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Research Projects on Beliefs of Sea and Island Residents in Vietnam


Chapter 1

OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH SITUATION, THEORETICAL BASIS AND RESEARCH AREA

1.1. Overview of research situation

1.1.1. Research works on beliefs of sea and island residents in Vietnam

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1.1.1.1 . Research works of foreign scholars

The first work that can be mentioned is Vietnamese Culture, Beliefs and Religious Practices, 3 volumes [29] by Léopold Cadière, translated by Do Trinh Hue. In volume 2 of the work, in the section discussing the worship of magical animals, Cadière mentioned the Whale worship of the coastal residents of Vietnam. He wrote: "The Vietnamese worship the Whale because of its merit. There is no fishing village near the coast that does not have a temple to worship the bones of the Whale...". The author does not discuss much about this worship, but through the description of the Whale worship in the Thanh Ha fishing village at the Gianh River mouth, it also helps us to understand somewhat about one of the beliefs of the coastal and island residents of Vietnam.

Research Projects on Beliefs of Sea and Island Residents in Vietnam

Hippolyte Le Breton, in his research work on the land of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, entitled Le Vieux An Tinh (An Tinh Co Luc) [19], first published in French in the Bulletin des Amis du Vieux Hue in 1936, listed the system of temples of the local community, including the Four Holy Ladies, King Sat Hai Hoang Ta Thon......

Lantz, Sandra (2009), Whale Worship in Vietnam [113] is a research work on the beliefs and practices of whale worship of coastal residents of Vietnam, in which the author focuses mainly on the central coastal region of Vietnam, with the main focus on the Da Nang and Hoi An areas.


It can be seen that most of the works often focus on a typical form of belief of the Vietnamese people, which is the Whale worship, and the research area is mainly concentrated in the South Central and Southern regions. However, these studies will give the researcher a more comprehensive view of the beliefs of the coastal and island communities of Vietnam.

1.1.1.2. Research works of domestic scholars

Before 1945, studies on the beliefs of coastal and island residents in Vietnam were quite rare and new studies focused mainly on the whale worship belief. Works that can be mentioned include: Gia Dinh Thanh Thong Chi by Trinh Hoai Duc [25], Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi - Thua Thien Hue province section [59] by the National History Institute of the Nguyen Dynasty mentioned the important role of whales in the lives of fishermen in the Central and Southern regions. Also discussing the whale worship belief, we can mention the works: Contribution to the study of Vietnamese culture by Nguyen Van Huyen [44], Outline of Vietnamese cultural history by Dao Duy Anh [3]... At this stage, there were a number of works mentioning the worship of a sea god worshiped mainly from Nghe An area to the North, that is Tu Vi Thanh Nuong such as: Viet Dien U Linh [107] , Linh Nam Chich Quai [61] , Lich Trieu Hien Chuong Loai Chi [99] ... After 1945, the study of the beliefs of coastal and island residents received more attention, but the main content still focused on the whale worship custom. Typical examples are: The heir of Mr. Nam Hai by Cung Giu Nguyen [57] and Whale worship custom by Thai Van Kiem. Toan Anh's Old Tradition [7].... Since 1975, broader studies on the beliefs of coastal residents began to appear, most notably the work Gods, People and Vietnamese Land (2006) by Ta Chi Dai Truong [85]. In this work, he devoted a subsection to the "sea spirit system", in which he named gods such as the Four Holy Ladies, Whale, and Po Rayak - the Cham god of sea waves.


By the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, research on the sea and island culture has attracted the attention of many researchers from many different aspects, helping us to have an increasingly clear picture of Vietnamese maritime culture in general and beliefs in particular.

First of all, there are research works on Vietnamese maritime cultural values, including beliefs such as Folk culture of coastal villages edited by Ngo Duc Thinh (2000) [72], Vietnamese fishing communities by Nguyen Duy Thieu (2002) [69], Culture of coastal residents of Quang Ngai by Nguyen Dang Vu (2003) [103], Central coastal culture by Le Van Ky (2015) [49], Economic - social - cultural life of fishermen and residents of the Southern coastal region by Phan Thi Yen Tuyet (2014) [89], A perspective on maritime culture by Nguyen Thanh Loi (2014) [53], Sea in Vietnamese culture by Nguyen Thi Hai Le (2009) [51], Vietnamese island culture by Vu Quang Dung (2017) [20], Social and cultural life of coastal and island fishing communities from Da Nang to Khanh Hoa from an ethnographic perspective by Bui Xuan Dinh and Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh (2018) [24]... In the above works, the authors mostly describe the outstanding cultural elements of coastal communities in a specific locality.

