Ba vị thánh trong các ngôi chùa tiền phật hậu thánh và tâm thức dân gian ở vùng châu thổ bắc bộ tt tiếng anh

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

KHUC MANH KIEN

THREE SAINTS IN THE PAGODAS WITH THE BUDDHISTS IN
FRONT AND SAINTS ON THE BACK IN THE FOLK
CONSCIOUSNESS IN NORTHERN DELTA

Discipline: Folklore
Code: 9 22 90 41

SUMMARY OF DISSERTATION
WITH THE MAJOR IN THE CULTURAL STUDIES

HANOI - 2020


The dissertation is completed at:

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Supervisors:
1.
2.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quynh Phuong
Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Thu Huong

Reviewer 1: Associate Professor, Dr. Le Quy Duc

Reviewer 2: Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Hoai Son
Reviewer 3: Associate Professor, Dr. Dang Hoai Thu

The dissertation is defended at the academy level at
INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE – VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL
SCIENCES
At…. , date……, month ... , 2020

The dissertation can be found at:
Vietnam National Library
Library of Institute of Social Sciences


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INTRODUCTION
1. Reason to choose the topic
In the northern delta, a common form of pagoda has a
special decoration structure and form of worship, called Buddhists on the Front
and Saints on the Back. This is a form of the temple as a whole is relatively
similar in architecture to decorate the altar, the worshipping space, the object of
worship, of religious practices, rituals, sacrifice, etc. Subjects of the main
worship in many Buddhists on the Front and Saints on the Back is the Zen
Buddhists of Vietnamese Buddhism, who have merit, status and profile imbued
with cultural marks of the Viet people in the northern delta. The common point
of worshiping the three saints in the mind today is that people worship them as
benevolent spirits, a supreme spirits that people can pray to the saints for
everything they desire such as for good health, healing, a career, promotion,
good exams, study, good business, etc . In these temples, not only Buddhist
rituals are held, but also traditional festivals dedicated to the saints as in the
folk beliefs in the Northern Delta. In the consciousness, people come to these

temples mainly for rituals and prayers for blessing, with little focus on praying
for salvation. Therefore, although it is a Buddhist temple, but in many temples,
the worship of the saints is even more prominent than the worship of the
Buddha.
The worship of the three saints has been interested in research works,
the publications that mainly recorded the background, the legend and the values
of archeology, architecture, culture and art of the Buddhists in the front and
saints on the back. There are also a few studies that considered these three
saints/Zen masters as a cultural - religious - historical phenomenon,
investigating the relationship between the three saints in an economic,
ideological, political, religious mainstream context in the historical period,
geographical region, and so on. However, the author of this dissertation finds
that no work has been systematically explained about the three saints from the
folk consciousness,, as well as questioning the folk worship of the three saints of
the Viet in relation to the market economy, policies and religious context in
contemporary society. The topic entitled "Three Saints in “Tien Phat hau
Thanh” Pagodas (Buddhists in the Front and Saints on the Back) and Folk
Consciousness in the Northern Delta" is to complement this research gap.
2. The research purpose and tasks of the dissertation
2.1. Research purposes
The dissertation researches the sacred behavior and biography of the
three saints Tu Dao Hanh, Duong Khong Lo and Nguyen Minh Khong at some
Pagodas with Buddhists in the Front and Saints on the Back in order to explain
about the folk mind of Vietnamese people in Europe. The northern region in the


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process of economic, political, cultural and social development. The
dissertation aims to clarify the argument on cultural, social and religious life of
the Viet in northern delta in the movement of history, trends deification, as

well as the background of the existence and continuation of worship of the
saints in contemporary society.
2.2. Research tasks
- Learn the status, sacred biographies of the three saints through
historical sources, bibliographies, faculty texts, books, petition sheets, stories,
stories and stories related to three saints from publishing works, transcripts of
interviews, field notes and collected documents at the field sites.
- Analyzing the manifestations of the consciousness of worshiping the
three saints in the pagodas of Buddhists on the Front and Saints on the Back
through worshipping space, folk festivals, prayers, petition sheets, blessed texts,
ritual texts, and experiences of the folk about the three saints.
- Explain the sacredness, the deification and their relationship with the
magic power of the sacred biographies in the folk consciousness of the Viet in
the northern delta.
- Discuss some issues affecting the mind of worshiping three saints such
as religious syncretism, the trend of deification in Vietnamese culture, the
impact of the market economy, policies and the religious market.
3. Subject and scope of the dissertation research
3.1. Research subjects
The research subject of the dissertation is the representative Pagodas
with Buddhists on the Front and Saints on the Back dedicated to Tu Dao Hanh,
Duong Khong Lo and Nguyen Minh Khong, focusing on biography, status,
ritual practice and festivals, petition sheets, and people's conception about the
worship of the saints.
3.2. Research scope
Space scope: The dissertation explores some the representative
Pagodas with Buddhists on the Front and Saints on the Back in some localities
such as Hanoi city, Nam Dinh province, Thai Binh province, Ninh Binh
province.
Time scope: The dissertation studies the appearance of the saints

worshiped in the Pagodas with Buddhists on the Front and Saints on the Back,
their backgrounds, biographies, stories, histories, legends recorded
from the fourteenth century to the fifteenth. The study time in the dissertation
is the consciousness of people today, in reference to the Renovation after 1986.
4. Approach and research method
4.1. Approach


