Tóm tắt Luận án Các đàn miếu đại tự triều Nguyễn ở Huế (1802-1945): Sự hình thành và nghi thức tế tự

itual music and dance, ritual costumes, ritual texts, ritual procedures to analyze and evaluate their characteristics, their meaning as well as their role in the cultural and spiritual life of this dynasty from 1802 - 1945. The dissertation also refers to the similar constructions and ceremonies in other co-culture orginated countries in the region in order to identify the specificities of the Nguyen viewed from the ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies. In addition, the dissertation continues to examine the building preservation and ceremony practice after the end of Nguyen dynasty in 1945. It also takes into careful consideration of changes in the ritual procedures, cultural practices and psychological influence from the participation in ritual ceremony. These help understand the significance, nature of the newly-revived ceremonies in the present period for the proposed trend of preservation and reconstruction of great national ceremonies in the new context based on the respect of history and specificities of local culture. 4. Material sources and research methods 4.1. Material sources The decisive source of materials useful for the dissertation is the historical documents of the Nguyen dynasty and other research works on culture, history, geography, etc. Additionally, there are also many thesis or dissertations, magazines, papers on religion and ritual ceremonies of Vietnamese and international authors together with the field survey’s data. Firstly, they are historical documents of the National Historiographer's Office of Nguyen dynasty and the Nguyen dynasty's cabinet recorded political matters, politics and codification 4 chronologically. Among them are Đại Nam thực lục (Records of the most important historical events during the Nguyen dynasty), Khâm định Đại Nam hội điển sự lệ (Repertory of the Administrative regulations in the Kingdom of Dai Nam), Khâm định Đại Nam hội điển sự lệ tục biên (The Continuation of Repertory of the Administrative regulations in the Kingdom of Dai Nam), Đại Nam thực lục chính biên đệ lục kỷ phụ biên (The extra 6 th volume of the rrecord of the most important historical events during the Nguyen dynasty), Đại Nam thực lục Chính biên đệ thất kỷ (The 7th volume of the rrecord continuation of the most important historical events during the Nguyen dynasty), Đồng Khánh Khải Định chính yếu (Basic Policies under the reigns of Dong Khanh and Khai Dinh emperors) or Đại Nam nhất thống chí (The Gazetteer of the Unified Dai Nam ), other royal edicts of the Nguyen relating to the dissertation’s content or the topic. In addition, there are also some researches on the great national ceremonies of the Nguyen before and after the end of the dynasty, such as papers in the Bulletin des Amis du Vieux Hué (BAVH) or writing on the Nam Giao ceremony by Hong Hoai Le Van Hoang who witnessed the ceremony (1972), or the thesis on the Legend of Nam Giao esplanade and Giao sacrificial ceremonies in Hue by Le Van Phuoc (1973). There are also books on ideology, customs, music, ritual procedure, the Chinese influence, etc. relating to the dissertation’s theme. Among them are Những đại lễ và vũ khúc của vua chúa Việt Nam (Great ceremonies and dances of Vietnamese lords and emperors) by Đỗ Bằng Đoàn and Đỗ Trọng Huề (first edition in 1968), Việt Nam phong tục (Vietnamese customs) by Phan Kế Bính (first edition in 1915, reprinted in 2005), Nho giáo (Confucism) by Trần Trọng Kim (first edition in 1929-1933, reprinted in 1992), Lịch sử tư tưởng phương Đông và Việt Nam (Ideological History of Eastern countries and of Vietnam) by Nguyễn Minh Tường (2012). In addition, many relating papers from different magazines such as Văn hóa Nghệ thuật (Culture and Arts), Nghiên cứu Lịch sử (Historical Studies), Nghiên cứu Huế (Research on Hue), Huế Xưa & Nay (Hue Then & Now), Nghiên cứu và Phát triển (Research and 5 Development) together with papers from seminars or conferences on the Nguyen dynasty are also useful for this dissertation. More importantly, some research’s results, thesises or doctoral dissertations of foreign researchers such as Li Tana, Yu Insun, etc. are also referred in the dissertation. Especially, some papers with deep analysis on the region and ritual in the courts of Vietnam, as “Religion and Ritual in the Royal Courts of Đại Việt” by John K. Whitmore (Asia Research Institute Working Paper Series No. 128) or descriptions of foreign witnesses who had chance to involve or witnessed the ritual activities of the Nguyen dynasty. They provide various views and assessments towards the Vietnamese monarchical gorvenments from different angles relating to the dissertation’s theme. Information collected from the field surveys at ritual constructions (Nam Giao esplanade, Xa Tac esplanade and ancestral royal temples) in Vietnam and other countries, from the archaeological surveys, museum collections and interviews also bring the confidential base for the dissertation. Apart from the above documents, information from internet are also accessed, carefully considered and checked before using in the dissertation. 4.2 Research method The historical approach is taken as the main method in this dissertation of social sciences. It is combined with the logical method to systemize the information of the establishment, development, degradation and restoration of ritual construction in Hue and related ceremonies under the Nguyen. Simultaneously, it also helps clarify the continuity from the previous dynasties in Vietnamese history and assess the influence of Confucius ideology in the building up and strengthening the power of the Nguyen dynasty through the formation of ritual constructions and related ceremonies in Hue as well as their role in the existence and development of this dynasty. Other interdisciplinary methods, documentation, archaeological survey, statistics and classification, comparison together with mapping, making tables, drawings, taking photos, etc. are also applied in the process of analyse and assessment. These