POPULAR BELIEFS

Popular beliefs and traditional religions in Vietnam, on the surface structure are different forms of worship. They are, in the deep structure, the various worship practices of polytheism, however. A pilgrim or even a profound scholar who visited a temple or a pagoda would not recognize this characteristic.. Only could those who used to observe with their own eyes the common daily activities in the religious life of the people notice it. Social integration is entwined in many ways with religious practices. Hence, a feeling of admiration or a show of veneration is always an expression of compassion or gratitude. Likewise, a gesture, a response, or an attitude also suggests a meaning characteristic of the Vietnamese.

Social ethical conduct, to a greater extent, is the reflection of the moral behavior of filial piety. A good son in the family is a good villager in the community. Respect to the elder, for instance, is an obligation. Those who are socially and politically successful must nor only demonstrate the best qualities of leadership but also show themselves to deserve popular respect. Traditionally, they must behave themselves, live virtuously, worship the gods properly, and protect their villages and families from harm. In other words, they must be obedient and effective to conduct the family and public affairs in conformity the moral and religious unwritten obligations. required of them. Worship practices must be accompanied with rites and rituals, particularly when they are dedicated to Heaven and Earth, the geniuses, the deities, and the national heroes and heroines, and great men and women, and the ancestors in the anniversaries, ceremonies, celebrations, and festivals. (Light at the End of the Tunnel. Edited by Andrew J. Rotter. Scholarly Resources Inc., 1999: XIII)

 

The Cult of the Ancestors

 

Filial Piety

The Vietnamese family is a cell, thereby, it remains the matrix of all other inter-subjective relations between the members in the family. Other than this social and cultural coloration, it also bears a religious character. That is, it represents the tangible bonds of filial lineage. It is the epicenter of veneration of the offspring towards the ancestors. It lays the foundation of the nucleus family and assures of it the tangible continuity of the family. It is not simply an abstract notion of belief. It is a way of life and is morally and spiritually incorporated in hieu, the practices of filial piety.

The practices of hieu are expressed not only in the behavior of the children towards the parents but also in the veneration of the offspring to the ancestors. Hieu is the bond that binds the living members and the living and the dead together. It is in essence religious. Not only does it concern duties of the children towards the parents but also the obligations of the offspring to the ancestors. It embraces all sentiments, compassion, and love that perpetuate the family lineage. It strengthens family bonds, and, then, all social relations. It perpetuates the individual’s conduct, in so far as it is first learned and observed aright in the interior of the family.

A good Vietnamese is the one who behaves with respect and care for the others in his or her family relations or social interactions. It is necessary then to look into other things than what is vaguely termed as "Asian politeness," as conceived by some outsiders. That is contrary to the occidental concept whereby society is the domain of the secular world and is essentially governed by the laws that overhang it. Socially, in Vietnam, people interact on the basis of filial piety, thus the social conduct that relates one person to the other thanks to all kinds of tangible bonds. Confucianism, which played the major role in shaping the moral and spiritual life of the people, stresses the bonds that link the subject to his king, the son to his father, and the disciple to his teacher. In reality, such social bonds are much more numerous --faithfulness of wife to husband, duty of husband to wife, sincerity in friendship, gratitude towards benefactors, piety to the wretched, devotion to the country and many other virtues that are interwoven in the relations between members of the family and the society.

Filial piety represents a religious character. It is part of the of order of the world by which the living person is linked to the dead. It is preserved by anybody who duly preserves harmony in the family, the society, and the universe. It is with this concept in mind could we better understand the multiple precautions and rites around which the Vietnamese weave their family and social relations. (Jean Mais, EDA 237, February 1997)

　

　

THE CULT OF THE ANCESTORS

　

The Character

The religious sentiment of the Vietnamese manifests itself in the interior of the family and in the sphere of social relations as well. Within the family, it nourishes love and compassion among the members of the family and perpetuates the family linkage from the ancestors and to their offspring. This sentiment of filial piety is particularly incorporated in the cult of ancestors. Culturally, it serves as a bond that binds in union the members of the family, and, to a larger extent, the ho (the extended family), thus perpetuating filial lineage, protection and solidarity until the posterity. This bond embodies a body of moral and religious practices interlaced in a network of duties and worship services. It nurtures the sentiment of solidarity of a religious character that may be termed as tinh gia toc, family piety, although the strict meaning of piety is always linked to, hieu, filial piety, which is generally expressed to the parents.

