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What Are Some Taoist Influences in Vietnamese Culture?

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What Are Some Taoist Influences in Vietnamese Culture? https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Taoist-influences-in-Vietnamese-culture Sign In Taoism (道教) Culture of Vietnam Vietnamese Ethnicity and People Vietnam Culture (social science) What are some Taoist influences in Vietnamese culture? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism_in_Vietnam Ad by Gundry MD How to entirely empty your bowels every morning (revealed). World renowned cardiologist explains how with at home trick. Learn More 2 Answers Thư Nguyễn, lives in Ho Chi Minh City Answered June 25, 2019 · Author has 397 answers and 669.9K answer views A bit of history first, Taoism is the result of the union between the folk religions of northern China and the folk religions of southern China. Taoism is partly a philosophy of life and partly a belief. Taoism was first introduced to Vietnam during the first Chinese domination period. In the 2nd century, emperor Lingdi died and “mainland China” fell into chaos, leading a exodus of immigrants, some of which were Taoist practitioners, to the more peaceful border Jiaozhi. Under the circumstances, Taoism’s first influence to Vietnam was erratic and unorganized. Because of Taoism’s bases as a culmination of several Chinese folk religions, the scattered, unorganized form of Taoism had a lot in common with the native Vietnamese folk religions and was readily nativized and adopted into the fold of the additive, multi-faceted Vietnamese folk religions. Unlike in China, where Taoism was organized and nominated as an official state religion several times, throughout Vietnam’s history, Taoism was rarely ever an organized religion on its own but acted as a philosophy of life, as bits and pieces, as the glue of several other religions. You can say that as a religion, Taoism is nearly nonexistent in Vietnam’s history, but as a philosophy, Taoism is so wildly successful that it’s no longer considered (or recognized as) “a foreign belief” but a part of the Vietnamese way of life. From Cultural additivity: behavioural insights from the interaction of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in folktales: “The earliest appearance of Taoism or Daoism in Vietnam dated back to the second century when some Taoist monks from China sought to spread their ideas to the area that is now northern Vietnam (Xu, 2002 ). Xu cites historical records as noting that Taoism in Vietnam developed the most strongly during the Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907) and later continued to exert a huge influence on the Vietnamese Lý and Trần dynasties (1010–1400). 1 of 19 1/5/2021, 12:38 AM https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Taoist-influences-in-Vietnamese-culture Sign In philosophical Taoism offered a worldview based on the natural approach to life. Vietnamese people were introduced to this philosophy through concepts such as dao, the yin and yang, the Five elements, the ethics of “non-contrivance” or “effortless action” (vô vi or wuwei 无为) (Slingerland, 2003 ) and “spontaneity” (tự nhiên 自然). The way of life in philosophical Taoism was largely aimed towards reaching the wuwei realm. The word wuweimeans doing nothing in the sense of letting life flow naturally. Nature was the leitmotif of the Taoist philosophy and truly set Taoism apart from Confucianism (Novak, 1987 ). Consequently, the image ideal of a person who retreats to the nature and free from the constricted life of Confucian rules is usually associated with Taoism. Religious Taoism, like Buddhism, does not have a core system of specific teachings. Broadly speaking, its practices focus on the search for longevity and immortality, spiritual healing, magic, and divinations, which blended in with Vietnamese popular religious beliefs (Tran, 2017 , p. 13). Unlike in China, Taoism in Vietnam took no institutional form, in the sense that there were no Taoist schools. Practitioners of Taoism, called “masters” (thầy) were often shaman-like specialists in a variety of domains such as healing, ritual sacrifice (at funerals, for example), soothsaying, sorcery, geomancy, etc., and were often not attached to any temple. In fact, Taoist temples did not serve the role of training monks and priests; rather, they were places of worship for immortals (historical figures who had been ‘‘canonized’’ in Vietnamese culture and folk beliefs) and Taoist deities such as the Jade Emperor (Ngọc Hoàng). The Vietnamese Taoist pantheon was widely accepted by the population, to the point that they weren’t recognized as Taoist deities anymore, rather simply considered as traditionally worshipped gods. Due to its shamanistic and ritualistic nature, which is more commonly associated with ethnic minorities, Taoism often appears in a less “official” light than Buddhism and