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- Interdisciplinary Approach to a cultural phenomenon: the dissertation
combines operational research approaches of many related disciplines such as
history, cultural studies, cultural anthropology, folklore, ethnography to
synthesize, analyze data, and draw conclusions from the research.
- Approach from the perspective of an insiders: This approach aims to
understand the mind of worship from the voices of practitioners.
4.2. Research Methods
- Gather and analyze secondary and collected documents at the field
sites: Historical documents; ancient bibliographic sources, non-mainstream
materials such as folk legends, petition sheets, worshipping texts related to the
three saints; published research works.
- Participant observation: Observe ritual practices related to the three
saints such as festivals, ritual for good luck, healing and praying for having
children.
- In-depth interview:
The dissertation interviewed monks, venerable, ritual masters, temple
guardians, members of the Festival Organizing Board, the temple management
board, and the people, businessmen, and public in general, people who go for a
ritual at temples.
5. New scientific contributions of the dissertation
- The dissertation recognizes the worship of the three saints as a

cultural phenomenon in the long history of the traditional and contemporary
Vietnamese society.
- The dissertation clarifies a number of theoretical views on the
relationship between sacred biography, charisma and the empowerment of the
saints.
- The dissertation explores the manifestations of religious practices
through worship space, festivals honoring three saints on the occasion of saints‟
anniversary and deification at the representative Pagodas with Buddhists on the
Front and Saints on the Back, during the ceremony, sacrifice, and texts.
- The dissertation contributes to the identification of the general picture
of the operation, transformation and multi-dimensional effects on a religious
phenomenon.
6. Theoretical and practical significance of the dissertation
6.1. Theoretical meaning
The dissertation results show the importance of the study of religious
practices and beliefs in its entirety, from space, context to dimensions of
culture, society, politics, economics, and specially, inseparable from religious
practices related to other aspects of human life.
6.2. Practical significance


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- The dissertation has practical contributions in policy making and
cultural management related to religious practices, including the practice of
worship, festivals at pagodas the representative Pagodas with Buddhists on the
Front and Saints on the Back.
- Completed dissertation is a useful reference in teaching and
researching on religious practices, religious acts and folk consciousness.
7. The structure of the dissertation
In addition to the Introduction (10 pages) and Conclusion (6 pages),

the dissertation consists of 5 chapters, namely:
Chapter 1: Literature Overview and theoretical rationale (23 pages)
Chapter 2: The context of forming a folk consciousness about the three saints in
the northern delta (20 pages)
Chapter 3: The statues of the three saints (19 pages)
Chapter 4: The manifestations of folk consciousness about the three saints
(34 pages)
Chapter 5: The worship of the saints in northern delta: Some traditional and
contemporary issues (30 pages)
CHAPTER 1
LITERATURE OVERVIEW AND THEORETICAL RATIONALE
1.1 Literature overview
1.1. 1 Research on the folk consciousness of saints
There are quite a number of research works on polytheistic beliefs,
sacred worship, rituals of worshiping subjects in communal halls, temples,
pagodas, thereby expressing the folk consciousness in the religious life of the
Viet people. The worship of spirits and saints include worship of historical
figures, people with meritorious services to the people and country and then
deified, mythical figures, or worship of natural deities, totem, and objects.
1.1.2 Research on the three saints and related relics and festivals
1.1.2.1 Research on the biography of the three saints
In the divine system of the Viet, the three saints of Tu Dao Hanh,
Duong Khong Lo and Nguyen Minh Khong are considered as human beings in
history. Besides, there are quite a lot of studies written about each saint.
1.1.2. 2 Research on monuments and festivals in pagodas Buddhists in
the front and saints on the back
In the scope of the study, each temple worshiping three saints has many
studies addressing each specific issue. Some other works focused on the
architecture of the temple. The works on the traditional festival and the three
saints in the northern delta region are quite diverse, with many similarities, but

also many contradictions. There has been no research to analyze biography and


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statue, as well as to place sacred biographies in the contexts of economy,
politics, ideology, religion, social policy to determine the formation,
development and change of the worship of the three saints, thereby
understanding the folk consciousness of the saints in the northern delta.
The system of research works on folk minds worshiping three saints is
not much, but mainly about worshiping spirit and saints in general. This work
inherits the research results of previous works, and at the same time, researches and
analyzes more deeply and fully the aspects of folk consciousness through the three
saints. The dissertation partly fills the gap in the research on the minds of the
people of the northern delta through the conduct and practice of the rituals of
worshiping three saints in contemporary life.
1.2. Theoretical rationale
1.2.1. Spirits, ancestor saints in the belief system of Viet people
In the West, there are many expressions of god and god: God, Genie (god),
Saint, Angel. In Vietnamese religious culture, god is the concept of a sacred
entity. God is very powerful, can cause happiness, or curse for people and
objects works. Gods can be natural phenomena. Gods can also be ordinary
people who die at sacred hours capable of affecting people. Gods can also be
famous generals who have contributed to the country, or who have contributed
to the villagers, after their death they were worshiped by the people.
The motif of the Viet people is always the character with special talents,
magic, healing powers, warding off evils and saving people and country,
supporting the business, creativity and skills. As saints they have magic and
become immortal. The immortality manifests itself in the regular existence
between everyday life in the form of spirits, descending to the world so that it
can comprehend and resolve all earthly matters. The pagodas with the

Buddhists in front and saints on the back worship the ancestor saints who have
magical powers, and most importantly, they enter the consciousness of the
people.
1.2.2. Folk consciousness
In this dissertation, consciousness is perception, feeling within people, and
sometimes in the mind, or somewhere in their thoughts, minds, or hearts. It can
be very profound or overflowed, but expressed through stories, acts, ritual
practices, religious symbols, artifacts and places of worship. In other words,
people convey the inner mind to the outside through the system of cultural
expressions in verbal and non-verbal language, by speech, in space and time as
well as in kind associated with meaning and symbol.
1.2.3. Charisma and sacred biography
Charisma can be viewed from many angles, from a social, personal and
spiritual perspective, to religion. Charisma and favors for those with magical


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power, in the spirit of Buddhism, to be the Dharma or the Transcendent Reality,
are a privileged personality and thus connected with the ultimate. The concept
of a person's magic power from a Buddhist perspective far exceeds that of an
ordinary person, but it is associated with those who are enlightened and who are
said to be sacred, have power.
Sacred biographies are connected with the magic power of historical figures
and sacred masters. The dissertation applies the concept of charisma by Weber
and the sacred biography by Keyes to shed light on the biography and behavior
of the three venerable Tu Dao Hanh, Nguyen Minh Khong and Duong Khong
Lo. The difference and extra ordinariness in their sacred biographies, their lives
and their actions contribute to the magic power of Zen teachers.
1.2.4. The theory of cultural areas
A cultural area is a territory of similar natural circumstances, the inhabitants

