To live peacefully within a society, what do
Vietnamese people believe in? What is our outlook on life? What are our values and morals? How to live
rightfully for ourselves and with other people? This is the subject of this
article.
A system of beliefs generally consists of a
part which derives from history and culture (traditional / common beliefs) and
a part which comes from external sources (Buddhism from India, Christianity
from Europe, Islam from Arabian countries...).
2. Popular
beliefs
As mentioned in a previous article, Vietnam is at the center of the
tropical monsoonal area, with a variety of natural characteristics. Vietnamese people’s lives depend on
agriculture and harvesting of natural products, therefore, worshiping natural
deities has long been a tradition for them.
Being close to nature, we believed in and
worshiped:
- Natural elements : Cloud, Rain, Thunder, Lightning (The Four Principles), trees, rice plants, specific trees like the banyan tree, the areca tree...
- Animals : tiger, whale,
elephant, turtle..
- Gods : Thổ Địa (earth god) controls the land, Hà Bá (river god) controls rivers, Ông Táo (kitchen god) controls cooking, Thần Tài (god of luck), Phúc Lộc Thọ (the 3 gods of good fortune, wealth and longevity)...)- Saints (Saint Tản Viên Sơn or Sơn Tinh represents the hope of overcoming natural disasters, Phù Đổng Thiên Vương or Saint Gióng represents the spirit of resistance against foreign invasion, Chử Đồng Tử represents love, marriage and wealth, Liễu Hạnh princess represents spiritual life...), heroes who have been deified (Saint Trần is Trần Hưng Đạo...).
Temples are structures that have been built
to worship a god or a deceased famous person.
In Vietnamese culture, the day of death is more important than the day of birth so more emphasis is put on the anniversary of the death of a deceased person than the birthday of a living person. The ancestor altar is a characteristic of Asian people.
One
would rather be blind and worship one’s ancestors than have clear vision and
neglect worshipping one’s grandfather and father (Nguyễn
Đình Chiểu, Lục Vân Tiên).
This is the Vietnamese cult of ancestors.
In
addition, the Vietnamese also believe in supernatural causal
relationships.
Superstition includes the following activities:
Superstition includes the following activities:
- Various psychic readings, divination, palmistry, physiognomy...
- Beliefs in fortuitous days, bad months, in sorcerers...
- Beliefs in prayers and ceremonies to prevent unfortunate events...
3. Religions
Vietnamese
culture is heavily influenced by Confucianism and Taoism (from China) and
Buddhism (from India). These three
religious systems combine and complement each other to form the Tripartite
Religion: Confucianism deals with social order, Taoism deals with the human
body, Buddhism deals with human spirituality and the next life.
Here, the Vietnamese word “đạo” has two meanings:
- In
a narrow sense, it means religion (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism...)
- In
a broader sense, it means “the Path”, i.e. the manner of living and related
principles, morals...
Confucianism
and Taoism cannot be strictly considered as religions since, although they have
doctrines and classical texts, they do not have a solid religious structure,
specific worshiping places or well developed worshiping practices and
ceremonies.
Buddhism
has characteristics of a religion but Buddha considers himself as a common
mortal man who has achieved enlightenment and not as a supreme sacred being
like God or Allah.
Therefore,
the Tripartite Religion is closer to a philosophy of living, a Way of Living
than other religions.
3.1 Influence
of Confucianism
Imported into Vietnam at the same time as Han
writing, Confucianism advocates basic values which form the foundations for a
cultural tradition of ideas, morals and living manners.
On the other hand, Confucianism promotes a society too organised, too rigid as to be too conservative, not capable of adapting to a changing environment: this is one of the causes of the loss of Vietnam to the French and the invasion of China by Japan (which has already understood this problem).
On the other hand, Confucianism promotes a society too organised, too rigid as to be too conservative, not capable of adapting to a changing environment: this is one of the causes of the loss of Vietnam to the French and the invasion of China by Japan (which has already understood this problem).
3.2 Influence
of Buddhism
Basic Buddhist teachings are contained in
four noble principles:
- Life
is full of pain, physically and mentally...