There have not been many specialized studies on the beliefs of Vietnamese coastal and island residents, but recent years have witnessed the emergence of more and more research works on the beliefs of coastal communities. Typical works include Beliefs of coastal residents in Quang Nam-Da Nang by Nguyen Xuan Huong (2009) [43], Gods protecting the sea, islands and fishermen of Vietnam by Le Minh and Pham Dang (2014) [55], Changes in beliefs of coastal residents in Da Nang during the urbanization process by Le Thi Thu Hien (2017) [40] , Customs and folk beliefs of Dong Tac coastal village by Le The Vinh, Nguyen Hoai Son (2012) [102], Traditional festivals of coastal residents


Hai Phong coastal area and its changes in the current period by Le Thanh Tung (2012) [81],...

In addition to the monographs, there are also many articles and papers written about the beliefs of coastal residents in Vietnam such as "Whaling customs and fishing festivals in Central Vietnam: The issue of promoting marine cultural values ​​in the context of contemporary society" by Nguyen Phuoc Bao Dan (2015), "Le Khoi Temple Festival in the cultural life of coastal residents of Thach Ha, Loc Ha - Ha Tinh" by Dang Thi Thuy Hang (2010), "Quan Lan Festival - a unique cultural feature of fishermen on Van Don island" by Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao (2009), "Characteristics of traditional coastal festivals in Quang Ninh" by Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao (2014), ...

These are important sources of information that help researchers gain a more comprehensive view of the beliefs of Vietnamese sea and island residents.

1.1.2. Research works on the beliefs of coastal residents of Thanh Hoa

Up to now, there have been many research works on the cultural values ​​of Thanh Hoa's sea. However, there have not been many works that have gone into depth on the beliefs of the coastal residents of Thanh Hoa. Some works related to the beliefs of coastal residents of Thanh Hoa can be classified into the following groups:

A group of statistical works listing the gods worshiped by the coastal community of Thanh Hoa and the places of worship. First, we must mention the book Thanh Hoa Chu Than Luc , written in the 15th year of Thanh Thai (1905) [60], which is a book listing the gods worshiped in Thanh Hoa (837 male gods and 165 female goddesses), the places of worship and the legends of the gods worshiped, including the sea gods. Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi (1960) Volumes Thuong and Ha (2006) [100] is a work with a lot of data about Thanh Hoa.


Hoa includes location, boundaries, natural and human conditions, the system of communal houses, temples, pagodas, shrines and gods worshiped in this locality. This is a valuable source of documents for researchers who want to study the geography and history of Thanh Hoa province in feudal times. The work Thanh Hoa Province by French scholar Charles Robequain (translated into Vietnamese by Nguyen Xuan Duong and Lam Phuc Giap - 2012) [62] is a research work on Thanh Hoa in the fields of history, literature, art, topography, ethnology, customs, population and migration flows... In the book, there is a section describing in detail the Thanh Hoa sea area from the formation of coastal areas, sea fishing, fish sauce processing, and the way of practicing beliefs of the coastal community. The system of geographical works of the province, of coastal districts and communes such as: Thanh Hoa Provincial Geographical Book, Volume 1 (2000) [77] , Tinh Gia District Geographical Book (2010) [38] , Quang Xuong District Geographical Book (2010) [36] , Quang Xuong District Cultural Geographical Book (2015) , Hoang Hoa Cultural Geographical Book (2000) [35] , Hau Loc Geographical Book (1990) [34] , Nga Son Geographical Book (2012) , Ngu Loc Commune Geographical Book ( 1992) [23] , Hai Thanh Commune Geographical Book (2006) [8] , Quang Nham Commune Geographical Book (2008) [22] ... has introduced an overview of the system of sea gods, places of worship, festivals and values ​​related to the religious activities of the coastal community of Thanh Hoa in general and of each coastal district and commune in particular. In general, the above works only stop at the form of statistics describing in the most general way the beliefs of the coastal community of Thanh Hoa. This is the necessary source of documents to help the researcher have an overall view, thereby clearly identifying the object and scope of the research topic.

The second is a group of in-depth research works on the beliefs of coastal communities in Thanh Hoa. In these works, the authors mostly describe the cultural elements at a specific location and try to


try to highlight the unique characteristics of the locality. The selected elements are often relics, religious activities, festivals, customs, performances, folk culture, indigenous knowledge... Typical works are: Folk culture of coastal villages edited by Ngo Duc Thinh (2000) [72] comprehensively described Mom village (now Quang Nham commune, Quang Xuong district); the work Central Vietnam Sea Culture by Le Van Ky (2005) [49] mentioned the place name of Cu Nham coastal village, also known as Mom village, with the custom of worshiping the Four Holy Ladies in the largest temple of the village (called the Ca temple) and considered the Cu Nham village festival as one of the typical festivals of the coastal residents of Thanh Hoa to commemorate the merits of the sea gods. A series of other works that can be mentioned are doctoral theses and master's theses: Pham Van Tuan's doctoral thesis titled Traditional social organization structure of coastal Vietnamese villages in Hau Loc district, Thanh Hoa province (2010) [88], Pham Thi Ha Xuyen's master's thesis Researching folk knowledge in current seafood fishing of residents of Ngu Loc commune, Hau Loc district, Thanh Hoa province (2015) [106], Nguyen Xuan Tra's master's thesis researching the beliefs of coastal residents of Quang Xuong district , Thanh Hoa (2010) [82],...

