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Jade Emperor Shrine in Vinh Long | Vietnam

2012-01-11T18:36:00.159-06:00

2007 Trip to Saigon and Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam. Granted, the northern Communist Vietnamese changed name to Ho Chi Minh city in 1975, but I grew up with "Saigon" and that is only name I will call city by. Interestingly, Vietnam's "Dai Viet" empire conquered southern Vietnam some 400 years ago, hence most of the place names in South Vietnam has Khmer lineage since it used to be ruled by Cambodians.

Vietnam History | Wiki

Dai Viet | Wiki

For example, "Tay Ninh" city where Cao Dai religious sect is HQ'ed, derived its Khmer name as "Elephant Enclosure".

Vietnam 2007 - Tay Ninh city and Cao Dai sect | Maneko

Another example is possible etymological origin of "Saigon", based on Vietnamese translation of Khmer word "Prey Nokor" ( Forest City ), since area was originally high ground surrounded by forested swamp land. In fact, highest point in Saigon is Notre Dame Basilica ( which used to be the city's feudal fortress ), a block away from the old Presidential Palace.

Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica | Wiki

From Saigon, entourage traveled to cities in Mekong River Delta. Like here in US, most people who work and reside in large metropolitan centers usually are not born in the city, but rather from surrounding urban centers. Same case for Vietnam, most folks who reside in Saigon are usually from cities such as My Tho, Vinh Long, or Bien Hoa.

Unlike traditional Khmer placename origins, Mekong is phonetically derived from Thai word "Mae Nam Khong" ( Mother Water Khong ). "Khong" word in Thai derived from ancient Sanskrit word "Ganga", which references to Ganges river. Hence, after centuries of usage, "Nam" ( water ) term was dropped, leaving modern derivative "Mekong" via concatenation of "Mae Khong" ( Mother Khong ).

Mekong Delta | Wiki

Mekong River | Wiki

It is possible to travel by boat from any Vietnamese city on Mekong northward into Cambodia, and exit to Gulf of Thailand via this inland waterway ( ex. circa 4 hours by motor boat to reach Cambodia capitol Phnom Penh ). For one of these Mekong delta trips, took excursion to Vinh Long, one of the major tributary cities.

BTW, Vietnamese title for the Mekong is "dong bang song Cuu Long" ( Nine Dragon river delta ), since its 9 delta branches form ripple shape of dragons. In Chinese lore, dragons originate from fishes in the ocean who are able to swim to the highest lake in the Himalayas, hence granted magical powers to transform into dragons. In fact, Saigon capitol is vested as "head of the dragon" since based on geomacy it sits on the high ground to the east of Mekong delta.

Geomacy | Wiki

In Vinh Long city, encountered a small deity shrine maintained by the Le family. Stories had it was originally placed at river's edge some 70 feet from house front entrance, but after decades of erosion, shrine is now some 20 feet away from the house.

Vinh Long imagies | Yahoo

Personal deity shrines ( mainly based on Chinese mythological lore ) is a common sight in Vietnam, along with Chinese character amulet inscriptions pasted onto house entrances for good omen protection.

Chinese Mythology : Gods, Goddesses, Spirits, Deities from China | GCC

The Le diety shrine dedicated to the Jade God ( or colloquially Jade Emperor ) : Supreme ruler of the universe, who brings order to heaven and earthen realms, and bestowed mortal personages the right to rule over mortal beings via his mandate.

Jade Emperor | GCC

Shrine inscriptions written in traditional Chinese literary style of right-to-left / top-down, this style was modified about 100+ years ago to conform with western left-to-right system, but is still utilized for literary and deity inscriptions.

Chinese Writing System | OGC

There are 4 shrine inscriptions : A) Proclamation of "Brave Spirit", B) Honorific "Jade" praise on right flank, C) Honorific "Metal/Gold" praise on left flank, D) Enshrined "Jade God/Emperor" diety name. Note shrine calligraphy inscriptions are slightly different from standard printed characters, mainly due to individual flare and literary styles between simplified brush patterns versus print block characters.