- Pain
is caused by desires and greed. We will
be unhappy if we expect others to obey our wishes, to act the same as we do, if
we do not get what we want...
- Ending pain and achieving a state of satisfaction and happiness. When we get rid of our useless desires and learn to live day by day, we begin to live joyfully, peacefully and freely.
- The way of ending pain is to strengthen our spirit through our words, thoughts and actions and to improve our mind by clear understanding of these principles and developing a compassionate nature.
- The way of ending pain is to strengthen our spirit through our words, thoughts and actions and to improve our mind by clear understanding of these principles and developing a compassionate nature.
The Five Precepts are the five moral
prohibitions of Buddhism: no killing, no stealing, no indecent desires, no
lying and no use of intoxicating substances which adversely affect the mind.
In summary, Buddhism is the path of
deliverance from the pains of living, by building our spirit, abandoning
useless desires and developing a compassionate nature to live in harmony with
all species.
3.3 Influence
of Taoism
Taoism is based on many ideas involving the universe (about the sky and the earth, the five elements), the theory of universal energy, internal chi, yin and yang and the tradition of exercising the body and spirit, like breathing control, Tai Chi, Qigong, meditation...
Lao Tzu’s teaching is very complex, with deep
meanings and is hard to understand.
3.4 Influence of other religions
From the Tripartite Religion come other
religions like Cao Đài religion based on Taoism,
Hoà Hảo religion based on Buddhism, Christianity came to Vietnam from the 17th century, rought in by the European missionaries. Muslims and Hindus in Vietnam are mostly ethnic Cham people.
Hoà Hảo religion based on Buddhism, Christianity came to Vietnam from the 17th century, rought in by the European missionaries. Muslims and Hindus in Vietnam are mostly ethnic Cham people.
4. The Vietnamese and “the way of living”
The combination of popular beliefs and religions produces a few Vietnamese characteristics as follows:
- From a moral viewpoint, there are:
The five permanent virtues of a man (i.e. Compassion, Loyalty, Civility, Intelligence, Honesty). These virtues are commonly used in naming male children.
The four virtues of a woman (i.e. Home Care, Appearance, soft Language, good Nature).
Civility has a special role. The proverb “One learns how to behave first and then learns how to read and write” is widespread in Vietnamese schools and represents the Confucian concept of education.
Confucianism emphasizes the family, loyalty, fidelity (for married couples, friends) and worshipping of ancestors is very important.
Love and respect of one’s parents is very important and Asian people always obey their parents (even if they disagree with them), never argue with or show disrespect for their grandparents, parents, older siblings or superiors through their words or behaviour.
(One small example from my own experience: when I was around 55 years old, I tried to grow a moustache, my mother saw that and did not like it so I shaved it to make my mother happy.)
- Concept of responsibility and accompanying duties, moral principles and emotions of the individual with respect to himself/herself and the community. The Vietnamese are usually conscious of surrounding people and try not to inconvenience them.
- The Middle Way is a harmonious equilibrium, not extreme, not favouring one way or the other. Therefore, the Vietnamese sometimes tend to be ambivalent.
- Love of learning, respect of talented and educated people. Parents, especially overseas, usually sacrifice their whole lives to provide a good education to their children.
- From Buddhism, the Vietnamese usually believe that “kindness will lead to good fortune” and live accordingly in order to leave the good fortune to their children.
- Some values inherent to poor countries: the Vietnamese are usually frugal (not wasteful), work hard and share what they have with other people. (In Vietnam, families in cities usually provide food, lodging and some spending money to a maid from the country side to help with family chores.)
On the other hand, Confucianism encourages a way of living too passive, lacking competition, so the Vietnamese generally do not have a progressive spirit.
5. Some general observations
As seen:
- Vietnam is a country with many religions and the Vietnamese appear to be tolerant with respect to this subject.
- The Vietnamese do not have an absolute concept of religion: Christians may still have an ancestor altar at home, Buddhist temples can also worship other gods, Cao Đài religion combines the Tripartite Religion with Islam, Christianity and also worships Sun Yat Sen, Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm and Victor Hugo...
Religion is only a tool, a spiritual space which helps in adding variety to society and its moral principles.
