soul gathers. There is also the belief that there is a ruler of the underworld, who is the Supreme Being in Nung religion. Also compare the Chinese concept in Schmitz (2015). Connection is kept to this world through the gate or altar, thus it also combines ancestral worshipping and Confucian elements. However, at the same time, since there is no deity as such, but morality is more important, it also shows atheist tendencies. The role of atheism in Vietnam should be explained later. The Nung people for instance don t celebrate their children s birthday. Instead, the children celebrate the parents birthday. The starting age is normally set at 50 (the Kinh normally choose 60 or 70). This festival equals the longevity celebration, as conducted in other areas of Vietnam. Voice of Vietnam states concerning the Nung longevity ritual: The children will take turns organizing a birthday celebrations for their parents. The married daughter has to return home to organize a birthday celebration for her father or mother at least once in her life. She will bring home offerings such as roasted pig, fruits, cakes, alcohol, and tea. All guests will bring gifts like rice, chicken, or pork, depending on their family s condition. The family invites a Tao shaman and a Then woman to host the celebration. The shaman s prayers and the Then woman s singing and musical performance can convey their messages to the genies and their ancestors (To Tuan, 2016). The reason behind this longevity celebration is the Nung belief that the first life span takes only 60 years. To be able to start the second life span, birthday celebrations have to be arranged. From this age, Nung children organize birthday celebrations annually to show their filial piety and happiness for their parents physical and spiritual health, mentions Doctor Nguyen Thi Ngan, Director of the Museum of Cultures of Vietnam s nationalities to Voice of Vietnam (To Tuan, 2016).

6 religions in Vietnam -6- So while the Zhuang in China belief in Moism, a religion heavily influenced by Chinese folk religion and Taoist elements, the Nung in Vietnam are more and more atheist, but keep celebrating several rituals and ancestor worshipping (as found in Chinese folk religion and Vietnamese folk religion), and seemingly even the respect towards spirits is kept up or at least the fear that something bad happens if the tradition is not kept up. But I think societal expectation also plays a certain role in the mixture of atheist and theist belief and at which point it is theist or not. Other Tai people in Thailand and Laos, however, continue having a strong belief in spirits, thus it is called the religion of the spirits (Sasna Phi). Note that although Nung are an ethnic group in Vietnam, they have thier own folk religion. However, Nung religion can be subsumed under the term folk religion, such as all religions of India s many different ethnic groups are simply subsumed as Hinduism. Anyways, if one does not separate the folk belief of the Kinh and of the Nung in terms, but uses the term Vietnamese folk religion as umbrella term, then Vietnamese in this sense refers to both, the Kinh living in Vietnam and other countries (most notably Cambodia) and all religions of ethnic groups living in Vietnam, including their religious practise conducted by migrants in other countries that came from Vietnam. Many people in Vietnam consider themselves to be atheist. So does the contact which explained me the rituals. The person confessed lacking profound knowledge of the meaning behind ceremonies and festivals, but also stressed attending family ceremonies, as well as visiting Buddhist pagodas regulary. Thus, it can be compared to people in the West, especially in Western and Central Europe, who are going to church when somebody married or died to join the ceremony, but deny God in the way proposed by the church or don t have a strong belief in religion. As a result, it can be said that Vietnamese religious ceremonies fulfill societal functions and are performed as social value. Thus, as in many countries, Buddhism is institutionalised and one goes to a ceremony because one has to, or believes in something because everyone does, not because one chose to believe in something deeply. Therefore, Vietnamese Buddhism can be compared very well with European Christianity. Even further, Vietnamese Buddhism developed into a religious tradition, incorporating Confucian and Taoist religious theology and rituals. Buddhism in its original sense is not a religion one follows because everyone does, but one chooses this religion for personal benefits, i.e. to attain enlightenment. This basic idea was revived in Western Buddhism, in Vietnamese lay Buddhist community, as far as people reported to me, it rather plays a secondary role. As far as I can judge it, the South Asian Buddhist theology, as can be found in Thailand and Laos, as well as in the canonical scripts of Buddhism as practised in Ancient India, plays no