Jade Emperor | Wiki

Jade Emperor | NWE

"Le" family Jade Emperor shrine ( red dot on map ) located near Song Co Chien ( or Co Chien river ) tributary, one of river branches feeding Mekong delta. Traditional Chinese inscription on map states "Ying Yu Tan" ( Brave Jade Altar ).

Song Co Chien River | UAT

Vietnamese surnames mostly based off traditional Chinese surnames, due to the fact China ruled Vietnam for about 1,000 years and various cultural, social, theological, and political standards were adopted in-masse. Thus Vietnamese "Le" is rendered as Chinese-Mandarin "Li", by which semantic meaning is "Host, Multitude".

Vietnamese Surnames | Wiki

As shown above.... Chinese character inscriptions on the shrine is translated in the following format : 1) Top - Traditional Chinese characters, 2) Middle - Sino-Vietnamese Quoc Ngu ( national script ) phonetic alphabets, 3) Bottom - Chinese Pin Yin phonetic alphabets based on Chinese-Mandarin rendition of the characters.

Modern Written Vietnamese | VSO

Basic Rules of Hanyu Pinyin Orthography | PYI

Plate A : Brave Spirit

Reading right-to-left, Sino-Viet is "Anh Linh", Chinese-Mandarin "Ying Ling". Note that since Vietnamese has been integrating Chinese characters as part of their written literary structure for 1,000 years, they are able to "borrow and preserve" verbal renditions of Chinese language from successful empires.

Chinese Mandarin | OGC

Current official Chinese language in China & Taiwan is Chinese-Mandarin, which only has circa 500 years history tracing its lineage back to late 16th-century China Ming Dynasty era. Hence, interesting linguistic heritage is that both Vietnam, Japan, and in certain cases Korea have preserved some aspects of how Chinese was "spoken" centuries past that is no longer replicated in modern Chinese-Mandarin.

China Ming Dynasty | MET

Plate B : Soil Can Create White Jade

Sino-Viet ( leaving out diacritics ) : Tho Nang Sinh Bach Ngoc

Chinese-Mandarin : Tu Neng Sheng Bai Yu

What Is the Meaning of White China Jade Stone? | eHOW

Jade is East Asian symbolism is allusion to perfection and purity. Note, Vietnamese word for Jade "Ngoc" with diacritics is verbally rendered as "Yuum", which is close approximate to Chinese Pin Yin "Yu" ( rendered as "Yuu" ).

Plate C : Deity Can Bestow Gold

Sino-Viet ( leaving out diacritics ) : Than Kha Xuat Hoang Kim
Chinese-Mandarin : Shen Ke Chu Huang Jin

Gold is symbol of both affluency, prosperity, and scholarly knowledge.

Chinese Symbols and Art Motifs | CPC

Plate D : Jade Emperor

Sino-Viet ( leaving out diacritics ) : Ngoc Than
Chinese-Mandarin : Yu Shen

Jade Emperor ( or literally Jade God ) proclamation plaque. In front are stacks of burnt incense sticks and offering cubs ( either tea or liquor depending on event formality ).

Pure August Jade Emperor | HMC

Unlike European alphabetic based languages by which individual alphabets form complete words. Chinese Characters as pictograms ( abstract representation of real world artifacts ) or ideograms ( orthography indicating action or intention ).

Pictogram / Pictograph | Wiki

Ideogram | Wiki

Nevertheless, Chinese Characters are indexed by "Radicals" ( called Chinese "Bushu" or Partial Portion ) via similar format as European words indexed by word "stem" or "root" ( ex. word "Advance", its stem/root is "Ad" to "put forward" ). In above example, Chinese "Ling" / Vietnamese "Linh" ( Spirit ) is indexed by its Radical character "Yu" ( Rain ) or Radical 173.

Chinese Radical | Wiki

List of Chinese Bushu Radical | YBC

Since Chinese is also an organic language by which characters are added by successive generations when linguistic need arises, new characters / radicals have been introduced for past few thousand years. However, to limit expansion to manageable size, last major Chinese Character Bushu ( radical ) index reform during mid-17th century Ching ( also written Qing ) Dynasty era establish Bushu Index to 214 Radicals.