of which have long had historical origins, and similarities in economic
development - society, between them took place the exchange, cultural
influence back and forth. Expressions of a cultural area can be expressed in
lifestyles, production activities, forms of entertainment, as well as religious
belief activities, festivals, and folk arts.
The thesis applies the theory of cultural areas to recognize the characteristics of
the northern delta cultural region in producing and nurturing religious practices
for ancestral monks. The worship of the three Zen masters will be analyzed in
reference to the natural, economic, social and historical environmental factors
of the Northern Delta.
CHAPTER 2
BACKGROUND OF FORMING FOLK CONSCIOUSNESS
ABOUT THE THREE SAINTS IN THE NORTHERN DELDA
2.1. Natural and economic conditions
2.1.1. Natural condition
The northern delta is the cradle of Vietnamese cultural, religious and
belief practices. This land is a gathering place of manifestations, acts and
practices of worship of the three ancestors saints. In terms of
topography, the North Delta has relatively flat terrain compared to other
regions on Vietnam's geographical territory, convenient for growing rice and
crops. The climate in the Northern Delta has factors associated with the
production and development of the sacred worship of the saints.
2.1.2. Economic conditions
The northern delta has a geographical position and quite favorable
natural conditions for agricultural development, cash crop and rice
cultivation. Abundant natural resources, diversity, densely populated, ... are


7
favorable conditions for the development of productive labor industries from

general to modern, bringing convenience to the life. The density of population
is high in the villages and towns, related to the needs and working environment,
as well as collective cultural and religious activities and communitas.
Residents of the Northern Delta are residents living on wet rice
cultivation, that is, agricultural work is the main labor. Farmers do extra work
such as craft, from simple knitting, pottery primitive, the furniture, sericulture
to the fine craftsmanship. Currently, in the provinces of the Northern
Delta , hundreds of different famous handicrafts still exist today . The
development of the handicraft contributing to and building upon the three saints
became multi-career ancestor.
In the context of industrialization, modernization and urbanization, the
economic fluctuations on the livelihood and composition residents have
significant impacts to the practice of cultural villages, to organize, maintain and
promote value in the contemporary context. Changes in population
composition, livelihoods, may have an impact on community-based cultural
practices in villages and communes such as organizing traditional festivals, but
the folk consciousness is maintained. The mind of worshiping the ancestor
saints still exists, changing to suit the thoughts and mind of the people in the
context of their lives.
2. 2. Social and cultural conditions
A basic cultural characteristic of the Northern Delta region is that the
residents live in a village, a basic unit of administrative management, as well as
a space that creates an entire village culture with customs, festivals, living
practices, worship facilities and cultural conduct. The village is the nucleus of
Vietnamese society, and also the vitality and culture of Vietnam. Today, when
urbanization rural. The traditional village culture such as festivals, sacrifices in
the family, the temples still maintain in the neighborhood.
Village culture in the Northern Delta is typical through worshiping the
village tutelary god and holding an annual festival. Most notably are cultural
and religious activities of Vietnamese people in the North with a polytheistic

worship system. The objects worshiped are diverse, be it a historical figure, a
stone, an old tree, or a legendary figure. The system of polytheistic beliefs is
manifested in festivals, legends, forms of sacrifice, worship, prayers.
The pagoda with the Buddhists in front and saints on the back is a
system of religious practices which is clearly manifested in the minds of
Vietnamese people in the northern delta. In the context of market economy, the
worship of saints is not only weakened but also tends to revive and develop to
meet the needs of spiritual life in the contemporary context.


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2.3. The formation of “tien Phat hau Thanh” (Buddhists in front
and saints on the back) pagodas
2.3.1. Social and political context
The political and social context of Vietnam in history is one of the
foundations of the system of worship of Zen masters who were sanctified at
Buddhist temples. From the autonomy period, there is a lot of evidence that
reflects the religious life, the relationship between politics and religion related
to the birth of worship of Zen masters.
During the Mac Dynasty, Taoism received strong royal patronage.
Aristocracy, mandarins of the Mac dynasty were present in many religious
activities. The Mac dynasty advocated Taoism as the official religion,
advocating agro-commercial development to replace society for agricultural
development, with renovation policies, commercial development. During this
period, many large temples were built in both the inside and outside of the city
with many horizontal buildings, including many new architectural units.
Due to the policy of encouraging the reclaiming of wasteland of the
Nguyen Dynasty, many new lands were cleared and private land was
recognized, creating a strong development motivation for economy in southern
part. Economic development has enabled people to develop merit of giving

merit, expanding and building temples, temples and public works of the
community more and more.
2.3.2. The birth and development of the pagodas with Buddhists in
front and saints on the back
As we all know, during the Ly dynasty, Buddhism was very developed.
The Ly kings all worshiped the Buddha. The temples are built a lot under the
auspices of the state with three basic types: great and famous, small and
medium. In the northern delta, pagodas are sprouting everywhere, and pagodas
erected in the former times are often restored.
An important factor for the birth of a Buddhist temple that both
worshiped Buddha and saints at the same time was the Vietnamese way of
thinking and worshiping. Vietnamese people worship those who have
superhuman abilities, who help the people and help the country. Cultural
heroes, national heroes, people with meritorious services to the country, and
people with meritorious services to the creation are all worshiped and
worshiped by Vietnamese people. Some Vietnamese deities are incorporated
into the three jewels of Buddhism, including saints, who are worshiped later, or
equal, or before Buddha. In these cases, worship is monks and Taoists, Zen
masters with many tantric factors and Taoist influence.
The formation and development of the system of worshiping the three
saints was the birth of a system of pre-Buddhist pagodas, showing the


9
complexity in the indigenous religious minds of the Vietnamese people. The
process of religious chaos between Buddhism and indigenous beliefs expresses
the nature of Buddhism in the Northern Delta. In the minds of the Vietnamese
people, going to the Buddhist temple, also praying for everyday things, warding
off evils, solving things, praying for good things for life. The temple system of
Zen masters is a blend of Buddhism, Taoism and indigenous beliefs, which are