Filial piety is best practiced in the cult of ancestors. Inside the Vietnamese home, the most important piece of furniture is the ancestor altar, where offerings of food and drink are placed and prayers are said to the spirits of the dead. In front of this altar, the new bride or newborn child is introduced to the ancestors. It is the he center of love and of protection where the living and the dead share happiness and sorrows. The worship of ancestors through the ages has still maintained this cultural and religious character. By this cult, the Vietnamese family preserves its own memory and lineage. It opens the present to the past of the family history. Each member of the family honors with piety the ancestor and observes his or her duties with conscience towards the family, and, to a greater extent, the extended family.

Attempts to break this traditional family bonds by certain ideological imperatives were proven to be futile. Hundreds of thousand refugees from the North risked death to leave homes under crossfire to escape from the Communist-held zones in July 1954 not only out of revengeful persecution but also because of atheism. This fateful fear is practically well versed in the "three No’s Imperatives: of atheism: No Family- No Fatherland-- No Religion." (Jean Mais, EDA 237, February, 1997)

The bonds that unite family members during their lifetime are believed not only to be bound by the physical death but by the time-honored stringent bonds of a religious character. They are reverential and perpetual. These family bonds are best incorporated in the cult of ancestors. They symbolize a sense of impressive dignity and duty. which the ancestors pass down to the posterity. Moreover, these bonds perpetuate filial lineage,. By the cult of ancestors, the family carefully preserves the veneration of ancestors with the memory of its past. This history is not in the least formed with events as those in the chronicles that relate; it is an affective history constituted not by known knowledge, but by the cult itself. It is not neutral. It is purposeful, intentional, and even politically motivated. The first operations of the new revolutionary regime in Vietnam in 1975, as a case in point, was to institute a new name for Saigon : Ho Chi Minh City --the name of an ancestor-- and substitute the ancient names of the streets of Saigon with those of its own heroes and heroines. The traditional customs truly gives the new regime great opportunity to bestow veneration and honor on its benefactors.. (Cadiere, Echange Franco-Asie, Dossier 63: January 1981, Paris)

 

　

The Worship Practices

　

The cult of ancestors is based on the belief that the human soul survives after death and becomes the natural protector of the family line. Without a descendant, the soul of the dead is doomed to eternal wandering for the lack of homage and honor on the occasions of traditional feasts and holidays. The spirits of one’s ancestors are all-powerful and sacred. They exert influence on the world of the living. They would make them restless or worried. An act of disrespect for veneration would not only be shameful, but also dangerous. Thus, it is a custom the ancestors are venerated and honored regularly. Sacrifices and prayers are offered to the ancestral spirits imploring, for example, the curing of a sick child or success in business. Important elements in the cult of the ancestors are the family alter, a piece of land, legally designated for the support of the worship of ancestors and a dich ton (senior male) in the direct line of the descent. He assumes the obligation for maintaining celebration and family rituals. The most important celebration is the anniversary of the death of an ancestor during which religious rites and sacrificial offerings are dedicated to the god of the household and the spirits of the ancestor. An occasion of family joy or sorrow such as a wedding, success in examination or death of a family member, the ancestors are also informed.

Within the family or extended family, the veneration and worship of ancestors is also the most common practice. According to this belief, a man lives owing to his soul and vital spirits that still exist in his body. The soul is the perspicacious power existing in man's vital spirits, which is the light and pure and amorphous component of man's life and which flies into the air when man dies. The body itself is the impure component which decomposes when buried in the earth. The descendants who wish to fulfill filial piety toward their ancestry have to venerate their ancestors and celebrate their ancestry's death anniversaries. The veneration and worship of ancestors thus has deep meaning. It symbolizes the offspring's gratitude toward their ancestry who give birth and rear the offspring, and thus maintaining the race. (Dao Duy Anh, Viet Nam Van Hoa Su Cuong. 1938: 204-205).

　

Rites and Rituals

　

Like in the customary ceremony in the ancient days during which the Greek knelt down to venerate gods, the most miserable Vietnamese peasant would do the same in front of the alter of his ancestors. He considers his ancestors the most venerable, beneficiary personages that are high above in the natural world. He performs his filial duty conscientiously in the belief that he himself, one day, after his death, will be considered by his descendants the most venerable, beneficiary person on whom favors from supernatural powers were bestowed. The family is a great temple where the dead --the ancestors-- are presently on the altar, and the living members are in the portico. One after another, they will step over the threshold --the doorstep to the world beyond --and penetrate the other part of the temple. And, there, they will live an eternal life and be worshipped.

The worship of the ancestors is practiced in the interior of the family. Even it is mysterious, is well real. It is incorporated not only in the physical proceedings for the worship but also in the ceremonial acts and speech of the celebrant expressed in front of the ancestors’ altar. After the burial service for the parent, a bai vi --small flat top piece of wood on which is inscribed the name of the deceased-- is impressively brought to "the seat of the spirits" on the alter. There, after having offered the incense, wine, and rice, the celebrant will respectfully ask the spirits to be pleased to return home and reside in the bai vi, so that his son could venerate him or her. This presence of the deceased is believed to be "alive" amidst the living family members at any moment, especially on the anniversary and days for ceremony.

