Journal of Anthropology and Religious Studies

Một số vấn đề về thành phần dân tộc và xác định thành phần dân tộc ở nước ta hiện nay

Nguyễn Văn Minh — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

Ethnic classification in our country has been officially conducted since the late 1960s, chaired by the Institute of Anthropology under the Social Sciences Committee (now the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences). On December 22, 1978, the Vietnam Social Sciences Committee and the Central Ethnic Committee submitted a report to the Prime Minister on the results of ethnic classification. Authorized by the Government Council, on March 2, 1979, the General Director of the General Statistics Office signed Decision No. 121-CCTK/PPCĐ, promulgating the "List of Vietnamese Ethnic Compositions" for unified use in the 1979 Population Census as well as in regular statistical work and related fields. The list of Vietnamese ethnic compositions is a significant contribution of the Vietnam Social Sciences Committee and the Central Ethnic Committee, specifically the Institute of Anthropology. However, due to certain subjective and objective factors, issues still arise regarding the ethnic names and the composition of some ethnic groups and local communities. Therefore, this article revisits and discusses aspects related to ethnic names, ethnic composition, and the work of ethnic classification in our country today.

Công nhân người dân tộc thiểu số, nhà trọ, và chủ trọ: Vấn đề nghiên cứu còn bỏ ngỏ

Vương Ngọc Thi — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

The relationship between ethnic minority workers and boarding house
landlords in industrial zones plays a crucial role in the lives of these migrant laborers
but remains understudied. Drawing on a literature review and field data collected in
Bac Ninh in 2024, this study sheds light on the dual nature of this relationship:
landlords both support workers by reducing rent and assisting during hardships, while
also exploiting them economically and imposing cultural norms. Although finding
boarding houses has become easier due to improved information networks, ethnic
minority workers continue to live in low-quality conditions, which hinders their ability
to accumulate social capital and integrate into urban areas. The article suggests
further research directions on this topic to provide a scientific basis for policy
solutions aimed at improving the lives of migrant workers and promoting sustainable
urbanization.

Phật giáo và cuộc hồi hương tâm linh cuối đời của người Úc gốc Việt

Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

This study focuses on the phenomenon of Vietnamese Australians
returning to Vietnam, particularly Ho Chi Minh City, to practice Buddhism after years
of living abroad. Over the past decade, a considerable number of individuals who
have acquired Australian citizenship and reached retirement age (55–60 years old)
have chosen to repatriate to their homeland in search of a spiritual life. While they do
not take full monastic vows, they primarily maintain the role of lay Buddhists, with a
profound attachment to Buddhist teachings reflected in their daily practices. The
research was conducted through qualitative interviews with these individuals, aiming
to explore their motivations, the spiritual values they pursue, and the ways they apply
Buddhist teachings to create meaning and peace in later life. The findings reveal that
Buddhism plays a vital role as a source of spiritual support, fostering connected
communities while offering a sense of fulfillment and serenity to returnees. This
phenomenon clearly reflects the transnational dynamics of religion within the
Vietnamese diaspora and contributes to enriching the contemporary landscape of
Buddhism in Vietnam and simultaneously opens new directions for further research on
lay Buddhist groups in the context of globalization.

Phật giáo và cuộc hồi hương tâm linh cuối đời của người Úc gốc Việt

Nguyễn Thị Thanh Mai — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

Mối quan hệ giữa niềm tin tôn giáo và hoạt động kinh tế của tín đồ Phật giáo Hòa Hảo

Dương Hoàng Lộc — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

Sự phục hồi tín ngưỡng thờ thần thời kỳ Đổi Mới: Nghiên cứu ba ngôi đền làng Kim Lũy, tỉnh Nghệ An

Chu Xuân Giao — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

Since the implementation of Đổi Mới (Renovation), there has been a
widespread phenomenon of restoring the worship of village deities in rural areas of
Vietnam. Beyond repairing and rebuilding dilapidated places of worship, many
communities have faced the complex challenge of recovering the identities and
historical narratives of their deities. During the prolonged periods of war (1945-1980s),
the prohibition of ritual practices, the destruction of temples and shrines, the loss of
sacred objects, and the erosion of collective memory resulted in numerous villages
losing accurate information about their worshipped figures. Kim Lũy village, the focus
of this study, experienced the gradual dismantling of its ritual structures after 1945.
Crucially, its hagiographic texts (thần tích) were lost, and no archival copies could be
found. Consequently, despite preserving eighteen original royal decrees (sắc phong),
villagers were unable to determine the names or deeds of the specific deities they once
worshipped. By early 2020, after decades of dedicated searching and with the sustained
perseverance of three generations of local intellectuals, the identities of the deities
worshipped in the village’s three temples were finally clarified. This article elucidates
the unique historical and cultural characteristics of Kim Lũy village in Nghệ An
province and provides a detailed overview of its three temples and the successful revival
of their deity worship in the period of Đổi Mới.

Lễ hội truyền thống làng cổ Thổ Hà: Giá trị văn hóa và những vấn đề đặt ra trong bối cảnh đương đại

Hoàng Phương Mai — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

The article positions cultural values as the central analytical axis for
reconstructing the traditional festival of the ancient village of Tho Ha across key
dimensions: the value of preserving cultural space and collective memory, the value of
indigenous belief practices, and the value of folk artistic expressions. Accordingly, the
festival is interpreted as a “living heritage”, reflecting the adaptive capacity and
flexible resilience of community culture within contemporary society. In the context of
rapid socio-economic transformation and administrative boundary changes, the Tho
Ha festival is facing multiple challenges: the erosion of sacredness and distortions in
ritual practice; the commercialization and spatial transformation of the festival
environment; pressures related to the environment, infrastructure, and public order;
gaps within the management mechanism; and the potential loss of cultural identity.
Responding to these practical demands, the article proposes several solutions aimed at
safeguarding and promoting the festival’s values, ensuring harmony between tradition
and modernity, and contributing to the preservation of the cultural identity of Tho Ha
village in particular and the wider cultural landscape of the Kinh Bac region in
general.