Ching Dynasty | Wiki

Efforts of the Chinese People over the Past Sixty Years to Create a Phonetic Alphabet | PYI

Note that Communist China ( PRC ) has been attempting to create and replace completely Chinese characters with western phonetic alphabet, but its public acceptance has been lukewarm if not outright resistance since it will be mean abandoning literary orthography China has followed for over 2,000 years and abrogate Chinese Communist Party claim that they are the social - political - literary successor linking ancient - feudal - modern China. Nevertheless.... they still try to come up academic propaganda to its benefits.

Phonetic alphabet aside... outside of Mainland China, popular debate and opposition still rages over 1958 Communist China creation of so-called "Simplified Chinese Characters" ( Jian Ti Zi ) set among overseas Chinese communities in Americas - SE Asia - Australia - Europe.

Debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters | Wiki

Chinese Bushu ( Radical ) index for Traditional Chinese Characters, 214 indexes in all, colloquially called "Kang Shi" Radicals based on its standardization in 1716 Kangshi ( also written Kangxi ) Dictionary.

Kangshi Radical | Wiki

Kangshi Dictionary | Wiki

This Radical index is followed by all modern countries / regions still using Traditional Chinese character set, such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Korea. Mainland China has modified Radical index due to introduction of Simplified Chinese characters call Jian Ti Zi. Japan also has modified Kanji ( Chinese Character ) Radical index due to language reform in post WW2 era..

China Simplified Chinese Characters | Wiki

Orthographic Reform and Kanji List | Wiki

Japan Script Reform | Wiki

Gnaw on my Coke

2011-05-19T12:22:00.019-06:00

Conducive brand imagery, 1930s-era Chinese gal in traditional "Chi-Pao" Mandarin collar outfit, enjoying Coca-Cola luxury softdrink (note Chinese Keh-Kou-Keh-Le title for Coca Cola is read right to left).

Let's start with a classic…. we all heard this in business school for the past 25 years, namely Coca-Cola's debacle when transliterating its name to 1920s China market. Allegedly, Coca Cola name was transcribed as "Bite the Wax Tadpole" in Chinese. Comparing with Chinese phonetics, this is not exactly true, for the actual phrase is even more terse.

Chinese phonetic for "Bite" is "Yao", no where close to any Coca-Cola phonetic. However, phonetic for "Gnaw" is "Ken". Hence, possible malformed name is "Kou Ken Dou La" (Mouth Gnaw Tadpole Wax). Gnaw in Chinese is not just someone picking at a bone, but can project image of a crazed dog shaking his bone end to end to get the last meat morsel out. You can imagine average Chinese would think it bizarre that Westerns enjoyed a tadpole-wax extract refreshment. This is classic marketing case of Brand Transcreation, the attempt to preserve a brand name phonetically across different socio-linguistic groups.

Marcom Transcreation : Branding, Communications, Strategy for Asia Market Entry ( PDF 720kb )
http://Lehrmach.com/Research/2007.9-Lehrmach-MarcomTranscreateAsia.pdf

Upon recognizing this terse imagery, Coca-Cola reformed phonetics to "Ke Kou Ke Leh" meaning Suit Taste, Suit Happiness, or colloquially Joyful Refreshing Taste. Mind you, this was all written in Traditional Chinese characters (same Chinese script used for the past 2,000 years, still in use on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas Chinese communities in Americas, Europe, SE Asia, Australia).

When Communist China took over in 1950s, all western corporations were expelled, Simplified Chinese characters were instituted. Coca-Cola had to wait another 30 years before re-entering China market in early 1980s. Fortunately, for name transliteration, all Coke had to do was a character glyph flip from Traditional to Simplified Chinese characters, all the meaning and pronunciation remained exactly the same.

