Coastal culture
After many field studies, we recently discovered that at Tan Thanh Tomb, there is a rare female whale worshiping belief in other places.
Historically recorded, in the past, Sa Can gate was also called The Can gate. The book “Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi” records that, here, in 1471, King Le Thanh Tong carried out the work of opening the land to the South; become a rich land that the first families from Thanh Hoa, Nghe An (Huynh, Nguyen, Doan) reclaimed and established hamlets; convenient for ships to anchor, catch seafood and trade and exchange goods.
Tomb of Tan Thanh, in Tan Hy 1 village, Binh Dong commune (Binh Son). Photo: TL
Under the Nguyen Lord, together with Thu Xa, Sa Huynh, some Chinese people from Guangdong, Fujian, Chaozhou, Hainan (China) came to live here. Since then, along the Sa Can estuary, classes of people (Cham, Hoa, and Viet) successively converged.
Their lives are associated with the sea and rivers. During the sea fishing times, fishermen are often in danger and are rescued by whales and brought to shore. Since then, the belief of worshiping Ong fish was shaped and kept in villages and hamlets at Sa Can estuary.
With the desire of “good land, peaceful people”, the people of Van Tan Thanh respect Than Nam Hai as the natural god, the god of the village and built a mausoleum to sacrifice. Many documents and artifacts here contribute to affirming the issues of historical and cultural value of the land of Quang Ngai and the South Central region.
In addition to the ordination of the god Nam Hai in the 9th year of Khai Dinh (1924), the most notable is the god with the Han Nom script, which translates to “Dai Nam Country / Nam Hai Cu tribe with the name Linh Ngoc Lan, the name Nuong Ngoc Lan / The four Tu sacrifices to the god / Long concubine in the year of Dinh Hoi / Building a good day in the month of the Rooster”.
Analyzing each sentence on the deity, the sacrifices, and the object mentioned following God Nam Hai is Nam Hai Cu Toc Ngoc Lan Nhon Ngu Nuong Nuong (literature) / Nuong Ngoc Lan (female whale). This is the difference and characteristic of Tan Thanh Vang compared to other relics of Ong fish worship in Quang Ngai province and some central coastal provinces.
Belief in worshiping female whales
Belief in worshiping female whales appeared in some areas of the South Central Coast and the South. Typically, in Ong Nam Hai’s mausoleum (Cu Lao Cham, Quang Nam) there is a tablet “Ngoc Lan Nuong”; Xuan Tu’s mausoleum (Van Ninh, Khanh Hoa) worships “Nam Hai Tien”; Tomb Co (Tu Thien, Ninh Thuan) worships “Nam Hai Dai Vuong”… Some fishing villages in Ninh Chu, Son Hai, Ca Na in Ninh Thuan province also have a female whale’s mausoleum, called Co mausoleum.
In addition to praying for fish and worshiping Nam Hai, people in the above localities dedicate a day to Ba (October 20). It proves that people’s point of view in the spirit world also has a distinction between male and female.
The mausoleum is also associated with other worship such as: the four sacrifices (the four saints), Thien YA Na, the god Cao Cac, the left hand, the right hand, the former sage, the later sage.
This shows that the mausoleum has an integration of worshiping beliefs that the Cham, Chinese, and Vietnamese ethnic groups living here have maintained and continued associated with their livelihood at sea, but they themselves do not. There is a distinction, a clear perception, so there is a consensus.
In particular, the belief in worshiping the Ong fish (the Nam Hai god) is stronger than the belief in worshiping the female whale and Dai Can. However, these worshiping objects all agree on the religious behavior in the spiritual life of the residents of Van Tan Thanh with the fishermen’s wish for peace and harvest, the respect for the native ancestors, and the direction towards the source. origin, homeland.
That mixture of worship originates from the living space, the marine – mountain – plain ecological region, the different cultural classes and ethnic groups of Cham – Hoa – Vietnam, in which the Vietnamese play the role of subjects.
Since then, clearly reflecting the cultural history in Sa Can sea area, the existence of the indigenous Cham inhabitants, the migration of the Chinese along the sea trade route, the migration of the Vietnamese from the Thanh – Nghe – Static.
It is the convergence and integration that they bring with them the beliefs and culture of their homeland into the new land. In the process of living and working, Vietnamese people have lived, interacted and acclimatized among Cham, Chinese and Vietnamese cultures.
Having existed for more than 2 centuries, Tan Thanh Tomb is a place to preserve the above-mentioned typical cultural values and play an important role in the religious life of the community here.
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