Vietnamese ancestral house
An ancestral house (
middle Vietnam.[1]
After a clan is divided into branches by males of
paternal line, the head of the main branch of a clan (trưởng tộc in Vietnamese) would lead the place where all clan members worship the primitive ancestor and store the primary genealogical book.[1] This place would be called nhà thờ đại tôn (lit. ''primary lineage hall' or 'main clan ancestral house''). Other breaches of a clan would have their own nhà thờ họ in which the creators of these branches are worshipped; these nhà thờ họ are called nhà thờ chi họ (lit. 'branch of clan ancestral house').[1]
The size and architecture of nhà thờ họ is depended on a clan's financial resources, donations from each of the male clan members and the
ghosts), giá gương (glass stand), and ngai (throne) will be placed in this worship pedestal. The ngai holds a vermilion-painted-and-gold-gilded box, which contains family genealogical book, and is covered by a piece of red cloth. This is the most sacred site of a nhà thờ họ, which people consider the gathering place of ancestors' soul.[1]
An ancestral death anniversary will be held yearly at nhà thờ họ and this anniversary is usually used as an occasion to renew the relationship between living clan members.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d "Nhà Thờ Họ". Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam. 2006. Archived from the original on 2010-09-19.
- ^ "Tục thờ cúng tổ tiên: Chén nước trong soi lòng trinh bạch (phần IV)". Vietnamnet.
Further reading
- Hy V. Luong (2003), Postwar Vietnam: dynamics of a transforming society, ISBN 0-8476-9865-3, Rowman & Littlefield.
- Shaun Kingsley Malarney (2002) Culture, ritual and revolution in Vietnam, ISBN 0-8248-2660-4, University of Hawaii Press.