For the Vietnamese, the snake present in the folk culture treasure is created in a diverse and vivid way with different variations, from the naming system - similar to the general way of calling according to the survival characteristics and shape of the snake such as cobra, tiger pearl, rat snake, green snake, rattlesnake..., and also the names with local customs or dialects such as chan tinh, giao long, thuong luong, mang xa, ong giai, even con rong... to the ways of worshiping and venerating through the forms of religious practice in sacred spaces in different localities. These are also the data elements that provide the basis to become images that create inspiration for the creation of linguistic art (fairy tales, folk songs, proverbs, idioms) and folk visual arts through generations.
Snake god temple in Cam Luong commune, Cam Thuy, Thanh Hoa.
1. The image of the snake in the creation of folk language art
For Vietnamese people, perhaps the presence of the snake in the human subconscious is expressed and conveyed earliest through the variation of Giao Long in the legend of Lac Long Quan and Au Co, the story recreating the origin of the Vietnamese ancestors and the legend of Saint Giong killing Giao Long to save his mother during the Hung Kings' time, showing the filial piety of a son who always serves the people and the country. Entering the world of fairy tales, the snake is also present through many variations in the roles of python spirit or ogre spirit.
Vietnamese people through generations still pass down the famous fairy tale of Thach Sanh, in which the haunting image of the dragon spirit that has been trained for many years to harm people, forcing villagers to sacrifice a human life for it every year, but was eventually destroyed by the gentle and brave warrior Thach Sanh. In the collection of Vietnamese fairy tales (Nguyen Dong Chi), more than a dozen stories have been collected that mention the image of the snake with different variations such as giao long, thuong luong, dragon spirit, python, snake spirit, in which there are stories about the good nature of snakes, helping villagers, being praised and worshiped by the people, and there are also stories that directly consider snakes as evil, specializing in harming innocent people, being shunned and hated by the people.
Besides the presence of the snake with different roles and variations of names in the treasure trove of legends and fairy tales, we can also clearly recognize the image of the snake received and reflected through the treasure trove of proverbs, idioms, folk songs, and nursery rhymes of the Vietnamese people.
Behind every proverb, idiom or folk song, there is the multi-faceted image of the snake in the actions or corners of people's lives from different contexts, from metaphorical expressions or direct expressions revealing different emotions and attitudes. That is why, even at the time of contemporary society, people still recite and apply familiar proverbs and idioms, instead of their own explanations or thoughts about people, life and the world.
That is the familiarity of a series of proverbs and idioms: A hypocrite, says he loves people, but has an evil heart, harming others; A tiger's mouth and a poisonous snake's mouth (Referring to a dangerous and poisonous place, where anyone who goes there will be dismembered, their bones and flesh crushed, and they will not be able to return alive); Adding legs to a snake (Referring to unnecessary, redundant, counterproductive actions); A tiger lets a snake bite (If you don't encounter this disaster, you will encounter another)...
And in the world of folk songs, nursery rhymes, and folk songs, the snake is always cited or borrowed as an image to illustrate people's thoughts, feelings, and attitudes in relation to the ecological cultural environment, the humanistic cultural environment, and the socio-cultural environment. It can be the cheerful, innocent singing of workers during their break in the fields: "When will March come, when the frog will bite the snake's neck and carry it out to the fields"; "The dragon and snake will rise to the clouds, where there will be a núc nác tree, and a glorious house!".
It is also possible that the image of a snake is borrowed to express attitudes towards social relationships, awareness of the division between rich and poor, thereby sending a subtle but profound reminder and warning meaning: "Difficulties in the inn and the tent; Uncle and aunt do not ask why; Wealth is far away in Laos; Tigers carry snakes to bite, find them quickly".
But many times the image of the snake is borrowed to kindle sentimental, angry and resentful songs, gentle but also profound and cultured right in the context of meeting in the village festival: "The cobra lies on the rehmannia tree; The heavenly horse eats grass pointing to the sky; Blame the deceitful and crazy lover; Push me down to the underworld and abandon me!".
Or in the sincere confession, simple but warm because of the faithful love: "We are like a snake; Let the water flow, let the water flow, we support each other!...".
And so, in the world of folk language art, through the system of legends, fairy tales, folk songs, proverbs, idioms... it is easy to recognize the image - the image of the snake with many different variations, associated with evil, cunning, deceit (poisonous venom kills people, lives in the dark), difficult to be friendly with; but there are also times when the snake is considered a friend to help when facing material or emotional difficulties, especially for those at the bottom of society.
Also because of the characteristics that make it difficult for humans to be friendly with snakes, through experiences in life, the human subconscious tends to fear snakes, seek friendship with snakes, pray that snakes do not harm humans and go to the point of deifying snakes, bringing snakes into sacred spaces in temples, considering snakes as a supporting deity in the spiritual and cultural life of the community through generations.
Image of python on the Nine Urns of the Nguyen Dynasty. Photo courtesy
2. Snake images in religious practices
Since the dawn of mankind, snake worship has been born and persisted in many ancient civilizations. Also according to that humanistic belief, snake worship has been a primitive belief of the Vietnamese people with the meaning of worshiping the Ancestors and the Water God. As residents with agricultural origins of the wet rice civilization, their livelihood is on the terrain of a delta with many rivers connecting the countryside together. That is also a favorable environment for snakes to thrive and interact with human life.
