Pagodas, Gods and Spirits of Vietnam (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Walter Unger (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This book reveals through text and illustrations the extraordinarily varied and prolific religions of Vietnam. Despite decades of government discouragement of all religion, the deeply anchored faiths of the Vietnamese people have continued to flourish, and indeed to increase their hold on believers. Everywhere between the Red River in the north and the Mekong Delta in the south, sacrificial offerings are heaped upon altars, hundreds of thousands of the faithful stream again on pilgrimages, and there is a regular increase in the request- and thanksgiving-rites in the chuas, dinhs, and dens, the pagodas, village ceremony halls, and hero temples all over the land. In most guide books, Vietnam is described as a Buddhist country; but in contrast to their neighbors in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, the Vietnamese follow a Buddhism that is far from pure. The faith and its teachings were taken over from India about 2,000 years ago, but Vietnamese Buddhism was mingled with more ancient indigenous ancestor cults and spirit beliefs suitable to local customs and needs. Other strains were also absorbed: elements of Hinduism as well as the teachings of Confucius and Taoism. The text by Ann Unger admirably explains this complex situation and shows how the great number of beautiful, serene religious buildings throughout the country reflect the multiple strands of the country's religious fabric. Walter Unger's arresting photographs document the architectural splendor of the buildings as well as the worshipers in a ground-breaking reportage of a country that for so long has been hidden from the rest of the world.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; illustrated edition edition (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500018030
• ISBN-13: 978-0500018033
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,666,861 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful pictures, good essay, August 2, 2001

By	Wyote (Seoul) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This is a coffee-table style book: hundreds of beautiful, color pictures, with a short, informative essay. In fact, the nearly 50-page essay is better than many coffee-table books are. If you're interested in pictures, this is your book. If you're interested in descriptions of beliefs and practices, this is merely an introduction. Unfortunately, I don't know of a good book for that purpopse, although I've looked around both in Vietnam and the United States. Also, this book doesn't cover Hoa Hao, Vietnamese Catholicism or the Montangards' religions at all, and only the most famous Cham and Cao Dai sites.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lived Religion in Your Living Room, May 19, 2006

By	Crazy Fox (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is a great book one never gets tired of looking through. It is full of a great variety of beautiful color photographs, all of them giving you a different glimpse of religion in Vietnam. Some shots show you the outside of the sacred temples and pagodas in all of their ornate architecture, others the insides of these buildings as people--priests and lay folks--pray and carry out rites. And many others still focus on the icons, the deities being worshipped. One excellent thing about these latter shots is that the deities are always situated in their ritual contexts (incense burning, offerings spread out before them) and not in the abstract like museum pieces. By the end, one is left with a vivid sense of the deeply intense and heart-felt religiosity of the Vietnamese people as they really live it.

The essay at the beginning is quite helpful, preparing you to generally have an idea what you're looking at (so that the images are not just exotic sound and fury signifying nothing) and doing a fine job of showing how several different religious traditions have flowed together to inform and shape Vietnamese religiosity. The treatment is careful and well-researched while written in a very accessible style.

I'm not sure who wouldn't like this lovely book. Anyone interested in Vietnam and its culture should, for sure. Photography buffs will also find something here, I'd think. But I think scholars of Religious Studies should also take note--sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and a book like this is invaluable in approaching lived religion. Finally, this is a super book for any armchair travelers out there; it's the next best thing to actually going to Vietnam in person.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary book on the Art of Vietnam, September 23, 2000

By	Rene Herger (Switzerland) - See all my reviews

I highly recommend this beautifully photographed and well document book on the art and culture of Vietnam. I loved the pictures of many sacred ceremonies and Ms. Unger's descriptive text. It is a miracle that these buildings still exist after what Vietnam has endured. The only reservation I have with the book is that it does not cover ancient Vietnam history in depth. Otherwise, the book is extraordinary.