Spirits Offering Protection: The Cult of General Đoàn Thượng in Vietnam in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The article discusses the changes that have occurred in the ceremonies of the spirits cult in village communities of Vietnam during the COVID‑19 pandemic and offers a case study of General Đoàn Thượng’s (1181–1228) cult. I compare two ceremonies: commemoration of the General’s spirit in the temple in his native village in Hải Dương province on May 1, 2018 (my own fieldwork) and a closed ceremony in the same temple which were broadcasted on the Internet on April 8, 2020. The feast in honor of a rural spirit, previously the most popular village event, was reduced to a ceremony with offerings and prayers in front of the altar which was performed by the representatives of Đoàn clan. On the one hand, this version of the ceremony weakens the integration of the village community and eliminates such an important religious practice as pilgrimage. On the other hand, restrictive measures brought the ceremony closer to its traditional form: ordinary community members, women, tourists were excluded from participation in the rituals, while the Đoàn clan’s members directly communicated with the spirits, the way it is prescribed by tradition.