methods are also combined with the synchronical and diachronic methods in order to understand the specific features of 6 the ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies under the Nguyen in Hue. The comparison between the ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies under the Nguyen in Hue and the similar types of constructions and ceremonies in China and Korea can help identify the specificities and the national self-respect spirit of the Nguyen in the selective integration of culture with clear intention. It can be seen as the purposefulness in the establishment of ritual constructions for the great national worship in Hue. The systematic - structural method combined with the disciplinary research including the ethnographic field survey, interview, observation and participated observation in cultural anthropology allow the dissertation author understand the impact of socio-political context on the establishment of ritual constructions and ceremonies. Furthermore, the research results also help understand the role of ritual constructions and the revived ceremonies at present toward the community in the adaptation to the present cultural, political and social context. The author has tried to rely as much as possible on the original materials and the documents translated with high quality. Any extraction must be attached to its source. 5. Contributions of dissertation 5.1 Practically, the dissertation contributes a comprehensive evaluation on the topic through the systematization of data collected from the documentation and field research. This helps the study on tangible and intangible cultural heritage properties relating to the ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies. The correct and deep understanding on these heritages can help outlining the proper orientation and solutions for the preservation and development of the heritage’s values that were recognized as the special national cultural heritages and the World Cultural Heritage properties. 5.2 Theoretically, the dissertation applies a new perspective on the ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies under the Nguyen in Hue. It is based on the results of previous researches, prevented from their weakness and combined with the analyzation and data synthetization for the new conceptualization. 7 Even thought the topic and research subject have been studied since the beginning of the XXth century, the dissertation bases on the interdisciplinary approaches combined with the convincing arguments and analyses to give the new perspective in which the ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies under the Nguyen in Hue are seen as forms of the imperial orthodox power. In the other word, the ceremonies of great national worship (Dai tu) is the ceremony of power. Every matter of the constructional design, building and decoration of the historic constructions (esplanades and temples) as well as the ritual procedure, offerings, music and dance, etc. of the related ceremonies of “Dai tu” were all for expressing the imperial power together the holy power of the cult in a mysterious spiritual meaning given through the process the ritual cermony. 5.3 Additionally, data from historical documents are checked with data from the field survey in order to identify what is the identity of the Nguyen reflecting their spirit and initiatives in applying the Confucius ideology in the real condition of Vietnam as well as in inheriting from the previous dynasties. That is the spirit of the national superiority built by Nguyen emperors, especially first emperors of the dynasty. This spirit was reflected through the design and construction of ritual esplanades and temples that were more or less different from those of China and Korea. It was also proved by the strongly-codified ritual procedures. In particular, the field data shows that among ritual ceremonies of “Dai tu” (great national worship) of the Nguyen, only the ancestral worship ceremony of Nguyen Phuc royal clan has been being conducted in their families and in royal ancestral temples in the Imperial City till now. This ceremony, nowaday mainly the deathday anniversary ceremony, is the continuity of the ancestral cult tradition that deeply bears the identity of royal culture and identity. With many unpreventable changes, this sort of ceremony still remains as an adaptation with its intact cultural and spiritual values under the impact of globalization and modernization in the present context. 6. Structure of the dissertation Apart from the Opening (10 pp), Conclusion (4 pp), List of the author’s publications (2 pp), Bibliography (14 pp), Glossary (5 pp), Appendices (70 pp), main content of the dissertation includes 4 chapters: 8 Chapter 1: Overview of research situation (17 pp) Chapter 2: The establishment of ritual constructions of great national worship in Hue (40 pp) Chapter 3: The related ceremonies of great national worship in Hue (32 pp) Chapter 4: Ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies in Hue: specificities and the matter of preservation, promotion of their values (31 pp) Chapter 1 OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH SITUATION 1.1 Research situation 1.1.1Research works before 1975 Firstly, some research works related directly to the subject were carried out and published before the end of Nguyen dynasty. Among them are the collection of Bulletin des Amis du Vieux Hué (BAVH) carried out by the Association des Amis du Vieux Hué with many papers by L. Cadière [147]; [148]; [149]; Nguyễn Đình Hoè [151], R. Orband [153]; [154]; [155]; [156], H. De Pirey [157], A. Sallet [158]...They provide valuable information on the research subject, in which many papers describe Nam Giao esplanade and the sacrificial ceremony or Xa Tac esplanade under the Nguyen together with drawings or photos. These documents are seen as the basic information for the revival of Giao ritual ceremony at present. Thought other researches conducted before 1975 only provide description as memoirs, they are valuable references because their authors were intellectuals, witnesses