------Maritime Frontiers in Asia------
Champa and Vietnamese Sea Deities
Niu Junkai
Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou
On the east coastland of Indochina, Vietnamese and Chams have confronted one another for more than one thousand years, this long competition affected ancient Vietnamese culture greatly. When Vietnam annexed Champa land, they also absorbed many elements of Champa culture. In this paper, I want to discuss how Champa affected Vietnamese sea deity culture.
How Vietnameseconquered Champa
When Vietnam got its independence from China, to its south, Champa had become a strong confederate for several hundreds of years. The new regime of Kinh people, confronted a strong Cham confederate, which extended from current Quang Binh to Bien Hoa.
At the end of 2nd century Cham regime Linyi(Lam Ap林邑) was built in Han dynasty frontier, todayThua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam—Da Nang. The new Cham regime spread its domain constantly, in the midst of 4th century, the Linyi king Fan Wen(Pham Van范文) conquered other neighboring Cham regimes on the central Vietnam coastland, established Cham Negara—Champa. After decades of years, nearly in the year 400 king Bhadravarman established a famous Linga god--Bhadresvara in the My Son valley, in the second half of 6th century king Sambhvarman re-established the Linga god and renamed it Sambhu-Bhadresvara, the god gradually became Cham’s most famous god and Champa’s Negara god, My Son valley became Champa sanctuary. Following political unification, Champa religion was united under same god’s safeguard, Siva linga godSambhu-Bhadresvara. Nearly in the 9th century, the most important god in the south of Champa, the goddesskauthresvari transformed to be Bhagavati kauthresvari, indicatingSiva’s wife Uma, Bhagavati.
Since Linyi was built in the central Vietnam, it began to expand to south and to north.In the south, it annexed other Cham regimes, including current Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa and Thuan Hai.In the north, Linyi occupied Chinese Ri Nan prefecture, current Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue,so we can say that Linyi and Champa had a Northward March(Bac Tien).Chinese states couldn’t stop Champa’s attack; only after Vietnam got independence, the Vietnamesegradually changed the situation.
Although many scholars said we should revise understanding VietnameseSouthward March(Nam Tien), I still use the word Southward March(Nam Tien) to describe the relation between Vietnam and Champa. Why Vietnamese had a Southward March, we usually concluded that it has three reasons: 1). Crowdedness in the Red River Delta due to high growth of population; 2).To escape Chinese threat; 3).Vietnamese learned from Chinese to ‘civilize’ those ‘uncivilized’ people. Why couldn’t Champa resist Vietnamese attack? I believe that the most important reason is that Vietnam had a Chinese style government, which had a more efficient social organization than Champa. Military technology was another important reason, since 15th century, Vietnamese acquired better gunpowder technology.
To conquer Champa(Trinh Chiem征占) was an important topic in Vietnamese cultural history, we should conclude main events in conquering Champa at first.
The first Vietnamese Trinh Chiem was launched by Le Hoan in 982, Vietnamese army defeated Champa，killed the Cham general Be Mi Thue篦眉税，destroyed the Champa capital and ancestral temple. And then a Vietnamese general Luu Ke Tong刘继宗usurped Champa throne for several years.
In 1044, Ly Thai Tong led Vietnamese to conquer Champa. His troops occupied the Champa capital, killed the Cham king Sa Dau乍斗and thirty thousands Cham soldiers, captured five thousand Chams, including queen My E媚醢 and many members of king’s family.In 1069, Ly Thanh Tong launched a new conquest against Champa. His army captured king Che Cu制矩and fifty thousand Cham soldiers. The Cham king traded three prefectures Dia Ly地哩，Ma Linh麻令，and Bo Chinh布政，as ransom for his freedom, today’s Quang Bin and Quang Tri.This was the beginning of Vietnameseannexation of Champa territory. Ly Thuong Kiet was a pioneer general in this battle, because theChams wanted to get back three prefectures, he had to lead two other campaigns against Champa battle again in 1075 and 1104.
