Vietnam - Popular Religion
In addition to organized religions, there exist a melange of beliefs without institutional structure that nevertheless had an enduring impact on Vietnamese. The animist beliefs in good and evil spirits, both animate and inmimate, which antedate the organized faiths, permeate the society, especially in the rural areas and in the highlands. The inhabitants of the first Vietnamese kingdom, established by legend before the Christian Era, saw themselves as existing in intimate association with the supernatural world. They shared a common animistic belief in a host of powerful spirits and genii controlling all phenomena and forces in the universe and supposedly inhabiting rivers; mountains, rocky glens, trees and other natural features. Religious activity centered on the propitiation of these spirits through various sacrificial ceremonies. Such ceremonies were mainly concerned with the agricu1tural cycle, marking the seasons important to production, chiefly spring and fall.
The existence of animist beliefs since ancient times is revealed in centuries-old legends, in which the underlying assumption is that all phenomena and forces in the universe - heaven and earth, rain and wind, mountains and river - are controlled by spirits upon whose good will humans depend. Ear1y Vietnamese peoples apparently also believed that the souls of the dead reappeared in a new incarnation.
These souls, if propitiated, would provide humans with protection; if ignored, they would send sickness md death. Such indigenous concepts later came under the influence of Buddhist, Confucian and Taoist ideas introduced from China, to form with them the complex melange of beliefs and ceremonies which characterize Vietnamese religion at the popular level.
As late as the mid-20th Century, attaining the favor of good spirits and avoiding the malice of evil ones was a continuing preoccupation in Vietnamese life, characteristic of group as well as individual behavior. A multiplicity of local and regional cults existed, each devoted to the veneration of a protective deity or collection of deities associated with the well-being of a particular community.
An important cult was that of founders of the crafts. Artisans of all types honored the patron saint of their craft, who may be either the originator of the art or the first person to teach it to the people of a particular village or area. Guardian spirits presided over various occupations. Boatbuilders, for example, made offerings to their local guardian spirit in the ceremonies of "The Squaring of the Wood," when the first blow of the adz is struck; "The Joining of the Mortises," when the three pieces of the keel were joined; and "The Placing of the Beam," when the supports for the main mast were put in place.
Villages, especially those in Central Vietnam, almost always had their own special deity, known as the Guardian Spirit of the Village, whose veneration was a focal point of community religious activity. To the villagers, the Guardian Spirit symbolized their cultural uniqueness as well as their future hopes. He was a majestic figure of power, a spiritual bond that makes the village a cohesive unit.
In most instances the Guardian Spirit was originally named centuries ago by the emperor. The choice usually fen on someone who in his lifetime had been a highly respected local dignitary, but some of the spirits worshiped in the communal temple of particular villages were legendary figures; others were celebrated national heroes or herdines, village fathers, children who died at a young age or victims of violence. The imperial document naming the Guardian Spirit was deposited in the inner sanctuary of the communal temple on the principal alter of the temple, dedicated to the Guardian Spirit. Images or tablets of the spirit, along with ritual articles, also were placed here. This room was usually closed to the public. Standing outside were altars dedicated to other spirits (such as the god of the soil), also revered by the whole community.
Another spirit of nature was the Goddess of the Five Elements --- metal, wood, fire, water and earth - who likes to start fires to show her power. In addition, there are spirits of mountains, rivers, stars, sun and moon, clouds, rain, wind, thunder, graves and tombs. Coastal dwellers worshiped the whale as their special protector; in a similar manner forest dwellers venerated the tiger.
The spirit world of Vietnamese peasant belief is peopled with a great variety of supernatural beings, most of them malevolent, and with a host of wandering souls of criminals, spinsters and the victims of accidents. Vietnamese villagers believe, for example, in a general category of entities which can be called spirits of nature. All are associated with topographic features, insects, birds or animals. The peasant believes that spirits reside in many rock formations, especially those of peculiar shape in grottoes or in front of temples, or rocks in river rapids or alopg the seashores which present particularly great hazards to vessels. Several varieties of trees, including the fig, are believed to be inhabited by the souls of young girls who like to appear on earth and torment young men. The dangerous entities are to be avoided, placated or otherwise circumvented, and the benevolent ones may be venerated or appealed to for help. Although officially condemned as "superstitious practices," these beliefs continued to proliferate in the rural and in the highland areas as well as in the cities in the 1980s.
Despite official disapproval of superstitious practices, most Vietnamese, regardless of their professed religion, level of education, or ideology, were influenced at one time or another by such practices as astrology, geomancy and sorcery. Diviners and other specialists in the occult remained in popular demand because they were believed to be able to diagnose supernatural causes of illness, establish lucky dates for personal undertakings, or predict the future. Moreover, many Vietnamese believed that individual destiny was guided by astrological phenomena. By consulting one's horoscope, one could make the most of auspicious times and avoid disaster. It was not unusual, for example, for a couple to consult an astrologer before marrying. He would determine if the betrothed were suitably matched and even fix the date of the ceremony.
Vietnamese intellectuals were exposed to Confucian and Taoist thought through the study of Chinese classical literature, but neither body of teachings initially established a broad base of popular support. Mahayana Buddhism, on the other hand, appears to have been initially more acceptable to the Vietnamese than either the rationalism of Confucianism or the individualistic mysticism of Taoism.
Beliefs derived partly from Confucianism, stressed the virtues of filial piety, loyalty, family solidarity, and ancestor veneration -- all central to the family system of the old society. Taoism, another important system of belief introduced from China, emphasized the importance of an individual's relationship to nature and to the universe. Today beliefs rooted in Taoism are condemned by the regime as superstitious.
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