or people who have had chances to access and examine many contents relating to the subject. For instance, the book on Great cereminies and dances of Vietnamese emperors by Do Bang Doan and Do Trong Hue (first edition in 1968) is the remarkable reference on many details of ritual procedures or music with illustrative of the most important ceremonies under the Vietnamese monarchical dynasties. However, there is only one sentence on the establishment of Xa Tac under the Tran dynasty without any further information of the ceremony during this time as well as under other dynasties including the Nguyen dynasty. There is also no information of the location or architectural characteristics of the ancestral temples in monarchical time except for very few details of the ceremonies. For the ancestral 9 worship ceremony under the Nguyen, more information of the offerings, ritual process and procedures together the content of ritual music for The To temple ceremony are provided. According to this book, it is said that the deathday anniversary at The To temple also had music and dance meanwhile it was only for the seasonal ceremonies as regularized under the Nguyen. Besides, information of ceremonies organized after the end of the Nguyen dynasty is also very important to understand the role of riutal constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies toward the spiritual life of Hue region, especially when the monarchical dynasty collapsed. Publications on these activities include Nam Giao ceremony by Hong Hoai Le Van Hoang (1972) or the Legend of Nam Giao esplanade and Giao ceremonies in Hue by Le Van Phuoc (1973) giving detailed information of architecture and the ritual ceremony but not explanation of social impact of other ceremonies discussed in the dissertation. Additionally, there are some papers in the magazine Su Dia (History and Geography, Sai Gon), Dai hoc (University, Hue), Nam Phong (Southern Wind, Sai Gon) but they only provide few information of Nam Giao esplanade and related ceremony. Remarkably, they provide information about Trai Cung in 1942 and some other relics, such as: architectural remains, stone plaques for the pine trees, etc. 1.1.2 Researches after 1975 till now Based on the basic change in the point-of-view and evaluation on the Nguyen dynasty after the renovation (doi moi) in 1986, it can be devided into two periods after 1975 till now. a. Period from 1975-1986 In this period, there was no clear forbiddance of the worship activity but from the point of seeing the Nguyen dynasty as something “deteriorate” and “reactionary”, together with the policy of the superstition suppression, many forms of ritual practices were stagnated from 1975-1985. In this circumstance, the study on the Nguyen dynasty as well as on the ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies achieved no new results. b. Period from 1986 till now * Researches on the Nguyen dynasty and its heritage of ritual constructions in Hue 10 In 1994, the Ministry of Technology and Environment selected the topic Study on the economy and structural organization of the Nguyen government: matters to raise in the renovation context of the country at present to be the national independent research (code KX- ĐL: 94-16) leaded by As. Prof. Dr. Do Bang. It marked the official involvement of the government in the more objective and comprehensive study on the Nguyen dynasty. Sharing the same concern on the Nguyen dynasty in this period, there were some more researchers with their works in different scopes. They were Tín ngưỡng dân gian Huế (The folk ritual beliefs in Hue) by Trần Đại Vinh (1995), Kinh thành Huế (Hue citadel) by Phan Thuận An (1999), Phú Xuân-Huế từ đô thị cổ đến hiện đại (Phu Xuan-Hue, from the ancient town to the modern city) including many papers collected by the Municipal People’s Committee in Hue (1999), Những vấn đề lịch sử về triều đại cuối cùng ở Việt Nam (The historical matters of the last monarchical dynasty in Viet Nam) by many authors, published by Hue monuments Conservation Centre together with Hue Then and Now (2002), Collection of papers studying on the Nguyen dynasty published by the provincial department of Sciences, Technology and Environment in Thua Thien Hue province in cooperation with Hue Monuments Conservation Centre (2002). However, most of the aboved-mention materials did not much refered to the dissertation’s subject. The book Nguyen imprint in Phu Xuan culture by Phan Thanh Hai (2002) is a remarkable publication. This is a collection of many research papers on the Nguyen dynasty and Hue culture, in which some papers relate directly to the dissertation subject with valuable information. Based on the on-site survey results in China, the author is the first one giving comparative comments on the Heaven temple of Ming-Ching dynasties in Beijing and that of the Nguyen dynasty in Hue. He described Nam Giao esplanade in Hue with 3 stages symbolizing the Heaven, the Earth and Humanity and supposed that this style of architecture “presented the relation of both relative isolation and extreme unified linkage”. In his comments, the sacrificial ceremony for the Heaven was organized separately in China in which the spirit of Heaven, the Earth and other natural spirits alway play the supreme important role: 11 “In China, the ruling class always try to extend the gap between the spirits and human beings” Relating to the architecture planning and the relationship between manmade buildings and the feng-shui natural elements, the book “Hue citadel” by Phan Thuan An provided fullest information on the establishment of Hue citadel. The author comments: “The fact that putting the citadel in between the natural geographical factors, we can see the planning and architectural building have been embedded certain profound significance of philosophy.” In the research on “Ideas in planning Hue citadel under the reign of Gia Long” published in Hue-the Nguyen dynasty: an Overview (2004), Tran Duc Anh Son achieved one more step when he concluded: “The planning and building of Hue citadel under the reign of Gia Long was a wonderful combination