In 1252, Tran Thai Tong led theVietnamese army attack Champa, captured queen Bo Da La 布耶罗and many Cham people. In 1306, VietnameseThai Thuong Hoang married princess Huyen Tran玄珍公主to the Champa king Che Man制旻. At this time, Champa ceded the two prefectures of O Chau乌州and Ly Chau哩州, today’sThua Thien-Hue, as the bride-price. The Tran dynasty renamed the two prefectures Thuan Chau顺州 and Hoa Chau化州. In December 1311, Tran Anh Tong attacked Champa and captured king Che Chi制至in May, 1312. In 1318 and 1326, Tran dynasty attacked Champa again. In 1353, Tran troops attacked Champa, but didn’t succeed. In 1368, some Vietnamese troops wanted to occupy Chiem Dong占洞, but was defeated. In 1376, Tran Thuan Tong led Vietnamese troops by himself to conquer Champa, but was killed by the Cham in January, 1377, and many Vietnamese generals were captured. This was an significant loss for the Vietnamese troops.
In 1402，the second Ho emperor Ho Han Thuong attacked Champa, annexed Thiem Dong and Co Luy Dong古垒洞，then changed them to four prefectures:Thang Chau升州, Hoa Chau华州, Tu Chau思州, Nghia Chau义州. These four prefectures are today Quang Nam, Da Nang and Quang Nghia.
In the second half of 15th century, Vietnamese power was superior to that of Champa. In 1471, Le Thanh Tong pushed the Vietnamese frontier more southward, moved to mountain Da Bia, today frontier between province Phu Yen and province Khanh Hoa. Champa territory only remained ancient Kauthara and Panduranga.
In 1653，the Champa king Po Nraup（Ba Tam婆杺）led his army attack the Vietnamese across mountain Da Bia, but they were defeated by Nguyen generals, then the Vietnamese army pushed southward to River Phan Rang, the Quang Nam regime annexed the land of the north and the east of River Phan Rang, ancient Kauthara. In 1692, the Champa king Po Saut(Ba Tranh婆挣) led the Cham people to revolt against the Vietnamese, but was defeated once again, then the Nguyen government abolished the title of Champa kingdom Chiem Thanh占城，established a local government Tran Thuan Thanh顺城镇. From this time Champa was no longer an independent country, only a semi autonomous regime.
When Tay Son dynasty fought with Quang Nam Nguyen family in south of Vietnam, as battlefield, Champa was erased actually. After Nguyen Phu Anh built Nguyen Dynasty, he rebuilt semi-autonomous Champa. When the Chams revolted against Vietnamese government after emperor Gia Long died, the new emperor Minh Manh implemented Cai Thu Qui Luu改土归流 policy in Champa and annexed Champa fully.
Vietnamese deities in conquering Champa
When Vietnam began Southward March, Champa didn’t cease its Northward March. In Vietnamese historical records, we can see Champa’s continuous raids on Vietnamese coastal areas. Before 15th century, there was a close game between Champa and Vietnam. Even in the second half of 14th century, Champa had superior power toVietnam, Tran Thuan Tong’s march had a disastrous defeat, Champa king Che Bong Nga制蓬峨led Cham troopsto attack Hanoi several times. In fact, his Northward March led to decline of Tran dynasty. Only by the Le Thanh Tong period, Vietnamhad finally an absolute advantage in the competition.
In the pre-modern period, Vietnam had three political topics on its frontier, to resist Northern China(Khang Bac抗北)，to conquer southern Champa(Trinh Chiem征占), and to comfort western Barbarian(Phu Man抚蛮). Vietnamese didn’t have an advantage in fighting with China and with Champa, so they had to ask for help from supernatural power. There were many tales which described deities that helped Vietnamese in fighting with Chinese or Cham, but there were few tales about comforting barbarian. The wars between Champa and Vietnam were violent and tragic, the Vietnamese often appealed to supernatural power, asked for help of deities. Although some tales are fantastic, they reflected that it was an arduous task for Vietnamese to conquer Champa.
Vietnamese divide gods and deities into three parts: celestial gods(Thien Than), natural deities(Nhien Than) and human deities（Nhan Than). All of three kinds of deities appeared in helpingVietnameseconquering Champa.The God appeared only once, the emperor Le Thanh Tong was also a famous immortal, Dao Yen Chu Nhan道庵主人, it was said that the God gave him Champa as a gift, so he could conquer Champa and annexed most of its territory[1]. Because the sea route was more important than land to conquer Champa, every Vietnamese emperor who led army by himself went southward by ship, not by land route.Many of deities helping in the conquest of Champa were sea deities or semi sea deities.
