TL;DR: The Thành Hoàng of a village is the deity regarded as the protector and overseer of a Vietnamese village, worshipped at the đình làng. Although the name originates from China, according to Đinh Khắc Thuân (2014), in Vietnam this belief also stems from the Vietnamese custom of worshipping spirits, with the purpose of commemorating those who contributed to the village, and was then localized into village deity worship. The Thành Hoàng may be a historical figure who cleared land and established hamlets, a notable person, a national hero, or natural deities or occupational deities granted royal edicts of recognition. This belief is closely tied to the đình làng institution, the center of religious, administrative, and cultural life of the Vietnamese village community for many centuries.
Who is the Village Tutelary Deity?
In Vietnamese village culture, the "Thành Hoàng" (also written Thành hoàng) is a deity worshipped by the villagers as the guardian of the entire life of the village: from harvests and health to security and the fortunes and misfortunes of the community. Every traditional Vietnamese village, large or small, almost always has one or several tutelary deities of its own, solemnly worshipped at the đình làng (village communal house), the central religious architectural structure of the village.
According to Đinh Khắc Thuân (2014), the name "Thành hoàng" originally comes from China, denoting the deity who protects a citadel, with "thành" meaning rampart and "hoàng" meaning the deep moat surrounding the citadel. But when it came to Vietnam, this concept shifted into the village tutelary deity, that is, the protective deity of the village, usually tied to the communal house. This is a fundamental difference from the original Chinese meaning.
Unlike Thổ Công (the earth deity of each household) or Táo Quân (the kitchen deity of each household), the Thành Hoàng has a protective scope at the level of the village community, and is regarded as the deity governing a whole stretch of land, responsible for all the fortunes and misfortunes of the villagers.
The four groups of Vietnamese village tutelary deities according to the classification used by scholars of folk culture.
| Group of tutelary deities | Characteristics of the figure | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Nhân thần (human deities) | Real or semi-historical people who reclaimed land, founded villages, taught crafts, resisted foreign invasion, officials, notables | Hai Bà Trưng, Trần Hưng Đạo |
| Thiên thần (heavenly deities) | Deities from mythology and folk legend, belonging to the Four Immortals system or the myth of nation-founding | Thánh Gióng, Sơn Tinh |
| Nhiên thần (nature deities) | Indigenous nature deities, traces of the prehistoric animist belief | mountain deities, river deities, stone deities, banyan tree deities |
| Yêu thần, tà thần (malevolent or unorthodox deities) | Figures of non-orthodox origin but believed to be very sacred, manifesting to help the people | beggars, people who died an untimely death |
What are the origins of the village tutelary deity belief?
According to Đinh Khắc Thuân (2014, Journal of Religious Studies), the worship of the tutelary deity in Vietnam has two parallel origins. One is the origin from the worship of the tutelary deity in China. The other is the origin from the widespread worship of spirits among the Vietnamese, which was meant to commemorate those who had merit toward the villagers and to pray for the deity's protection and support.
The name Thành hoàng is a name from China, denoting the deity who protects a place of commerce and a citadel, since "thành" is a rampart and "hoàng" is the deep moat surrounding the rampart. In China, the worship of the tutelary deity protecting urban residents appeared very early; the earliest recorded text is from the year 555, during the Northern Qi period. By the Tang dynasty, the worship of the tutelary deity was fairly widespread, and in the Song dynasty it was listed among the official rites of worship.
As for when it was introduced into Vietnam and became a widespread form of worship, according to Đinh Khắc Thuân (2014), researchers have offered many explanations that are not yet agreed upon, with two hypothetical time markers: first, the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century, when Confucianism began to flourish in Vietnam; second, the fifteenth century, when Confucianism developed strongly throughout the country. Thus, the saying "widespread from the Lý and Trần dynasties" is one hypothesis among many, not a settled conclusion.
The important point is that when it came to Vietnam, this belief was strongly localized: instead of worshipping an abstract deity guarding a citadel, the Vietnamese shifted to worshipping specific figures tied to the history and legends of their own village. Đinh Khắc Thuân (2014) emphasizes that this is the distinctive feature that makes the worship of the Vietnamese village tutelary deity not merely a copy of China.
The table below compares the two traditions as presented by Đinh Khắc Thuân (2014).
| Criterion | Vietnamese tutelary deity | Chinese tutelary deity |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Tied to the village, the protective deity of the village | Tied to the citadel and city walls, protecting the place of commerce |
| Object of worship | Diverse: nature deities, heroes, people of merit toward the village | Usually officials granted titles by the court |
| Place of worship | Village communal house | Temples and shrines in urban areas |
Who do the types of tutelary deities include?
Scholars of folk culture usually divide Vietnamese village tutelary deities into several main groups:
- Nhân thần (human deities): figures who were real or semi-historical, people who reclaimed land, founded villages, taught crafts to the people (patron deities of crafts), national heroes who resisted foreign invasion (such as Hai Bà Trưng and Trần Hưng Đạo, worshipped as tutelary deities in many places), officials and notables of merit toward the locality who were elevated by the villagers after their death.
