THE BELIEF IN THE PAPERMAKING ANCESTORS OF THE VIỆT PEOPLE IN CONTEMPORARY LIFE

Abstract

In the past, Hà Nội and Bắc Ninh had many poonahpaper-making craft villages. However, at present, there is only Đống Cao village (located in Bắc Ninh) which still produces poonah paper following the traditional handicraft method. Although the craft villages in Hà Nội no longer produce poonah paper, the \ worship of papermaking ancestors is still practiced by the communities every year at the communal houses in these villages. This belief expresses gratitude to the craft ancestors, manifested through various forms of ritual practices, of which the most important practice is the ceremony of the death anniversary of the craft ancestors. This ceremony exhibits traditional cultural values and aims to honor craft villages so that it should be preserved and passed down by craft villagers. This article utilized the perspective of religious anthropology to analyze the role and significance of ancestor worship in poonah-papermaking villages and to explain the phenomenon of why the annual ceremony of the death anniversary of the craft ancestors is still preserved by communities even when the production of poonah paper no longer exists there. This is a quite special phenomenon of ancestor worship of the Việt people in poonah-papermaking villages in Hà Nội and Bắc Ninh at contemporary time.