In Vietnamese stories, there were legends of 18 generations ancient kings Hung Vuong, who ruled Vietnam nearly for two thousands years, from 21st century BC to 3rd century BC. Although Hung Vuong weren’t in same period with Champa, however there were some tales in which Hung Vuong had conquered Champa. A famous Vietnamesepriest and sea deity, Immortal Calmerof the Waves (Ap Lang Chan Nhan压浪真人) , once helped Hung Vuong to conquer Champa[2]. In another tale, the 18th Hung Vuong’s two sons-in-law, mountain deity Tan Vien and Nguyen Minh led Vietnamese troops to defeat Champa, Nguyen Minh was appointed to be General of Champa Seaport Ai[3].
After Vietnamese got independence in 10th century, there were two forms of the deities that appeared in conquering Champa: when Vietnamese emperors led army march to Champa, some deities appeared before emperors and told the emperor he or she would help Vietnamese in conquering Champa, after the victory, the emperor would build or rebuild the temple of that deity; some generals who made great contributions in conquering Champa became deities after the war.
When Ly Thai Tong was still a prince, he was appointed commander to conquer Champa. When his army arrived in Nam Thuong, he dreamed that a general came and said he was Mountain Deity Dong Co铜鼓山神, he would help his conquering Champa. After the victory, Thai Tong built a temple for the deity. When his father Thai To died, the deity helped Thai Tong in getting the throne[4]. In 1044, emperor Ly Thai Tong conquered Champa, a water deity Hoang Dau Nhue Thuy Dai Long Than Vuong黄头锐水大龙神王 helped him subdue the waves[5]. When Ly Thanh Tong conquered Champa, he shipped southward to Sea Hoan Seaport but encountered a storm. A goddess helped him calm the waves and helped conquer Champa, she was Sprit of South Country—the deity Hau Thu后土. After his victory, Thanh Tong built her temple in capital and adorned her as spirit of Vietnam[6]. When Tran Anh Tong conquered Champa, he met Four Goddesses of the South Sea(Nam Hai Tu Vi Thanh Nuong南海四位圣娘), the deities told the emperor that they were conferredas sea deities by God, they were glad to help him calm the waves and conquer Champa. After the war, the deities were first confirmed by Vietnamese government[7]. Le Thanh Tong once asked for the water deity Quang Bac Dai Vuong广博大王 to help conquer Champa[8].Paragon of chastity Mme Vu, after she became deity, also helped Le Thanh Tong conquer Champa[9].
Some Vietnamese generals or officials made contributions in conquering Champa and were rewarded after the war, many of them became deity Nhan Than. Prince Ly Hoang李晃 was Ly Thai Tong’s som, when Ly Thai Tong conquered Champa he was governor of Nghia Yen，he prepared enough materials and was praised greatly. After 150 years, he helped Tran Anh Tong conquering Champa as a deity. Some Vietnamese tales said he once fought with Cham troops in Binh Dinh Mountain Tam Toa三座山, so he also was a warlord and one of his deity names was King of Tam Toa, but there wasn’t record in Vietnamese official annals. Other well-known generals, such as Le Phung Hieu黎奉晓, Ly Thuong Kiet李常杰, Tran Khat Chan陈渴真, were famous for their contribution in conquering Champa and became deity after their death.
Champa gods and Vietnamese sea deities
Many Vietnamese deities came from Champa, such as a famous goddess Madame Chastity (Chan Liet Phu Nhan贞烈夫人), who was King Sa Dau’s queen My E. When Vietnamese army killed her husband the Champa king, she was captured by Emperor Ly Thai Tong. On the way back to Thang Long, Ly Thai Tong asked queen My E serve for him, the queen said that she was only a Champa queen, she wouldn’t be others’ wife, and then threw herself in the river to commit suicide. Many people who lived nearby often heard sad cry in the river, so they built a temple for the queen. Several years later she appeared before Ly Thai Tong, and the Vietnamese government admitted her as a deity[10].
In central and south Vietnam, there are two important sea deities, Thien Y A Na天依阿那and Nam Hai Ngoc Lang Ton Than南海玉鳞尊神. Both originated in Champa.
