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.