Identify the Values of Ancestor Worship Belief in the Spiritual Life of Vietnamese People

Nguyen Trong Long,Vu Hong Van

doi:10.11648/j.ijp.20190704.14

Abstract

Ancestor worship has an important place in family and society of Vietnam. This is a way of expressing gratitude and tribute to the deceased. According to the concept of Vietnamese people, the deceased often engage in the present life, they guide, direct, protect us, blessing us, etc. Up to now, the phenomenon of ancestor worship still exists in many nations and people. However, its position and role in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people in each place is different. In some countries, ancestor worship has a faint role in the spiritual life of the community, especially the nations and peoples that have worship a single religion. But in many countries, there are concepts of polytheism, pantheism, ancestor worship plays an important role in the spiritual life of each individual, community and society. In Vietnam, most people worship ancestors, including followers of some religions. People perceive this belief both as a traditional custom and as a human morality as well as a form of spiritual activity. This study provides a discussion of: the origin and nature of ancestor worship belief; object of ancestor worship; the formation of Vietnamese ancestor worship belief; ancestor worship rituals and values of ancestor worship belief in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people.

Highlights

In the forms of folk beliefs, ancestor worship is a kind of tradition belief of the Vietnamese people
Ancestor worship has become a traditional custom, has a very special position in the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people, and is one of the elements that make up the cultural identity of Vietnam
Ancestor worship was rooted in the internal of the nation [3], after which foreign religions (Confucianism [21], Buddhism [17], Taoism [10]) introduced, especially Confucianism that made ancestor worship beliefs put into practice, effectively serving the patriarchal feudal regime

Summary

Introduction

In the forms of folk beliefs, ancestor worship is a kind of tradition belief of the Vietnamese people. Ancestor worship was rooted in the internal of the nation [3], after which foreign religions (Confucianism [21], Buddhism [17], Taoism [10]) introduced, especially Confucianism that made ancestor worship beliefs put into practice, effectively serving the patriarchal feudal regime It can be said: “ancestor worship belief is the most common belief of Vietnamese people. The formation and development of nations and peoples is often associated with the names of people who have created and maintained the life of the community They were heroes and celebrities who, while living, are revered, respected, lost, remembered, worshiped in religious spaces. In Vietnam, they were the ancestors of the craft, the village’s tutelary gods, national heroes, cultural celebrities, etc

The Concept of Ancestors

Worship of Ancestors in Family

Ancestor Worship at the Village and Commune Level

Conscious of the Roots of the Nation

Conclusion