SeveralVietnamese scholars havestudied Nam Hai Ngoc Lang Ton Than, the god of the whale cult.In some temples，the god had the title Cu Toc巨族，which means “huge race.” In Vietnamese literature, it was also called Mercy Fish (Nhan Ngu仁鱼) or Moral Fish (Duc Ngu德鱼)，commemorating its merit of helping people. Certainly whale cult was from Archipelago and Malay people, including the Cham people. In Champa manuscript, there was a story that the Champa king Po Riyak of 17th century was rescued by the god. In Vietnamese geography book Dai Nam Nhat Tong Chi大南一统志, there was a story that a rich merchant who was rescued by the Moral Fish[11]. Most of temples of Nam Hai Ngoc Lang Ton Than located in central Vietnam, the past Champa land, Vietnamese Kinh fisherman took the cult southward to south of Vietnam, even island Phu Quoc in Siam Gulf. The cult extended northward to Quang Ninh coastal land too, near Chinese frontier. After the whale cult was absorbed by the Kinh people, it was gradually modified by Vietnamese rites. Generally, when Kinh fisherman hold ceremonies(Le Hoi) for the god, there are four or five rite steps in Vietnamese whale cult temple, including Ruoc Nuoc—welcome the water, Moc Du—clean the altar and statue, Te Quan Gia—reinstall the altar and redress the statue, Ruoc Than—invite other gods and spirits visit, Hem—prepare sacrifice for god. The Vietnamese people didn’t destroy Champa whale cult, they absorbed and transformed into Vietnamese belief[12].
Before 1471, there were two Negara safeguard gods in Champa. One was Siva Linga god--Sambu-Bhadrevara, that was Siva, located in northern sanctuary My Son;the other wasgoddess Bhagavati kauthresvari, Siva’s sakti, Uma, located in southern sanctuary, Nha Trang, she was Negara safeguard goddess. After 1471,when north of Champa, including My Son, was annexed by the Vietnamese, the Negara safeguard god couldn’t safeguard its sanctuary and Champa, the Chams abandoned Siva cult and Hinduism. The south safeguard goddess Bhagavati kauthresvari became the sole Negara safeguard god and the most important god, the Chams called her Yang Po Inu Nagar in Cham language,for short Po Nagar, but they didn’t believe that she was Siva’s wife yet. When Vietnamese met the goddess, they called her celestial god Inu Nagar, and translated into VietnamChinese Thien Y A Na, Thien means sky, celestial, Y A Na is Inu Nagar. After Vietnamese occupied Champa territory, they didn’t destroy Po Nagar temple, they adored her as Vietnamese goddess.
In ancient Champa kingdom, there were dualistic cults, two religious centers were My Son sanctuary and Nha Trang Po Nagar temples. My Son symbolized Mountain cult, Father cult, Areca clan, North Champa and valley, Nha Trang Po Nagar temples symbolized Sea cult, Mother cult, Coconut clan, South Champa and riverside[13]. Most of Po Nagar temples located in the seaside, so Vietnamese people regarded her as sea deities at first. The Vietnamese transformed her into Vietnamese style deity. For example, in Cham tales, the goddess has 97 husbands and 39 daughters, however in Vietnamese tales, she has only one husband and two children, must abide by Confucian rules[14]. Po Nagar also became an immortal in Vietnamese Taoism, her name was Ngoc Tien Tien Chu玉仙仙主[15].
As sea deities, in central and south of Vietnam, the importance of Ngoc Lang Ton Than and Thien Y A Na surpass other Vietnamese sea deities. In this area, only Matsu, Queen of Heaven, has the same importance as the two deities, but Matsu was Chinese sea deity and was adorned mostly by Chinese. Other Vietnamese sea deities who originated in Vietnamese society, such as Ap Lang Chan Nhan, Nam Hai Tu Vi Thanh Nuong, etc. were worshiped mostly in north of Vietnam. Madame Thai Duong(Thai Duong Phu Nhan邰阳夫人)originated in central Vietnam and was worshiped only on the coastland of Thua Thien—Hue. After Vietnam captured new land from Champa, the Vietnamese government didn’t change social structure greatly, they adopted many elements of Cham culture, it was helpful for them to govern and assimilate Cham, also helped maintain social stability.