During the ceremony, the chief of family, with the members of the family or the members of the extended family-- assembling behind him by order of dignity and family ranks, prays respect to the spirits of the ancestors. Similarly, ceremonial practices are also performed on the New Year’s Eve, the family solemnly welcomes their ancestors for three successive days and keep them informed of all the events that mark the sacred moments of life of the family. The ancestors will also be asked to preside over the ceremony for marriage of the children of the family and other important events of the family.

While Buddhism is the predominant organized religion that has great impact on the religious life of the people, ancestral worship has a profound influence over the behavior and outlook on life of the Vietnamese. It is practiced in accordance with rites and rituals. Generally, rites and rituals emanate from religion-based norms, teachings and concepts, particularly Confucianism. In the old days, the book of family rites and rituals Tho Mai Gia Le served as a compass.

The practices of the worship of ancestors have practically declined in the present time. There remain, however, strong family bonds of religious character persistent in the cult.

The Vietnamese embrace the sacred and incorporate it in the human relationship owing to which they ably interact morally and spiritually in the family and in the community. They socially interact with benevolence and righteousness. It is in such milieu that an educated Vietnamese youth grows up. One of his first tasks will consist of acquiring this knowledge of common conduct. With it, he comes to understand the notion of hierarchical lineage, the ranks that designate his parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, and all the members of the extended family. He will know at the same time how to specify his rank himself adequately in relation to the ranks of other family members in terms of parentage. He will know that to address to his parent "father" is to venerably admit his rank as son to him, to call a grandparent "grand father," he considers himself an inferior family member before him in the situation of his grandson. That is not uniquely a matter of apprenticeship of language. Designating one’s relation to the others according to rank not only unites one with one’s parents; it also denotes a way to adopt a certain attitude, feel certain sentiments, and contract certain duties. To his father, a child will never barely address "I," but "your son," instead. He assumes a role.

RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION

　

The Background

Vietnam is a geographical region, a body of customs, a language, and a history laden with trials. There are certain ways of life that are peculiar to the Vietnamese. Therefore, there are bonds of intimate interrelationships that are dear to the Vietnamese people and that help discover their identity. Historically, from the immemorial times, Vietnam has been the crossroads of immigrants from all corners of the world. The country has gradually become a multiracial land where various cultural values coexist and develop. Owing to this social and cultural integration from which social and cultural uniformity and diversity develop. The Vietnamese are then apt to live in harmony with their fellow men and associate themselves with the others. They are tactful to people from other civilizations, genuinely acquiring the novel ways of life and modes of living while preserving for themselves their own identity.

Spiritually, the Vietnamese are generally intelligent although men of great mind and talent are a few. They are gifted with a good memory. They are skillful in manual work and clever in the reproduction. Mentally, they hold both vices and virtues. They are rather bare-brained, thus, often act without much thought. They are generally slow to sensitivity, boastful, vain, and thirsty for fame. They have love for leisure, pleasures, and gambling. They are apparently timid and afraid and, they tend to live and let live. They nevertheless show themselves brave and tenacious in face of danger. Morally, they maintain respect for human love, righteousness and leniency. They observe discipline and are ready to die for the good cause. They are pious, religious, although markedly superstitious The Vietnamese woman is famous for self-sacrifice, hard work, and devotion. The best-respected virtue of the Vietnamese is patriotism. It is with this spirit that the Vietnamese people have maintained solidarity and have successfully fought for national independence from the hegemony in the North for thousands of years.

　

Popular Beliefs and Religions

On the basis of millennium-old traditional legends, it is supposed that the Vietnamese, in the prehistoric times, believed in some form of natural polytheism and animism. They conceived that phenomena such as heaven and earth, wind and rain, and mountains and rivers of the natural world and the spirits of the world beyond all are supernatural forces. All these spheres of the universe are governed by "God" in heaven and geniuses and deities on earth. They also believed that there exist mystic communication through phenomena of telepathy between the dead and the living person. The spirits of the dead could maintain communication with the living person, and, if the former is worshipped, he or she would render the latter protection, and, if not, he or she would cause the latter harm. These popular beliefs practices were later influenced by the Chinese forms of spirits worshipping. They were mainly of an agricultural civilization and incorporated in the rites and rituals commemorating important agricultural events around the year and celebrating the veneration of geniuses, deities, and the ancestors. Until the middle of the 20th century, the practices of traditional popular beliefs and religious worships were still manifest in all aspects of life of the people. The worship with rites and rituals were reverentially practiced whether it was performed in a pagoda, a church, a temple, an ancestral home, a simple or at the foot of an ancient tree were all admitted.