Vietnamese beliefs have many aspects and combine popular beliefs, superstitions and many religions in a natural way. A person without any religious affiliations when faced with adversity will pray to Heaven, to Buddha, to his/her deceased grandparents and parents and ask for their help in overcoming his/her current hardship. (This characteristic of multi aspects and harmonious mixing is particular to Vietnamese culture, as seen in its language, eating and cooking...)
In the end, the main point for the Vietnamese is how to live in accordance with The Way, in harmony with the universe, satisfying the needs of our current mortal life and the next life (by building our spirit and by making good deeds).
Vietnamese religion is the Cult of our Ancestors and the “Way of Living”.
6. Now and Then
The above facts exist since ancient times and form part of Vietnamese culture. However, we need to understand that:
- Popular beliefs mainly come from rural areas, their impact on urban people may be smaller.
- Traditional customs will more or less fade with time and changes in history.
The government of a country can have a great influence on the spiritual life of its people. I have not visited my country for a long time and really do not know changes at home, if any.
- For overseas Vietnamese, after many tens of years abroad, Western culture has certainly taken hold into our lives. This is even more applicable for the later generations.
Anyway, the ideas presented above form part of our cultural heritage and even if they may change, they still remain deeply in our spirit.
A Vietnamese will always be a Vietnamese.
- Concept of responsibility and accompanying duties, moral principles and emotions of the individual with respect to himself/herself and the community. The Vietnamese are usually conscious of surrounding people and try not to inconvenience them.
- The Middle Way is a harmonious equilibrium, not extreme, not favouring one way or the other. Therefore, the Vietnamese sometimes tend to be ambivalent.
- Love of learning, respect of talented and educated people. Parents, especially overseas, usually sacrifice their whole lives to provide a good education to their children.
- From Buddhism, the Vietnamese usually believe that “kindness will lead to good fortune” and live accordingly in order to leave the good fortune to their children.
- Some values inherent to poor countries: the Vietnamese are usually frugal (not wasteful), work hard and share what they have with other people. (In Vietnam, families in cities usually provide food, lodging and some spending money to a maid from the country side to help with family chores.)
On the other hand, Confucianism encourages a way of living too passive, lacking competition, so the Vietnamese generally do not have a progressive spirit.
5. Some general observations
As seen:
- Vietnam is a country with many religions and the Vietnamese appear to be tolerant with respect to this subject.
- The Vietnamese do not have an absolute concept of religion: Christians may still have an ancestor altar at home, Buddhist temples can also worship other gods, Cao Đài religion combines the Tripartite Religion with Islam, Christianity and also worships Sun Yat Sen, Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm and Victor Hugo...
Religion is only a tool, a spiritual space which helps in adding variety to society and its moral principles.
Vietnamese beliefs have many aspects and combine popular beliefs, superstitions and many religions in a natural way. A person without any religious affiliations when faced with adversity will pray to Heaven, to Buddha, to his/her deceased grandparents and parents and ask for their help in overcoming his/her current hardship. (This characteristic of multi aspects and harmonious mixing is particular to Vietnamese culture, as seen in its language, eating and cooking...)
In the end, the main point for the Vietnamese is how to live in accordance with The Way, in harmony with the universe, satisfying the needs of our current mortal life and the next life (by building our spirit and by making good deeds).
Vietnamese religion is the Cult of our Ancestors and the “Way of Living”.
6. Now and Then
The above facts exist since ancient times and form part of Vietnamese culture. However, we need to understand that:
- Popular beliefs mainly come from rural areas, their impact on urban people may be smaller.
- Traditional customs will more or less fade with time and changes in history.
The government of a country can have a great influence on the spiritual life of its people. I have not visited my country for a long time and really do not know changes at home, if any.
- For overseas Vietnamese, after many tens of years abroad, Western culture has certainly taken hold into our lives. This is even more applicable for the later generations.
Anyway, the ideas presented above form part of our cultural heritage and even if they may change, they still remain deeply in our spirit.
A Vietnamese will always be a Vietnamese.
Translated by Khai PHAN
from VN-VN : Tín-ngưỡng người Việt
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