Cultural and religious belief of Teochew and Sandou (Chaozhou and Shantou) Community in Southern Vietnam and its impact on the architectural features of temples I : Tracing its historical changes

In the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), there was a huge wave of migration to South-East Asia. A group of immigrants from Chaozhou (潮州) and Shantou (汕頭) migrated to southern Vietnam and lived with indigenous inhabitants including Cambodians, the Cham communities (占人), and immigrants from Northern and Central Vietnam. In this way, Southern Vietnam became an area of diversified inhabitants with a vibrant mix of cultures.

Between the 18th century and early 20th century, due to changes in Chinese political situations, a large group of merchants as well as refugees from Chaozhou and Shantou areas arrived at Vietnam by the sea route. Most of them resided on Southern areas in Vietnam including Bien Hoa (邊和), Saigon (西貢), Cholon (堤岸); and coastal provinces including Tra Vinh (茶榮), Soc Trang (滀臻), Bac Lieu (薄遼) and Ca Mau (金甌). This led to the transmission of Chaozhou Shantou culture into these new areas and eventually formed the vibrant landscape of Teochew and Sandou (Vietnamese name to Chaozhou and Shantou) cultural and religious beliefs.

The author of this article not only synthesized findings from historical archives and information obtained from fieldwork, but also described the history of migration of Chaozhou and Shantou communities in Southern Vietnam. The objective of this study is to investigate how Chaozhou and Shantou culture continued to evolve in the multicultural context of Southern Vietnam and how Chaozhou and Shantou culture maintained its special characteristics yet at the same time maintaining mutual interaction with local Vietnamese cultures. The major research object in this study is the cultural practice related to the Yulan festival (孟蘭，Chinese Ghost Festival) and architectural features of temples. From descriptions of cultural and religious practices, the author summarizes three major trends in cultural development, namely popularization （大眾化）, indigenization (本土化）and simplification (簡易化）. 

There are several implications of the concept of Southern Vietnam, which I would like to elaborate on.

The early 17th century marked the beginning of the civil war between warlords Trinh family (鄭氏) and Nguyen Family (阮氏) (Trịnh-Nguyễn phân tranh, 鄭阮紛爭，extended from 1627-1775) in the late Le dynasty (Nhà Hậu Lê 後黎朝, 1429-1789). During this period the South means South of Gianh River (箏江，aka 靈江) of the Quảng Bình Province (廣平省) was called Đàng Trong (塘中) or Nam Ha (南河), which nowadays covers provinces including central Quảng Bình Province (廣平省), Quảng Nam Province (廣南省)，Bình Định Province (平定省)，Phú Yên Province (富安省)，and Khánh Hòa Province (慶和省).

During Nguyễn triều (Nguyen Dynasty, 阮朝, 1802-1884), the South meant South of  Huế (nowadays areas extend from Southern boundary of Huế City 順化 to  Cà Mau Province 金甌省).

In the French Colonial Period (1884-1945), the colonial government divided Vietnam into three areas: Tonkin (北圻, nowadays Northern Vietnam), Annan (中圻, nowadays Central Vietnam, which extends from Thanh Hóa Province清化省 to Bình Thuận Province平順省), and Cochinchine (南圻, nowadays the Southern provinces of Vietnam, which extend from Đồng Nai Province同奈省 to Cà Mau Province金甌省).

During the Vietnam War (1955-1975), the Southern Vietnam was divided by the latitude 17th parallel North (which is south of Quảng Bình Province廣平省 and extend to Cà Mau Province金甌省). After the unification of Vietnam, the naming of “Southern Vietnam” restored to the system adopted in the French Colonial Period. Therefore, in this article, the term Southern Vietnam is denoting the area named as Cochinchine, which includes areas of Biên Hòa (邊和),  Nông Nại (農奈), Gia Định (嘉定), Vĩnh Long (永隆) and Hà Tiên (河仙), where huge influx of Chinese immigrants flocked to. These areas include the southeastern area of Đồng Nai River (同奈河) basin and the southwestern delta of Cửu Long River (湄公河) nowadays.

Across Vietnam, the Southern area, which is developed the latest, is the hub of immigrants from different areas. The Đồng Nai River basin and Cửu Long River basin is also the birthplace of the Southern Vietnamese culture. In this area, a new cultural system, which integrates cultures from Khmer (高棉), Chams (占), Vietnamese, and Chinese groups. Although the Southern Vietnamese culture did not share the long history as Northern and Central Vietnamese cultures, in the span of over 300 years Southern Vietnamese communities have formed their unique culture characteristics of diversity, vibrancy, adaptability, locality, and popularization.

