BUDDHIST FACTORS IN THE CULT OF THIEN HAU IN SOUTHERN VIETNAM

Abstract

Thien Hau (天后, Tian Hou) is a folk belief of the ethnic Chinese in Vietnam, which was propagated to Southern Vietnam by Chinese immigrants from Southeast China in the late 17th century, constantly strengthened and developed together with the process of development and integration of the ethnic Chinese community. During the process of cultural exchange, the ethnic Chinese have found in Thien Hau symbolic meanings of ethnic culture, and also an integrated icon of connecting and reconciling cultures with local Vietnamese and Khmer communities (to compare with the Vietnamized Guan Di symbol). ThienHau was sanctioned the title Heavenly Empress by the late imperial emperors of China, thereby attaching to this symbol the Confucian normative values through which the state could manage to control and standardize the liturgical communities in the Confucian way. However, in Southern Vietnam, when the symbol of Thien Hau has early entered the process of de-Confucianization and de-centralization, it has deeply absorbed Buddhist philosophy to transform and develop among the liturgical communities. This paper applied two specific cultural theories in the study of ritual practice and cultural transformation. One was of James Watson’s (1985) standardizing the gods and rituals in late imperial Chinese culture, and the other was the concept on the relationship between in-depth faith and ritualpractice by Melissa Brown (2007). This research was conducted through the fieldwork activities (Southern Vietnam is where over 80% of Thien Hau temples are located within the whole country), comparison and analysis methodologies for the description, and interpretation of the Buddhist influence(s) in the cult of Thien Hau in Southern Vietnam, thereby understanding the principle(s) of operation and development of cultural exchange in the region