Continuity and Transformation of Rural Communal Temples in Vietnam: A Case Study of Tân Chánh Village, Long An Province

Thi Phuong Lan Ngo,Ngoc Tho Nguyen

doi:10.21315/ijaps2021.17.2.10

Abstract

Vietnamese communal temples (đình làng) were primarily established with two functions: (1) as a state-patronised institution to organise and control the village politically and culturally and (2) as a place of worship of village deities and meritorious predecessors. Both functions interact and complement each other – in many cases, the second serves as both a “means” and “technique” to deploy the first. However, nowadays the administrative role is no longer available; instead, the spiritual aspects are on the rise as a response to the increasing interaction of Buddhism, Caodaism, and folk beliefs as well as the impact of economic development and urban migration. Village elders learn to organise the temple into a communal socio-cultural institution, whereby cross-village temples have formed a cultural nexus of “power”. This study finds that while several transformed into the form of “temple of heroes”, Tân Chánh temple has been mobilised and transformed into a civic “religious and socio-cultural centre” at the grassroots level. The socio-economic background of the area has caused such transformation. While the practical demand for communication and emotional exchanges among village members vividly ensures the continuity of the temple’s tradition, the loss of direct state control paves the way for its transformation. Both continuity and transformation govern the current religious activities of Tân Chánh temple but there is always a challenge to compromise and integrate these two directions. However, the remaining function of god worship by which rituals are performed as “cultural agents” still binds the villagers together and gives them access to crossing boundaries.

Highlights

The đình làng is a special political-cultural institution in pre-modern Vietnam which functions as a “prolonged hand” of the emperors in the village
In the authors’ previous research on the earth gods of Vietnam, we found that only a limited number of “stop-over halls” were transformed into đình làng; instead, more đình làng were converted from local god temples or primarily built when the village was formed
In the context of present-day society, đình làng is a cultural institution from feudal times that has still maintained its inherent important functions: communal cohesion among different groups of people in the village and reinforcement of spiritual faith among the villagers and local businessmen who have in mind the motto “to worship is to generate and cultivate goodness”

Summary

Introduction

The đình làng (communal temple) is a special political-cultural institution in pre-modern Vietnam which functions as a “prolonged hand” of the emperors in the village. In the context of the above-mentioned research on the structure and functions of đình làng and its associated gods and festivals, and based on the survey data on worship in the Mekong regional communities, especially the long-term study in Cần Đước district of Long An province in 2010, the part of the article will show that the current rituals of worshiping guardian gods in a specific location of the Mekong region.

Results

Conclusion