Some comparisons on goddess worship in Vietnamese - Korean folk culture

Abstract

In the spiritual life of Asian agricultural residents, especially residents of monsoon Asian ethnic groups who grow wet rice (including the Vietnamese and Koreans), worshiping goddesses is a quite common phenomenon and has existed for a long time. Over thousands of years of history forming and developing the cultures of the two ethnic groups, Vietnam and Korea, the custom of worshiping goddesses (of natural or human origin - they can be historical figures or historical myths) has become one of the typical cultural features. Along with many other types of folk beliefs, goddess worship has been playing a certain role in the spiritual life of Vietnamese and Korean residents, contributing to molding the traditional cultural values of each country, while creating common denominators in the cultures of the two nations. Through the issue of comparative research on a number of aspects such as origin, role, function, number of goddesses along with offerings, worship rituals, objects of worship practice, etc., as well as a few other characteristics of this type of worship between the two peoples, this article will point out some similarities and differences in goddess worship among Vietnamese and Koreans. Besides, the research results also initially explain the causes of those similarities and differences.