The Cao Đài Deathscape: Reimagining Death, Funerals, and Salvation in Contemporary Vietnam

This article sheds light on the sophisticated funeral process set up by the Cao Đài religion (or Caodaism), combining both a theological and an ethnographical analysis. After introducing how Cao Đài theology represents both the body and the spiritual components of each individual in the specific mil...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Religions
Authors: Jammes, Jérémy (Author) ; Shuai, Shao Zhu (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: MDPI [2020]
In: Religions
Year: 2020, Volume: 11, Issue: 3
Further subjects:B New Religious Movement
B Salvation
B Vietnam
B Death
B Cao Đài (Caodaism)
B Funeral
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Description
Summary:This article sheds light on the sophisticated funeral process set up by the Cao Đài religion (or Caodaism), combining both a theological and an ethnographical analysis. After introducing how Cao Đài theology represents both the body and the spiritual components of each individual in the specific millenarian conception of existence that characterizes Cao Đài, we trace the ritual process of funerals from the altar and coffin preparation to the collection of prayers and talismanic rituals conveyed to save souls in a Cao Đài manner. Read together, these sources present a genuine project and spirit of reform in the ideas, imaginaries, and practices related to death in Vietnam from the 1920s onwards, crystallizing a specific Cao Đài identity in Vietnamese and also East Asian redemptive societies’ deathscapes.
ISSN:2077-1444
Contains:Enthalten in: Religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3390/rel11060280