Hakka identity and religious transformation in South Vietnam
Asian Education and Development Studies
ISSN: 2046-3162
Article publication date: 23 September 2019
Issue publication date: 6 January 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Most of 823,000 ethnic Chinese people are living in Southern Vietnam among distinct dialectical groups. Each maintains its own pantheon of gods; the majority worships standardized Thien Hau. The Hakka in Buu Long are the only group that worships the craft-master gods. This difference creates a challenging gap between the subgroups and reveals the unorthodox nature of the Hakka’s traditions. The purpose of this paper is investigate the continuous efforts to achieve “evolving standardization” and solidarity through the charismatic efforts of the local Hakka elites in Buu Long by their liturgical transformation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study further discusses the multilateral interaction and hidden discourses by applying Watson’s (1985) theory of standardization and orthodoxy as well as Weller’s (1987) concept of context-based interpretation.
Findings
Truthfully, when facing pressures, the Hakka in Southern Vietnam decided to transform their non-standard worship of the craft masters into a more integrative model, the Thien Hau cult, by superimposing the new cult on the original platform without significant changes in either belief or liturgical practice. The performance shows to be the so-called “the caterpillar’s spirit under a butterfly’s might” case.
Research limitations/implications
The transformation reveals that the Hakka are currently in their endless struggles for identity and integration, even getting engaged in a pseudo-standardization.
Social implications
This Hakka’s bottom-up evolutionary standardization deserves to be responded academically and practically.
Originality/value
The paper begins with a setting of academic discussions by western writers in this area and then moves on to what makes the practical transformation, how does it happen, and what discourses are hidden underneath.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research is funded by Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM) under Grant No. B2019-18b-01. The author highly appreciates Prof. Vo Van Sen (VNU-HCM) for his contributing ideas to this paper.
Publishers note: The publisher would like to inform readers that this article was mistakenly labelled as a regular paper instead of a special issue paper as part of a themed section called “Ethnicity, Ritual and Festivals in Asia”. This error was introduced as part of the editorial process, and the publisher sincerely apologizes for this error.
The following article was originally intended to publish as part of a themed section of AEDS 9.1 called “Ethnicity, Ritual and Festivals in Asia” guest edited by Professor Oscar Salemink and Dr Siuwoo Cheung:
Nguyen, T.N. (2019), “Hakka identity and religious transformation in South Vietnam”, Asian Education and Development Studies, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 56-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-01-2018-0019
Citation
Nguyen, T.N. (2020), "Hakka identity and religious transformation in South Vietnam", Asian Education and Development Studies, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 56-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-01-2018-0019
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited