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ABSTRACT
Tianhou (天后) is a popular religious figure rooted in Fujian, China. Historically, she was continuously ‘standardised’ by late imperial China, making this character a standard symbol. In the late 17th century, Chinese immigrants propagated the Tianhou cult in Southern Vietnam, further developed, and made Tianhou the identity marker of their community. However, in Camau and other places of Southern Vietnam, this symbol became partially changed due to the process of localisation and cross-cultural exchange. The Chinese successfully incorporate Chinese Tianhou rituals with Vietnamese family rites (especially the worships of Kitchen God and ancestors) to gain both community consolidation and cross-ethnic integration. The illusionary incorporation effectively consolidates the ties between peoples and improves the position of the ethnic Chinese in the local society. This paper mainly applies the concept of ‘inventing tradition’ and Seligman’s and Weller’s (2012) viewpoint of the cultural interaction of notation, ritual and shared experience to generalise the nature and significance of liturgical transformation in the Tianhou cult among the ethnic Chinese in Camau. The study shows that cultural adaptation, as a means for survival and evolution, has been the goal of an endless struggle among the Chinese in contemporary Vietnam.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)
Notes
1. Written documents and photos of the event are displaying at a local Chinese museum in Singapore (author’s fieldwork notes, 2015).
2. Quoted from the in-depth interview in Penang, Malaysia, on April, 2017.
3. The French invaded Vietnam in 1858 and began to colonise the country in the 1860s. President Ho Chi Minh declared national independence in 1945; however, the last French troops were driven out of the country after the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ in 1954.
4. In-depth interviews conducted in 2014 and 2015.
5. According to Mr. TVK (above-mentioned), the whole Chinese community in downtown Camau is divided into five groups according to the geographical location. Each group will take turn to join the ritual preparation team in one year.
6. Charles S. Peirce emphasised that a sign (symbol) is a representation that is connected with an object through a direct and specific connection, and is fixed by social customs and rules (see Bouissac Citation1998).
7. Term proposed by (Sangren Citation1989, 69).
8. Quoted from an interview on January 27, 2017.
9. Quoted from an interview on January 27, 2017.
10. Orally given by Dr. Ong Seng Huat, the Director of Malaysia Tao Academy.
11. Quoted from the interview with Ms. HAH, above-mentioned, in February, 2017.
12. Quoted from an interview at Tianhou Temple on February 5, 2016.
13. Guandi, 關帝Chinese god of war, is a metamorphosis symbol of Guanyu (關羽), a historical figure in Chinese history, written by Chen Shou (陳壽Chen Shou, 233–297) in Sanguozhi (三國志Three Kingdoms). Guanyu was standardised and superscribed many times throughout Chinese history, modified by Luo Guanzhong (羅貫中, 1330–1400) in Sanguoyanyi (三國演義, Romance of the Three Kingdoms), becoming a Confucian symbol in official culture (Guan Gong 關公) and a god of benevolence (Guandi) in folk culture (see Duara Citation1988; Ter Haar Citation2017). The cult of Guandi was first adopted by pre-modern Vietnamese dynasties and then widely spread among the people. In Vietnamese culture, he is currently interpreted as a benevolent deity, a god of exorcism, a Buddhist Bodhisattva, and a Confucian symbol of loyalty, bravery, and propriety.
14. Many informants claimed that the 3 January ritual was constituted before 1975, but they could not remember exactly. Records by the temple executive board were partially burnt during the war.