Guardian God of overseas Vietnamese: the case of patriot Trần Đông Phong in Đông Du movement and his tomb was still in Japan.

Abstract

GUARDIAN GOD OF OVERSEAS VIETNAMESE: THE CASE OF PATRIOT TRẦN ĐÔNG PHONG IN ĐÔNG DU MOVEMENT AND HIS TOMB WAS STILL IN JAPAN
Guardian God and divine beliefs of the Vietnamese community residing overseas are still almost open topics in the field of Vietnamese religious studies and on Vietnam, but surely will be very attractive in the future. At the most general level, it can be said that the following famous guardian gods are worshiped in many different countries: Hùng Vương (the Country God), Hai Bà Trưng (the Human God), Trần Hưng Đạo (the Human God), Liễu Hạnh (the Natural God).
This article, through many years of ethnographic fieldwork and investigation in Japan, combined with in-depth research results on the Đông Du Movement in the early XXth century (1905-1909) and other its progress in contemporary will introduce the Guardian God Trần Đông Phong that is taking shape in the Vietnamese community in Japan today. This god was born as a patriot, came to Japan at the call of the leader of the Đông Du Movement, and then suicided in 1908 in Tokyo when the movement came to a dissolution. Over a century, Trần Đông Phong’s tomb is still located in a people’s cemetery in Tokyo, known and visited by many Vietnameses and Japanese all year. There are many Vietnamese people who come to ask for his blessings, and when they have achieved their wish, they will come back there to give him thanks.
In recent years, when Tết holiday and spring come, the Trần Đông Phong’s tomb often has flowers and offerings having the homeland flavor. The patriot of the Đông Du movement in the early XXth century is becoming a guardian god in the life of the Vietnamese community in Japan in the early XXIth century.