between various factors: history, principles of changes and feng-shui, and the scientific knowledge” Sharing the same concern on the planning characteristic of the Nguyen’s monuments in Hue, Phan Thanh Hai suggested: “In Hue capital city, apart from the main axis running from Northwest- Southeast, there is one more axis from North-South connecting from the Flag tower to Nam Giao esplanade. This axis itself and Perfume river create the close and harmonious linkage between the capital city and architectures outside, especially to the royal tombs at the West and Southwest.” The above perspectives are among basic foundations for the dissertation in considering the relationship between the ritual constructions of the great national worship and other constructions in Hue monument complex as a whole, as well as their philosophical significance in planning. The paper on “Planning the area of Xa Tac esplanade- current situation and solution” by Nguyen Viet Dung provides more details on the planning of Xa Tac esplanade area for the restoration and conservation after a long time in severe degradation. There are also some master theses and doctoral dissertations relating to some aspects of the research subject. The dissertation on Imperial workshops in Hue capital city from 1802 to 1884 by Nguyen Van Dang in 2002 provides many useful information on the 12 organizations making and providing facilities to the court. The doctoral dissertation on The role of the Construction Ministry in building the Hue capital city under the Nguyen (in the period 1802- 1884) by Phan Tien Dung in 2005 giving information on the building of ritual constructions with the statistic of number and types of different bricks and tiles for royal architectures under the Nguyen. Moreover, many research results have also been introduced at a number of seminars or conferences on the Nguyen dynasty, published in the proceedings. They are proceedings of conference on Cultural and social issues under the Nguyen (organized by the Institue of Social Sciences in Ho Chi Minh city and the Museum of Vietnamese History in Ho Chi Minh city, first time in 1992 and second time in 1995); the national conference on Doing research and teaching the history of the Nguyen time in univeristy, colleges and high schools organized by the University of Pedagogy in Ha Noi and the Ministry of Education and Training in 2002; the workshop on Assessing the urban architectural fund of Hue organized by the Hue City People’s Committee in 2003; the conference on Nguyen Lords and the imperial court of the Nguyen in the history of Vietnam from XVIth to XIXth century organized by the Thanh Hoa provincial People’s Committee and the Vietnamese Association of Historians in 2008; the conference on Thuan Hoa- Phu Xuan- Thua Thien Hue: 700 years of establishment and development organized by the Thua Thien Hue provincial Association of Historians in 2010; internation conferences on Vietnam Studies the 1st (1998), the 2nd (2004), the 3rd (2008), the 4th (2012); the conference on Hue culture: historical features and the matter of preservation and development organized by the Thua Thien Hue provincial Association of Historians in 2014; the conference on Preservation and development of the literal system’s values on the royal architectures in Hue organized by the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre in 2015 together with many national and international workshops on other related aspects. Most of conferences and workshops focused rather on broad topics than the detail or case study such as the dissertation subject. In particular, the conference on Preservation and development of the literal system’s values on the royal architectures in Hue organized by the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre have 13 introduced many valuable results on the uniqueness of the literal system on the royal architectures in Hue. These are also authentic and original evidences expressing the ruling concepts of the Nguyen emperors based on the Confucism, their national self-respect and the distinguished natural settings of the Hue capital city. In the studies conducted by foreign researchers about Vietnam, especially the Nguyen dynasty, Hoang Lan Tuong was the first author made the comparison between the planning of ancestral temples under the Nguyen and that of the Ming-Ching dynastires in China in his paper “Brief survey on the Hue urban planning, national capital of Vietnam in XIXth century” in 2003. From the comparison on locations of architectures of the same function in Hue capital and Beijing capital, he commented: “The imperial city in Hue of Vietnam had the specific arrangment that presented the respect of ancestors”. This is among rare comments made by foreign researchers refering directly to the specific planning of the Nguyen’s ancetral temples in Hue. His comment is correct but not enough to explain the reason of this specificity as well as the general relation to the selective decision of the Nguyen dynasty in applying the Chinese Confucius ideology in building up the ritual constructions of great national worship in Hue. * Researches on the source of ideology and ritual ceremonies On this aspect, there are many researches with deep analyses of the political, economic and social life in Vietnam, especially the role of emperor in the Confucius view and the adaptation of the Chinese Confucism in the context of Vietnam under the Nguyen. Books on the Confucism and Chinese culture, there are Nho giáo (Confucism) by Trần Trọng Kim published in 1992, Kinh điển văn hóa 5000 năm Trung Hoa (Classic knowlege of 5000-year culture of China) by Dương Lực in 2002, Tìm hiểu tư tưởng chính trị Nho giáo Việt Nam từ Lê Thánh Tông đến Minh Mệnh (Understanding the Confucius political concept from Le Thanh Tong to Minh Menh) by Nguyễn Hoài Văn in 2002, Nho giáo Trung Quốc (Chinese Confucism) by Nguyễn Tôn Nhan in 2005. These works provide many basic information for the assessment, comparison and identification of the Nguyen’s specificities in the process of accepting and adapting the Chinese Confucism ideology 14 