Southern Vietnam (a.k.a. ‘Southern provinces’, “The South”) was developed over 320 years ago. 1698 was commonly regarded as a watershed in the history of Southern Vietnam. In this year, a warlord Nguyễn Phúc Chu (阮福淍，1675-1725) of Quảng Nam Area (廣南阮主政權) who was ruling the area of Đàng Trong (塘中), commissioned a general Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh (阮有鏡, 1650-1700) to conquer Đồng Nai (同奈), Gia Định (嘉定), Vĩnh Long (永隆) and established ruling in the neighbourhood areas. 

Before the annexation by Quảng Nam Area, the area was occupied by various ethnic groups including Khmer, Chams, Rhade, Jarai, and Stieng in separate communities. They were largely influenced by various religions from India, initially Brahmanism (婆羅門教, which is the precursor of Hinduism), later Theravāda Buddhism (南傳佛教) and subsequently Islam (伊斯蘭教).

Later, with the influx of Vietnamese immigrants from Central and Northern areas, as well as immigrants from China, different communities began to develop this area together and establish the South as a multicultural area with rich cultural heritages.

At the beginning, the first group of immigrants comprised all walks of life including the poor and the homeless, expelled criminals, lay-off soldiers, and sea merchants. Later refugees of the late Ming Dynasty, including government officials and soldiers, settled in this area. In the Qing dynasty, pirates, merchants, and refugees from Chinese Mainland gradually arrived from sea route¹.

The warlord of Quảng Nam Area soon recruited the homeless in Đàng Trong and Quảng Bình areas to cultivate the land, who collaborated with the Chinese immigrants in late Ming and Qing dynasty to farm on fertile soils on plains in Đồng Nai (同奈), Biên Hòa (邊和), Gia Định (嘉定), Vĩnh Long (永隆), Mỹ Tho (美萩) and Hà Tiên (河仙) , making the areas prosperous through years of development. In the meantime, ports, villages, malls, and settlements were established in different coastal areas, plateaux and plains, and along riverbanks. 

The history of immigration of Chinese from Chaozhou and Shantou areas could be traced to the late 17th century. Nguyễn Phúc Tần (阮福瀕, 1620-1687), the warlord of Quảng Nam Area, ordered immigrants from Ming Dynasty with other homeless refugees to cultivate the South. He provided some support by forcing Ang Nan II (1654-1691), the King of Cambodia (which was a protectorate of Quảng Nam Area), who ceded lands to Quảng Nam Area to relocate these refugees. Hence, in 1679, three thousand Chinese armed immigrants led by the ex-general-in-charge of Longmen County of Guangxi province 廣西龍門總兵 Dương Ngạn Địch (楊彥迪？-1688) and his deputy Hoàng Tiến (黃進，？-？), as well as the ex-general-in-charge of Gao county, Lui county, and Lian county of Guangxi province (廣西高、雷、廉州總兵 Trần Thượng Xuyên 陳上川，1626-1720), and his deputy Trần An Bình (陳安平，？-？), travelled with sixty warships and landed on Đồng Nai, Biên Hòa, Mỹ Tho and  Vĩnh Long, then settled and cultivated these areas.

Another group of armed immigrants were led by Mạc Cửu (鄚玖，又稱鄚敬玖，1655-1735), a general of Lui county in Guangdong province. He led his troops and their families to travel by sea to settle at an area which historically belonged to Coastal Chenla (part of Cambodia) at Gulf of Siam. They cultivated the Man Kham (恾坎), which was later renamed as Hà Tiên河仙. As Hà Tiên was frequently attacked by Thai army, Mạc Cửu chose to surrender and seek protection from Quảng Nam Area.

The above-mentioned history was recorded in Gia Định Thành Thông Chí (嘉定城通志，History of Gia Định City) written by Trịnh Hoài Đức (鄭懷德，1765年—1825), and in Đại Nam thực lục (大南實錄，Chronicle of Greater Vietnam) edited by Royal Institute of History of Nguyễn dynasty (阮朝國史館). Although the name of Chaozhou and Shantou People never explicitly appeared in those texts, it is sensible to assume that some of the incoming Chinese soldiers and refugees from Guangxi and Guangdong areas contained people from Chaozhou and Shantou.

Since then, whenever there were upheavals in China, there were always waves of refugees and merchants to arrive at Southern Vietnam by sea. They settled there, marrying local Vietnamese and Cambodians, while transmitting their historical and cultural heritage to their next generations.