- Thiên thần (heavenly deities): deities from mythology and folk legend such as Thánh Gióng and Sơn Tinh, figures belonging to the "Four Immortals" system or the myth of nation-founding.
- Nhiên thần (nature deities): indigenous nature deities, mountain deities, river deities, stone deities, banyan tree deities, surviving traces of the prehistoric belief in animism, sometimes further "personified" with legends so as to become a deity with a "biography".
- Yêu thần / tà thần (malevolent or unorthodox deities): some villages also worship figures of not particularly "orthodox" origin (beggars, people who died an untimely death, and so on) but believed to be very "sacred", manifesting to help the people, reflecting the folk notion that spiritual efficacy matters more than origin.
The nature deity group is not merely a set of generic deities. Materials on the tutelary deities of Thăng Long - Hà Nội show that the system of tutelary deities in the capital was very diverse: there were mountain deities, river deities, tree deities, figures who fought against foreign invaders, and also people who reclaimed land and founded villages and hamlets. Tản Viên (Ba Vì mountain) is a typical example of a mountain deity worshipped as a tutelary deity in many places.
What is the significance of the court's edicts of investiture?
An edict of investiture is a document granted by the king to a village, confirming the deity, conferring fine titles (beautiful honorific names) and sometimes accompanied by symbolic rank and stipend. This carried religious meaning and was also a tool for the feudal state to control and standardize religious life at the village level.
According to Đinh Khắc Thuân (2014), the Vietnamese feudal state documented village deities through types of Hán Nôm materials such as deity legends, edicts of investiture and steles. He also gives specific evidence concerning edicts of investiture: Phạm Thùy Vinh has recently discovered edicts from the Hồng Đức period; Nguyễn Hữu Mùi published three edicts dated the first year of Hồng Phúc (1571) granted to Quận công Hồ Văn Khu, an official of the Lê Trung Hưng period in Thanh Viên commune, Quỳnh Lưu district, Nghệ An province; and at Thanh Tu temple, Minh Lãng commune, Vũ Thư district, Thái Bình province, there is an edict from the Lê dynasty under the twenty-eighth year of Hồng Đức together with an edict from the Mạc dynasty in the first year of Cảnh Lịch. It can be seen from the traces left behind that the custom of conferring edicts had begun to emerge from the earliest times, and the custom of worshipping the village tutelary deity also contributed to creating an extremely diverse and precious heritage, both tangible and intangible..
Seen from the side of the people, in Đỗ Thị Hà Thơ's (2018) survey of communal houses in Đồng Tháp, the edict of investiture was originally only a certificate issued by a worldly feudal king, yet it was regarded as a sacred object of the deity, and keeping it became a sacred responsibility of the whole village.. From that edict, a whole series of rituals arose on the occasions of the locality's periodic ceremonies; usually each communal house opens the edict every year, but some places stipulate that it is opened only once every three or five years. Although the author regards it as a form of secular investiture, it still had a serious and direct impact on those who kept it as well as on the entire population of the area..
The village communal house, the sacred space of the community
The village communal house is not only a place to worship the tutelary deity but also the center of public life: where village affairs are discussed, disputes are judged, and festivals and communal celebrations are held. The architecture of the communal house usually has a large main hall, curved roofs, refined carvings, and a rear sanctuary where the spirit tablet or statue of the tutelary deity is placed. The annual death anniversary of the tutelary deity (usually called the "day of transformation" or the "death anniversary day") is the occasion for the village's largest festival, with palanquin processions, ceremonies, folk games, chèo singing, quan họ singing, and so on, depending on the region, being both a spiritual ritual and an occasion that binds the community together and expresses the distinctive cultural identity of each village ("every village has its own ways").
Besides the deity's death anniversary, the village communal house also has many other annual rituals during the year. These are the lễ hạ điền (rice-planting ceremony) and lễ thượng điền (harvest ceremony) to cầu mùa (prayer for a good harvest), the lễ cầu an (prayer for peace and safety), and the village festival usually held in spring or autumn. The ceremonies are carried out by the village elders and by respected people who know the village customs well. Offerings usually include incense, flowers, betel and areca, wine, glutinous rice, pork, and bánh chưng; on major occasions there may be buffalo, oxen, or goats. The prayer text read at the ceremony praises the merits of the deity. The rear sanctuary is the most sacred place, and few people are allowed to enter.
