During this trip to Saigon (July 11-15) the most visible manifestation of popular religion is the shrine found in many homes and businesses - the shrine dedicated to the worship of gods of earth and wealth. The shrines are placed right on the ground - a significant location indicating their "earthly" connection since gods are generally enshrined on higher levels.
Several gods appear to be honored at these shrines. I'll start with the two gods represented in the form of two small statues. The god seen seated on the right is a grandfatherly figure. He is often called "earth god" but a more apt translation of is "god of the locale." He is the god that guards the locale, the area. He is thus the guardian of the wealth and resources rooted in the area, the specific earth in which a home or business stands. He is also a sentry of sorts - watching the comings and goings of the area, keeping negative and interfering forces from causing harm, and ensuring the general security and peacefulness of the area. In Vietnam, this deity is identified as Ong Than Tai. In China, he's Dudi Gong. The Chinese Malaysian equivalent is Tua Pek Kong (literally, "Elder Uncle Deity."). It should be pointed out that Vietnamese seem to consider Ong Than Tai as the "wealth god" and the other as the "earth god." Or perhaps he is both. After all, all wealth is generated from the earth, the soil.
Images of Ong Than Tai in Vietnam are always accompanied by another god known as Ong Dia. Some sources on the web say that he is the "earth god" of the Vietnamese. He is a portly looking guy with a distinctive mustache and holding a sack. Iconographically, he closely resembles an ancient Indian Buddhist deity that was once widely venerated in China but today is mostly known in Japan as Daitoku-ten - the chief god of a group of "Seven Gods of Wealth." In this context, he dispenses wealth from the sack in his hand.
(Note: In this picture, their sitting positions have been transposed. This is the only case I've seen on this trip.)
Aside from the statues of the 2 gods, behind them is a red wooden tablet engraved with Chinese words in gold. Identical tablets are enshrined in many Chinese homes in China and around the world. The tablet is dedicated to: "Dragon-deities of the Five Directions and Five Earths" (note the five cups of tea offered) and "Lords of the Earth, Wealth-deities of the Front and Back" (front and back of homes and businesses). In Malaysia, instead of reading "Lords of the Earth, Wealth-deities of the Front and Back," it says "Chinese and Malay Lords of the Earth, Wealth-deities." One can do some pretty interesting social-political readings of this change - issues of Chinese ethnic identity in a Malay-Muslim majority that is Malaysia. But that's another blog (or paper!). And for someone else to do. For sure.
Apparently, these wealth and earth lords are into garlic - bulbs of them. It'll probably make them very happy to take them to all those Garlic Fests found across the US. One way to get on their good side.
Side note: Some Buddhists believe that only ghosts and ghouls are particularly into garlic....
