History

Ancient Vietnamese societies and later kingdoms (before 111 BCE) worshipped various natural phenomena like mountains, rivers, etc. and spans from the early Bronze age (2000-1500 BCE) to the Iron Age (1000 BCE-200 CE). The Vietnamese believed that the dead could influence the living and families maintained altars to honor the deceased.

Because the early Vietnamese were primarily rice farmers, they relied heavily on rivers and fertile land to farm rice and sustain themselves. To have a good (crop) yield, people gave offerings to earth and water spirits or sacrificed buffalo in an attempt to appease or honor the spirits.

Chinese Domination

From (111 BCE to 938 CE) Vietnam saw China trying Sinicize Vietnam yet despite this Vietnam retained its culture, continued worshipping its spirit deities and instead merged its religion with various aspects of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Rule was briefly interrupted by the deified Trưng Sisters (successful, brief revolt which lasted for 3 years) and Lady Triệu (unsuccessful) who actively rebelled against the Chinese.

Dynastic Rule

After 938 CE, Vietnamese folk religion was left alone again since the Chinese were kicked out of Vietnam as a whole. The independent Vietnamese dynasties that replaced the Chinese started integration local deities into the state cult by officially recognizing folk deities to give themselves legitimacy and popularity among the populace.

During this time Đạo Mẫu (worship of mother goddesses) also started to develop, formalized under the Trần (1225-1400) and Lê (1428-1528, restored 1533-1788) dynasties.

Dynasties tried to centralize their rule in religion (among other things) yet many villages kept their autonomy, with villages having their own specific protector deity (often a deified hero, mythical figure or a local spirit) and family altars worshipping their own ancestors. Religion was also briefly persecuted during this period, with people like Confucian Lê Thánh Tông (who was the longest-serving emperor of the Lê dynasty and lived from 1442-1497) tried to suppress what he deemed to be superstitious practices, unfit for Confucian thought, but failed long-term due to strong village tradition.

French Rule

When the French held Vietnam as a colony (1858-1954), Catholic Christianity started to become promoted and standardized, with France favoring Catholic converts, giving anyone who converted government jobs, access to elite French-Catholic schools and a confiscation of temple lands, giving them to Catholic missions instead. Many Vietnamese nobles converted, took French names and a small number even gained partial French citizenship. Many villagers resisted converting and stayed true to their religion. Emphasis on many, not all.

Interestingly, the French left the ancestor worship aspect alone, seeing it as more of a culture thing than religious. Other Vietnamese started to blend Catholicism with Vietnamese folk religion, for example praying to saints for protection (as they did with local spirits) or in some rural areas where Catholic saints were equated to folk deities or village protectors.

Folk Religion and Communism

The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has been in power since 1945 (officially in 1954 and 1975 in the South too) and, influenced by Marxist-Leninist (communist ideology) saw religion as 'opium of the people' and in its early years saw folk religion as backward.

During the land reforms and collectivization of the 1950s and 1960s, the Communist Party destroyed or repurposed various temples and shrines and banned rituals/spirit worship for being too wasteful or feudal.

Đổi Mới

Vietnam's planned economy was failing and Vietnam saw food shortages, inflation and low productivity. The Communist Party, wanting to avoid total collapse, liberalized its economy in 1986 under the Đổi Mới (Renovation) initiative where not only its economy was opened up but also gave higher religious freedom, among which Vietnamese folk religion.

After years of suppression (and secret religious practice), the government wanted to rebuild some trust with the rural population (where folk religion was most prominent) and started treating Vietnamese folk religion as part of Vietnamese culture rather than a threat to Vietnamese socialism.