There is one nagging question I often reflected on Coke's Gnaw Tadpole Wax debacle. In 1920s, there wasn't much of Chinese middle class nationwide since China was in mist of decades-long civil war among regional Warlords, Communist insurgents allied with Bandit groups, and Nationalist paramilitary groups. Only group that could afford this drink were super-rich Chinese (ex. Shanghai / Hong Kong areas) or Western Colonialists in various foreign-controlled Settlements or Concessions. Imperialist powers have carved up China since mid-1800s, revolts against foreign colonialists periodically erupted, such as mid-1850s Taiping Rebellion, 1900 Boxer Rebellion, and May 4th Movement (1919). This may tie into the Coke 1920s name debacle. More info below :

Taiping Rebellion | Wiki

Boxer Rebellion | Wiki

May Fourth Movement | Wiki

My guess is that either some American homey without knowledge of Chinese language simply picked any Chinese character that sounded close to Coca-Cola, hence malformed Tadpole-Wax variant Kou Ken Dou La. Or this homey may have asked a local Chinese for transcription, the Chinese resenting foreigners in general simply sabotage the brand transliteration process to make it as bizarre as possible. Like the Japanese would say "Umm, omoshiro zo !"

But at least one caveat was tested, one need not transliterate exact phonetics to convey a global brand presence. Coca-Cola is just as well understood via Keh Kou Keh Le with reinforced marcom imageries.
Final note, Coca-Cola has always been a luxury refreshment in East Asia, even back some 30 years when I was growing up in Taiwan, a coke cost 5 times more than a local sodapop. Hence, family would purchase Coke only when guests were visiting.

--

Name you can chew on

2009-02-28T13:44:00.017-06:00

Clip from famed 1970s-era Japanese martial art flick called KOZURE OKAMI (literal meaning "Kid following Wolf") or via English title Lone Wolf and Cub or The Baby Cart Assassin. Movie is a definitive cult classic, extreme bloody swordplay (actually got US X-rating for violence in early 1980s), but excellent Japanese Kenjutsu swordsmanship. One thing impressed me back then was those staunch honorific Bushi (warrior) names such as Ogami Itto, Yagyu Gunbei, Iki Jizamon, and Yamada Asaemon. Names much embellished than the common Suzuki Michiko, Tanaka Ichiroo, and Yamamoto Akemi names one encounters today in Japan.

Kozure Okami, Lone Wolf and Cub
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Wolf_and_Cub

Saemon Umenosuke (Kanji version above, Hiragana phonetics below), that is going to be my official Japanese name (if I ever decide to vie for Japanese citizenship) :) By Japan's law, one would have to select a Japanese name from official government sanctioned name dictionary. Name above possess a robust gung-ho Bushi (warrior) nuance, Saemon surname means "Left Street Gate", Umenosuke firstname means "Plum Tree of Guard". Hence, the Guard at Plum Tree located at Eastern Gated Street. I figured if one decided to localized, why select mere phonetic equivalents, instead select a completely new native name.

Saemon Umenosuke rendition
http://lehrmach.com/Clip/SaemonUmenosuke.wav

Eons ago at University of Texas at Austin when I began studying Japanese language, one advantage of being fluent in Chinese language was intrinsic understanding of Japanese Kanji (Chinese characters rendered in Japanese language). Being a character-based rather than alphabetic-based written language system, one could immediately understand the meaning without knowing its Japanese pronunciation. Having a Chinese name was also advantageous, one could simply translate Chinese characters into Japanese phonetics and get instant colloquially equivalents. Well you would think… until you encounter two major obstacles : 1) Equivalent Kanji in official government list, 2) Kanji's Onyomi (Sound Reading) versus Kunyomi (Book Reading) pronunciation variants.

Fortunately, my Chinese name ZENG-DING (righteous foundation) had direct Kanji pronunciation equivalents. Since postwar era, Japanese Ministry of Education officially sanctions about 2,000 Kanji for daily use (Joyo Kanji list) and about 5,000 kanji for personal names to control its proliferation (akin to US standardizing pronunciation of Anderson surname by eliminating variants like Andersen, Andersan, Andersin, Anderssen).

This naming convention is also a point of controversy since Japan will not accept what they consider "foreign" names as part of gaining Japanese citizenship. Any event, this naturalized citizenship is extremely difficult earn, such as the contention among 60,000-plus ethnic Koreans in Japan who does not want to abandon their Korean names (hence ethnic identity) in gaining Japanese citizenship. Some call this obstacle blatant discrimination, others assert Japan's means of preserving a culturally homogeneous society.... so take your pick.