close and satisfy the minds of the Viet people.
CHAPTER 3
THE STATUS OF THE THREE SAINTS
3.1. Biography and merits of the three saints
3.1.1. Biography and merit of Saint Tu Dao Hanh
According to the stories handed down, Tu Dao Hanh was a real Zen
master, more talented than a person, with magical powers and proficient in a
hundred jobs. When he died, he was worshiped and worshiped in the precepts,
such as Lang pagoda in the holy place, in Thay temple, where holy practice and
Dai Bi pagoda, where the refugees with his mother were. Ms. Tang Thi Loan.
The temples were created in commemoration of his merit, and the people of the
incense smoke pay homage to the Zen master who had helped save the world,
taught the people medicine, farming, puppet dancing. water and shallow.
3.1. 2. Biography and merit of saint Nguyen Minh Khong
Nguyen Minh Khong is a talented saint, has magical power to
transform, has a lot of merit for the world, is the ancestor of medicine, the
ancestor of bronze casting. He was revered as a cultural hero, as well as
someone who taught people to forge and be worshiped, worshiped in 16
Buddhist pagodas with Buddhists in front and saints on the back concentrated
in Nam Dinh (12 pagodas), and provinces. Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Ninh Binh,
Tp. Hanoi has 1 temple in each place (see Appendix 1 and Map of distribution
of the Buddhist pagodas). These myths and legends were noted by a system of
post-Buddhist pagodas that worshiped him. In Nam Dinh province, Tong Xa
village worshiped Nguyen Minh Khong as the god of bronze casting and metal
casting. Diem Giang temple and temple in Gia Vien commune and Gia Thang
commune (Ninh Binh province) worship him as a god that people can pray for
good luck, peace, for good destiny, especially for healing. Legend has it that he
is a physician and this area is still home to many medicinal plants that people
use as herbal remedies.
3.1 .3. Biography and merit of saint Duong Khong Lo

Duong Khong Lo, after being deified, is worshiped by the people as a
god of many miracles of transformation, associated with their lives in
agriculture and fishing. His merits are recognized and worshiped by people in


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many places, of which, in Nam Dinh province there are 8 temples, Thai Binh
has 2 temples, typically in Keo pagoda in Nam Dinh and in Thai Binh
provinces. Through field surveys at Keo Pagoda in Hanh Thien village, Nam
Dinh province, Duong Khong Lo is also worshiped as a saint to support the
examinations and successful studies of people in the region.
3.1 .4. Sacred biographies of the three saints
The three Zen masters became saints, becoming sacred worshipers,
with an important influence in the folk mind in the past as well as today. If an
important element of sacred biography is many episodes, events in the sacred
nature of human life, which also led to the sacred character of worship.
The sacred, mysterious and haunting fragments in the biographies of
the three saints are a mixture of myths and historical foundations, associated
with the names of kings, dynasties, and like places in history. These elements of
a biography sacred life of the saints are always associated with charisma and
empowerment.
3.2. Sacralization and magical power of the three saints
3.2.1. Sacralization of the three saints
In folk consciousness, Tu Dao Hanh, Duong Khong Lo and Nguyen Minh
Khong are considered holy saints. The sacred contains the concepts of supreme,
superior power, power that make people fear and fascinate, sometimes
fascinated, that is, magic power.
The sacred of the three saints manifests itself in many forms, in history, in
legends, in legends, in biographies, in ceremonies, in festivals, in coarse leaves,
offerings, statues, temples, no worship space, the attire of the saints, etc. The

expectation of the people to benefit from the three saints is actually a reflection
of the desire to have a good life.
The sacred of the three saints is also featured in worshiping spaces,
Buddhist temples, and temples. The location of the temple building is
considered and selected according to the strict feng shui principle, because it is
the dwelling place of the saint, who has the most important role in the spiritual
life of the members of the local village community. It must be a place where
"gathering spiritual energy, sharing beautiful things".
The sacred manifests itself in various forms, by faith, by religious acts,
by the protection of the saints, or by reference to the events that take place and
believers with assistance of a saint. The sacred associated with power, the
ultimate that saints are worshiped as the supreme gods, can do many things for
the world.
3.2.2. Charisma of the three saints
Charisma can also be generated and added attraction to certain people
by virtue and compassion and humanity. The charisma of the saints are more


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empowered, the more attracted people, became a symbol of kindness and
compassion, and humanity. The three saints were also powerful national
masters, who were religious instructors for the king. They are the guardians of
the religious rules, the royal religion, and gained merits for Buddhist ethics and
philosophy.
All the privileges such as being born to the elite and outstanding, when
ordained to become Buddhists, have access to the supper monks, or have an
important role in building Buddhism as the state religion in the Ly dynasty, as
well as magic, the three Zen masters were different from ordinary people and
created a halo around them. The admiration and reverence have been conferred
by the people as sacred saints, worshiped and created with certain magical

powers, pervasive with the nature of the blessed.
CHAPTER 4
EXPRESSIONS OF FOLK CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE THREE SAINTS
4.1. Space to worship the three saints
According to the survey, out of a total of 39 pagodas worshiping 3
saints (separately worshiped and together worshiped) in 5 provinces and cities,
Tu Dao Hanh is most worshiped in Hanoi City with the number of 10/13
pagodas. Nguyen Minh Khong is most worshiped in Nam Dinh province with
the number of 12/16 pagodas; and Duong Khong Lo is worshiped the most in
Nam Dinh province with the number of 8/10 pagodas. This dissertation maps
the distribution of pre-Buddhist pagodas that worship three saints in the
provinces and cities of Hanoi, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh,
Thai Binh provinces, and provides analysis chart on the relationship between
the space for worshiping three saints in the Northern Delta.
4.1.1. Characteristics of the pagoda with Buddhists in front and saints on the
back
The pagoda with Buddhists in front and saints on the back worships
saints who only appear in the Northern Delta region due to the rugged terrain of
this region, creating an appropriate area for the development of Tantras. If the
Red River is used as a demarcation boundary, the pre-Buddhist pagodas of the
late Saints have more numbers on the right bank with dense pagodas in the
lower section. The pagodas are often built in charming feng shui land, on
positive soil, meaning to gather water and happiness.
4.1.2. The grounds and architecture of the pagodas dedicated to the three
saints
The architectural system and decoration in the temples worship the
three saints are not the same and are a complex form. In general, the relics of
the worship of the three saints are more holy than the Buddhist temples. The