7 religions in Vietnam -7- significant role in Vietnam. However, my personal judgment is not very reliable, as Buddhism in Vietnam varies a lot from area to area, as well as the folk belief traditions. As I never travelled to Vietnam, I can thus not give a final judgment, however, I tried to make conclusions on reports by questioning natives of different areas to understand in what they believe and which role religion has in their life. As a result, I dare to say that even many people who call themselves atheists, have a strong tendency for religious matters, mainly of Confucian origin, such as filial piety, and going to pagodas as societal appreciation. At the same time, as their believe in religion is limited due to their atheist attitude, they often do not really understand the meaning behind the celebrtions or show any interst in it. Anyways, Vietnam s atheists are mainly semi-secularised, as several believes in underworld concepts still appear, although judged more critically than by believers, who see in it the ultimate truth. Most Vietnamese believe in spirits and ghosts, even the non-religious, and ancestor worship is important because otherwise, their relatives will beocme hungry ghosts and haunt them. However, if they worship thier ancestors, they would be happy to remain in their realm and act as benevolent spirits for their progeny. But those who died alone and neglected, and to whom no worship was given, disturbed the dead and preyed on the living (Hue-Tam Ho Tai, 2008). Hue-Tam Ho Tai (2008) explains the range of religion in a very well example in the beginning: Religion governed life before birth, and well beyond the grave. Pregnant women were hemmed in by all sorts of taboos designed to protect them and their unborn child, and to shield others from the power unleashed by this burgeoning life. Expectant mothers were told to eat certain kinds of food and to avoid others, to refrain from doing various things at night, or going to certain places. If, when pregnant, the mother ate crabmeat, it was believed that the fetus would lie crosswise in her womb at the time of delivery. Eating oysters or snails would cause her child to drool. If she took part in a wedding or had herself photographed, her child would be charmless. Neither she nor her husband were to drive nails into their houses, or the birth of their child would be delayed indefinitely. Pregnant women were told to think happy thoughts, and, if possible, gaze at pictures of particularly good-looking children, so that their own child would be beautiful. On no account were they to give birth in someone else s home lest they pollute it beyond repair. They were not to cross fishermen s nets while these were being dyed, or they would bring them bad luck. The only way fishermen could counteract the curse put upon them by pregnant women would be to utter prayers that would cause the women to abort as soon as they reached home. This is one of the very few instances of illwishing towards children. In general, the arrival of a child was cause for great rejoicing.

8 religions in Vietnam -8- When an infant reached its first full month of life, a great feast was held to give thanks. Another feast was held when the child was one year old. On that occasion, its parents would try to guess its future. One can see that it does not need the belief in a certain deity or a certain religion. Just the knowledge, that possibly a power or a spirit can interact into fate if one is doing a certain thing, leads to a specific action. I assume that many of these rules were founded through (supposed) experiences done by people in the past. For instance, a person made bad experience with nails, or someone had a bad feeling after passing a fishing net. These experiences led to interpretation, whether rationally thought these reasons really have an impact or arouse of superstititous behavior (remember what Skinner found out, concerning this issue). This oral experiences were mixed with Confucian values and Taoist belief, and local Vietnamese deities and spirits were added as well to explain a certain way of behavior and ratify it as heavenly and given by divine will. However, Vietnamese folk belief does not only govern pre-birth and death rituals, but also a lot of rules that are important for the living. Most of them are of Taoist nature. Hue-Tam Ho Tai (2008) gives an example: Between birth and death, daily life was regulated by the determination of auspicious dates. Some inherently inauspicious ones were noted on the regular calendar, and applied to all. For example, no one would dream of doing anything of importance on the 5th, the 14th, or the 23rd of the lunar month. If one did think of embarking on a new venture, be it building a house, embarking on a journey, or starting a new business, then it would not be enough to avoid these unlucky dates. However, Vietnam also has a lot of true Buddhists. Many of them practise Zen Buddhism, known as Thiền in Vietnam. But there are also other Mahayana traditions such as Yogacara schools which are very prominent. Even these pure Buddhist teachings might incorporate Taoist and Confucian elements, such as in the Trúc Lâm school. The difference between real Buddhism, and mixtures with Buddhism are not easy to differentiate. The main difference might be that the real Buddhists, emphasise more on Buddhist teaching and try to attain enlightenment. The popular believers however, take parts of the Buddhist teaching and incorporate them into the traditional Vietnamese worldview. Many, many hours of meditation to attain enlightenment can only be found by the real Buddhists. The term real or pure Buddhists shall not indicate that the others are no true Buddhists. The term just shall emphasise that the first group is more closely linked to Buddhism in its original sense, while the latter one just uses it as a daily means of wisdom.

9 religions in Vietnam -9- The impact of folk religion on the other religions is enormous. Even Vietnamese Christians first take the coffin of the deceased in a temple, where they stay for at least two days and come together to eat and play music. It rather reminds of a big celebration party than obsequies in the West, where silence and mourning is common. The music played on the streets shall inform the underworld that someone new is joining them, the relatives stay in the temple, so that the deceased knows he is not alone while the soul is going to the underworld. Just thereafter, the coffin is brought to a church where a Christian ceremony is held. The funeral service now changes into bitter mourning. In addition, even the priests use inscent sticks, such as used in Buddhist temples. Also the way they are placed is highly Buddhist influenced or completely Buddhist, which shows how important the Buddhist structure is served together with folk belief (for the ceremony itself, see Hue and Buckley (2008)). I often point out that in many parts of the world, people believe in several religions at the same time. Here one can see that Christianity and folk religion come together, and probably also Buddhist prominent figures might be included (though the latter is just assumed by me, as watching the video tape). The belief in an underworld is adapted from folk religion, as mentioned before, but it is also compatible with the Christian concept of Heaven. Even further, Caodaism, which was introduced above, is a syncrisis of the multi-belief structure into a single new religion, also coorperating elements of modernity. Here one can see how deeply folk religion influenced the other beliefs. In traditional belief, many mythological and historical emperors, political figures and deities are worshipped, and thus Caodaism might be a modernisation of this old ritual by incorporating modern people who changed the world and thus are worthy. However, this concept of venerating sage people comes from Confucianism and Taoism. The same goes to the idea that people might be immortal after death, which means that they did not die at all and are still present among us, which comes from Taoism and is believed in almost all religions practised in Vietnam. Even many Christians adopted that view, as can be seen in Hue and Buckley (2008). Folk religion at the same time also serves as collective consciousness in Vietnam, where supposed or alleged experiences, traditional interpretations of phenomena, etc. are brought together. A question that cannot be finally answered seems to be whether folk religion is outdated and hinders science or whether folk religion might be useful to push forward development. As one can see, science led to an atheist tendeny of uncertainty, showing that many people tend to get rid off things that sound like myths and stories, but at the same time they fear spirits and ghosts. In fact, it shows they probably think that certain mechanisms are