Japanese name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_name

Joyo kanji
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyo_kanji

Japanese (Nihongo) language
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese.htm

Although Japan is still the only industrialized Asian country, culturally they possess a westernized veneer, but still much rooted in ancient traditions. As a matter of social adoption, my observation is that Vietnamese are culturally more western inclined than other Asian counterparts.

In my first transliteration attempt, selected Japanese phonetic SHOO-JOO for Chinese ZENG-DING (righteous foundation) name. Upon hearing it, my Japanese professor almost fell to the floor with supreme laugher. Evidently, Japanese also possess various homonyms, thus SHOO-JOO could be interpreted as "Little Miss", hilarious indeed.

Yup... despite my first attempt at gaining a robust Bushi name, Japanese name equivalent SHOO-JOO only projected imagery of cutesy Japanese gals, real gung-ho manly name amissed, such are dangers of transversing language and cultural nuances. BTW American Slang GUNG-HO derived in 1940s-era from Chinese word GONG-HE (public together) or colloquially Team Play, a familiar slogan used in today's US Marine Corps.

Thus going through volumes of Japanese dictionaries (modern and prewar editions) at university libraries, interplay between Onyomi and Kunyomi Japanese readings became evident. Onyomi (sound reading) used Japanese phonetics to replicate Chinese pronunciations of Chinese characters (ex. SAN for mountain). Kunyomi (book reading) assigned intrinsic Japanese pronunciations (before introduction of Chinese characters) to Chinese words (ex. YAMA for mountain). This Chinese Borrowed-vs-Local Intrinsic equivalency also exists in Korean (ex. HAI vs. PADA for Sea) and Vietnamese languages (ex. SUI vs NOUC for Water).

Thus, Chinese name ZENG-DING is replicated via Japanese Onyomi versions of SHOO-JOO or SEI-TEI, and via Kunyomi version of MASA-SADA. Comparing the candidates, Onyomi versions were linguistically correct, but felt abit stiff and foreign. Similiar to a person desiring to select a typical American guy name, but instead of picking John - Mark - Bill, one selected Gustav (German) - Fidel (Hispanic) - Pierre (French), for the names are in Latin alphabets, but their stereotypical American cultural nuance is lacking.

Matter of cultural nuance, when name MASA-SADA (righteous foundation) is uttered among Japanese, it cast imagery of Japan's former Bushi warrior caste and Bujutsu martial art tactics, a personal naming marcom I was striving for.

Based on this interplay, selected Kunyomi version MASA-SADA as localized phonetic for Chinese ZENG-DING. Nevertheless, after much thought, why settle for semantic equivalents, why not select a completely new Japanese name. For example, an Italian-American pal of mine named Brad planning to teach English in Japan was mauling over his phonetic name BURAADO for Brad (given Japanese phonetic structure, almost all Western foreign words must end in a vowel, such as KURAAKU for Clark, JON for John, ERIISA for Elisa). So I scanned through my Japanese Anime movie "Raven Tengu Kabuto" and picked Bushi name KAZUMA (a good warrior name you can chew on). He loved it and shortened it to KAZU (gave nuance of modern hip multimedia guru).

For me, after much pondering on this question, I too decided on a Japanese name one can chew on. Hence, Minasan, Saemon Umenosuke, Doozo Yoroshiku !

Vietnam 2007 - Tay Ninh city and Cao Dai sect

2007-06-14T07:54:00.008-06:00

Vietnam, May 2007, family day trip to TAY NINH city (60 miles north of Saigon) where religious sect CAO DAI has its headquarters. Its followers are a major religious denomination in southern Vietnam for past 100 years.

http://www.tay-ninh.com/

http://www.vnn.vn/province/tayninh/

Black Lady Mountain reaching about 1,000 feet is a major landmark near Cao Dai temple complex which is about 2 miles away on left side. Cao Dai followers used this mountain bastion in 1940-1950s to fight against French Colonialists and Viet Minh nationalists (Viet Minh at that time were led by Vietnamese Communist, who were all atheists). Originally we planned to visit Buddhist temple on top of this mountain, but we discovered that we had to first pay to get inside the temple at bottom of mountain, then pay extra to ride the cable car up to the top, did not to double-pay so we elected to stay around its base.