Culturally, the popular beliefs and the religions, on the surface structure, were all regarded the religions. Most of them, were practically all some forms of polytheism, however. That is the characteristic that a pilgrim or even a profound scholar who visits a temple or a pagoda would recognize. Only could those who used to observe with their own eyes the common daily activities in the religious life of the people recognize. Hence, an attitude, a gesture, a response, or an act of veneration inherently suggests a meaning that is characteristic of the Vietnamese

 
　

　

The Characteristics

　

The Sacred

Traditional beliefs venerate the sacred invisible, Troi (Heaven) and Dat (Earth). Heaven and Earth are like "Father" and "Mother." These almighty gods are equally protective supernatural forces that protect and nourish men and all living things. Life and death depend on them. They are particularly attentive to the invasion of all mysteries in the bosom of the world that surrounds them. In their daily life, the Vietnamese believed that supernatural spirits can come into contact with the human beings and maintain this omnipotent power in the entire world that is seen. The sacred is the medium through which the world of supernatural forces are open to man.

This character of sacred can also be attributed to all living beings. Certain animals are venerated in the relations of man to the world beyond, and they are particularly respected. People would avoid to call out the name of the tiger. They call it Ong Cop (Master Tiger). instead. Another animal, the whale, enjoys the greatest consideration of the fishermen. People living on the Central Coast of Vietnam call with veneration the whale Ca Ong (Master Fish) or Ba Ngu (Dame Fish). Each time one among them ran aground a beach, he or she was buried with a very great display of ceremony. The person who discovered him or her used to wear mourning clothes as if he/or she were his or her eldest son or daughter.

Certain periods of the year are particularly thieng, that is, they are propitious times to share communion with the world beyond. At the period of Tet (New Year), the invisible world comes nearer the daily life in such a way that nature, things, situations, and events get some sort of "double exposure" from it. Then, everything becomes a sign prefigured to man. Everyone lives a soul of a child, which is created by the availability of and attention to infinite possibilities through which privileged relations to the supernatural graces are delivered. The lesser important events are interpreted as indicators confirming the future, and thus the most somber encounter could bring forth good omen. The year is viewed in its entirety, then, follows the line of changes in these first days. He who knows how to conduct himself during these days could discover the intrigues of all the other days of the coming year. A man’s existence and his behavior are thus molded into a world where the invisible god is always present. In this universe. Every material realization is associated with a spiritual end. There existed then in the old days rites and rituals associated with every instance of life. The religious sentiment is built on it. The signs of the divine spirits of the world should be deciphered with wisdom and patience accordingly.

　

Kinship

　

Historically, by the time the Chinese conquered the Kingdom of Van Lang of the Viet in the II and III centuries B.C., the Vietnamese still preserved a matriarchal family system and, by which system a widowed was to marry her dead husband’s younger brother. The millennium period that followed the Chinese domination, the Chinese acculturation initiated by the Chinese governors took shape then developed, thus gradually altering the indigenous manners and customs. They were molded after the principles and concepts of Confucianism that became through the ages a doctrine of thoughts and a system of codes of behavior for the natives. Patriarchy played a role and took the place of matriarchy.

Economically, an agricultural land, Van Lang eventually adopted most methods of cultivation and irrigation. New modes of life from China were integrated in the social and cultural life of the natives, adding new modes of behavior in the conduct of the family life of Van Lang. Hence, the Confucian patriarchal tenets of kinship affected and modified at the roots the matriarchal old family system. Most Vietnamese are peasants. They live in villages and grow rice. They rely on the land for subsistence. They are potentially bonded to the soil. Imbued with their traditional concepts of the family. from which social institutions are inspired, sentiments and love for their village develop. They adhere to it with compassion and empathy.

Socially, the Vietnamese family is seen largely as the creation by two superseded hierarchical layers of kinship: the embryonic family and the extended family; the former consists of the spouses, the parents, and the children and the latter, all the men and women born from the same ancestry, including the dead and the living. The head of the family, particularly in the old days, not only serves as a family head but also serves his parents as a son. The head of the extended family takes the responsibility of the worship of ancestors, perpetuating the family lineage.

The bonds that tie he children to the parents, especially the father, show respect and intimacy. Children define themselves according to their position to their family. They address to their parents not as ‘I’ but as "con" --my parent’s son-- or "your father’s daughter-- a participant in a kinship network. The respect for the elders is observed in the family and respectable social elders in the village. It is the source of stability for the family, the village, and country. (Andrew J. Porter. Scholarly Resources Inc. 1999 X III ).