12
monuments have a hundred space architecture, made according to the style of
foreign internal. The outer layer is the two gate layers that researchers call the
three sides, but in fact it is the subject - the outer gate layer often found in the
architecture of traditional temples. Next is sugar, incense, high power. Finally,
the sanctuary. The corridor of the holy relics always begins, connecting the
three temples running all the way to the ancestor's house to form a closed
corridor creating foreign and domestic architecture. The most sacred, the most
important area in the mind of the people is that the sanctuary is always built
behind the pagoda at an altitude higher than all the other buildings in the
temple, including the front line, the incense, the upper palace - where the
temple is located.
The second type, if the sanctuary is not built into a separate building
but built with the upper palace, the sanctuary is always built to the right of the
temple, which is a sacred place in traditional architecture before going to the
Three Jewels and the Other buildings follow traditional architecture. The
Vietnamese architectural works are always located on the axis of Shintoism, the
three-dimensional buildings, the bell tower, the front line, the incense, the upper
hallway, the dance are built on the opposite axis of the god. Typically, the
architectural ground of the pre-Buddhist temple of the late Saints has a sacred
space for holy worship. The space and architecture of the pre-Buddhist pagodas
created a sacred space. The examination of holy worship in these temples also
shows the majesty, power and supreme.
4.2. Rituals dedicated to the saints
4.2.1. Traditional festivals
The festivities at the pagodas are more like traditional village festivals
than Buddhist festivals. Unlike the other Buddhist temples, festivals on the
occasion of Buddha's birthday celebrated by the temple, the festival at the
pagodas is the common festival of the whole village, the whole neighborhood.
The time to organize the festival on the birthday, the day of the saints,

with the spring and autumn periods like many other traditional village festivals.
For the festivals, the celebrant's prayer always reads the saint's biography, merit
and career, both to pay homage and to remind his children to remember the
merit of the saint. During the festival, there are also processions of palanquin
procession and water procession typical of traditional village festivals. The
processions show symbolic meanings related to the visit of the village saint, or
the holy go to sit, to adoration, to the patrol of the saint on the feast day.
Festivals are occasions where people can get closer to the gods and can
"communicate" and report the events of the village, individuals and families.
Some of the rituals at the festival show the organization of the festival
associated with the worship of the four patriarchs, produced from the


13
consciousness of wet rice farmers, the subject of traditional village festivals.
The ritual actions that wish for favorable rain and wind are the most important
things to ensure a bumper crop and a prosperous life.
It can be seen that worship rituals, processions, folk shows, puppet
shows, folk games, competitions in festivals at the pagodas are similar to the
village festivals. This shows the folk spirit put in organizing the festival to
commemorate the merits of the saints, who have contributed to the villagers,
and also an opportunity for them to sacrifice, pray for a season, bumper harvest,
health, and warding off evils.
4.2.2. Expressions of biography and legend of the three saints
An outstanding feature of traditional village festivals is the
consciousness of saints is the sacrifices, processions, and other rites describing
the holy stories recorded in histories, histories, legends. A number of activities
and activities in the festival reflect the stories related to the biography and
behavior of the three saints.
4.3. Petition sheets and prayers

4.3.1. The conveyed message of petition sheets
The petition sheets are used as a bridge for the naked people to bless
them. The sheet is a type of text written in Sino Nom script, used to present the
requests and wishes of the lower people to the Buddha, the holy, and the
expectation to be answered. This can be considered as a document conveying
people's wishes. The grained leaves are applied in all kinds of prayers such as
offering stars, praying for new houses, healing, praying for peace, etc. Each
ritual procedure must declare the petition sheet.
In certain cases, the sheets also show the nature and worship of the
ancestors. The sheets are spiritual texts for the consecration and conferring the
message of the people to the invisible world.
4.2.3.2. Message conveyed in prayers
In worshiping, praying, there are basically prayers, and ceremony.
Prayers in Sino Nom: Along with the sheets, when going to pagodas,
temples, pagodas, worshiping, people can put some money and ask the priests
for help.
Ritual: The procedure of the worship has many articles from offering
stars, worshiping the spirits, to the departments of offering, praying,
exculpating, and pleading for specific jobs on business, trade, and education,
the exam. The important part of the ceremony, the ceremony, is a request to the
Buddha, the holy help.
4.3. Awareness and experience of the people about the three saints
4.3.1. The benevolent three saints
4.3.1.1. Pray for talent, fortune, and peace


14
In folk consciousness, most of the worshiped saints are blessed, the
supreme deity that people can pray for, waiting for the protection and assistance
of the gods whenever they encounter difficulties or diseases, disasters in the

way of life.
4.3.1.2. Pray for having children
For the temples, the shrine of the three holy saints, prayers are quite
typical. In the pagodas, there are families with few children, people rarely come
to pray for children, or have children, but difficult to raise, they pray for their
health. Children born on their own will often be sold to the Buddha, to protect
them.
Prayer is quite common among couples who are infertile and have no
sons. This reflects the burning desire to have children of Vietnamese families
and so it is also reflected in the religious acts of self-reliance in sacred temples
and temples.
4.3.1.3.Pray for examination and study
Normally, when coming to the Buddha's door, the people pray for what
they want, including the expectation of parents about the education of their
children, especially when the children study in preparatory classes, University
exam. Among the Buddhist pagodas, Keo temple worships Duong Khong Lo in
Hanh Thien village, a famous place for people to pray and study.
The relative demand for study and examinations in the current context
reflects the reality of education as well as the learning tradition of Vietnamese
families. Traditionally, Vietnamese parents are very interested in their
children's education and expect their children to study well and pass the
university entrance exam. Among the pre-Buddhist pagodas at Keo pagoda in
Hanh Thien village, the most typical prayers for academic examinations and
examinations.
4.3.2. The three saints as healing gods
Zen masters are multi-talented, flexible magicians. Not only through
biography and behavior but now, at some pagodas, they are still considered as
medical gods. Healing is an intrinsic need for oneself, for everyone. Money,
status, reputation and then passed away when people no longer have health and
died. The request to the three saints for healing, on the one hand reflects the

general situation of the Vietnamese when praying, on the other hand also
reflects the consciousness of the three saints and has a connection to the
miraculous healing of the king by the legendary saints.
4.3.3. The three saints as craft ancestors
4.3.3.1. The puppetry ancestor
Besides being a Zen master of enlightenment, a talented Dharma
master, Tu Dao Hanh is also worshiped as a puppetry ancestor.