Temple on top of Black Lady Mountain
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zarprey/487429704/

Cable car ride up to Black Lady Mountain
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j_rl1aCINeY

Vietnam History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Vietnam

Visiting the Cao Dai, one can examine their temple architecture and religious ceremony. BTW, Tay Ninh used to have Khmer (Cambodian) ethnic majority, its name Khmer name literally meant Elephant Enclosure. In mid-1800s during Vietnam imperial factional wars, Khmer prince declared independence from Vietnam and established his own private kingdom at at Tay Ninh and lasted about 2 years before Vietnam retook area. Nowadays, area has a "Kinh" majority (tribal name Vietnamese called themselves). Above is one of the major temple gates, temple complex itself is roughly size of New York's central park.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Dai

http://www.caodai.net/

Group walking up to temple hall, wide avenues criss-cross Cao Dai temple grounds since it is a city within a city. During worshop services, they block all traffic to maintain senerity of ceremony.

http://www.terragalleria.com/vietnam/vietnam.tay-ninh.html

Cai Dai flag with colors Yellow-Blue-Red to represent their amalgamated beliefs in Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity. Chinese characters on banner is official name of Cao Dai religion.

Buddhist and Confucian temples in Vietnam use Traditional Chinese characters for its official title (and not Communist China Jian-Ti-Zhi Simplified Characters or Postwar Japan Joyo Kanji characters). Chinese characters possess classical literary nuance and heritage akin to western Europe use of Latin language. Above shows Cao Dai title rendered in Chinese Pinyin as "Da Dao San Qi Pu Du" (Great Principle Three Phases Universal Degree). But Vietnam (likes its counterparts in Korea and Japan) renders its pronunciation in Sino-localized (Chu Nom) format, hence via Sino-Vietnamese the title is "Dai Dao Tam Ky Pho Do".

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese.htm

Although Sino-Vietnamese is collectively called Chu Nom in Vietnam, technically this is Chu Nho method (that is pronouncing Chinese characters based on approximate Vietnamese phonetics of Chinese renditions). Since Chinese character system is also an evolving organic writing system, Vietnam created its own unique Chinese character set in past centuries, this system is called Chu Nom (FYI, Japan also use this method, but they call it Kokuji or National Characters).

Chu Nom
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chunom.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_Nom

Chu Nho
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%E1%BB%AF_nho

Temple hall cross section, front entrance temple spire to left. Windows decorated with floral and Chinese character motifs. Given Vietnam tropical climate, all windows are open to outside for ventilation (much like Hawaii). Vietnamese often remarked they can spot a non-local (be it foreigners or even Vietnamese-Americans) from afar simply by the attaire they wear and how much sweat pours down from one's head. Tempered climate was such that it is a good idea to bring a hand towel to swipe off the sweat (mere handkerchief won't do).

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week644/feature.html

Window motif close-up, image of "All Seeing Eye" is major Cao Dai icon (which is also symbol adorn US dollar), triangle symbol refers to three amalgamated religions, and is also icon to strength and resilience.

Temple's inner worship hall, it's magnificence self evident. Floors, columns, altars filled with various motifs such as spiraling green dragon on each pillar. BTW, dragons in Asian culture derived from fish, legend has it strongest fish swimming to highest lake in Himalayas mountain range would be divinely-evolved in a dragon, hence rationale why dragon often associated with fish motifs.

In the hall, symbolic repetition of number "9" (Jiu) exists, which is socio-linguistic allusion to Chinese word for Longevity. Since Vietnam was ruled by China for over 1,000 years, many aspects of Chinese culture has been adopted in-masse into Vietnam. Hence, worship hall has 9 steps and 9 columns.

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/caodaism.html

Originally, temple magistrates ordered all visitors to walk in only specific areas, photos of worshippers are expressly "Verboten" (Forbidden in German) as it would superstitiously dilute their spiritual essence. Center aisle is reserved only for temple worshippers. Main altar upfront beyond red-golden chair is off-limits to all magistrates and worshippers since that is where their "All Seeing Eye" God and 9 of its pantheon reside.