Possessing both good attributes (contributing to cuisine, soaking in medicine to cure diseases) and bad attributes (poison killing people and animals), snakes have been symbolized and deified, becoming a supernatural mystical force, capable of helping humans preserve their species, bringing favorable weather, helping crops grow well, but at times becoming a force that destroys crops, causes floods, and brings death to humans. Therefore, humans both hunt snakes to serve as cuisine, make medicine to cure diseases, and predict good news; and fear and worship snakes as gods, bringing them to the temple to worship, burning incense all year round with the wish to pray for goodness, peace, and a peaceful life, and to flourish through generations.
Therefore, a series of snake temples with the position and responsibility of worshiping the water god have appeared along the Red River, Cau River, Duong River, Thai Binh River and almost all the big and small rivers of the Northern Delta, especially the rivers that have the ability to rise in water causing floods and breaking dikes every year. Then they go up the rivers and tributaries of the midlands and mountainous areas in the northwest and down to the South Central and Southern regions in the process of building and opening the country and practicing religion and beliefs in the localities of the ethnic groups in the multi-ethnic national community.
In the sacred spaces of temples, shrines, palaces, and palaces, whether they worship historical or supernatural figures, directly worship the snake god or other legendary gods, there is always the presence of the silhouettes of "snake men" figuratively guarding certain solemn positions outside the front hall or in mysterious harems.
Or if not present through the way of shaping in the sacred space of the temples, the snake is rumored to be associated with the pregnancy and childbirth of mothers who gave birth to children in special, strange and unusual circumstances and contexts, becoming a sign foretelling the appearance of heroic and divine figures with great achievements contributing to the nation's feat of building or defending the country (the legend of the temples of Truong Hong and Truong Hat along the Cau River, Thuong River, and Duong River; the legend of Linh Lang Temple under the Ly Dynasty; the legend of the Phung family temple on the Luc Dau River; the legend of Linh Lang - Long Vuong Temple in Ha Tinh,...).
And so, the snake entered the folk subconscious as the lord of sexual desire and reproduction, becoming a powerful god, with different variations of names, from Giao Long to Thuong Luong or Mr. Giai, always associated with the origin of the mother motifs covered, imprinted in special circumstances to give birth to talented people for the homeland and country.
On the background of the presence of the snake's silhouette or image in sacred spaces in the countryside, people have worshiped and honored the snake to become a tutelary god residing in shrines with functions and authority for an entire village or inter-village. From then on, the snake's image has been embellished in appearance, becoming a crested snake god, with extraordinary strength and authority over the community, assisting from villagers to assisting kings to defeat enemies, overcome difficulties, and being granted by the king the noble positions of Upper-class gods or Middle-class gods popular in tens of thousands of Vietnamese villages.
Also from the concepts of worldview and philosophy of life in which there is the presence of the image - the image of the snake god of the Vietnamese community, the process of practicing the Goddess worship and then the Mother worship (most prominent is the Mother worship of Tam/Tu Phu) of the Vietnamese people has also been associated with the presence of the snake image in the temples, shrines, and shrines in thousands of Vietnamese villages.
In almost all sacred spaces worshiping Mother Goddesses, it could be Holy Mother Lieu Hanh or other Mother Goddesses, shrines worshiping Kings, ladies, children, mandarins,... one can always see the presence of a pair of snakes entwined on the crossbar of the shrine (sometimes it is a pair of green snakes, sometimes it is a pair of white or yellow snakes), their two heads facing the owner of the shrine as if worshiping and also ready to release huge mystical energies that are powerful enough to protect and bless the disciples.
The presence of the snake image has contributed to sanctifying the role of the shrine owner, the Holy Mothers, on the shrine, bringing the Holy Mothers to a position of supreme power, winning the trust of the followers and all living beings in general - the elements that gather in the sacred space before the altar of the Holy Mothers with the purpose of praying for wealth, fortune, peace, avoiding all disasters and illnesses, and praying for a source of energy to be creative and successful in life, both now and in the long term.
REFERENCES
1. Nguyen Dong Chi (1976), Treasury of Vietnamese folk tales, Social Sciences Publishing House.
2. Tran Lam Bien - Trinh Sinh (2011), The world of symbols in the cultural heritage of Thang Long - Hanoi; Hanoi Publishing House.
3. Jean chevalier & Alain gheerbrant (1997), Dictionary of world cultural symbols, Da Nang Publishing House, Nguyen Du Writing School.
4. Dang Van Lung (1991), The Three Holy Mothers, VHDT Publishing House.
5. Nguyen Ngoc Mai (2013), Historical and valuable spirit possession rituals, Culture Publishing House.
6. Ngo Duc Thinh (cb 2002), Mother Goddess Religion in Vietnam, Culture and Information Publishing House.
7. Legends of Hanoi Gods (1994) Culture and Information Publishing House.
8. Prof. Dr. Cao Ngoc Lan, Postgraduate Student Cao Vu Minh (2013), Studying the spiritual culture of Vietnamese people; Labor Publishing House.
Prof. Dr. Bui Quang Thanh
Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies
Source: https://baophutho.vn/hinh-tuong-con-ran-trong-van-hoa-viet-227051.htm
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