The Cult of Ancestors
In line with the ideological tenets of atheist materialism, the Communist Party and administration in the years following the Indochina War sought to dislodge the traditional Vietnamese popular worship, and replaced it with the cult of Ho, of Marx, of Lenin, of Stalin, and of Mao. In the countryside where the peasants had the least knowledge of politics of any kind the practice of the cult was particularly incorporated in their ways of life. Portraits of Ho and world Communist leaders were hung on the walls of the central partition in replacement of the ancestral altar. Ho was the "Lord,," and his comrades, the "Saints." Blasphemy against them was linked to counter-reactionary crimes and subject to imprisonment or even death. The villagers nevertheless commemorated their ancestors with or without an altar. Filial piety illustrates the popular saying: "Drinking water, we think of its source."
Tran Trung, 68 (1994), a native of Ha Son Binh Province, North Vietnam, had this to say, " ... for many years, the Party has tried to break the family bonds, but it has been not successful. Not every Vietnamese Communist is like Truong Chinh, the Secretary-general of the Vietnamese Workers’ Part who brought his own father before the People's Court to be insulted. Not every Vietnamese is like "Uncle Ho, "who dared address to our national hero Tran Hung Dao with an equal "I" and called Him with an equal "You" when he visited Kiep Bac Temple in Hai Duong."I wonder how Ho would address to his father and ancestors when he bowed his head at the altar for his ancestors."
Tran further argued that the Communist Party had not officially forbidden the belief practices of ancestral worship. but they were practically regarded all the forms of superstition. To an ordinary Vietnamese, to perform the rites and rituals of traditional popular beliefs was common religious behavior. The Vietnamese, however poor they are, will still offer an incense stick, a bowl of steamed rice, and a boiled egg to commemorate a departed parent. Old customs and manners often prevail. Local authorities, in principle, do not allow any assembly of any kind or celebration at home without prior authorization. However, in the village where everyone knows everyone else, the laws and regulations of the State often give place to sympathy between and among people of the same village. The villagers are all relatives in one way or another. Besides, an anniversary is a good opportunity for all to have a good meal with meat and rice wine. In the villages where the cadres or party members strictly observe the rules, they are either given bribes or isolated, and the villagers will go ahead with their celebration. The cult of ancestors still has a religious coloration and retains some of its moral, spiritual, and cultural character.
According to a staff editor of the official journal Tuoi Tre, who asked anonymity (December 20 2000), " ... the cult of ancestors still plays a role in the social and cultural life of the Vietnamese people. The results of an investigation into the religious life in Vietnam by a State researcher shows that ancestral worship is practiced in almost all families that do not adhere to Christianity. The percentage of the practitioners is very high, with 92,25%, in the urban area of Hue, 84,.3%, in Ho Chi Minh City, and 82.2&, in Hanoi. The number of families that occasionally pay respect to the ancestors in Hue is 4.8%;, in Ho Chi Minh City, 11%, and in Hanoi, 17.4%. The number of families that do not practice ancestral worship of in Hue is 3%, in Ho Chi Minh City, 4.7%, and in Hanoi, 0.6%’
The cult of ancestors is truly powerful. It is even practiced in the interior of the homes of pious adherents to various religions. It is an inspirational source of exaltation. Catholicism that began by refusing to accommodate the practice of it now accepts some forms of veneration of the cult. In 1992, in Hanoi, only 14.7% of the Catholic population did not have an alter of ancestors; 6.3% in Ho Chi Minh City, and 6.5% in Hue. Practically, the Catholics performed the ancestral veneration l in different practices of the rites and rituals.
The Worship of Titular Genius
At the beginning of the Resistance War (1945-1954), most communal houses in the war zones throughout the country were destroyed as a consequence of the Viet Minh' s scorched earth tactics. After the war, the worship of Titular Genius at the communal house was undermined by the Party's hostile religious policy.. The worship of the Titular Genius was interpreted as a legacy of feudalism. The rites and rituals in the celebration commemorating the merits the village’s "patron saint" were all the vestiges of absolute monarchy. In many areas of the countryside these worship practices were derided, and the worship place was neglected. The scenic "dinh" (communal house) of Quang Ba Village near Hanoi, for instance, was destroyed.