10 religions in Vietnam -10- inexistent, but don t want to rely on it, by fearing the revenge of the spirits if not keeping up the old order. The traditional belief of spirits is kept up in Buddhism, where gods and spirits also exist in different realms. At the same time, folk religion makes Buddhism in a certain kind montheistic. As there is a Supreme Power in Taoism and Confucianism, as well as in folk religion, Buddhism takes Guanyin as highest principle, since all buddhas and bodhisattvas are like a mirror, thus all represented within Guanyin. As the Vietnamese believe that all spirits are within Dao Mau and Dao Mau is represented in all spirits, one can see a parallel. Here, a compatibility of Buddhism and folk religion can be found, through Guanyin s mirror like manifestation that also exists in Dao Mau (all exists in one, one exists in all). For this reason, Pure Land Buddhism is very popular in Vietnam, as it comes most closely to the Heaven conception. In addition, Buddhism encourages gender equality and education. Despite the fact that folk religion influenced the bigger religions, the bigger religions also strongly influenced folk religion. Vietnamese folk religion for instance adopted the Taoist panthon next to its own, it also featured the Confucian tradition of sage emperors, although the Vietnamese took their own ones, such as Âu Cơ, the mother of the Vietnamese people. At the same time, many Chinese sages were adopted and the Jade Emperor also plays an enormous role in local Vietnamese belief. Therefore, it might be possible that folk religion develops to a further stage, such as the let me simply call them superstitious atheists (no negative connotation intended) do. They embrace science, but also keep up the old traditions. However, they see the belief more criticallly, then those who are adherents. As a result, maybe new religious movements (such as Caodaism in the past) might arise in the future to address the needs and development of the 21 st century. The traditional belief as such is not bad, since it gives people an identity, and keeps the society together. However, it has to be carefully observed that folk religion is practised moderate and no religious fanatism arises or hinders the progress of society.

11 religions in Vietnam -11- Literature: Do, Thien: Vietnamese Supernaturalism Views from the southern region, Routledge: New York, 2003 Hoskins, Janet Alison: God s Chosen People Race, Religion and Anti-Colonial Struggle in French Indochina, Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore, 2012 Hoskins, Janet Alison: The Divine Eye and the Diaspora Vietnamese Syncretism Becomes Transpacific Caodaism, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2015 Hue, Cathy (Prod./ Corresp.); Buckley, Christine (Corresp.): Vietnam Funeral Crashers, Current TV, 28 July 2008, (retrieved on 9 September 2016) Hue-Tam Ho Tai: Religion in Vietnam: A World of Gods and Spirits, Asia Society, 20 August 2008, retrieved on 8 September 2016 Li Jingfeng: Das Epos der Zhuang-Nationalität in China Genese, Überlieferung und Religion, Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Philosophischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Bonn, 2012 (Download: Schmitz, Timo: The traditional Chinese worldview on cosmological principles and the role of human-beings and beyond, self-published online article, 5 November 2015 (Download: To Tuan: Longevity celebration and the beauty of Vietnamese culture, Voice of Vietnam, 1 March 2013, Vietnamese-culture/ vov (retrieved on 9 September 2016)

12 religions in Vietnam -12- To Tuan: Nung s birthday celebrations demonstrate filial piety, Voice of Vietnam, 23 August 2016, (retrieved on 10 September 2016) Truitt, Allison: Offerings to Kings and Buddha: Vietnamese Ritual Activities at Chua Bo De, New Populations Project, 2006, (retrieved on 8 September 2016) Vu, Tu Anh: Worshipping the Mother Goddess: The Dao Mao movement in Northern Vietnam, in: Explorations in Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 6 No.1, 2006, pp Yao, Xinzhong; Zhao, Yanxia: Chinese Religion A Contextual Approach, London/ New York: Continuum, 2010 Timo Schmitz. Published on 10 September Suggestion for citation: Schmitz, Timo: Brief overview on Vietnamese folk religion and its influence on other religions in Vietnam, 10 September 2016,