Ancestor Worship in Vietnam

My concluding post will probably come in the next couple of days, as there are some things I wish to tweak on my blog still. Similarly, I'd like to see if there was anything that I missed covering, though I believe following this blog post I will have discussed all the countries I had planned on discussing.

Regarding ancestor worship in Vietnam--this topic is particularly relevant to myself, as I have watched my mother several times in the past do a variety of practices to honor our ancestors (at least on her side of the family anyways). For example, when moving to a new home, we pray to our ancestors to protect the home and bring good luck to the house. We also open our doors to wandering spirits once a year, making them food to eat since these spirits have neither home nor family to take care of them. And like the Chinese, the Koreans, the Japanese, and the Taiwanese, a Vietnamese home would be remiss without an altar containing most often pictures of our ancestors whom we make offerings to.

While I did not find anything for the other countries' respective worship practices, Vietnamese altars are typically in a high place, with the ancestors pictures, incense, flower vases, and plates on which offerings are made. Occasionally, a family might also have a statue of Buddha. Worship practices and offerings may vary depending on the region (which is not particularly surprising, as North and South Vietnam while ethnically the same have many cultural differences). Offerings are made during major holidays like Tết (Vietnamese New Year), and are also made typically on the first day and the fifteenth day of every month, with altars cleaned as well. Like the countries discussed earlier, with Taiwan being the exception, the men in the family are typically the ones who uphold the worshipping of the ancestors.

(1) Thi, Le. "The Custom of Ancestor Worship in Vietnam." Translated by Doan Thi Ngoc.  http://gas.hoasen.edu.vn/en/gas-page/custom-ancestor-worship-vietnam
(2) FitzGerald, Frances. Fire In The Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1972.