TL;DR: Most Vietnamese do not choose one religion to follow; they practise several folk beliefs side by side: ancestor worship at home, Thành hoàng worship at the village đình, Mother Goddess worship, Hùng Vương worship, occupational worship and agricultural rites. The 2016 Law on Belief and Religion separates the two concepts: tín ngưỡng is a belief expressed through rites tied to traditional customs, while a tôn giáo has doctrine, canon law, rites and organisation. So the correct answer to what beliefs Vietnamese people follow is usually a layered stack of beliefs, not a single label.
Which beliefs do Vietnamese people follow, and why is this question hard to answer with a single name?
Most Vietnamese people do not follow a single belief system. They practise several layers of belief at the same time: at home there is an ancestor altar, at the village communal house there is the Thành hoàng (village guardian deity), at the phủ (palace) there is the Holy Mother, at the Hùng Temple there are the Hùng kings, and at harvest time there are rites for the god of agriculture and the rice god. This is a characteristic recorded in many studies of Vietnamese beliefs.
{sư} From a legal perspective, the 2016 Law on Belief and Religion offers an understanding: belief is the conviction that people express through rituals tied to traditional customs and practices, in order to bring spiritual peace to individuals and the community. The folk rituals that represent historical, cultural and social-moral values, together with the commemoration and honouring of people who rendered service to the country and the community, the worship of sacred symbols and ancestor worship, all fall within the scope of belief activities. This definition sets belief against religion in that a religion is only considered to meet the criteria when it simultaneously has a system of conceptions, objects of worship, doctrine, canon law, rituals and organisation.
What role does ancestor worship play in the life of Vietnamese people?
Ancestor worship is the most widespread belief, present in almost every Vietnamese family, regardless of whether they follow any religion. Researcher Trần Trọng Dương describes ancestor worship as a sacred belief carrying the meaning of remembering one's origins, and every family devotes the most solemn space in the house as a place to worship grandparents[1].
{sư} The French scholar Gustave Dumoutier (1850-1904) meticulously recorded the symbols appearing on Vietnamese worship objects, such as the character for happiness, the character for longevity, yin-yang images, the Hà Đồ and Lạc Thư diagrams, and also explained their meaning and application in belief life, including beliefs and taboos[1]. His work sketches the spiritual life of nineteenth-century Vietnamese people through a system of detailed illustrations[1].
According to folk understanding, the ancestor altar is where deceased grandparents can witness the sincerity of their descendants, so death anniversaries are usually decorated more solemnly than ordinary days, with incense, flowers and offerings for the souls of the deceased. Besides the central altar in the house, many families in the south of Central Vietnam also set up a small altar in the yard.
Village guardian deity worship: the community belief characteristic of Vietnamese villages
Village guardian deity worship is a community belief tied to the communal house, where the protective deity of the village is worshipped. This is the layer of belief that distinguishes one village from another, and it is often tied to village festivals.
{sư} In 2014, Đinh Khắc Thuân explained that the worship of the Thành hoàng in Vietnam both has deep roots in the Chinese custom of worshipping the Thành hoàng and arose from the custom of worshipping spirits that was already widespread among Vietnamese people, with the aim of remembering the merits of those who contributed to the village and praying to the spirits for protection and support. The name Thành hoàng originally comes from China, referring to the deity who protects a citadel, but when it entered Vietnam it became Thành hoàng làng, the protective deity of the village. To this day, there are still many different interpretations of when this form of worship was introduced and took shape in Vietnam.
{sư} What remains of village guardian deity worship lies in an extremely rich treasury of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, including spirit records written in Hán Nôm script.
Are Mother worship and Đạo Mẫu a religion?
This is where researchers do not entirely agree, so it is necessary to state clearly which understanding this article follows. In practice, Mother worship is a form of folk belief with a long history, but its degree of organisation and systematic character leads many researchers to regard it as a folk religion.
{sư} According to the assessment of Nguyễn Hữu Thụ (2019), the Mother worship belief of Vietnamese people in the Northern Delta region belongs to a type of folk belief that emerged very early, and over time it transformed to reflect the movements of Vietnamese society in each period[2]. In the period before the sixteenth century, Mother worship bore strong marks of the agricultural economy; from after the sixteenth century, it gradually leaned towards reflecting the commodity economy and the rising status of the merchant class, which is shown through the image of the Holy Mother Liễu Hạnh and the Tam Tòa Thánh Mẫu (Three Palaces of the Holy Mothers)[2].
In 2004, Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn raised the question that if one looks at the essence of its various manifestations, the worship of Mother Liễu Hạnh can be considered a popular religious entity and practice, no different from the major religions[3]. He built a hypothesis about the interaction between Buddhism (Esoteric and Pure Land schools), Daoism, Confucianism and indigenous beliefs in the formation of certain endogenous religions[3]. This is a working hypothesis of one author, not a conclusion on which researchers fully agree.
{sư} As for Mai Thị Hạnh (2019), she identifies belief in the sacred power of the Holy Mothers as Mother worship itself, while the practice of this belief ranges from moral cultivation, offerings, prostrations and long-distance pilgrimages to lên đồng (spirit possession ritual); typical rituals include trình đồng mở phủ (initiation and opening of the palace), di cung hoán số (transferring the palace and changing one's fate), hát văn hầu Thánh (chanting in service of the Saints) and festivals commemorating the birth and transformation days of the Saints[4]. Among these, hầu đồng (spirit mediumship ritual) is the most important ritual[4].
