Cultural integration through the worship of the Hùng Kings: the case of the Tày at Pịt Temple in Vietnam

Abstract

Abstract

Purpose Based on a field survey and interviews with several Tày people in Bảo Yên, Lào Cai in 2020, together with relevant literature, this article aims to examine how the Tày community at Pịt Temple has adopted and reinterpreted the worship of the Hùng Kings. By doing so, it seeks to elucidate the dynamics of acculturation between ethnic minorities and the majority Việt, as well as to assess the cultural implications of the Vietnamese government's policies on cultural management and development in ethnic minority areas. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a qualitative research design grounded in ethnographic fieldwork. Data were collected through field surveys and semi-structured interviews with members of the Tày community at Pịt Temple in Bảo Yên, Lào Cai, conducted in 2020. In addition, relevant academic literature and policy documents were analyzed to contextualize local religious practices. The study adopts an interpretive approach to examine processes of cultural acculturation between ethnic minorities and the majority Việt within the framework of state cultural management and development policies. Findings The study finds that the worship of the Hùng Kings at Pịt Temple reflects a synchronization of cultural beliefs between the Tày and the majority Việt. This convergence results from both the Tày community's adaptive practices and the Vietnamese government's cultural development guidelines and strategies. The findings highlight how local religious practices serve as a site of cultural negotiation, illustrating the complex interactions between ethnic minorities and state policies in shaping cultural identity and continuity within minority regions. Originality/value This study provides an original ethnographic examination of the worship of the Hùng Kings among the Tày, an ethnic minority that has received little scholarly attention in studies of national cults in Vietnam. By analyzing how a state-endorsed religious practice is locally reinterpreted and integrated into Tày cultural life, the article advances discussions on cultural acculturation and lived religion, while offering insights into the cultural effects of state cultural management and development policies in contemporary Vietnam.