A group of in-depth research works on a specific belief of coastal communities. In this group of works, the authors delve into describing and analyzing a belief of a coastal community, thereby pointing out the role of this belief in the life of the community. First of all, we must mention the typical works of Hoang Ba Tuong: The custom of worshiping the One-legged God in Nui Sam Son village (2005) [90] and The custom of worshiping the One-legged God in some coastal villages of Thanh Hoa province (doctoral thesis, 2010) [91]. The custom of worshiping the One-legged God is a typical belief of coastal residents of Thanh Hoa. From the perspective of folk culture, these works have outlined the appearance of the custom.


worship of Doc Cuoc god in Sam Son mountain village and some coastal villages of Thanh Hoa province, at the same time pointing out the traditional beliefs and cultural layers integrated in the worship of Doc Cuoc god, the values ​​and changes of this worship in the contemporary context. Doc Cuoc god is one of the gods considered to have originated in Thanh Hoa and is now worshiped in many places. Previously, this worship was also mentioned in the works of French author JI Claeys in his 1941 study entitled The Annamese and the Sea (1941) [28]. This scholar recorded the raft building techniques of Luong Nhiem village and the legendary character of Doc Cuoc god. The book " Gods protecting the sea, islands and Vietnamese fishermen" compiled by authors Le Minh and Pham Dang (2014) [55] briefly discussed the relationship between Vietnamese people and the sea, then compiled and classified the gods who play a role in protecting the sea, islands and Vietnamese fishermen. In the group of sea gods in Vietnam listed by these authors, there are two gods considered to have originated from Thanh Hoa, namely Ba Trieu and Doc Cuoc. The authors have researched the origin as well as described the worship of these two gods. The ministerial-level scientific topic titled The system of sea gods and the significance of practicing this belief for the exploitation of the sea and establishing the sense of sovereignty over the sea of ​​the Vietnamese people in the North and North Central regions (2015) [6] chaired by Tran Thi An has outlined the system of sea gods and the practice of worshiping sea gods of the Vietnamese people in the North and North Central regions, including Thanh Hoa. The group of authors has made preliminary statistics of the Thanh Hoa sea god system and discussed in depth some typical gods such as Doc Cuoc, Ba Trieu and the festival complex in the Sam Son sea area, the Ngu Diem Pho (Hau Loc) prayer ceremony. The work Vietnamese Sea and Island Culture from the Perspective of Folk Culture (2017) [20] by Vu Quang Dung is a collection of articles by many researchers on sea and island culture. In this work, there are 5 articles by


Dr. Hoang Ba Tuong discusses the religious activities of the Thanh Hoa fishing community such as "Ba Trieu - the founder of the weaving profession and the layers of culture and beliefs converging in a mother goddess", "The worship of the god Doc Cuoc - the transformation between indigenous and exogenous cultural elements", "The fishing festival - imbued with cultural and religious nuances of the sea",...

Discussing the religious practices of coastal communities, there are also works such as Thanh Hoa Folk Festivals (2016) [93] edited by Dr. Hoang Ba Tuong, Traditional Rites and Festivals of Thanh Hoa (2006) [56] by Hoang Anh Nhan or the book Traditional Festivals of Thanh Land (2 volumes) by the Management Board of Monuments and Landscapes of Thanh Hoa Province. In these works, the authors mainly introduce and analyze festivals associated with typical gods of coastal communities such as: the fishing festival of coastal communes of Thanh Hoa associated with the worship of Whale, the swimming festival in the Lach Bang estuary, the Quang Trung festival, the Tai Ma custom of the coastal village of Nhu Ang,... associated with the system of monuments and landscapes - places of worship of gods. The historical, cultural, architectural and religious values ​​of the relics were studied, described and analyzed by researchers of Thanh Hoa General Museum and Thanh Hoa Monuments and Landscapes Management Board in the 7-volume book series Thanh Hoa Monuments and Landscapes (1994-2009); Nguyen Thanh Loi, in the article Whale Worship in Vietnam (in his book A Perspective on Marine Culture (2014)), discussed the whale worship custom in Dien Pho village (Hau Loc) and affirmed that in terms of age, the oldest whale worshiping temple was the Diem Pho temple (Ngu Loc commune, Hau Loc district, Thanh Hoa) built in 1739. This data shows that the whale worship custom existed among the people before Nguyen Anh ascended the throne (1802) and refuted the opinions of some researchers such as Cadière, Thai Van Kiem, Son Nam... that the whale worship custom only existed from the Ngang Pass area (Quang Binh) onwards [46, p.235].

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