Thành hoàng (
Chữ Hán: 城隍) or Thần hoàng (神隍), Thần Thành hoàng (神城隍) refers to the gods that is enshrined in each village's
communal temple in Vietnam. The gods is believed to guard the village against disasters and bring it fortune.
Etymology
' is a
Sino-Vietnamese word, literally referring to the city wall and the moat that surrounds it. It is also the Vietnamese pronunciation of Chinese ''Chénghuáng'' (or
City God), which was adopted from
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...
.
Origin
No later than
Đinh dynasty Dinh is a Vietnamese surname. In Vietnam, the surname is spelled Đinh or Đình but ''Đình'' is very rare in Vietnamese.
Notable people
* Andy Dinh, Team SoloMid owner, player
* Dan Dinh, ''League of Legends '' player, brother of Andy Dinh
* ...
, 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.
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'').
[Phan Kế Bính, Vietnamese Customs, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing house, 1990 edition, p.78-79.]
Even these Gods were divided in three ranks
* High ranking gods: famous mountain and river gods, immortals such as
Thánh Gióng
Thánh Gióng (Chữ Nôm: 聖揀, ''Saint Gióng''), also known as Phù Đổng Thiên Vương ( Chữ Hán: 扶董天王, ''Heavenly Prince of Phù Đổng''), Sóc Thiên Vương (Chữ Hán: 朔天王), Ông Gióng (''sir Gióng'') and Xung T ...
,
Chử Đồng Tử
Chử Đồng Tử ( Chữ Hán: 褚童子) is the name of a famous Vietnamese divine being, one of "The Four Immortals
The Four Immortals (Vietnamese: ''Tứ bất tử'', chữ Hán: 四不死) refers to the four chief cult figures in the pant ...
whose backgrounds are mysterious and miraculous, and unusually brilliant men such as
Lý Thường Kiệt
Lý Thường Kiệt (; 1019–1105), real name Ngô Tuấn (), was a Vietnamese general and admiral of the Lý dynasty. He served as an official through the reign of Lý Thái Tông, Lý Thánh Tông and Lý Nhân Tông and was a general durin ...
and
Trần Hưng Đạo
Trần Hưng Đạo (; 1228–1300), real name Trần Quốc Tuấn (陳國峻), also known as Grand Prince Hưng Đạo (''Hưng Đạo Đại Vương'' - 興道大王), was a Vietnamese royal prince, statesman and military commander of Đạ ...
.
* 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
See also
*
Cheng Huang Gong
*
Tu Di Gong
Tudigong ( "Lord of the Soil and the Ground") or Tudishen ( "God of the Soil and the Ground"), also known simply as Tudi ( "Soil-Ground") is a tutelary deity of a locality and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion and Tao ...
*
Seonangsin
*
Dōsojin is a generic name for a type of Shinto ''kami'' popularly worshipped in Kantō and neighboring areas in Japan where, as tutelary deities of borders and paths, they are believed to protect travellers, pilgrims, villages, and individuals in "transit ...
References
*Phan Kế Bính, Vietnamese Customs, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing house, 1990 edition.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thanh Hoang
Vietnamese folk religion
Vietnamese mythology
Tutelary deities
Vietnamese deities
Vietnamese gods