Vietnamese mythology

Vietnamese mythology comprises the pre-history national myths of the Vietnamese people together with popular aspects of religion in Vietnam.

National origin myths

According to the national creation myth of the Vietnamese people Vietnam's history begins with Kinh Dương Vương the first of the Hùng kings. His son Lạc Long Quân and his wife, the fairy Âu Cơ were the parents of the Vietnamese people.[1] From them 100 children were born, the origin of the 100 Vietnamese family names. Among these 100 children are some major spirits such as mountain immortal Tản Viên.[2]

Popular heroes and gods

Figures in Vietnamese mythology include The Four Immortals: the giant boy Thánh Gióng, mountain god Tản Viên Sơn Thánh,[3] Chử Đồng Tử marsh boy, princess Liễu Hạnh. One of the Four Immortals also reemerges in the fighting between Sơn Tinh and Thủy Tinh "the god of the mountain and the god of the Water." Historical legend occurs in the story of the Thuận Thiên "Heaven's Will" magical sword of King Lê Lợi.

Adaptions of Chinese mythology occur such as the Four Holy Beasts (the Vietnamese dragon, Kỳ Lân, Turtle and Phoenix). Chinese Shennong appears in Sino-Vietnamese myths with the same characters (chữ Hán 神農) pronounced as "Thần Nông."

Folk mythology includes figures such as the mười hai bà mụ "Twelve Midwives", twelve fairies who teach one-month-old babies skills such as sucking and smiling.[4][5]

Popular religious practices

Many legends surround ancestor worship, ghost money (vàng mã), spirit mediumship (lên đồng), and ghosts in Vietnamese culture, as well as local gods such as the Saint Trần altars associated with Trần Hưng Đạo the general-king who repelled the Mongol invasions of the 13th Century.[6] [7] Đạo Mẫu (道母), the worship of mother goddesses in Vietnam draws on legendary material without being a systematic mother goddess cult. Legendary goddesses include Thiên Y A Na, The Lady of the Realm Bà Chúa Xứ, The Lady of the Storehouse Bà Chúa Kho and one of the Four Immortals, Princess Liễu Hạnh, together with the creation myth fairy Âu Cơ, and mythologized historical figures such as the Trưng Sisters, Hai Bà Trưng and Lady Triệu (Bà Triệu), as well as the cult of the Four Palaces ruled by the Four Heavenly Mothers (thánh Tứ Phủ): mẫu Thượng Thiên (goddess of the upper sky), mẫu Thượng Ngàn (goddess of the highlands), mẫu Thoải (Mother Water) and mẫu Địa Phủ (mother Earth)

Mythology in literature

Several classical Vietnamese works, such as Truyện Thạch Sanh incorporate legendary elements.

References

  1. ↑ Fumitaka Matsuoka, Eleazar S. Fernandez Realizing the America of Our Hearts: Theological Voices of Asian ... Page 158 2003 "..the dragon (Lac Long), which, according to Vietnamese mythology, is the god from whom the Vietnamese descended,
  2. ↑ Keith Weller Taylor The Birth of Vietnam Page 5 - 1991 "One of the most powerful figures of Vietnamese mythology is the Great King of Mount Tan-vien, also known as the Spirit of Mount Tan-vien or simply the Mountain Spirit. He was a son of Lac Long Quan and Au Co, who followed his father to ."
  3. ↑ Olga Dror Cult, Culture, and Authority: Princess Liễu Hạnh in Vietnamese History 2007 Page 162 "Tản Viên, a prominent mountain spirit in Vietnamese mythology, is portrayed in some stories as having helped an ancient king deal with a conqueror from Thu ̇c (modern Sichuan). In the third couplet, the reference to Chử Đồng Tử is ."
  4. ↑ Iain Stewart Vietnam Lonely Planet 2012 "Behind the altar on the right are three fairies and smaller figures representing the 12 ba mu (midwives), each of whom teaches newborns a different skill necessary for the first year of life: smiling, sucking and so forth. Childless couples often ..."
  5. ↑ Helle Rydstrøm Embodying Morality: Growing Up in Rural Northern Vietnam Page 185 - 2003 "When a child in Thinh Tri is one month old, a special ritual is performed for what is called the "Twelve Midwives" (Muoi Hai Ba Mu). Each of the Twelve Midwives is said to represent a prosperous trait that one would wish for the newborn baby ..."
  6. ↑ Philip Taylor Modernity and Re-Enchantment: Religion in Post-Revolutionary Vietnam 2007 Page 239 "A female master medium of both Saint Trần and Mother Goddesses, as well as the owner of a Saint Trần shrine told me: If ... But if you are one of Saint Trần's children [con cái cửa Thánh], you can speak quietly or gently and students will still ..."
  7. ↑ Karen Fjelstad, Thị Hiền Nguyễn Possessed by the spirits: mediumship in contemporary Vietnamese ... Page 45 2006 "...possessed by Saint Tran, whereas male mediums seemed more hesitant to profess this. I met male mediums who became suspicious when Saint Tran was said to be incarnated into an ordinary medium."