Close-up of Cao Dai 9 pantheon statuettes immediately above altar, they include Buddha, Confucius, Chinese philosopher Lao Tse, East Asian Mother of the East (lady who carries potion of immortality), Chinese warrior Guan Kong (also called Guan Yu and Guan An) from China's 3-Kingdom era, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms

Immediately below statuettes is giant green globe with "All Seeing Eye". Eye represents God, which is a strong reference pre-Islamic Zoroastrism religion influences from India and Middle East.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrism

Story has it the Cao Dai founder was on Phu Quoc island (nowadays a major resort area) off southern Vietnam in Gulf of Thailand, when one day towards twilight he encountered a giant eye viewing him from the heavens. He feared it was a demon until the eye spoke that it was God and wanted him to unify world's divergent religions into a common harmony. Nowadays, Cai Dai is basically divided into two branches, one group worship in established temple complexes, while other group worship spiritually without such temporal grandeur.

Three life-size statues at front of temple entrance, figures represent 3 of its founder dressed in imperial-era ropes of court monarch and sages. Giant inscription behind monarch is Indian Sanskrit characters for spiritual energy (Sanskrit is original language of Buddhism). 7 elongated brown snakes wrapped around monarch statue, 3 behind him, 2 to the sides, and 2 pointed below in front… they all represent various vices and virtues of mankind (piety, greed, lust, charity, etc). Honorific Chinese characters adorn on long brown plaques and yellow flag banners. In fact, red Chinese characters on right yellow banner is "Up Birth" or "Acendency (towards heaven)".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit

Lingual note, "Acedency" character is pronounced Shang Sheng in Chinese, Thuong Sinh in Vietnamese, and Ue Umare in Japanese. Vietnam uses Traditional Chinese characters, hence could be read by folks from Taiwan - Hong Kong - Japan - Korea and ethnic Chinese groups in SE Asia, Americas, Europe, Australia. China uses Simplified Chinese characters, although China is trying to get United Nations to formally adopt its Simplified Chinese characters as sole Chinese characters to be used in international translation, it possesses an inferiority complex since that character system was only invented since late-1950s, not to mention one could not read ancient Chinese text written some 2,000 years ago if China's character system was solely used.

http://www.chinese-outpost.com/language/characters/traditional-vs-simplified-chinese-characters.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_character

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Chinese_character

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-round_simplified_Chinese_character

This is running lingual battle is similar to clash between Southern Vietnamese and Northern Vietnamese on different word spelling (ex. Saigon's airport name via southern Tan Son Nhut versus northern dialect Tan Son Nhat spelling) and noun usage (ex. pineapple via southern Tom versus northern Dua).

Cao Dai is viewed by some as an amalgamated religion (combining aspects of Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity), while others view them as a cult with voodoo rituals, so take your pick. Given wide Vietnamese diaspora since 1975, Cai Dai is also practiced in Americas, Australia, Europe, and other Southeast Asian countries.

At Cai Dai ceremony commencement, all visitors ushered up to upper balcony. White robe without hoods are regular worshippers, hooded color robed folks are magistrates. Each person at one of 8 levels represented by seniority (every 10 years you get to sit one level up). One was not suppose to take photos of worshippers, but we witnessed other western tourist ignoring request, thus "When in Rome"... we started snapping photos ourselves.

Most-senior magistrates sat at 8th level, 9th level is off-limits to all worshippers since that is where the deities reside. Spiral dragon column on left has preaching tower akin to Catholic and Islamic temple layout. BTW, there are Islamic worshippers throughout Vietnam, people from former Champa Kingdom or Indian merchants centuries past.... they reside in Vietnam since being Moslems they are heavily discriminated against in very staunch pro-Buddhism Cambodia and Thailand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champa

Dragon funeral barge passing in front of temple entrance, alluding to its Chinese funeral ceremony influences. In rural areas, one can see push-pull funeral barges of this type, in cities they revamp dragon art-deco facade onto mini-van and it becomes defacto funeral barge. One does not see traditional western station wagon hearses in Vietnam.

