Mother Goddess worship in Hung Yen today Through research on some places of worship

HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

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VU THI NGOC

MOTHER GODDESS WORSHIP IN HUNG YEN TODAY (THROUGH RESEARCH OF SOME PLACES OF WORSHIP)

MASTER'S THESIS IN PHILOSOPHY

HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

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VU THI NGOC

MOTHER GODDESS WORSHIP IN HUNG YEN TODAY (THROUGH RESEARCH OF SOME PLACES OF WORSHIP)

Major: Philosophy Code: 60 22 03 01

MASTER'S THESIS IN PHILOSOPHY

Scientific supervisor: Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Quang Hung

COMMITMENT

I hereby declare that this is my own research work under the guidance of Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Quang Hung .

The documents and data used in the thesis are all honest, ensuring objectivity and scientificity.

Hanoi, November 1, 2015

Thesis author

Vu Thi Ngoc

INDEX

Page

INTRODUCTION 1

CONTENT 8

Chapter 1: OVERVIEW OF MOTHER GODDESS WORSHIP 8

1.1. Concepts and forms of belief8

1.1.1. Concept of belief 8

1.1.2. Overview of forms of belief 12

1.2. Overview of Mother Goddess worship 20

1.2.1. Concept of Mother Goddess worship 20

1.2.2. Origin of the Mother Goddess worship 22

Chapter 1 Summary 26

Chapter 2: CURRENT STATE OF MOTHER GODDESS WORSHIP IN HUNG YEN THROUGH STUDY OF SOME PLACES OF WORSHIP 28

2.1. Some features of Hung Yen province 28

2.2. Places of worship and objects of worship 30

2.2.1. Places of worship 30

2.2.2. Objects of worship 40

2.3. Subject and time of worship 48

2.3.1. Subject of worship 48

2.3.2. Worship time 49

2.4. Worship rituals and festival activities 50

2.4.1. Worship rituals 50

2.4.2. Festival activities 55

Chapter 2 Summary 67

Chapter 3: ISSUES IN MOTHER GODDESS WORSHIP IN HUNG YEN TODAY AND SOME SOLUTIONS 69

3.1. Comments and issues raised in the current Mother Goddess worship belief in Hung Yen 69

3.1.1. Comments on the current status of Mother Goddess 69 worship

3.1.2. Issues raised in the worship of Mother Goddess 72

3.2. Some solutions to preserve and promote traditional values in Mother Goddess worship in Hung Yen today 75

3.2.1. General solution 75

3.2.2. Specific solutions 83

Chapter 3 Summary 88

CONCLUSION 89

LIST OF REFERENCES 92

APPENDIX 98

INTRODUCTION

1. Reason for choosing the topic

In the history of national culture, there was a long period when the Mother Goddess worship was underestimated, even being covered with the cloak of superstition. But since 1990, with the birth of Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW of the Politburo of the 6th tenure on strengthening religious work in the new situation - a milestone opening a turning point in the development of religious awareness in our country, the position of the Mother Goddess worship has been affirmed: almost all major religions were imported from outside, only the Mother Goddess worship is considered a main axis of folk beliefs, has existed for thousands of years as a spiritual counterweight to foreign religions, so that we are still us, contributing to preserving a national cultural identity forever and ever.

The Mother Goddess worship belief develops according to the richness and diversity of folk beliefs without following any predetermined rules. The Mother Goddess worship belief is preserved through festivals, beliefs and spiritual life to exist long-term in the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people. The Mother Goddess worship belief is close to nature, the earth and sky, associated with the fate of Vietnamese women. "Mother" is an image, a symbol and a vivid crystallization of the spiritual and cultural life of our nation. The Mother Goddess worship belief of the Vietnamese people in general and the Mother Goddess worship belief in Hung Yen in particular have become an indispensable part and element to form the traditional cultural identity of the nation.