{sư} Unlike religions with recorded scriptures, the practices of Mother worship are transmitted orally through the đồng thầy (medium masters)[4]. The đồng thầy is the person who founds the bản hội (congregation), decides its activities and its survival, and wields strong power within the community of followers[4]. This is a difference from religions with tightly structured organisations[4].
{sư} In the past, Mother worship in general and hầu đồng in particular were once condemned as superstition and banned; thanks to the current socioeconomic context and religious policy, Mother worship has had the conditions for a strong revival[4].
How does Mother worship spread with migrant communities?
Mother worship does not exist only in the Northern Delta; it travelled with migrant communities to the South and up to the highlands.
{sư} According to the records of Bùi Thị Thoa (2019), Mother worship officially appeared in Đà Lạt from the mid-1920s, tied to the process of migration, settlement and the formation of a Vietnamese community on the Lâm Viên plateau[5]. The emergence of the two forms of Mother worship, the northern form (with the Holy Mother Liễu Hạnh in the leading role) and the central form (with the Holy Mother Thiên Ya Na in the leading role), occurred at nearly the same time[5]. Đà Lạt's first Mother temple to be built and worshipped separately is the Temple of the Holy Mother Thiên Ya Na, with architecture following the central form of Mother worship: the Holy Mother Thiên Ya Na sits in the central palace, the left altar is for the Mother of the Upper Forest, and the right altar is for the Mother of the Waters[5]. The temple was established as a place of spiritual activity for the part of the Vietnamese population originating from the central provinces, mainly people from Huế[5].
{sư} Mother worship has also created economic effects for communities around Mother worship sites, such as Cổ Mễ Village (former Từ Sơn, Bắc Ninh), Phủ Giầy (former Nam Định), Sòng Sơn Temple (Thanh Hóa), the Temple of Ông Hoàng Mười (Hà Tĩnh), Hoàng Bảy Temple (Lào Cai), Tây Hồ Palace (Hà Nội), the Temple of the Mother of the Upper Forest (former Yên Bái) and Chúa Thác Bờ Temple (Hòa Bình)[2].
Hùng King worship and beliefs recognised internationally
Hùng King worship is the clearest example of a layer of belief that is both ancestral and national.
{sư} The nomination file that the Vietnamese State submitted to UNESCO in 2012 shows that the Hùng King worship belief in Phú Thọ was submitted as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity, accompanied by a bibliography including works by Nguyễn Chí Bền (2011), Tạ Chí Đại Trường (1989), Toan Ánh (1974) and Trần Quốc Vượng (1998)[6]. The file was signed by Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoàng Tuấn Anh on 15 May 2012[6].
Comparison table of the main layers of Vietnamese belief
| Layer of belief | Object of worship | Worship space | Notable features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ancestor worship | Deceased grandparents and parents | Altar in the home | Most widespread, in almost every family |
| Village guardian deity worship | Village protective deity | Village communal house | Tied to village festivals, with Hán Nôm spirit records |
| Mother worship, Đạo Mẫu | Holy Mothers, Tam Tòa Thánh Mẫu | Palaces, temples, private shrines | Includes hầu đồng ritual, hát văn chanting, congregations |
| Hùng King worship | The Hùng kings | Hùng Temple and affiliated temples | UNESCO file 2012 |
| Occupational worship | Craft founders, craft deities | Communal houses, shrines, craft premises | Tied to traditional craft guilds |
| Agricultural beliefs | God of agriculture, rice god, rain god | Communal houses, shrines, fields | Tied to the crop cycle |
How does folk belief differ from organised religion?
The core difference lies in organisational structure and system of doctrine. Folk belief usually has no founder, no unified scriptures and no central church, but is transmitted orally and practised according to the local community. Organised religion has doctrine, canon law, rituals and tight organisation.
{sư} Malinowski (1925) observed that the festive and public character of rituals is a notable feature of religion in general, and in primitive societies the public character of worship is no less evident than in high cultures[7]. Rituals of birth, initiation, funerals, death anniversaries, sacrifice and totem rituals all carry a public and collective character[7]. This observation helps explain why Vietnamese folk belief, though it has no church, still has a very strong communal character.
Can Vietnamese people follow several beliefs at the same time?
Yes. This is a widespread characteristic recorded in many studies. A person can worship ancestors at home, go to a Buddhist temple, go to a Mother temple, and take part in a village communal house festival, without feeling any contradiction. These layers of belief do not exclude one another.
{sư} Nguyễn Hữu Thụ (2019) records that for followers of Mother worship, belief in the spirits of the Four Palaces plays an important role in helping them feel at ease and confident in carrying out economic activities in real life[2]. However, the author also notes that it is their own actions that decide most of the final outcome; the Saint's blessing plays the role of a spiritual support, that is, the initial capital granted by the Saint[2].
Conclusion: a short answer to the question of which beliefs Vietnamese people follow
Vietnamese people do not follow a single belief. They practise a stack of beliefs: ancestor worship at home, village guardian deity worship at the communal house, Mother worship at palaces and temples, Hùng King worship at the Hùng Temple, craft founder worship at craft guilds, and agricultural rituals according to the crop cycle. These layers do not exclude one another and often coexist within one family or one community. Legally, the 2016 Law on Belief and Religion clearly distinguishes belief from religion based on the criteria of organisation and system of doctrine. Therefore, the most accurate answer to the question of which beliefs Vietnamese people follow is: most Vietnamese people practise several folk beliefs at the same time, rather than following a single designation.
