III. THE
OPENNESS AND DYNAMISM OF COCHINCHINESE VILLAGES
1.
THE OPENNESS OF COCHINCHINESE VILLAGES
a. An open terrain
According to Huỳnh Lứa, in Cochinchina, especially the Mekong
Delta, villages “are generally formed
along rivers and arroyos. Often along
both waterway banks sit hamlets with no surrounding bamboo hedges. Usually in the middle of orchards are houses facing a waterway with passing-by boats.
Behind the houses are rice fields.” [1]
In more details, Thạch Phương divides Cochinchinese villages
into four main groups:
i. “The most common
group includes villages lying along waterways. In the villages, orchards join
orchards or alternate with rice fields.”
ii. “The development of
roads gave rise to roadside villages where, unlike the first group, houses and
orchards do not join together.”
iii. “The third group
includes villages found at river mouths
or meeting places of flows (under influence of tides). These places tend to
develop into marketplaces or towns where stores, inns, warehouses and repair
shops were built.”
iv. In eastern Cochinchina, “villages emerge on hills or raised level areas…” [2]
Lacking bamboo hedges, Cochinchinese villages are not
isolated or separated from one another like those in Northern
Vietnam .[3]
On the openness of Cochinchinese villages in comparison with
Tonkinese ones, worth noting is an opinion given by Trần Đình Hượu, an author
from the North. He considers each northern village as an island isolated by
bamboo ramparts with only one road leading to a village brick gate with
ironwood doors. Therefore, Tonkinese villages look more defensive, unfriendly,
and less hospitable.[4] In
his Paysans du Delta Tonkinois, P.
Gourou also observes that each village in Tonkin
is a closed community surrounded by bamboos and each house has its own hedge or
surrounding wall.[5]
b. Open institutions
In addition to their open terrain, Cochinchinese villages
also enjoy open institutions.
Explaining why Cochinchinese villages enjoy institutions
absent in Tonkin and Annam ,
Thạch Phương argues that Cochinchina was the new land reclaimed by migrants,
and “its villages, therefore, have a
shorter history in comparison with those in Tonkin and Annam
Cochinchinese villages have no village codes, divine legends,
and records.[7] Thus,
according to Thạch Phương, “Cochinchinese
villages, even the quite long-established ones, have no strict institutions.
(…) In general, unlike those in the North and Central
Vietnam , Cochinchinese villagers are not bound by any strict codes
and regulations.” [8]
Sharing the above view, Huỳnh Lứa argues that villages in the
newly reclaimed land “were not bound to
complicated and strict village codes and practices. There was no discrimination
between age-old settlers and newcomers. After the Nguyễn dynasty had
established and consolidated its administrative machinery, the situation
underwent some changes. However, in general, southern village institutions were
still looser than those in the Northern delta.” [9]
2. THE DYNAMISM OF COCHINCHINESE VILLAGES
Most Tonkinese villages are age-old. Each often has its own
traditions and villagers are proud to preserve their old traditions. Thus,
Tonkinese villages are often communities of some clans. Contrarily, Cochinchina
is the newly reclaimed region attracting people of diverse origins. Therefore,
Cochinchinese villages have dynamism as a common attribute of newly reclaimed
regions. The main factor creating this dynamism is migrations, and nothing
else.
Historical documents provide specific evidence of this
dynamism. Indeed, after suppressing uprisings in An Định village (Châu Đốc
province), with a view to control the village population, French colonials
carried out a census in 1887. The result showed that 407 families in the
village had come from 13 different Cochinchinese provinces. Following their
tracks backwards, the very origin of those migrants was Central
Vietnam .[10]
Due to their diversified origins, most families in
Cochinchina lack genealogies. Sơn Nam
explains, “There are almost no
genealogies in Southern Vietnam [Cochinchina]. Pioneers reclaiming this region kept no
records in order to hide their identity as a precaution against the feudal law
executing a culprit’s three families (i.e., those of his father, his mother,
and his wife).” [11]
The agricultural dynamism of Cochinchinese villages can be
found in phụ canh rice fields, which
are almost rare in Tonkin . What are phụ canh rice fields? Trần Thị Thu Lương
explains, “Phụ canh rice fields are those
owned by non-natives of the hamlet or village where the fields lie.” [12]
Nguyễn Công Bình writes, “While
phụ canh rice fields only exist in
some villages in the Red River Delta, they are widespread in the Mekong Delta, where peasants often own rice fields far
from their native village. Several families possess such fields lying in other
villages, communes, cantons, districts or even provinces. One family may
simultaneously own several phụ canh rice
fields in various hamlets, villages, cantons, or districts.” [13]
Studying the land registers of 92 communes where private
fields were scattered among 8 Cochinchinese cantons in the early 19th century,
Trần Thị Thu Lương finds out phụ canh rice
fields existing in 76 out of 92 communes. Their owners amount to 1,159,
accounting for 24.2% of 4,793 peasants. The total area of phụ canh rice fields adds up to 17,635.6 hectares, accounting for
28.35% of private fields (62,202.3 hectares).[14]
From the result of her study of Cochinchinese land in the
19th century, Trần Thị Thu Lương observes, “The
presence of phụ canh rice fields in
then Cochinchina reflects the openness of the region in terms of land ownership
interchanged among hamlets and communes. It also reflects the strong mobility
of Southern [Cochinchinese] peasants.”
[15]
● In short, openness and dynamism are characteristics of
Cochinchinese villages as well as those of Cochinchinese people. This fact of
course results in their open-mindedness and readiness to contact and accept
what is new. Cochinchinese people are, as a result, easy to tolerate, admit,
and actively support the new. Their mentality and behaviour are most favourable
for the birth of a new religion like Caodaism.
Indeed, instead of being allergic to the new, Cochinchinese
people were prompt and eager to follow, en masse, such a new religion as
Caodaism. They quickly shaped an extraordinary phenomenon in history, which was
later called a “new wave” or a “movement” by Western scholars. These two terms
might not be appropriate when referring to a religion, but they to some extent
reflect the fast spread of Caodaism in Cochinchina.
HUỆ KHẢI
[1] [Thạch
Phương 1992: 38].
[2] [Thạch
Phương 1992: 55].
[3] [Nguyễn
Phương Thảo 1994: 10].
[4] [Đinh
Văn Hạnh 1999: 301].
[5] [Nguyễn
Phương Thảo 1994: 9].
[6] [Thạch
Phương 1992: 59].
[7] [Đinh
Văn Hạnh 1999: 302].
[8] [Thạch
Phương 1992: 55].
[9] [Thạch
Phương 1992: 38].
[10] [Phan
Quang 1981: 214].
[11] [Sơn Nam
[12] [Trần
Thị Thu Lương 1995: 177].
[13] [Nguyễn
Công Bình 1995: 77].
[14] [Trần
Thị Thu Lương 1995: 178-179].
[15] [Trần
Thị Thu Lương 1995: 182].