15
4.3.3.2. Forging craft ancestor
Among the three saints, Nguyễn Minh Khong is worshiped as a forging
craft ancestor in general. In the minds of businesses in Tong Xa, Nguyen Minh
Khong is highly regarded as a craft ancestor. The worship of the ancestor is the
consciousness that "drinks water and remembers the source". The worshiping
craft ancestors is somewhat different from the worship of other spirits in the
temples in the current context when there is a "trade-off" and "buying a holy
spirit".
CHAPTER 5
THE WORSHIP OF THE SAINTS IN NORTHERN DELTA:
SOME TRADITIONAL AND MODERN ISSUES
5.1. Deification and syncretism in the folk consciousness of the Viet
5.1.1. Deification and charisma of the saints
Deification is a fairly common custom of some ethnic groups who
worship the polytheistic spirits, bestowing people and things into a sacred
worshiping saint. In Viet Nam, historical figures, after death, they have been
worshipped of the people and gradually entered the people's minds as a holy
saint. Besides, many other legendary characters, many imaginary characters,
many objects and animals are also turned into gods, forming a system of saints
as the worshipping subjects of religious practices.

The people who have created the crafting works, the ancestor saints are
also called saints. These are people who have merit in teaching people how to
do farming, transplanting rice, teaching people about casting, forging, silk
weaving, kneeling, etc. These ancestors were canonized and worshiped and
they still support people in production and making products, such as ancestor
forging craft naemd Nguyen Minh Khong in Tong Xa village (Nam Dinh
province).
In folk consciousness, historical figures, legends, Zen masters, ancestor
Zen masters are deified as a long process of folk-building and creation,
becoming a powerful and sacred character. They are enriched by the people
with many thrilling details, vividly expressed in various forms such as stories,
legends, scriptures, Nom stories, poetic narratives, etc. and are expressed in
worshipping spaces, festivals, offerings, and rituals.
The trend of deification is also supported and orthodoxly supported by
the monarchs, canonized to honor and encourage people to worship. During the
dynasties, the worship of the saints was conferred by the king, for the
construction and restoration of the worshipping space, for collecting and
rebuilding the royal annals genealogy, granting the annals, making a memorial


16
stele. Villagers worship and organize sacrifices all year round to enjoy the
incense-burning regime, set a precedent by granting rice fields.
The trend of deification is still an ongoing process and the system of
objects of worship is still being built up, incessantly, to see that this trend is a
way of thinking that has gone into the depths of the consciousness, the soul of
Vietnamese people. Many historical figures have been deified, reflecting the
trend of deification in Vietnamese culture. Folk still admire those who sacrifice
for the nation and honor them as "saints" in the afterlife to continue protecting
and assisting them with immeasurable strength and power.

The tendency of the deification in Viet folk consciousness has its own
characteristics. When Vietnamese people worship saints, they are not entirely
spiritual, but they focus on the mind and faith. The saints, whether they are Zen
masters, tutelary gods or Mother Godesses, are "true saints" who protect people
and villages. They could be the generals, the bureaucrats, or the people who
served the country or had merits with the people with the country.
In the consciousness of Viet people, the image of a saint is a fantasy of
a supernatural force, people who, after everyday life, after death, being deified,
become a legendary and powerful figure, the power that people pray for and the
things they can't achieve or they want to achieve. The people of virtue in the
earthly world, then in their other lives they still shined, full of power. Thereby
we see the Vietnamese view on saints based on the practical thinking of life and
their incarnations into the afterlife, and "the mundane world is also the
supernatural world."
In the folk consciousness, the three ancestor saints also immersed
themselves in the common flow of the trend of deification, becoming the divine
on the other supernatural world of the temporal world. People in the earth, need
peace, prosperity, happiness, and the saints on the other side, show kindness to
charity, eliminate the evils, bring good things to people to have a fulfill life. It
is the ideal of goodness, blessedness, humanity, and also reflects the
Vietnamese people's constant dream of a good life.
5.1.2 The religious syncretism in the folk consciousness
Religious syncretism, so to speak, is a phenomenon of the Vietnamese
consciousness. The establishment of the pagoda system with Buddhists on the
Front and Saints on the Back in order to worship the three saints has reflected
the Vietnamese custom of worship of the Viet in the Northern Delta. It is a
practice that is not pure and clear, coherent, that is the syncretic phenomenon
with many elements combined together, including the forms of folk Buddhism
with architecture, statues, altars, Buddhist teaching and text, salvation and
karma, along with worship the real deified figures in history.

17
The deification is also a feature of polytheism, deifying real historical
figures, people with meritorious services to the people and the nation. The
worship of three saints Tu Dao Hanh, Duong Khong Lo, Nguyen Minh Khong
is regarded as the syncretism, or in other words the mixture of Buddhist, Taoist
elements and folk beliefs that create the representative worshipping system in
northern delta.
Taoist elements:
Belief in the three saints has a profound influence of Taoism. Taoism
was introduced into Vietnam with two basic schools of magic and hermetic
practice for immortality. The magic school was in conformity for the
intellectuals, upper classes, and the sorcery school with the magic rituals,
calling for wind and rain suitable for folk beliefs. Prayer at the pagodas
Buddhists on the Front and Saints on the Back or at the holy temples is also full
of Taoist witchcraft, charms, mantras, dispelling ghosts, healing with holy
water, and exorcisms ghosts, ritual procedure, magic rituals, charms, healing
requests to the power of the saints.
Tantric Buddhist elements:
Tantric Buddhism is quite suitable for development in the context of
polytheistic religion in Vietnam when the life of the peasantry in the beginning
of the country faced risks, droughts, floods, and sacred forests with poisonous
water, along with customary tattooing to avoid evils. Strange and mysterious
stories are always woven up in the context of life and continue to grow and
disseminate and transmit to this day.
Folk elements:
In legends and myths handed down many mysterious, supernatural,
supernatural details of folk beliefs associated with the life and talents of Zen
masters. Worship of the three saints also clearly shows the belief of worshiping

sacred spirits, worshiping real figures in history, ancestor worship. The worship
of the three saints also demonstrates the Viet people's mind about polytheism,
mixing many elements of culture and folk beliefs.
5.2. Religious and belief policies
The existence of the folk consciousness and the worship of the three
saints, and the rise of traditional practices and festivals on the one hand is due
to the open-door policy of the Party and the State, the market economy, and the
practical policies on the other hand there are policies that support the spiritual
life of people. That is to mention the political and economic changes in
Vietnam since 1986 and specifically the directives, resolutions, circulars, and
typically the 2004 Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions.