into the building of ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies in Hue. Among ritual ceremonies of great national worship, the ancestral worship ceremony orginated from the Vietnamese ancestral worship tradition. Some researchese such as The philosophical aspects in the ancestral worship belief of the Viet people in the Northern plain at present by Tran Dang Sinh (2002), Some Vietnamese traditional ceremonies of folk custom by Quang Tue (2002) or other papers on maganizes of Culture and Arts, Historical Research, Hue research, Hue Then & Now, Research and Development, etc. giving useful information on the related aspects of the subject but not the time when this tradition came into being. Some did not refer directly to the research subjects but facilitated further understanding on the meaning of ritual construction’s location viewed from the feng-shui principles or the socio-economic context of Vietnam when the monarchical dynasty lost their power and shifted to the colonial time. After 1986, the Nguyen dynasty have received more attention from the Vietnamese academic circle. A new period of doing research on the Nguyen dynasty in Vietname was started with various papers and researches at different levels, many of them provided detailed information relating to the research subject. From the aspect of socio-political impacts on culture, Tran Dai Vinh in The folk belief in Hue (1995) [134] mentioned the interruption of ritual worship ceremony in community in the period 1985. This information provides more information to understand the impact of different socio-political contexts on the research subject. Relating to the royal ceremony in Hue, other papers such as “Festivities in Hue under the Nguyen” by Le Van Thuyen in 2003, “Some information on festivities in the court of Hue” by Nguyen Van Dang in 2002, “Some ceremonies relating to the argriculture under the Nguyen dynasty” by Phuong Ha in 2012, “Royal festivities of the Nguyen-solutions for preservation and promotion to serve the spiritual demand of people and sustainable tourism development in the present context in Thua Thien Hue province” by Le Thi An Hoa in 2012, “Phung Tien-the temple of the Nguyen royal family” by Thuy Van-Tien Dang in 2012, “The ritual esplanades under the Nguyen in Hue: Xa Tac, Tien Nong, Son 15 Xuyen” by Phan Thuan An in 2013, etc. Most of these papers more or less related to the subject but no comprehensive assessment of the role and significance of the great national worship under the Nguyen in Hue. Recently, researchese on the Nguyen dynasty have been more abundant and deeper. In his research, Tran Duc Anh Son provided more information of changes at Nam Giao esplanade after 1975 and the restoration in 1994. For the royal ancestral temples of Nguyen emperors in Hue, he supposed that it was neccessary to change the location of 3 altars for 3 emperors Ham Nghi, Thanh Thai and Duy Tan as they must be in the hierarchical order of royal family. He also explained that emperors Duc Duc, Hiep Hoa, Ham Nghi, Thanh Thai and Duy Tan were “deposed” emperors or “exiled” emperors, therefore they were not worshipped in The To temple. For this point, the author has another explanation in the dissertation. On the topic “Hue royal festivities adn the matter of preservation and promotion of their values to serve people and develop tourism in Hue”, in the conference organized by the Thua Thien Hue provincial Association of the Folk Culture (June 26, 2011, Hue) Tran Duc Anh Son systematized information of royal festivities in Hue and proposed some solutions for tourism development based on the reconstruction and revival of some royal ceremonies, such as Giao sacrificial ceremony. However, he only discussed on the concepts of “ceremony” (le) and “festival” (hoi) and revival forms but not the ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies in the overview of architecture, ritual ceremonies and related cultural and social significances. Among very few research works relating directly to the royal culture of Hue, the book Hue ancient culture-The royal cultural life by Le Nguyen Luu in 2006 was one of them. It provided a comprehensive research in which the sub-title “Ritual constructions” was described with the establishement of Nam Giao, Xa Tac esplanades and royal ancestral temples of the Nguyen in Hue Imperial City.However, the sacrificial ceremony at Nam Giao was classified as “Ceremony of the court”, not classified as the great ceremony (Dai tu), medium ceremony (Trung tu) and popular ceremony (Quan tu). There was no description of ceremony at Xa Tac or royal ancestral temples. The paper on “The city of festival: 16 Nam Giao ceremony” by A.De Rotalier was put in the Appendices with the vivid description of a ceremony at Nam Giao esplanade in the late Nguyen dynasty. Nevertheless, it had no source of material and original language. This affects the credibility and authenticity of the paper. There are also some Master theses at the University of Sciences including The Nam Giao sacrificial ceremony in Hue under the Nguyen of Dang Duc Dieu Hanh in 2003, Some ritual ceremonies relating to argiculture underthe Nguyen in Hue capital city of Le Thi An Hoa in 2003 and The system of royal ancestral temples for Nguyen emperors and related ritual ceremonies in Hue (1802-1945) of Huynh Thi Anh Van in 2010. These theses refered the ritual constructions of great national worship under the Nguyen (Giao, ancestral temple/Mieu, and Xa Tac) and related ceremonies at different levels but they were all separated reseaches, not for the overall ritual constructions and related ceremonies under the Nguyen as well as their role, significance and social impacts in different contexts in history. For the materials published abroad about Vietnam or the relation among ceremony, politics and power, in Vietnam and the Chinese Model: A Comparative Study of Vietnamese and Chinese Government in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century (1971), Alexander Barton Woodside commented that in Vietnam, the centralizing mandate of the Chinese “Son of Heaven” was combined with