5 - Unjust-Death Deification and Burnt Offering: Towards an Integrative View of Popular Religion in Contemporary Southern Vietnam

Summary

There has been no shortage of attempts to overview religions in southern Vietnam. Obtaining a coherent picture however, is another story. In what follows, taking a path deviating somewhat from the usual classifying routes, I will examine instead two apparently unconnected features in “folk religion” [tín ngưỡng dân gian] as points of departure. They are among the more conspicuous if not striking ones by their non-rational nature, namely, the deification of those who met with untimely, violent, or unjust death [chết oan], and the burning of votive objects as offerings in commemorative rituals [đốt vàng mã]. As practices, they appear as illogical as can be, perhaps a reason why they readily fall into the category of “superstition”. However, they are not totally irrational, for the probable logic running through each also brings together several inter-related themes besides the collective attention given to mortality and metempsychosis. In focussing on these practices as nodal points in a web of connections, my exploration of an integrative view of southern popular religion has by no means led to a final conclusion, but I hope it is cogent enough at this stage to stimulate further discussion.

Unjust Death

It would not be saying much to state that the family is the foundation of Vietnamese society, with the cult of ancestors being the prevalent ritual model. It is not accurate, however, to assert that ancestral worship is the overarching form of Vietnamese religious practice. As Cadière points out, the ancestors are but one part of a vast army of spirits, and their cult is only one varied aspect of Vietnamese religion. The great heroes, or those who have in their life gained merit from eminent service to the kingdom, or to the local community, are honoured among the supernatural protectors by the king's decree or simply by the decision of village notables. These spirits enjoy regular offerings, and festive celebrations are organized around their significant dates (Cadière 1958, pp. 6–23).