The beliefs and practices surrounding the meanings and symbols of the spirit world in Vietnam are explored in detail in this innovative study on popular religion in the country. The author shows an abiding interest in the 'subconscious life' at a grassroots level alongside rational formations of cosmological understanding which effect politics and economics on a national scale. By bringing together oral histories, reports and fiction writing alongside more conventional documented sources, this book reveals an area of history which has been largely neglected.
Author(s): Thien Do
Edition: 1
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 320
Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Illustrations......Page 8
Preface......Page 10
Acknowledgements......Page 13
Abbreviations......Page 15
Introduction......Page 20
1 The dình......Page 38
2 Platform for the Immortals......Page 82
3 Trance and shadows......Page 109
4 Self-cultivation......Page 151
5 Daoists from the Mountain......Page 184
Conclusion......Page 226
Appendix A......Page 230
Appendix B......Page 231
Appendix C......Page 234
Appendix D......Page 240
Appendix E......Page 242
Appendix F......Page 245
Appendix G......Page 246
Notes......Page 247
Bibliography......Page 297
Index......Page 313