the more parochial, less centralizing tradition of communal chieftainship, thus, “A successful Vietnamese emperor, as a supreme communal chief, could command genuine popular support in a way more august Chinese emperors could not” The dissertation also proves that under the Nguyen, the Chinese Confucism in establishing the ritual constructions was also the adaptation in the indigenous initiative that made the specificities of this dynasty and build up the identity of royal culture in Hue. The book Jongmyo Royal Ancestral Shrine-Jongmyo Royal Ancestral Rite by The Preservation Society of the Jongmyo Royal Ancestral Rite is another valuable materials from the aspect of making comparison between the case study of the Nguyen dynasty in Hue (Vietnam) and that of the Joseon dynasty in Seoul (Korea). These materials helped to contribute the comprehensive and objective 17 recommendations on the neo period time in Vietnam as well as in other culture-sharing countries in the region. Especially, the theoretical issues in the Ritual, Politics & Power by David I. Kertzer (1988) also helped confirm results of the research. Apart from the above materials, some other materials were also accessed from the internet. Due to their abundance and diversity, they were catergorized and carefully examined before being used. 1.2 The research results and remaining matters Firstly, they are the theoretical matters relating to the assessment based on information collected from various materials and interdisciplinary research of history, archaeology, culture, etc. in order to propose the objective perspective on the research subject. Secondly, the dissertation based on the previous researches, combined with the documentation and field surveys to synthesize, analyze and assess comprehensively three ritual national cerenonies (Giao, royal ancestral temples and Xa Tac) under the general socio- political context at the time and in correspondance with the similar forms in China or Korea, etc. Among ritual ceremonies of great national worship, the ceremony at Xa Tac esplanade was the earliest ceremony that came into being in 1048 under the Ly dynasty. The date of Xa Tac ceremony’s establishment reflects the important relation between the nation’s existence and the importance of argriculture. The first purpose was to “pray for the good harvest every four seasons”, not for the political target. However, there were not many information or deep researches on this subject, especially the Xa Tac esplanade and the related ceremony in history of Vietnam. There still remain several questions about its form and role toward the monarchical governments and argricultural inhabitants before the Nguyen dynasty. In the Confucius ideology “Everything originates from the Heaven, people come from their ancestors”, it was considered that “In the ancient time, the worshipping ceremony was very important. Especially, the Chinese worshipping ceremony was remarkable for its ancestral worshipping ceremony”. This relates to the argument that the ancestral worshipping ceremony originated from the Confucism. 18 On the other hand, it is also believed that the cult of ancestors has been the Vietnamese cultural tradition. But the questions are that when had it come into being? How were the ritutal procedures? Whether it had any archaeological evidence to prove that the Vietnamese cult of ancestors appeared before the introduction of Chinese Confucism into Vietnam (i.e not later then the end of 2nd century). Answers of these questions will help provide the critical foundation to explain why the ancestral worship ceremony under the Nguyen were paid special attention to. And this also helps to prove another specificity of the Nguyen dynasty in their self- affirmation when they made the selective acception of Chinese Confucism. Chapter 2 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RITUAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF GREAT NATIONAL WORSHIP UNDER THE NGUYEN IN HUE This chapter is arranged as follows: 2.1 Definitions and origins of ritual constructions of the great national worship and related ceremonies 2.2 Bases of the establishment of ritual constructions under the Nguyen in Hue 2.2.1 Ritual constructions of the great national worship of prior- Nguyen dynasties in Vietnam 2.2.2 The context of the ritual constructions’ establishment under the Nguyen in Hue 2.2.3 Ritual constructions of the great national worship under the Nguyen in Hue from their establishment to prior-1885. 2.2.4 Ritual constructions of the great national worship from 1885- 1945 Sub-conclusion of Chapter 2 Chapter 3 RITUAL CEREMONY OF GREAT NATIONAL WORSHIP UNDER THE NGUYEN IN HUE This chapter is arranged as follows: 3.1 Organizations participated in the preparation and implementation of ritual ceremony of great national worship 3.2 General matters on the ritual ceremonies of great national worship 19 3.3 Ritual ceremonies of great national worship under the Nguyen in Hue from 1802 to prior-1885 3.4 Ritual ceremonies of great national worship under the Nguyen in Hue from 1885-1945 Sub-conclusion of chapter 3 Chapter 4 RITUAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE GREAT NATIONAL WORSHIP AND RELATED CEREMONIES UNDER THE NGUYEN IN HUE: SPECIFICITIES AND THE MATTERS OF PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF THEIR VALUES This chapter is arranged as follows: 4.1 Specificities of ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies under the Nguyen in Hue 4.2 The preservation and promotion of ritual constructions and related ceremonies of the Nguyen in Hue Sub-conclusion of chapter 4 CONCLUSION 1.The history of establishment and development of ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies under the monarchical dynasties in Vietnam showed that they came into being from very early time and beared many Chinese philosophical influences.The Nguyen dynasty presented their own specific independence in the application of the Chinese codified model in architectural building and planning as well as in establishing the ceremonial system of great national worship based on