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Abstract
Set apart from the so-called ‘Hinduisation’ process, the Cham country is characterised by the presence of many sites or shrines dedicated to local deities. This paper—based on the analysis of archaeological and anthropological evidence—aims to identify these cults, to clarify the associated practices and to demonstrate how the local cults map out the entire local geography. Moreover, in central Vietnam, it is possible to precisely examine ‘potent places’ in order to achieve a better understanding of the local cults and the persistence of those cults from antiquity to the present. In ancient times, each local deity was connected to a political power, which ‘exhaled’ it and, at the same time, put a mark on the territory. The diversity of potent places allows a better understanding of puzzling territories. The continuity of ritual practices performed at Cham potent places, centuries after the disappearance of any form of Cham political power, shows the link between the first occupants of the land and the following Viet inhabitants.
Notes
1 ‘Earth gods are not distinguishable in the specification of a territory (the contours of which are generally vague and fluctuating), but rather in that of a human community in connection with a natural environment that it develops’ (Formoso Citation1996, 16).
2 The current ‘citadel of Chams’ (Thành Lồi), located south of the Perfume River.
3 The Cham king is called by his Vietnamese name, as his native name is unknown.
4 Personal communication with Trần Đình Hằng, Director of VICAS- Huế, in August 2014 after Trịnh and Nguyễn’s Citation1997 publication Bức tranh dân cư vùng Thuận Hóa đầu thế kỷ XV qua văn bản Thỉ thiên tự, 124–125.
5 Namely, An Dô, An Mỹ, Vân Thê and La Vân.
6 The Thuân Hoa forms the southern border of the Việt country and seems to be aptly named: Ô châu ac dia ‘the district of Ô of an extreme rigour’ (Laborde Citation1921, 111).
7 On the reception of people during his installation, see Taylor (Citation1993, 62).
8 The ninth-century figure can be seen at: http://www.museedesconfluences.fr/fr/ressources/durga-mahasasura-mardini?destination=search/general/Durga%20Mahasasuramardini. Accessed August 14, 2017.
9 This can be clearly seen on Project Pacha’s geoportal: http://mapd.sig.huma-num.fr/projet_pacha/flash/?#my_layers. Accessed August 10, 2017.
10 The preface of Collection of the Departed Spirits from the Việt Realm (Việt Điện u linh tập), dated 1329, tells how among ‘mysterious affairs of spirits capable of great achievements’, four spirits out of thirty relate to Việt naval actions against the Cham country in the eleventh century (Taylor Citation1986, 26–59).
11 In the pagoda of the village of Lang (Schweyer Citation2011, 296–297).
12 ‘The Map of the pacified South’ (Bình nam chỉ chưởng nhật trình đồ) probably drawn in the eighteenth century (History of Cartography Citation1987, 497) indicates the location of the site of Po Nagar in Nha Trang ‘Tower of the Princess Jade/Pearl’ (Chúa Ngọc Thap), proof of an identification of the mother goddesses around the Cham divinity.
13 On the use of dreams by rulers for a didactic purpose, see Kelley (Citation2015, 98–104). Controlling the spirits seems to be more than just a way to ‘keep the common people in line’ but a process to incorporate them.
14 The present village of Trà Liên was called Trà Bat in the mid-sixteenth century as recorded in Ô châu cân luc (Trịnh and Nguyễn Citation1997, 42).
15 Ô châu cân luc, ch. 5, ‘Pagodas and Temples’ (Trịnh and Nguyễn Citation1997, 79).
16 One could use Schlecker’s (Citation2013, 82) neologism and emphasise the ‘perdurability’ of Cham places and objects whose potency has survived the generations.
17 Taylor (Citation2004, 65) refers to this in a legend in which Thiên Y A Na is a former Cham queen who lived in the fourteenth century.
18 Inscription C.112 (Huber Citation1911, 283–284).
19 Called ‘wild’ characters (chữ mọi) by the locals.
20 The temple of Thiên Y A Na is located 6 km southwest of Huế and is officially called the ‘Mount of the Jade cup’ (Ngọc Trân), in popular language the ‘rock of the cup’ (Hòn Chén) and more commonly the ‘pagoda of the witch’. The present building dates from 1886, at the time of Emperor Đồng Khánh who was officially a follower of the goddess.
21 See an illustration in Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient from 1914, Fig. 5 at http://www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_0336-1519_1914_num_14_1_2869. Accessed August 13, 2017.
22 From Dai Nam nhut thông chi. 1849 (2): 40, cited in Đào Thai Hanh (Citation1915, 453–455).
23 An interesting comparison can be made with the Khmer statue of the Mekong delta which ‘naturally emerged from the sea’ (Taylor Citation2004, 60).