Confucianism and, at times, could even risk being reduced to the status of “superstitions” (Kendall, 2008 ). However, the closeness of Taoism to nature makes it blend with the most ease to Vietnamese traditional beliefs and ancient traditions such as the Mother Goddess Religion (Đạo Mẫu) or the Religion of the Four Palaces (Tứ Phủ), all of which are rooted in natural forces (Kendall et al., 2008 ). In this manner, despite not having as prominent a presence as the other two major religions of Vietnam, Taoism is in a favorable position to spread as a popular religion.” Taoism can be seen as the glue to tie the 3 religions in Vietnam together into 1 single “belief” generically called Vietnamese folk religion. I’m basing the structure of my answer on this paper about Vietnamese Taoism: http://www.vjol.info/index.php/rsrev/article/viewfile/4771/4512 . If you have the time, you should totally check it out. I. Magical talisman: 2 of 19 1/5/2021, 12:38 AM https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Taoist-influences-in-Vietnamese-culture Sign In Pic source. Taoist talisman to pray for safety or curse people or ward against ghosts. These talismans are distributed by “thầy”, professional Taoist practitioners, and plastered onto the households that invited the “thầy”. “In the reign of King Trần Phế Đế (reigned 1377-1388), Nguyễn Bổ with Taoist name Đường Lang Tử Y (a purple-dress native of Đường Lang) proclaimed himself emperor in Bắc Giang area in 1379.(9) Under the Hồ dynasty (1400-1407), Trần Đức Huy who used magical power to attract many people (10) was suppressed by Hồ Quý Ly in 1403. During the French colonial rule, there was a resistance of Taoist Trần Cao Vân (1866-1916), whose real name was Trần Công Thọ, styled Hồng Việt, a native of Tư Phú village, Đa Hòa town, Điện Bàn district, Quảng Nam province. In the South, Thiên Địa Hội (Tiandihui, Heaven-Earth Society) was a secret society attracting thousands of people. In March 1913, Phan Phát Sanh or Phan Xích Long (1893-1916) proclaimed himself emperor and revolted against the French. With talismans, swords, sabers, spears, and sticks, the partisans moved forward regardless of the enemy’s firearms. (11)” Talismans for peace, prosperity, and warding against evils used to be much more popular and plastered onto nearly every house, but they have largely fallen off use in the modern day. People only really ask to talisman when they have some troubles in life and need “divine reassurance”, or when they want to curse someone else. II. Feng shui: “Under the Hồ dynasty (1400-1407), in Tân Hưng area, An Phủ Sứ (Pacification Commissioner) Trần Quốc Kiệt wrote Hình Thế Địa Mạch Ca (Land Condition and Soil Veins 3 of 19 1/5/2021, 12:38 AM https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Taoist-influences-in-Vietnamese-culture Sign In During the period of Lê kings and Trịnh lords (1545-1787), Nguyễn Đức Huyên, a native of Tả Ao village, Nghệ An province, was very well-known for geomancy. Under the Tây Sơn dynasty (1778-1802), Nguyễn Thiếp (or La Sơn Phu Tử, 1723-1804) in La Sơn district, Hà Đông province, was also a very famous geomancer.” While he probably didn’t believe in it, Ernest Hébrard went beyond the colonial government’s request for a “weather-resistant solution in local constructions” and incorporated elements of Feng shui, which he understood as “local architecture traditions”, into French architecture to create what he called “Indochinese architecture style”. Here’s an analysis of the style in a few of his buildings according to the principles in I Ching : âm dương (yin yang), ngũ hành (wu xing), tam bảo (3 treasures), cửu cung (I have no idea what its the pinyin is). One of the buildings mentioned in the analysis is my old high school, Lê Hồng Phong high school for the gifted (used to be known as Lycée Petrus Ký). Classical Siheyuan model in Beijing. 4 of 19 1/5/2021, 12:38 AM https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Taoist-influences-in-Vietnamese-culture Sign In Satellite image of the school in the modern day. The school when it was under construction. 5 of 19 1/5/2021, 12:38 AM https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Taoist-influences-in-Vietnamese-culture Sign In 6 of 19 1/5/2021, 12:38 AM https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Taoist-influences-in-Vietnamese-culture Sign In Main entrance. 7 of 19 1/5/2021, 12:38 AM https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Taoist-influences-in-Vietnamese-culture Sign In 8 of 19 1/5/2021, 12:38 AM https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Taoist-influences-in-Vietnamese-culture Sign In Inside the school. 9 of 19 1/5/2021, 12:38 AM https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-Taoist-influences-in-Vietnamese-culture Sign In In the modern day, whenever people build a house or a building, they will usually check the feng shui of the house to ensure good luck.
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