the reasonable modification with full meaning and the appropriate adaptation to the economic, social and cultural tradition of Vietnam. It can been seen in planning the temples’s, selecting the location, making the decision on the ceremony number and ritual ceremonies. On the other hand, the royal ancestral temples of the Nguyen were built before the constructions of Nam Giao and Xa Tac esplanade. It can be seen that the Nguyen paid special attention to the ancestral worship, maintained and encouraged the filial piety in the royal family and the public. In particular, the specificity of the Nguyen was the national self-respect presented throught the establishment of ritual constructions of great national worship. The emperor acted himself as the main officiant in the sacrificial ceremony of Heaven and Earth, 20 built up the esplanade of Xa Tac with 5-coloured base and helped confirm the position of “emperor” in an independent country. 2. The historical reality showed that depending on the ideological selection of the ruling class in different periods, the ceremony and power have had inter-influence at different levels. In the other word, ceremony was indeed the political power in the monarchical time. Under the Nguyen, the ritual constructions of great national worship were built in the first years of the dynasty. This showed that Gia Long emperor had the careful preparation in ideology and identified the clear and unified point-of-view in his policy “ruling by the filial piety”. The ideology of “respecting the heaven, following ancestors” had been continued under the dynasties in succession, especially under the reign of Minh Mang. Accordingly, the special attention focusing on the completion of architectures and ceremonies was not for educating the society but also for building up the cognition of the imperial power, hierarchy, the absolute belief in the emperor and for affirming the orthodoxy of the imperial position through the ceremony. This was one of the most obvious reflection of the “Heaven’s Will” in the monarchical time of Vietnam through the process of preparation, offering and participant selection (with the most importance participants from the royal family), ritual costumes, the matter of quantity, material, colours, directions, music and dance, etc. The process of ritual implementation from the preparation to the end of ceremony gathered most of the court, even mandarins from the neighbouring provinces. All present the profound philosophical significance and the high codification. In the other word, ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonies were established and implemented intentionally in the process of strengthening the imperial power and using culture, especially the ceremony, as their means. Their existence and development under the Nguyen reflect the prosperity or the depression of the dynasty. In particular, the strict regulations of the great national worship in the monarchical time shows the hierarchical classification between the royalty and the community. In the environment of spiritual practices of culture, this matter left a 21 certain impact on the social psychology that remained deep influence in the folk culture in Hue region as well as in many other places in Vietnam. 3. Among ritual constructions of the great national worship in the mornachical time, Xa Tac esplanade was the first one that came into being in 1048 under the Ly dynasty, more than century before the establishment of Nam Giao esplanade (in 1154). Under the Tran dynasty, there was no information on the establishment of Nam Giao esplanade and its ritual but the ceremony at Xa Tac esplanade and the conferment of Xa Tac Spirits. This fact shows that Xa Tac ceremony had played important role toward these dynasties due to its significance toward the agricultural inhabitants. The Nguyen had inheritated this ceremony but the codification of ritual procedures and the ritual hierarchy in the number of offerings, or the number of musical pieces, the scale and the participants, etc. of Xa Tac ceremony prove that Xa Tac ceremony was not paied as much attention to as the ceremony at Nam Giao esplanade or at the royal ancestral temples – two ceremonies attached closely to the orthodoxy of the imperial power and the emperor’s role as “the Will of God” of the successor who was born in the royal family. In the other words, the Nguyen dynasty paid more attention to the ceremony that served the imperial benefits than that of the community’s benefit. This can be seen in the process of the ritual construction development, especially in Hue at the late of Nguyen dynasty. Even thought when the dynasty lost their real power, the Giao ceremony was still maintained to present a pieace of real imperial requirement meanwhile the ceremony at Xa Tac was reduced in its scope and then completedly canceled from the end of XIX century. 4. The ritual constructions of great national worship and related ceremonie under the Nguyen were the typical forms presenting the monarchical ideology. They included tangible and intangible heritages recognized intentionally with the outstanding universal values and the representativeness of the human culture, such as the complex of Hue Monuments (including the ritual constructions that were also recognized as the World Heritage in 1993) and the Nha nhac-the Vietnamese court music, Hue city (recognized as the Masterpice of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of humanity in 2003). Therefore, the preservation and promotion 22 of the ritual construction’s values should be attached to the revival of ceremony for the integrity of human significance and the cultural identity in the process of integration and development. The research results on the reconstruction of present ceremony show that the representativeness of power in ritual ceremony, especially in Giao ceremony, can be lost when the Confucism lost its role of a decisive ideology in the society, but the spiritual significance of the belief still remains. After being revived in eight Festivals, the monarchical great ceremony of national worship has been changed in its nature. The social psychological influences of the ceremony have brought people the belief on the “sacredness”. From the desire for a peaceful and healthy life, a ceremony reconstructed for tourism has gained the spiritual significance and affected on some aspects of the social psychology. In the other word, even thought there are not many philosophical factors in the revived ceremony and it does not stand for the representative of power or the nostalgia of the imperial glory, the participation into the cermony with the wish for the goodness has contributed to the recreation of the belief in ceremony as the cultural adaptation in the new context. 