(VOVworld) – The San Chi consider their worship books and pictures their most valuable assets. They use them in specific rites and prayers for every important event. Anh Huyen introduces the worship books and pictures of the San Chi.
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A picture of the Shen Nong of the Cao Lan - San Chi groups reprinted by Dong Ho artisans (vietnamfineart.com.vn)
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Worship books of the San Chi are in Nom script (Chinese transcribed Vietnamese). The books are carefully preserved in a red lacquer box trimmed with gold placed on the family altar. Only men are allowed to handle the worship books. Doctor Tien Binh, a lecturer at Hanoi Culture University, told us: “Our study shows that worship books are the most important asset of the family. Every family has a big red lacquer box to keep all their worship books for funerals, weddings, having a baby, good and bad days, and folk songs. Some families have more than 50 books.”
Very few San Chi people can read the old books or conduct the rituals. Lam Van Oanh, a San Chi teacher in Luc Ngan district, says: “There are worship books for ancestors, meditation, and hamlet and community rituals. A few people learn to read the books and conduct the rituals from older people so they can conduct the worship.”
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A picture of the land genie of the Cao Lan - San Chi reprinted by Dong Ho artisans (vietnamfineart.com.vn)
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Worship pictures are as important as worship books. Worship pictures are carefully stored and then hung on the altar during worship ceremonies. The pictures are of natural phenomena - rain, clouds, thunder, lightning - or religious figures – Buddha, saints, and genies of agriculture, husbandry, and healthcare. Binh again: “We hang pictures of heaven, the ocean, and hell when we want to invite the Jade Emperor or the saints. We have to create a religious atmosphere to worship Buddha. Other pictures depict animals and plants.”
In each house, the family hangs pictures of the Shen Nong and the land genie on the main gate and place a basket of rice below the pictures, symbolizing the harmony of heaven and earth.