According to Phan Kế Bính (1915) in Việt Nam phong tục, the seasonal periods of the year all have ceremonies, and depending on village custom and whether the year is abundant or poor, people use buffalo and pigs or chicken and glutinous rice, some places holding a great ceremony and others a simple offering. The lễ thượng điền and lễ hạ điền are tied to the new rice fields: many villages hold a ceremony only on the day of hạ điền, that is, the day of first stepping down into the field, and they usually choose a gentle and virtuous elder, a couple still both living, to perform the lễ hạ điền, meaning that he plants a few handfuls of seedlings first and only then does the whole commune plant. As for the tế kỳ phúc, every year at the four seasons, or in the two periods of spring and autumn, there is a great ceremony called tế kỳ phúc, that is, praying for the people to be at peace; one day before the ceremony, a cáo yết is performed, the buffalo or ox is led out for inspection, then a cup of wine is poured on the animal's head, called tỉnh sinh, and only after that is it slaughtered. Phan Kế Bính (1915) also records that the ceremony could only be carried out after the ritual text was carried from the house of the điền văn to the communal house; the person taking the role of tế chủ needed to hold the highest rank and position in the village, and some places also chose a person of the highest position together with a couple both living and with children and grandchildren in harmony; two or four elders played the role of bồi tế.. These are customs recorded from the early twentieth century, and they may have changed somewhat in each locality today.
Which deities do communal houses in the South worship besides the tutelary deity?
In communal houses in the South, besides the presiding deity, the Thần Thành Hoàng, there is also another set of spirits worshipped together. Through a survey of communal houses in Đồng Tháp, Đỗ Thị Hà Thơ (2018) argues that these deities arose from the need of the Vietnamese to localize tutelary spirits, combined with cultural interchange with Chinese, Chăm and Khmer people, all of whom gathered at the communal house to reside and receive offerings.
Đỗ Thị Hà Thơ (2018) surveyed 11 district-level administrative units in Đồng Tháp province and recorded 84 communal houses, most of them formed in the nineteenth century to meet the religious needs of the local residents.. The remaining spirit tablets and statues partly reflect the strong Confucian imprint on the religious life of the local residents in earlier times; recently, the fact that many communal houses have added Khổng Tử, Khổng Minh and Quan Công to their worship can be seen as an expression of the tendency to sanctify Confucian concepts.
According to Đỗ Thị Hà Thơ (2018), traces of the worship of tree deities, stone deities, the Hà Bá (river deity) and the Sơn Xuyên Nhạc Độc (deities of mountains, rivers and sacred peaks) of the Vietnamese people are also present in that set of spirits, expressing the wish to be sheltered by nature on the southward journey to Đồng Tháp.. Some deities such as Thạch Trụ, Mộc Trụ, Sơn Xuyên Nhạc Độc, Hà Bá Thủy Quan, Chúa Ngung Ma Nương and Đông Nam Sát Hải Lang Thát Nhị Đại Tướng Quân usually do not reside at the communal house, but gather there only during the ceremonies.. In this area, the author also found several communal houses showing a harmony between religion and belief, for example Thới Thạnh communal house (Cần Thơ) places the spirit tablet of Ngọc Hoàng in the main sanctuary, the communal house of Trần Hữu Nghĩa town (Sóc Trăng) erects a Quan Âm altar in front of the courtyard along with images of the Dharma protectors right at the entrance to the main sanctuary, and Long Hanh communal house (Trà Vinh) has an altar to Địa Tạng at the gateway..
According to Đỗ Thị Hà Thơ (2018), the case of a local figure being made into a deity is illustrated by Bình Thủy communal house (Cần Thơ), where the main altar combines the tutelary deity and Mr. Đinh Công Chánh in the form of portraits, reflecting the similar outlook of southern residents on the hierarchy of values when they sanctify local figures.
What rituals are usually held at village festivals honoring the tutelary deity?
Besides the deity's death anniversary (the day of transformation, the death anniversary day) with palanquin processions and ceremonies, many villages also hold the lễ hạ điền and lễ thượng điền to cầu mùa (prayer for a good harvest) and the lễ cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) during the year. The ceremonies are carried out by the village elders.
Specifically, the lễ hạ điền and lễ thượng điền are tied to the agricultural cycle: hạ điền is the day of first going down into the field, thượng điền is the day when new rice is available. The lễ cầu an (tế kỳ phúc) prays for the villagers to be at peace. The village festival is usually held in spring or autumn. According to Phan Kế Bính (1915), the ceremony is performed by the person holding the highest rank and position in the village as tế chủ, with two or four elders as bồi tế, and the offerings depend on village custom and whether the year is abundant or poor, using buffalo and pigs or chicken and glutinous rice. These customs were recorded from the early twentieth century, and they may have changed somewhat in each locality today.
What is the significance of the tutelary deity belief in modern life?
Although Vietnamese society has shifted a great deal from the traditional village model toward urbanization, the tutelary deity belief is still maintained in many localities, especially in ancient villages in the Northern Delta and North Central regions. Many communal house festivals have been recognized as national intangible cultural heritage, and a number of ancient communal houses have been ranked as historical and cultural relics. This belief expresses the philosophy of "when drinking water, remember the source", binding people to their village roots, community and local history, an inseparable part of Vietnamese cultural identity.
Overview article on the topic: What does Vietnamese folk belief include?
