The ritual incorporation and cross-cultural communication in Camau, Vietnam: a case study of the Tianhou cult
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...
| Published in: | Culture and religion |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor and Francis Group
2021
|
| In: |
Culture and religion
Year: 2021, Volume: 22, Issue: 1, Pages: 6-24 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ca Mau
/ Chinese people
/ Ritual
/ Mazu Goddess
/ Acculturation
/ Ancestor cult
/ Cultural contact
/ Ethnic identity
/ History 2014-2017
|
| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AG Religious life; material religion AX Inter-religious relations BB Indigenous religions BM Chinese universism; Confucianism; Taoism KBM Asia TK Recent history ZB Sociology |
| Further subjects: | B
ritual incorporation
B cross-cultural communication B Ethnic Chinese B Camau B Tianhou |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | 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. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1475-5629 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Culture and religion
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2022.2140686 |