5. Thought the ritual ceremonies of the Nguyen have been well preserved and seen as the ceremonial standard for the revival of many other festivals in other places, it is also neccessary to take into careful consideration of the distinguished features of each region, each period and each dynasty in the history. Cultural activities are always under the impact of socio-economic circumstances and of the habitats. Each region has its own custom and cultural practice. Each historical period or each dynasty has distinguished ideological orientation. Therefore, it should not make a similarity in revival of festival or ceremony because it will affect the cultural diversity and lead to the confusion in historical cognition in the young generation from the aspect of cultural tradition, custom and ritual ceremony. 23 PUBLISHED RESEARCH WORKS OF THE AUTHOR 1. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2010), “Heritage Tourism in Hue: Impacts and Threats” (Du lịch di sản ở Huế: Những tác động và mối đe dọa), Perspectives on Heritage Tourism (Những cách nghĩ về du lịch di sản), published by SEAMEO- SPAFA, Thailand 2010, tr. 51-66, (ISBN: 978-974-7809-36-7). 2. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2012), “Phát triển du lịch thông qua hình thức phục dựng nghi lễ cung đình Huế và vấn đề thể hiện bản sắc”, Kỷ yếu Hội thảo Khoa học “Tiềm năng và hướng phát triển du lịch Bắc Trung Bộ”, 15/4/2012, tr. 204-210. 3. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2012), “Văn hóa cung đình Huế nhìn từ vấn đề bản sắc qua các miếu thờ vua Nguyễn tại Huế và nghi lễ tế miếu”, Hội thảo Việt Nam học lần thứ IV, Hà Nội, 11/2012. 4. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2012), “Những nét đặc trưng trong hệ thống miếu thờ tổ tiên của các vua nhà Nguyễn”, Tạp chí Nghiên cứu và Phát triền, số 2 (91). 2012, tr. 3-11, ISSN 1859-0152. 5. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2012), “Hiểu thêm về cách gọi tên miếu, điện thờ vua Nguyễn tại Huế”, Tạp chí Huế Xưa & Nay số 110 (3- 4/2012), tr. 104-110, ISSN 1858-2163. 6. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2012), “Vài nét về nghi lễ tế miếu của triều Nguyễn”, Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Lịch sử số 11 (439), tr. 19-36, ISSN 0866-7497 7. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2012), “Quần thể di t ch Huế v i tác động của biến đổi kh hậu”, Tạp chí Nghiên cứu & Phát triển số 7 (96), tr. 83-92, ISSN 1859-0152. 8. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2012), “Đôi điều cần bàn thêm về định hư ng phát triển du lịch thông qua hình thức phục dựng nghi lễ cung đình”, Di sản văn hóa Huế, nghiên cứu & Bảo tồn, tập II, Trung tâm Bảo tồn Di tích Cố đô Huế xuất bản, Huế(2012), tr. 435-441. 9. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2013),“The Hue Monuments complex under the impact of climate change” (Quần thể di tích Huế dư i tác động của biến đổi khí hậu), Museum & Cultural Heritage-Facing Climate Change (Bảo tàng & Di sản văn hóa- Đối mặt v i Biến đổi khí hậu), Kỷ yếu Hội thảo quốc tế do Viện Nghiên cứu Văn hóa và Nghệ thuật Việt Nam phối hợp v i Bảo tàng Dân tộc học tổ chức, Nxb. Khoa học Xã hội, Hà Nội, 2013, tr. 498-507, ISBN 978 6049 02 1787. 24 10. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2013), “Hiểu thêm về những vấn đề liên quan đến di sản thế gi i hiện nay và trường hợp của Huế”, Di sản văn hóa Huế, nghiên cứu & Bảo tồn, tập III, Trung tâm Bảo tồn Di tích Cố đô Huế xuất bản, Huế, tr. 510-514. 11. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2014), “Văn hóa cung đình Huế nhìn từ nghi lễ tế tự: t nh điển chế và ý nghĩa biểu tượng”, Kỷ yếu hội thảo Văn hóa Huế-Đặc điểm lịch sử và vấn đề bảo tồn, phát triển, Hội Khoa học Lịch sử Thừa Thiên Huế, 12/2014, tr. 70-81. 12. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2014), “Từ câu chuyện của L. Cadièrre, bàn tiếp về sự khủng hoảng ở Đàng Trong vào thế kỷ XVIII”, Kỷ yếu Tọa đàm khoa học 100 năm BAVH và vấn đề tiếp xúc văn minh Đông-Tây đầu thế kỷ XX, Phân viên Văn hóa Nghệ thuật quốc gia Việt Nam và Trung tâm Bảo tồn Di tích Cố đô Huế, 12/2014. 13. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2014), “Triết lý Nho giáo trong nghi lễ tế tự triều Nguyễn (1802-1945), Tạp chí Huế Xưa và Nay, số 126 (11- 12/2014), tr. 59-69, ISSN 1858-2163. 14. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2014), “Lễ tế Giao ở Huế: phục dựng nghi lễ và tái tạo niềm tin”, Di sản văn hóa trong xã hội Việt nam đương đại, Tủ sách Khoa học xã hội, chuyên khảo về Di sản văn hóa do viện Harvard Yenching tài trợ, Nxb. Tri thức, Hà Nội, tr. 155-192. 15. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2014), “Cải cách của Võ vương Nguyễn Phúc Khoát thế kỷ XVIII và con đường đến v i Nho giáo ở Đàng Trong”, Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Tôn giáo số 11 (137), (tr. 62-77), ISSN 1859-0403 16. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2015), “Nghiên cứu văn hóa cung đình Nguyễn qua cách gọi tên miếu, điện”, Tạp chí Văn hóa Dân gian số 1 (157), tr. 47-50, ISSN 0866-7284. 17. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2015), “Nghi thức tang lễ cung đình châu Á nhìn từ triều Nguyễn Việt Nam và triều Joseon Hàn Quốc”, Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Lịch sử số 7 (473), tr. 52-67, ISSN 0866-7497 18. Huỳnh Thị Anh Vân (2015), “Văn hóa cung đình Huế nhìn từ trang phục lễ nghi thời Nguyễn qua tư liệu”, Bảo tàng Cổ vật Cung đình Huế, tập VII.