Also, in southern Vietnam rural areas, common scene to witness above ground graves cast in concrete. Given region's monsoon season and high water table, any below-ground coffin will readily be unearthed. In addition, these graves are often placed in front of former owner's home so that their spouse or children can take-care of the grave and offer daily prayer. A scene that will seem quite un-natural given America's suburban sprawl.

Last but not least, these images instinctively miffed me, namely Communist party symbols all over worship arena. By Vietnam Communist law, all religions must show allegiance to Vietnamese Communist Party first and foremost by hanging a commie flag on top of all worship facilities or adore Communist symbols (such as Yellow Star or picture of Communist leader Ho Chi Minh) in its locale. Thus firm conclusion that Communists are bad Marketers since they mundanely and monotonously regurgitate the same old boring message decades after decades…yawn !

Vietnam Trip 2007 - intro

2007-06-01T13:12:00.000-06:00

Just got back from a 2-week trip with family to Vietnam, visited relatives in Saigon, then a big roadtrip through Mekong Delta region and Phu Quoc Island resort off Gulf of Thailand. Many stories to share, will post photos and comments on each city we visited. We visited Saigon (nowadays called by Viet Commies as Ho Chi Minh city, but is still brand recognized worldwide as Saigon), then the Mekong Delta cities of My Tho, Vinh Long, Can Tho, Chau Doc, Ha Tien, Rach Gia, and then over to Dao Phu Quoc (island Phu Quoc). Here are some upfront commentaries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_delta

Vietnam is basically a cash-based economy (unless you plan to vacation in 5-star hotels, then credit cards accepted). You must convert USD Uncle Sam dollars into local VND Vietnam Dong currency, rate is astonishingly $1 to over 16,000 Dongs ! This means your buck goes far in Vietnam.... things are cheap ! But being a Commie country, they monotonously leverage mundane mass-marketing meaning ex-commie party boss Ho Chi Minh photo is everywhere, bookstores - post office - currency, etc. (they were still playing Ho Chi Minh furneral oldes on TV who died in early 1970s... my reaction was... dude, bury the guy and let me see Vietnamese version of Bay Watch ). Hence, we call VND Dong currency "Uncle Ho's". Joke from Vietnamese-Americans that is all Americans become instant millionaires in Vietnam...namely when you convert $100 into VND Dongs, you become an instant millionaire... you get 1.6 million Dongs !

http://www.xe.com/

View of Saigon's main market called Ben Thanh, it is in touristy part of town, lots of bargins and wheeling and dealing, such as watches, jewlery, clothing, exotic food items (make sure your stomach can handle exotic food, one look and you will see FDA does not operate here, but old sayings holds true... what it doesn't kill ya will make you stronger !). There is no air conditioning, only window vents, thus you are going to sweat your buttocks off in there (and throughout Vietnam as well). You better bring extra towls in your pocket to swipe the sweat. Bargins in Saigon is quite sweet (thanks to Uncle Sam currency power over Uncle Ho)... I got 7 watches, 2 complete perscription glasses, 5 polo knock-off shirts, and couple of TV shirts (brand label 333 Beer and Tiger Beer). Like the Vietnamese street walk salesman repeated to us foreigners "Good Deals.. come get some get some get some"

http://www.vietscape.com/travel/saigon/benthanh.html

Exotic medicines also common place in Vietnam, these are at a Saigon relative's apt pad. These contain Cobra and Scorpion extracts, it gets you pimped and pumped, good for body blood circulation, also can be used a love potions ! (this along with Seahorse extracts drinks). The 1-foot containers here are worth about a few thousand Uncle Sam dollars each !

Order in Chaos, you know you are in the 3rd-world when no one follows traffic rules. It is a mass free-for-all driving in all directions. Average American would shutter at this thought, but there is semblence of order. Folks just mossy along in predictable pace so that mass chaos does have traffic momentum. Crossing the street is also an artform (for those of us raised in Asia, we know traffic never stops for pedestrians), key caveat is not to run or sprint across (the drivers will be not able to properly gauge your crossing speed and you will get whacked), but rather slowly and consistently mossy across like a turtle.

More stories later when I post more photos....

L.