18
An important event taking place in the religious and spiritual life of
Vietnamese people is the Ordinance on Beliefs and Religions adopted and
promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly in 2004.
Most recently, the Law on the belief and religion is approved by the 14th
National Assembly, 2nd session on November 18, 2016 and come into effect
from January 1, 2018. The law has added a chapter on freedom of belief and
religion that basically represents the State's policy to respect and protect
everyone's freedom of belief and religion.
Thus, from 1990 up to now, in the field of religion and belief practice, the
Party and the State have issued a series of regulations, decrees, directives and
circulars on the spiritual domain to meet the needs for the spiritual life of
Vietnamese people. Thanks to the new open policies and religious belief laws,
religious practices have been limited in the past such as Len dong ritual, and
religious practices at temples are freely performed.
In the contemporary period, the State's open-door policy of preserving
and developing the traditional culture of the nation has led to the "explosion" of

religious belief activities nationwide. In many localities, the process of
organizing festivals, many customs and beliefs have been restored, including
the festival of worshiping the ancestor saints. Due to the needs of the
diversidied spiritual life, the people are increasingly diverse. The ceremony is
from South to North, from urban to rural areas of all ages, social statues,
farmers, workers, office workers, managers, researchers, police, soldiers,
students, merchants attend the spring festivals and ritual, such as going to
temple dedicated to the general Tran Hung Dao on the night of the 14th day of
the first lunar month to exorcise, land protection and pray for good luck.
Thanks to the state policies and guidelines, the National Target
Program on Culture has been implemented for a long time from 2009 to 2015,
in which many festivals are restored, supported in organizing, and temple
renovations. Among the works are invested by the national target program on
culture, many worshiping places are ranked national and special national relics
such as Co Le Pagoda, Dai Bi Pagoda, Keo Pagoda (Nam Dinh province) and
Keo Pagoda (Thai Binh province) were restored.
5.3. Market economy
Market economy is an open form of economy, adhering to the laws of
movement and regulation of the market, respecting freedom of competition,
creating opportunities for all economic entities to participate in the market. The
fact that it takes place in the current context shows that developing a market


19
economy with the business freedom of individuals, unions, companies, leading
to disparities in income, and thus the increasing gap between rich and poor.
While one group of people get rich quickly, another group works as hired labor,
unable to compete in the market mechanism.
The market economy, on the one hand, brings prosperity and
development, creating conditions for a prosperous life, modern facilities in both

material and spiritual terms. On the other hand, the market economy is bringing
about many inadequacies such as the moral degradation of a part of adolescents,
increasing social evils, embezzlement, environmental pollution, school
violence, and lust. The uncertainty of modern life has led many people to seek
spiritual relief and to seek risks and insecurity. In today's market economy,
uncertain business, many unstable jobs, as well as the consequences of
environmental pollution, epidemics, natural hazards, make a part of people go
to church. Psychology of Vietnamese people, whenever uncertainty, business is
not smooth, people "go more often to temples for worshipping".
After the renovation period, with the open-door policy, the market
economy has brought about the revival and development of religious practices,
festivals, and sacred worship at the precursor pagodas and temples, communal
halls. We witness the rise of religious practices, such as the ritual for good luck
and warding off evile, lavish rituals dedicatred to ancestors and rituals to meet
the needs of the people. The dignitaries, religious groups, associations,
pilgrimages gradually formed and operated vigorously with different
characteristics and purposes, attracting participants, as customers.
In the context of market economy, the trend of commercializing folk
beliefs is inevitable. With the needs of the people attending the ceremony,
many services also follow the business of all kinds of services. Messy things to
benefit from the religious practices of the people are not evident in the pagodas
with Buddhists in front and saints on the back. The sanctuary is always built to
the right of the temple, which is a supreme scared place in traditional
architecture. In the sacred space and feeling the holiness of the saint, people
make the sense of the powerful saints, and yield by the power and sacred of the
saints, as well as the virtue and compassion of the saints. In this place, acts of
inhumane, profiteering, commercializing, as well as prayers contrary to moral
conscience
Some rituals in the form of "less offerings and hearted devotion" have
tended to change to "good offerings, easy to make petition" with offerings up to

hundreds of millions dongs to spend on burning votive goods and fortune-


20
telling. The concept of "such a mundane world as the hell" is a matter of
folklore, blowing into rituals and practices. The point here is that the price of
the worshipers, ritual masters, monks like the story at Ba Vang Pagoda. For
those "mindful", willing to spend a large sum of money for a ritual that wishes
for something good. But in many cases, the "lavish food trays" made them
impoverished, as well as defiling the elegant offerings to the saints with
"hearts" rather than material wealth. These costly rituals seem to take place in
temples dedicated to Mother Goddesses rather than in the pagodas with
Buddhists in front and saints on the back.
Worship of the three saints seems quieter in a market economy, but it
is also affected in no small way. In a market economy, expanding business
hubs, people casting metal in Tong Xa have many opportunities to sign
contracts, establish business relationships, and distribute products. They still
only have a ceremony of thin devotion, incense, fruit, and confectionery to pray
for blessing for their business.
Business activities at the place of worship of the ancestor saint like the
casting Tong Xa village are somewhat different from other places by the mind,
the virtue and the principles of the craft village. Market economy, business
scams, fragmentation, competition for markets, etc. somewhat restricted by the
traditions and ethical traditions practiced by his father. These ethical issues,
following the philosophy of the craft village, as well as spiritually, have helped
the Tong Xa craft village to thrive in a contemporary context.
5.4. Religious market
Along with the development of a market economy and the openness of
religious and religious policies, the beliefs of the three saints/Zen masters also
have to face the competition of different forms of religious beliefs. In a

multicolored religious market there are many options.
The theory of religious markets arises from the application of the
fundamentals of economics to the analysis of religious organizations. Like
commercial economies that include a market where different companies
compete, the religious market is also competitive. Different religious
organizations must also find ways to attract and retain customers. The theory of
religious markets has been developed to explain why and how religions change,
expand and develop.
With the openness of religious policies as well as the development and
explosion of services and products, along with the formation of associations,
societies and religious freedom of each individual, religious life in Vietnam in


