University of Hawaii Press Goddess on the Rise: Pilgrimage and Popular Religion in Vietnam

Since the early 1990s, the shrine of Ba Chua Xu, the Lady of the Realm, has become the most visited religious site in southern Vietnam, receiving more than a million visitors annually. Mother, benevolent creditor, healer, relationship advisor, business consultant, the Lady of the Realm is one of a group of goddesses whose shrines attract devotees from all corners of rural and urban society. Goddess on the Rise follows these pilgrims' pathways, taking readers on a journey through a cultural landscape of popular rites, beliefs, and exegesis into a world where female deities reign supreme. Philip Taylor's in-depth study of pilgrimage introduces readers to the practical expectations, passions, and controversies that surround the goddesses, bringing to life the effervescence, creativity, and flux of modern Vietnamese religion. Taylor offers important insights into people's everyday experience of the profound economic, cultural, and social transformations underway in this socialist country. An innovative and multidimensional account of translocal religious practice, this sophisticated study, the first of its kind for Vietnam, blurs disciplinary boundaries and disrupts preconceived images. Review "Philip Taylor's engagingly written study of pilgrimages to the 'Lady of the Realm' continues his unique investigations into social and cultural changes in the south since the communist revolution.... This work is vital for understanding southern Vietnam today." About the Author Philip Taylor is Senior Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the Australian National University.