When the Jing people moved to China from Viet Nam, they brought with them images of deities they had worshipped in their home villages. The gods revered by contemporary Jings in China also vary from village to village, but usually include the Hung Dao Deity, Sea Tutelary and Village God.
The Hung Dao Deity evolved from Viet Nam's 13th century general Tran Hung Dao, who led the Vietnamese army to victory over the troops of Kublai Khan, a famous emperor of China's Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Tran is worshipped throughout Viet Nam, and almost every city in the country has a street named after him.
"Tran is not only a hero in war, but a deity in the minds of Vietnamese people," said Nguyen Phuong Cham, a researcher from the Institute of Cultural Studies, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences. "People believe that he has the power to protect them from natural disasters, and guard their health and luck."
Nguyen Phuong Cham, who has carried out fieldwork in Wanwei and Tra Co, a Vietnamese village close to the China-Viet Nam border, noted that the Vietnamese people who moved to the border area regarded worshipping the Hung Dao Deity as especially important because they often felt in danger and needed more protection psychologically.
The Sea Tutelary comes from the legend of the "Three islands of the Jing people." Supposedly a long time ago, the location of today's three islands was called Bailong Bay, and a demon centipede lived there. He demanded a person to eat whenever a boat passed by, and if not appeased he would stir up the sea to capsize the boat. Afraid of the demon, passing boats would usually prepare a beggar to feed him.
Once an old beggar with a big pumpkin asked a boat owner to let him board. The boat owner agreed. On the boat, the beggar asked the crew to boil his pumpkin in a big pot.
When the boat sailed through the Bailong Bay area, the centipede demon emerged to stir up the sea. Everyone on the boat was scared and the boat owner wanted to push the beggar into the sea.
"Wait a moment. Give me the pumpkin," shouted the beggar. He threw the boiling pumpkin into the centipede demon's mouth, badly scalding its throat. Suddenly, the head, body and tail of the centipede broke apart. Later the islands became known as Wutou, Shanxin and Wanwei.
The disguised beggar was really the Sea Tutelary, who is worshipped by the Jing people today. "We are an oceanic people, so it is always important to have the Sea Tutelary to protect our safety in the sea," said Su Weifang, a 65-year-old villager from Wanwei.
(China Daily October 25, 2005)