Historically, until the 1940’s the villages in Tonkin were still close communities strictly impermeable to outside cultural influences. Living within their bamboo hedges, the villagers hung on to their land, cherished their homes, honored communal and ancestral cults, and perpetuated filial lineage. The villages were organized according to a sociopolitical hierarchy and a system of spiritual and cultural values that they held dear. The cult of ancestors and the worship of village benefactor were practiced with ceremonious rites and rituals. Traditional customs and manners were preserved. Respect for the notables and the seniors was keenly observed. All these characters formed the backbone of the religious, social, political, and cultural life of the village. (Porter Gareth, Vietnam: The Politics of Bureaucratic Socialism. Cornell University Press. Ithaca and London, 1993:2).
The worship of the Titular Genius at the "dinh" symbolizes the spirit of solidarity and democracy and reflects the respect for order and the sense of duty of the village. It was the siege where the villagers worshipped their benefactor or protector genius. In the old days, "dinh" was a hall for public meeting place where the villagers congregated or elected their representatives to the council of notables to attend to the village ‘s titular genius and communal celebrations and take care of administrative matters of the civil life. It was the headquarters where the council of notables met and discussed the village’s affairs and solved the village‘s problems and settled the dispute between and among the villagers. The village was, in essence, a self-administrative unit whose authority was recognized by the Royal Court. Emperor Tu Duc of the Nguyen Dynasty (1847-1883), as a case in point, had edicts specifying the respect for the villagers’ rights to choose their communal representatives exercise communal authority, practice the communal worship and preserve the village’s customs and manners.
Under French domination, the colonialists, throughout almost a hundred years, managed to attenuate the role and function of the council of notables in the conduct of communal affairs. For political purpose, they colonial regime gradually abrogated the village notables’ role and authority. They established the Hoi Dong Cai Luong Huong Chinh (Council of Reform of Rural Administration) to work side by side the council of notables. With this new policy, the colonial rule sought to do away with the traditional social and political communal life and gradually efface the notables’ prestige over and influence on the villagers while lending hand to their followers to exercise real power over the villagers to serve to the best interests of the colonial rule.
The colonial administration executed with flexibility a policy of acculturation, to gradually reform the village administrative system while preserving its cultural legacy. They uprooted the very political base of democracy which the Vietnamese people cherished throughout successive imperial dynasties. They nevertheless showed respect for most traditional ways of life of the native. Rarely did they interfere in the internal affairs of the religions and the worship practices of the indigenous population.
Tragic social and political disorders expanded with the rise to power of the Viet Minh. In the first years of the war of resistance (1947-1950), the Viet Minh government carried out the anti-imperialism struggle, traditional social and cultural values and institutions gradually perished. In the Viet Minh- controlled zones, the village Council of Resistance and Administration replaced the Council of Notables and the Council of Reform of Rural Administration to manage the village’s administration. Satellite organizations of the Lien Viet (Viet Minh League) helped to shape new modes of life in line with the Marxist ideology. The members in the new body of administration was totally composed of the Viet Minh cadres or Viet Minh-linked elements. Most members in it, however, were the opportunists or Viet Minh followers who only knew to carry out the orders of the Viet Minh local cadres.
Together with traditional customs and manners, the cult of the Village Titular were regarded as backward. Everyone must devote oneself to the service of the resistance, and every task must be fulfilled for the cause of independence. Disobedience in this case meant treason. Communal activities other than those permitted by the Viet Minh were considered as uncivilized. Gatherings to denounce war crimes by the French troops and meetings to support the Government of Resistance at the communal house were encouraged. Worship services, seasonal celebrations, and the annual festival at the "dinh" were all regarded as corrupt performances --the vestiges of feudalism. Consequently, the traditional system of village administration and cultural values and merits, and ways of life were exterminated, and the cult of the Village Titular Genius gradually disappeared.
