The Interpretation of Funerals in Vietnamese Bùi Huy Tùng's Tứ Lễ Lược Tập - Also Discussing its Relationship with Thọ Mai Gia Lễ

Title

The Interpretation of Funerals in Vietnamese Bùi Huy Tùng's Tứ Lễ Lược Tập - Also Discussing its Relationship with Thọ Mai Gia Lễ

Author

Po-Hung Liu

Page

107-164

DOI

10.6163/TJEAS.202606_23(1).0004

Abstract

This article focuses on Bùi Huy Tùng and his work Tứ Lễ Lược Tập from the Nguyễn Dynasty in Vietnam. Considering the cultural context of Vietnamese rituals and the proportion of the four rites covered in the book, the discussion is specifically on Bùi Huy Tùng's interpretation of funeral rituals. The goals are to establish the book's position in the development of Vietnamese family rituals and to analyze its connection with the traditional Thọ Mai Gia Lễ used in Vietnamese society to understand how Bùi Huy Tùng reconciled Chinese and Vietnamese customs.The article first introduces Bùi Huy Tùng's life and the background of the book's creation. Then, it explores the content of the funeral rituals, focusing on three aspects: folk customs, techniques and numerology, and ritual theory. Additionally, the article uses the examples of the "Yu" and "Dan" ceremonies to examine the relationship between Tứ Lễ Lược Tập and Thọ Mai Gia Lễ. Zhu Xi's Family Rituals had already influenced the ceremonial system by the later Lê Dynasty, spreading from Huế to the south in a fragmented manner. Bùi Huy Tùng, based in Hanoi in northern Vietnam, joined with other scholars in Thăng Long to form the Hội Hướng Thiện, aiming to promote true knowledge and change academic practices. Combining local cultural sites like văn chỉ, the Như Nguyệt đường Bookstore, he engaged in literary and educational activities such as book compilation. Bùi Huy Tùng's stance of "rituals arise from the heart" allowed him to extensively gather and select various ritualistic theories without avoiding popular customs. His book extensively cites and supplements local ritual books like Thọ Mai Gia Lễ, with minimal criticism, and heavily draws from Confucian ritual theory and classical studies, such as Xu Qianxue's Dulitongkao. This approach aimed to enrich Vietnamese family rituals by supplementing Thọ Mai Gia Lễ. Bùi Huy Tùng's extensive use of ritualistic resources to interpret family rituals highlights the importance of documentary research in the development of family rituals within the East Asian cultural sphere, which deserves attention.

Keyword

Bùi Huy Tùng, Tứ Lễ Lược Tập, Thọ Mai Gia Lễ, Vietnam, Family Rituals

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