Worshipping the Founder of the Ferngrass Weaving Profession in Phu Tuc Commune, Phu Xuyen District, Hanoi

Abstract

Luu Thuong villagers’ worship of the founder of the fern-grass weaving profession in Hanoi’s Phu Tuc commune expresses gratitude to the craft’s founder via many different forms of ritual practice. Among these, the ceremony of worshipping the founder’s death anniversary is considered the most important. It asserts and honours the traditional cultural values of the craft village so that it has been handed down and preserved by the people. This article analyses the role and meaning of this worship to the people working in the profession. It also explains the phenomenon of raising a female founder to a position equal to that of a village God and worshipping her in the forbidden palace of Luu Thuong village’s communal house - a rather unusual phenomenon in today’s belief system of traditional craft villages in Vietnam.