In many cases, a "dinh" was razed to the ground simply because the village Communist party members and cadres wanted a share of its construction materials for their own houses or courtyards. In most rural areas, "dinh" was transformed into an office for the village People's Councils of Administration, a classroom, a hangar, a barn, and even a place for entertainment. Centuries-old communal houses were not maintained and became ruined. In the old days, every village had a communal house. Nowadays, very few communal houses stand. We walk for kilometers in the Thanh Nghe Tinh Province, Uncle's Ho native province and cannot see even one.
Other communal religious practices, celebrations, and festivals fell into oblivion. The worship of Buddha at pagodas, the veneration of heroes, saints and deities at shrines, and the commemoration of national heroes and heroines at temples suffered decadence. Except for the worship of Christ at the cathedral, in which place the Church maintained independence from the Viet Minh, the clergy performed religious services with persistence, and the followers served their faith with resilience. mostly in hiding. The atheists tried in vain to place the Catholic Church under their despotic control.
The Revival of Popular Beliefs
Until the 1940"s, on the first and fifteenth days of every month of the lunar calendar, men went to the communal house to offer sacrifices to the Titular Genius, and women went to pagodas to pray respects to Buddha and prayed for happiness and favors. Such traditional religious practices were no longer observed in the North until the later years of the 1980’s. To guard against sabotage and subject the population to control, the authorities kept a severe eye on any activity or act that might cause loss of prestige or physical damage to the regime, the authorities never hesitated to apply whatever measure they regarded as necessary to oppress or eliminate the reactionary.
In Hanoi, the Van Mieu (Literature Temple) at Cua Nam (South Entrance) of the old Capital Thang Long lost its centuries-old beauty thousands of generations of Vietnamese had preserved. The city authorities had all the picturesque walls surrounding the site broken up under the pretext of securing the place from sabotage: " Bad elements may use the site for a secret reunion to plot sabotage against the regime." The Go Dong Da (Mount Dong Da) a historic site on the route to Son Tay, west of Hanoi, where the defeated Chinese Governor-general Sam Nghi Dong committed suicide by hanging himself on a bough of a pagoda-tree. The governor and the army under his command were routed out of the city by the Vietnamese army of Emperor Quang Trung of the Tay Son Dynasty (1778-1802). The site was destroyed as it was a site of reminder of an odious defeat the Chinese invaders had suffered. (Then Nhan, VHRW, 7 (March 1993)..
Soon after the reunification of the country, the religious sentiment of the population revived as the route communication between the two regions partitioned by the war became wide open. Curiously enough, like a fresh breath of wind fanning throughout the country, coincidences of love for the country and religious sentiments were warmed up and thrived. Soon after the "liberation" of the South. the cult of ancestors, the veneration of geniuses and deities, and the worship of Buddha reemerged. The traditional ways of spirits worshipping all regained activities. Beginning in 1995, popular demands for religious worship began to reappear. Venerable old men at Can Huu Village in Son Tay Province voluntarily took an active part in the repair and maintenance of the communal house and village pagoda instead of giving a free hand to the State. They managed themselves the project. The initiative helped them stop worrying about the interference from the village Communist Party's secretary The result was the loss for the construction expenses was reduced to 10%. In the Duong Lieu village, Ha Dong Province, the villagers themselves were in charge of the reconstruction of Huong Tra Pagoda, where, in 1994, the Ministry for Culture inflicted the construction losses amounted to 50% due to poor management. In the suburban area of Cam, Haiphong, formerly the Gia Vien Village, the local resident voluntarily contributed to rebuilding the dilapidated "Tho Xuan Dinh." The worship place is dedicated to King Ngo Quyen and his two generals Nguyen Tat To and Doan Thuong who had helped him to rout the Chinese invaders on the Bach Dang River.
In many villages, the thirst for having a worship place enlivened the villagers' enthusiasm. They boldly claimed back their rights to ownership at the communal houses and pagodas, even though these worship places were in ruins or turned into crumbled worship vestiges with some forms of foundation. The Canh Phuc Pagoda in the village of Dong Van, Duy Tien District, Nam Ha Province, which was built in 1665, was a case in evidence. In many villages in the countryside, people were concerned with the rebuilding of worship places. In addition to the reconstruction the communal houses and pagodas, they were also concerned with reconstructing temples, shrines, and ancestral worship places. In the Yen So Village in Ha Dong Province, venerable old men contributed to the reconstruction of the village's communal house, neutralizing all intervention from the authorities (Tieu Huyen, Phong Trao Doi Hanoi Tra Lai Chua, Nguoi Viet, December 23, 1996).