Hung Yen is a province in the Red River Delta. Mentioning Hung Yen is talking about the land of a thousand years of culture with Pho Hien - a most developed urban area in the history of the nation in the 15th - 16th centuries: "First the Capital, second Pho Hien" . Hung Yen has a heroic historical tradition, always contributing its strength to every step of the nation's progress with honored names such as: Pham Bach Ho, Le Nhu Ho, Pham Ngu Lao, Nguyen Thien Thuat, Hoang Hoa Tham, the late General Secretary Nguyen Van Linh... And it is also the land

has a long-standing cultural tradition with the richness and diversity of many different forms of religion and belief. Specifically: Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and folk beliefs, especially the Mother Goddess worship. Among the types of beliefs and religions in Hung Yen, the Mother Goddess worship has an important position in the lives of the residents here. It is shown in the large number of Mother Goddess temples with annual Mother Goddess worship activities that are always of great interest to residents inside and outside the province.

Nowadays, in the process of international integration, Vietnamese culture is exchanged and exposed to many cultures of countries around the world. We have the opportunity to selectively absorb progressive cultures, and have the conditions to promote and develop the fine cultural identity of the nation. However, along with that, the issue of preserving traditional culture, maintaining and embellishing national cultural identity needs to be given more attention. In the Platform for national construction in the transitional period to socialism (Supplemented and developed in 2011) approved by the 11th National Party Congress, it is determined: "Building an advanced Vietnamese culture, imbued with national identity, comprehensive development, unity in diversity, deeply imbued with the spirit of humanity, democracy, and progress; making culture closely linked and deeply permeating the entire social life, becoming a solid spiritual foundation, an important endogenous strength of development". Therefore, to contribute to the preservation of national cultural identity, we need to preserve and promote religious forms, beliefs in general and folk beliefs in particular, typically the Mother Goddess worship.

In particular, at the present stage, the dossier “Vietnamese Mother Goddess Worship Belief” is in the process of being supplemented and completed to submit to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (UNESCO) for consideration of registration in the list of representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2016. Therefore, the issue of preserving, maintaining and promoting Mother Goddess Worship Belief has become even more urgent.

For the above reasons, I chose the topic "Current Mother Goddess Worship in Hung Yen (Through Research on Some Worship Facilities)" as my Master's thesis in Philosophy.

2. Overview of research situation

In the history of research, there have been many topics written about the Mother Goddess worship with many different aspects. Some typical research works are as follows:

- “Vietnamese Goddesses” (1984) by Do Thi Hao and Mai Thi Ngoc Chuc also provided a lot of information about the system of Goddesses in Vietnam. Accordingly, the authors divided Goddesses in Vietnam into Goddesses in mythology, Goddesses of ethnic minorities, Holy Mothers, and Gods.

- Researcher Ngo Duc Thinh is one of the authors with many profound works on Mother Goddess worship such as: "Mother Goddess Religion" (1994) which was reprinted four times, the fourth reprint in 2012 was called "Vietnamese Mother Goddess Religion". In this work, the author builds a Mother Goddess worship system with three levels: worshiping the Goddess, Mother Goddess, and Mother of the Three Palaces, Four Palaces, the impact and transformation between them; generalizes three typical Mother Goddess worship forms for the North, Central and South with their local characteristics; studies some typical Mother Goddesses. The work has a profound study of the Mother Goddess worship belief system in all three regions of the country, besides also pointing out the influence of the social, historical and cultural environment on the phenomenon of Mother Goddess Religion.

“Beliefs and religious culture in Vietnam” (2001) edited by Ngo Duc Thinh. This work delves into the study of six typical types of folk beliefs: ancestor worship, village tutelary god worship, Chu Dong Tu worship, Duc Thanh Tran worship, occupational beliefs and Mother Goddess worship (the author calls it Mother Goddess Religion). At the same time, the author also shows the relationship between folk beliefs and folk culture; distinguishes the value and anti-value aspects of religion and belief, helping to perceive and regulate the