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This thesis focus on the "ethnic religious system" of Vietnam. Through this research, we may attempt to systematize the ethnic religion in Vietnam, and rethink Vietnam's ethnic identities between civilizations in Southeast Asia and China in terms of culture, history, and ideas linked by religion. Southeast Asian cultural region have two things in common, one is rice culture and the other is the concept and structure of matriarchal society. In such a cultural space, Vietnam has a special status in Southeast Asia, because Vietnam is a Southeast Asian country deeply influenced by Chinese culture. The foundation of Chinese society is a patrilineal society. Everyone often looks at Vietnam from this perspective. It seems that Vietnam is also a patrilineal society in Southeast Asia. In fact, after a deep understanding of Vietnamese society, it was found that its cultural base was still matriarchal. After being deeply influenced by Chinese culture, some characteristics of matriarchal society can still be seen in modern Vietnamese society, such as the dominant role of women in family operations. Therefore, the Vietnamese god world should be based on goddesses, covered with a layer of male gods, showing a strong Vietnamese identity, and clearly distinguished from the Chinese patrilineal identity. A. The approach: Compiling documents and field survey This thesis compiles the myths, legends, historical records, religious classics, pilgrimages, spiritual activity records, etc. about the “Thánh” and “Mẫu” deities. Based on classical Chinese and Nôm materials from Vietnam, modern French studies, and modern Vietnam religious studies, this thesis attempts to find out: First, overview of Vietnamese religions in each period; second, the observations and records that are closest to the true faith activities; third, how to look at Vietnamese ethnic religions from different research perspectives and how to understand the corresponding perspectives of the Holy and the Vulgar in Vietnamese society. Therefore, the observations and expositions of the predecessors hope to further draw a more systematic panorama for Vietnamese ethnic religion. If the documents give a more historical understanding from the time axis, the field survey provides physical verification and the current belief situation and development trend. Through the key temple field trips in the North, Central and South, we can observe the current understanding of the faith, its development strategy of the current social, political, and religious environment, and infer its future development trends. In addition, from interviews with people engaged in faith rituals, we can compare the gap between the material recorded in the literature and reality, and supplement the documentary records with field data to take a more comprehensive look at the system of Vietnamese ethnic beliefs. B. Diarchy system of Vietnamese ethnic religion: The belief of Thánh and Mẫu If the construction of the “Thánh” is strongly promoted by the state power, then the development of the “Mẫu” reflects the strength of local belief. If “Thánh” supports the independent national spirit of the country, “Mẫu” resolves differences or conflicts between ethnics and beliefs. If “Thánh” is shaped by political forces, then “Mẫu” is led by folk energy. When the “Mẫu” also became strong, the civilian power was enough to compete with the “Thánh” holy, and the “Mẫu” and “Thánh” also went through the process of ups and downs to the containment process, which achieved the Vietnamese diarchy ethnic religion system. When competing with each other, although the “Mẫu” representing the local indigenous power is strong, it will blend with each other to some extent in the face of the ruling class that has both human and divine power. At the same time, they were also housed separately. The “Mẫu” gathered female gods of various ethnic groups, including the mother gods of the Cham, Khmer and Chinese ethnic groups. The two beliefs also mingled Buddhism, Taoism, and Hindu deities, while the “Thánh” established its own sacred ancestor for the nation and distinguished it from China. The two beliefs also regulate the wrestling between lay authority and sacred authority, reflecting the fact that imperial power has never fully controlled the divine power. Therefore, under the strong pressure of Confucian patriarchy, the “Thánh” is still preserved and developed, balancing the divine power. C. Vietnamese ethnic religion identities First, the Vietnamese national belief is basically a diarchy belief structure. The "Thánh" reflects the male deities, patriarchal consciousness, imperial sanctions, resistance to the enemy, national independence, national heroism, and matriarchy in Vietnamese society. Belief on “Mẫu” represents maternal deities, feminist consciousness, national indigenous power, national tolerance, and national cultural assets. Second, the religious beliefs of the Vietnamese nation are basically based on the "comprehensive" spirit and "acceptance" ability as development principles. If the main function of "Thánh" is to consolidate the centripetal force of the national spirit, then the main function of "Mẫu" is to resolve the differences between ethnics through the acceptance of religious deities. Both of these functions play a key role in Vietnam's resistance to the enemy's defense and the expansion of its territory to the south. Third, the "convenience" principle of Vietnamese religion. In order to make it easier for worshippers to worship the gods, they can accept people of other religions into the inner courtyard, or build his temples next to their own temples for other religions, forming many holy places of comprehensive faith. With the "convenience" principle, the future development of the "Mẫu", especially in the south, can expect more phenomena of cross-religion and ethnic belief. Fourth, the "spirit" of the deities is more important than the "form" of the deities. This principle is used very freely by the "Mẫu" and has become a very interesting feature of Vietnamese religion. In the religious view of the Vietnamese, the "spirit" of the deity is the most important. The "spirit" can even be expressed by the deities of other religions. Because the "spirit" of the deity is the core of faith, and it can be expressed in different "forms". This view of the gods is the core principle of Vietnam's "Mẫu" rising from the nongovernmental class but developing rapidly across religions, beliefs, and nations. Fifth, the development process of Vietnamese religious beliefs is also a process of mutual growth and decline between official imperial power and folk power.
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