{"title":"Continuity and Transformation of Rural Communal Temples in Vietnam: A Case Study of Tân Chánh Village, Long An Province","authors":"Thi Phuong Ngo, Ngoc Tho Nguyen","doi":"10.21315/ijaps2021.17.2.10","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"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.","PeriodicalId":42665,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2021-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.21315/ijaps2021.17.2.10","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
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.
越南的公共寺庙(đình làng)主要有两个功能:(1)作为国家资助的机构,在政治和文化上组织和控制村庄;(2)作为崇拜村庄神灵和功勋前辈的地方。这两个功能相互作用并相互补充——在许多情况下,第二个功能既是部署第一个功能的“手段”又是“技术”。然而,如今行政角色不再可用;相反,由于佛教、佛教和民间信仰之间的互动日益频繁,以及经济发展和城市移民的影响,精神方面的影响正在上升。村里的长老学会将寺庙组织成一个公共的社会文化机构,由此跨村的寺庙形成了一种“权力”的文化联系。本研究发现,虽然有几座寺庙转型为“英雄庙”的形式,但仍有一座庙在基层动员起来,转型为公民的“宗教和社会文化中心”。该地区的社会经济背景造成了这种转变。村民之间沟通和情感交流的实际需求生动地保证了寺庙传统的延续,而国家直接控制的丧失为其转型铺平了道路。传承与变革是 n Chánh寺当前宗教活动的主攻方向,但如何将这两个方向折衷、融合始终是一个挑战。然而,作为“文化媒介”进行仪式的神崇拜的剩余功能仍然将村民联系在一起,并使他们能够跨越边界。