Jade Emperor Pagoda, HCMC | Vietnam

Though Buddhism took off in Vietnam during the 3rd century BC, and is still the largest organized religion in the country, Taoism and the concept of the Jade Emperor entered Vietnam between three and four hundred years later (during Chinese occupation) and have become an integral part of Vietnamese folk religion.

In Chinese mythology, the Jade Emperor is the closest thing to what monotheistic Westerners would identify as God: the omnipotent ruler of heaven and earth, the precipitator of destiny and creator of life. Unlike in Western religion, the Jade Emperor has a backstory: it took him approximately 3.3 million years and several reincarnations to evolve from an untalented but benevolent local prince into a god, and an additional 9 trillion years spent fighting off evil to establish himself as the supreme god-king, ruling over the three realms (Heaven, Water, Hell).

Saigon’s Jade Emperor Pagoda was built in 1909 by the local Cantonese congregation. Though it’s on the opposite end of town from Cholon, it is right on the water, opposite the Nha Rong port; it was positioned to cater to a community actively involved in that era’s merchant trade. This temple is more famous than other temples constructed by 18th and 19th century Chinese immigrants, and I honestly can’t discern why. Yes, it has lovely woodwork, but so do others. I believe it is so popular due to the money ritual: supposedly giving a small donation to the City God, then rubbing his hand with red paper, will cause him to give the money back to you many times over.

The Jade Emperor’s birthday is the 9th day of the lunar year, so if you want to see monks and congregants in traditional dress kowtowing and chanting, that’s the best day to visit.

Pagoda Hopping in Cholon: Part 2, HCMC | Vietnam

Fifty years later, the Qing officially permitted the emigration of Chinese as per the first Treaty of Peking; additional tens of thousands moved to Cholon without giving up their Chinese nationality. Privileged over the native Vietnamese in the new French colonial system, these immigrants were typically single men who married local women, building the existing Sino-Vietnamese merchant class into an economic elite that dominated the finances of the South until reunification in 1975.

That’s one of the reasons the names for these places can be so confusing; they not only have a Chinese name and Vietnamese name, but are interchangeably called a guildhall, temple, assembly hall, pavillion, or pagoda. In China, these would be separate institutions within a community; in Cholon, the assembly halls are one stop shops, with most not more than a five minute walk from the next.

4. Ong Bon Pagoda - Nhi Phu Temple, 1765

(also known as Er Fu temple, Chauzhou Guild Hall and Sheng Mu temple)

Ni Phu (two cities) assembly hall was built by Hokkien immigrants from Xuanzhou and Zhangzhou. This is the only temple in Cholon where Ong Ban, the god of the soil, is worshipped. The best days to visit are the last day of the lunar year, and the second day of the new lunar year. On these days, traditional Nanyin music is performed on vintage instruments.

Next door is a high school built in the French colonial era that still teaches Chinese language classes; various Chinese dialects and standard Mandarin are still commonly spoken in Cholon, and the Chinese minority population here is still considered somewhat privileged and unassimilated. That said, the Hokkien worshippers at this pagoda are minorities even among the ethnic Chinese of Cholon, most of whom are Cantonese or Teochew.

5. Ming Dynasty Ancestors Village Hall, 1789

This temple is only open between 8:00 and 12:00 on weekdays, because there’s an elderly caretaker/tour guide (Mme. Vuong) who speaks English well, and this is when she prefers to volunteer. A lifelong worshipper here, she explains the history of the temple and its renovations. The temple was damaged in 1962 and the rear house was largely rebuilt at this time.

6. Sanshan Hokkien Temple, 1796

(also known as Hội Quán Tam Sơn, San Hui Temple, Fuzhou Guild Hall and 三山會館)

Built by immigrants from Fuzhou to worship the Lords of the 3 Mountains, this temple also holds a shrine to the goddess of fertility, Me Sanh, and is known locally as the right place to pray for a baby. When I was there, a couple of the tiniest puppies were cuddling in front of an altar.