A research on the on the religious life of the Vietnamese notes that the religious feature that is characteristic of the Vietnamese is the expression of gratitude to their ancestors and benefactors inherent in ancestral cult and the worship of Titular Genius. All Vfamily members venerate their ancestors, who acquire the merit to beget the offspring. All villagers render homage to their benefactor, a patron of a profession, a national hero or heroine, and to the legendary Kings Hung. No profane power could ever destroy it. (Trung Tan, An Interview with a Staff Editor of Tuoi Tre. December 20, 2000)
The Practice of Superstitions
Tieu Huyen, in an article on the practices of popular beliefs in North Vietnam in the recent years, reported on the Nguoi Viet Daily in Southern California:
" Besides organized religions, there exists a mixture of beliefs without an institutional structure. They nevertheless have enduring impact on the Vietnamese life well into the 1980's. These beliefs, which were derived partly from Confucianism with emphasis on filial piety, family solidarity, and ancestral veneration-- all central to the family system of the ancient society. Taoism, another popular belief from China, which emphasizes the importance of the mystic mutual illuminating communication between the individual and the universe, also plays a role.
Despite the official disapproval of superstitious practices, most Vietnamese, regardless of their professed religion, level of education, or ideology, are influenced at one time or another in their lifetime by such divination practices such as astrology, geomancy, and sorcery. Diviners and other practitioners in the occult science remain on demand. Quite a few Vietnamese believe that they have illuminating power, and with it they are able to diagnose causes of illness, establish lucky dates for personal undertakings, or predict the future. Still, many others believe that individual destiny is guided by astrological phenomena. By consulting one's horoscope, one could make the most of auspicious times and avoid disaster. It is not unusual, for example, for a couple to consult an astrologer before marriage. A divine teller would determine if the betrothed were suitably matched and even fix the date of the wedding ceremony.
Animism antedates all organized popular religious beliefs in Vietnam. It permeates through the life of the society. People in the rural areas or the highlands especially hold the belief that the divine spirits control all phenomena on earth and supernatural forces in the universe and that the souls of the dead are instrumental in determining the individual's destiny. If propitiated, they provide the living with protection; if ignored, they bring misfortune. Although officially condemned as superstitious practices, these practices s continue to proliferate in the rural and highland areas as well as in the cities in the 1980's. (Tieu Huyen, Phong Trao Doi Lai Chua. Nguoi Viet, December 23, 1996).
In the heydays of the "August Revolution" when the Hoi Nghien Cuu Chu Nghia Mac-xit Viet Nam (Society for the Study of Marxism) came into force in replacement of the Communist Party of Indochina, the followers of Marxism held themselves bound by it. Communism to them is not a political doctrine, but a religion,. They firmly believe that no other religion but communism should exist in Vietnam. A Communist lives for it and dies as a martyr for it. Communism is an all-powerful miracle that emancipates humanity from serfdom and imperialism. It brings Vietnam full independence, freedom, and happiness, making it a paradise on earth. Addicts to communism in those days ever believed that the communists would soon govern the world and that the world communities would all soon stand under the ever-victorious banner of communism.
Hoang Hoa, a student at the School of Pedagogy, Ho Chi Minh City (1998), disclosed his heart: " The collapse of the Eastern European Communist Bloc liberated quite a few communism addicts from utopia. Marxism-Leninism has become a subject-matter which he teacher is reluctant to teach and which bores the student to learn. It becomes a clothe-doctrine, even to one-time ardent Communists. The worship of Marx, of Lenin, and of Mao is on the wane. Various study circles of communism have died out n the recent years. Quite a few of them think that communism has dissipated. Its painted appearance is worn off, and its brazen face is exposed under the sunlight. It is no longer "A Book of Miracles" as Uncle Ho had firmly predicted .Corrupt party members cease to believe in it and look for new modes of worship or come back to traditional beliefs and faiths in search for peace of mind or beseeching geniuses and deities for luck, interests, and hope for a happier life. Quite a few of them consult a diviner to how to modify an office building in the way that is best suited to the laws of "fang-sui." An enchantress is entrusted with the task of searching for and identifying the remains of the "Viet Cong" MIA’s in Kampuchea. Cadres and common folks alike believe in some forms of superstition. Fortune and divine tellers sit in rows before the temples and pagodas. Witchcraft is practiced without inhibition."
