Nhà thờ họ
Encyclopedia
Nhà thờ họ is a Vietnamese
traditional ancestral place of worship
of a clan or its branches which established by male
descendants of paternal line. This type of worship place is most commonly seen in northern Vietnam
as well as middle Vietnam.
After a clan is divided into branches by males of paternal line, the head of main branch of a clan (trưởng tộc in Vietnamese) would lead the place where all clan members worship the premitive ancestor and store the primary genealogical book. 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).
The size and architecture of nhà thờ họ is depended on a clan financial capability, donations from each male clan members and the political status of clan elders. A nhà thờ họ is usually built follow the traditional 3 rooms house architecture in which the middle room is extended in the back so that a worship pedestal could be placed. The worship objects such as linh tọa (chair of 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 scared site of a Nhà thờ họ, which people consider the gathering place of ancestors' soul.
An ancestral death anniversary
will be hold yearly at nhà thờ họ, this anniversary is usually used as a occasion to renew the relationship between clan members.
Vietnamese people
The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
traditional ancestral place of worship
Place of worship
A place of worship or house of worship is an establishment or her location where a group of people comes to perform acts of religious study, honor, or devotion. The form and function of religious architecture has evolved over thousands of years for both changing beliefs and architectural style...
of a clan or its branches which established by male
Male
Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...
descendants of paternal line. This type of worship place is most commonly seen in northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam
For the former country, see North VietnamNorthern Vietnam is one of the three regions within Vietnam ....
as well as middle Vietnam.
After a clan is divided into branches by males of paternal line, the head of main branch of a clan (trưởng tộc in Vietnamese) would lead the place where all clan members worship the premitive ancestor and store the primary genealogical book. 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).
The size and architecture of nhà thờ họ is depended on a clan financial capability, donations from each male clan members and the political status of clan elders. A nhà thờ họ is usually built follow the traditional 3 rooms house architecture in which the middle room is extended in the back so that a worship pedestal could be placed. The worship objects such as linh tọa (chair of 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 scared site of a Nhà thờ họ, which people consider the gathering place of ancestors' soul.
An ancestral death anniversary
Death anniversary
A death anniversary is a custom observed in several Asian cultures including China, Pakistan, Israel, Georgia, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Russia and Vietnam, as well as in other nations with significant overseas Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Jewish, and Vietnamese populations...
will be hold yearly at nhà thờ họ, this anniversary is usually used as a occasion to renew the relationship between clan members.
Further reading
- Hy V. Luong (2003), Postwar Vietnam: dynamics of a transforming society, ISBN 0847698653, Rowman & Littlefield.
- Shaun Kingsley Malarney (2002) Culture, ritual and revolution in Vietnam, ISBN 0824826604, University of Hawaii Press.