Thành hoàng

"Thành hoàng" (城隍) means a deity that is enshrined in each village's communal temple in Vietnam. The deity is believed to guard the village against disasters and bring it fortune.

Etymology

Thành hoàng is a Sino-Vietnamese word, literally means the city wall and the moat that surrounds it.

Origin

No later than Đinh dynasty, each locality started to worship the mountain and river gods that ruled over a domain which encompassed their village. Later on, the government decreed the deification of late national heroes, righteous officials and loyal subjects, and specific localities were chosen to exalt these gods. Gradually other common folks took up the practice and worshipped their own gods to be blessed with protection and fortune.[1]

Ranking

Generally each village worships only one Thành Hoàng; however, it is not rare to see two or more gods enshrined simultaneously at a village. They are known collectively as Gods of Fortune (Phúc Thần).[2]

Even these Gods were divided in three ranks

  • High ranking gods: famous mountain and river gods, immortals such as Thánh Gióng, Chử Đồng Tử whose backgrounds are mysterious and miraculous, and unusually brilliant men such as Lý Thường Kiệt and Trần Hưng Đạo.
  • Middle ranking gods: whose accomplishments are ambiguous but have been worshiped for a long time
  • Lower ranking gods: whose background and accomplishments are ambiguous but are known to bless mortals

Apart from the ranked gods acknowledged by the government, there were villages that worshiped "demons" and "tainted gods" such as the Beggar God, the Serpent God, the God of Lecherousness, and others.

Notes
  1. Phan Kế Bính, Vietnamese Customs, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing house, 1990 edition, p.78-79.
  2. Phan Kế Bính, Vietnamese Customs, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing house, 1990 edition, p.78-79.
gollark: I don't think AR actually has any way to do that.
gollark: The GC ones being essentially fungible means you can run automated space shipping routes.
gollark: MËh.
gollark: GC allows extracting oxygen from them, yes, I don't know if AR does.
gollark: You can have space stations.

References
  • Phan Kế Bính, Vietnamese Customs, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing house, 1990 edition.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.