Sorcery practices appear more superstitious than religious. The spirits worship in many places is commercialized. Most guardians at the temples and state-designated. They assume the function of state cadres and have full authority and act according to their whims and wishes. Superstitions practices are allowed and performed in broad daylight. At many temples and pagodas in Hanoi. rites and rituals for religious services and those for sorcery practices are practically the same. They are performed by the guardians or even monks who have little knowledge of Buddhism and the Buddhist laws. Many do not observe celibacy. They have a family life as do the common believers. They can be seen worn as a charm at a pagoda or temple such as Quan Su Pagoda, Tran Vo Pagoda, Ngoc Son Temple, or Hai Ba Trung (The Two Trung Sisters) Temple. Rarely can people see a monk or guardian at a pagoda or temple in the outskirts of the Capital where pilgrims rarely come to visit, and money contributions for offertories are meager.
True religious worship presents a different picture, however. Many pagodas and temples were either destroyed became ruined due to lack of or poor maintenance reconstructed and repaired.. In the areas where the villagers are rich enough, the believers begin contribute to reparation of an old pagoda or temple or build a new one. The pagoda at Thanh Oai in the Ha Son Binh Province was on repair. The Boi Pagoda at Quoc Oai in the former Son Tay Province was restored. On the annual anniversary of the Founder Monk at Boi Pagoda thousands of believers from all directions came to pay respects to Buddha and attend the festival. Nevertheless, contributions to and offertories for reconstruction of pagodas and temples are to be administered through lines of the State authorities. Being asked if such services as restoring or rebuilding the worship places came out as a result of "coi mo" and "doi moi" (openness and renovation). common folks in the North, like their fellow countrymen in the South, actually don't know and don't care about what "coi mo" and "doi moi" meant to them.
After the "liberation of the South," people in both regions happened to have close contacts with one another. The Northerners have heard and seen so many things that are contrary to what the Party and State lied to them about the people and their life in the South. Now, the people in both regions ignore what the Communists propagandize, even with threats. They have overcome fear. They do things that are unauthorized. The local authorities oftentimes dare not lay hands on them. Why? The North Vietnamese had sacrificed everything: their properties, labor and sweat, and even their lives and those of their beloved for the country in the Resistance War, on the battlefronts in the South, along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and in Kampuchea in the Vietnam War.. What do they get in return? Nothing but poverty and misery! The Party and State blind their eyes on certain things. What the authorities’ main concern is collect money. At every celebration, there is a contribution-to-building-socialism offertory box. That is really a kind of tax, and that is the most important task for which the State really cares (Quang Nhan, VHRW, December 1992)."
The revival of popular beliefs nevertheless brings with it corrupt practices. Sordid superstition by religion mongers is often seen in the performance of some sort of witchcraft that appears to be some form of religious practices to a foreign observer. These corrupt religious practices flourish even in the heart of Hanoi. The practitioners are allowed to perform even with a special permit and encouragement from the authorities, who are really those who pull the string behind the scene and who take most interests. These odious practices bring them a lot of money from the malicious practitioners and innocent lookers-on. The most common performances are the wild witchcraft dancing with traditional music on a flowery boat sailing to-and-fro on the Great Lake in Hanoi. A man or woman clad in old-style motley clothes is seen going into a trance, swinging arms and legs to the wild rhythmic ancient music. The performer acted as if he or she were possessed by evil spirits amidst a throng of "believers" who bow their heads murmuring prayers. They are free to practice their job, and the authorities take it for granted (Viet Tan, A Report on Religious Practices, 1992).
