The “Chu Dong Tree” in Muong Mythology, and the Totem tree in the beliefs of a number of ethnic groups in Vietnam

Abstract

The article begins by speaking of the “Chu Dong tree” in the epic “The Birth of the Land and the Country” of the Muong ethnic. This is a huge popular literary work, a rich source of documents on the Muong ethnic which has been exploited, studied, but many problems still remain unclear. The Chu Dong Tree leads us to the study of the totem tree in the beliefs of a number of ethnics in Vietnam in topics like the belief on the origin of the ethnic kinship, the belief on the origin of humanity from a tree, the faith in prosperity, permanence of the ethnic, the strong living strength of the family, the lineage like the totem tree. The totem tree foretells good events and brings happiness to human beings. It expresses the belief that the tree has its soul, and the soul lives in the tree; that ghosts and devils also take up their abodes in trees. Therefore there exist customs of looking after the totem, of wearing oneself like the totem, of eating like the totem and as well as sacrifices making use of human beings and tabons in relation to the totem tree in construction. Full text in Vietnamese Religious Studies 2005/4 pp.37-44