21
recent years has risen, even there are outbreaks. As a rule, like the rule of the
economic market, when people have the right to choose their own spiritual,
belief and religious forms, the religious market will appear, that is, according to
the the "supply" and "demand" rules as in economics.
It can be seen in Viet Nam that there has been a religious market, where
religious forms of religion such as hundreds of times raced, many of which are
increasingly organized and strategic. to attract followers, compete with other
faiths. This is evident in both the rise of many forms of religion and traditional
beliefs in Vietnam, even in the new religions that are rooted in traditional
religious or Buddhist religions. In the contemporary context of a marketoriented economy, as well as with the openness of religious policy with the
effect of the Law on Beliefs and Religions, many religious practices, including
worship of the saints in Vietnam reviving and developing in many new
directions. In a free market, or pluralistic religious market, many religious
organizations exist and seek to attract certain segments of the market.
Organizations in a free market cannot rely on the rule of law to get "resources",
so they have to compete for the participation of practitioners and religious

consumers.
In the context of religious revival, religious groups, fractions, and
pilgrimage groups seem to stick together not only in the faith and religious
activities, but also include the colors of everyday life like forming a network,
forming groups that share faith, form groups that do business, services, and
exchange goods. The current religious market formed on the basis of the revival
of traditional practices tends to flare up a number of phenomena.
In the competitive religious market, the worship of three saints "quieter"
than the outbreak of the Mother Church, as well as the outbreak of hell money
in Ba Chua Kho temple in the years after the Renovation, to have a stamp from
the sacred Tran Hung Dao spirit, or compared to the pilgrimage, the worship
and pray for fortune, fame and promotion. The saints/Zen masters in the
pagodas with Buddhists in front and saints on the back seem to have difficulty
competing with the Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh, Ba Chua Kho Goddess, etc.
In the context of a market economy, religious competition is somewhat tied
to the economic value that religion brings. Likewise, temples of the Mother
Goddess are often more vibrant than those at pagodas with Buddhists in front
and saints on the back. In the transformation of economic production, with the
influx of cheap goods from China and the narrowing of the production of
handicraft villages, the craft saints also seem to lose some of the role of


22
yourself in the spiritual world of the local residents. The popular mind about the
three saints may be more profound in areas where craft still exists such as the
Tong Xa village, and may be more faded than elsewhere. However, the faith in
the magic of the saints is not lost, but is transformed by adding new spiritual
functions to the saints to support the present life which is full of worries and
risks. The three saints are still involved in the contemporary religious life of the
people of the Northern Delta.

CONCLUSION
1. In terms of methodology, the dissertation considers that studying
religion and beliefs from the practice of believers, people have given a clear
picture of their spiritual and spiritual life. Doctrinal, canonical, or moral issues,
sometimes not yet put into practice in religious activities and acts, and not yet
reflect the mind, and imagination, heart and devotion of believers. The study of
folk consciousness from the practice of worshiping three saints has shed more
light on the folk consciousness of the Viet people. The consciousness is not so
deep in the dark things of religion such as liberation, rebirth, not so important
about life after death or religious escape, but basically they expect the holy
spirits that helps the earthly world, helping the earthly people to achieve what
they long for. Basically, the Viet people look forward to a supernatural world
out there, but it is close, friendly, where they can pray, express their desire for
their lives to be better such as praying for good fortune, blessing, and for health.
2. In the contemporary context, the folk consciousness of worshiping
the three saints is not only weakened, but it is further fostered and brought with
new forms suitable to contemporary life, and the fulfillment of the expectation
of human. This is reflected in the holiness and the charisma that the people
foster to the saints. The three saints are sacred worshipping subjects in the
common flow of the trend of sanctifying real characters in history. Saints have
charisma and magic power thanks to their birth background, elitism,
extraordinary talent. The dissertation has pointed out that the sacred and
charisma increase the power of worshiping subjects as the powerful, supreme,
and the divine beings. The more sacred they are and the more powerful their
magic power is, the more people believe in and worship as powerful gods
serving the purpose of the people's petition with the desire to have a good life in
the world.
3. The Vietnamese polytheistic belief system is a complex, integrating
the religious elements of Buddhism, Tantra Buddhism, Taoism and the

23
indigenous belief system. The dissertation analyzes the manifestations of folk
minds in various forms, including architectural space of worship (material),
festival (performance), worship, weed leaves (text), words (oral language)
constitute a system of folk knowledge.
4. The folk consciousness about the three saints in the Buddhist
pagodas is not the same in different localities. This consciousness manifests
very differently for each saint in different temples, localities and in relation to
human life. The system of temples both worship the Buddha and at the time
worship the saint, therefore, the worship in the temples in the localities is not
the same due to the influence of village culture, regional culture, and partly due
to the management board, the monks, the venerables, the ritual masters. Some
temples prefer to worship the Buddha, some temples are more focus on saints,
but at the end, people who come to the pagodas with Buddhists on the Front
and Saints on the Back prefer to pray to the saints
5. The consciousness that worships the three saints is not necessarily
immutable, it is a fossil that is constantly born and recreated through time and
space. That consciousness is deeply ingrained in the minds of Vietnamese
people regardless of the context of the economy, politics or society. Although it
is a product of wet rice farmers, in contemporary life, under the impact of a
market economy, open cultural policies, as well as the competition of the
religious and spiritual markets consciousness still exists silently. It is not as
noisy as the worshiping practices that have a time prohibition such as the
worship of the Four Gods, or it is not a practice that flourishes for a period of
time and then settles down , like the votive money borrowing at Ba Chua Kho
temple (Bac Ninh province). That mind is quietly in the minds of the
Vietnamese people, exists, transforms and still accompanies a large number of
people in contemporary life. Although it is not about freezing the
consciousness, the consciousness on the worship of the saints has been still

changed in the prayers, petition sheets, prayers to suit the psychology,
emotional thinking, as well as the breath of contemporary life.
In the context of the religious market in contemporary society, based on the
principle of "supply" and "demand", services, forms of religious practice and
holy worship are constantly developing, constantly being created. At the
pagodas Buddhists on the Front and Saints on the Back, the practitioners and
the lay people who go for worshipping refer to hearts devoted to the saints
rather than materiality in exchange for spirituality, divine trafficking with clear
manifestations of the open market economy