Different organizations and assembly halls (Huiguan 會館) of Chinese immigrants were spread southwards from Huế City (順化) to the other parts in Southern Vietnam. The renowned ones include Nhà khách Daming (大明客鋪，Residence of Ming Dynasty Descendants) established in Huế City (順化) in 1640, Hội quánminh hương (明香社,，Society of Descendants from Ming Dynasty) established in Hội An City (會安) in 1650s, Hội quán Minh Hương (明鄉社, Society of People origins in Ming Dynasty) established in Fan’an 藩鎮,  later part of Gia Định City (嘉定) in 1700s, Hội quán Phúc Kiến (閩地館 , Hội quán Phúc Kiến, Hub of People from Fujian) established in Cholon in 1695, and Hội quán Thanh Hà (清河社, Society of Clear River) established in Hue in 1698, which was later moved to Trấn Biên (鎮邊) and now to Biên Hòa (邊和) in 1700. These became important meeting hubs for Chinese immigrants².

During the era of Tây Sơn Dynasty (西山朝，1778-1802) , the leader of the rebelling army Nguyễn Văn Nhạc (阮文岳, 1753-1793), infuriated by the death of his general Phạm Ngạn (范彥，?-1782), took his soldiers to rob Saigon 柴棍, and killed over around ten thousand Chinese merchants and immigrants. In order to flee from the massacre, Chinese immigrants from Biên Hòa and Đồng Nai moved to the other parts of Saigon and Cholon, subsequently established the increasingly prosperous city of Gia Định (嘉定).

In 1802, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福映，1762-1820, who defeated Tây Sơn Dynasty, found Nguyễn dynasty (阮朝) of Vietnam (1802-1945) and became Gia Long King, Emperor Gia-Long (嘉隆皇帝). He granted the right for Chinese the rights to form self- governing associations. Since then, Chinese communities were divided into five major self-managing groups based on their origins and dialects: Guangzhou- Shaoxing clans, Chaozhou-Shantou clans, Fujian clans, Hakka clans, and Hainan clans³.

Eventually, assembly halls, which were organized in major Cities in Southern Vietnam, as well as societies and guilds organized based on the linkage of origins and clans, blossomed all over Southern Vietnam. Since then, the identity of Chaozhou-Shantou people became emphasized among this clan of Chinese immigrants, so that they could distinguish themselves from Chinese immigrants of other clans.

Although in Vietnam the population of immigrants with Chaozhou-Shantou origins is smaller than those from Guangzhou and Shaoxing (廣肇) and Fujian province (福建), it is still a very large group who keep on transmitting their cultural heritage and religious belief across generations and safeguard the rich Chaozhou-Shantou cultural heritage in different places in Southern Vietnam.

Reference

1. See  越南歷史學會（Hội Khoa học lịch sử Việt Nam）：《越南南部地區史略》（Lược sử vùng đất Nam Bộ Việt Nam, History of Southern Areas of Vietnam）（Hoinai 河內：National Political Publishing House of Vietnam 國家政治出版社，2014).

2. Nhà khách Daming (大明客舖, Residence of Ming Dynasty Descendants)，is also called Hội quán Thanh Hà (清河社, Society of Clear River)，or Hội quán Thanh Hà Minh Hương (清河明鄕社, Society of Clear River of Ming Dynasty Descendants).

3. According to Prof. Chingho A. Chen (陳荊和, 1917─ 1995), after Nguyễn Phúc Ánh sieged Gia Định in 1788, he ordered all Chinese immigrants to register in state registry. Two years after (1790), he further instructed Chinese immigrants from Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan, Chaozhou and Shanghai to relocated in the city, and set up different Departments to govern them. Also, he appointed general (with Fujian origin) Chen Gongyin 陳公引(also called Zhang Gongyin 張公引）as Officer in Chief of Chinese Immigrant Affairs 唐人總監. In other cities, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh appointed clan leaders to set up organizations to manage their members and collected taxes from them. It was not until the coronation of Nguyễn Phúc Ánh as emperor Gia- Long that formal orders for various cities to open different registers for Fujian, Guangdong, Chaozhou- Shantou and Hainan immigrants and appointed different clans leaders. The exact year should be between 1802-1807. Please see Chen, C.H. (1968). Seminar in Chinese immigrants in Southern Vietnam in 17th and 18th century (17、18世紀之南越華僑—1968年2月28日香港大學亞洲研究中心演講)  , New Asia Life Monthly (新亞生活)，Issue 1968 May 10.