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Intersections of Politics, Religion, and Geology in Vietnam
Hanoi and Cat Ba January 2023
Overview: During our Venture Grant project in Vietnam, we investigated the impact of religion on the current political state of the country and geology. We studied coastal geology and the ways in which science can better accommodate religious beliefs. We were able to each investigate our separate interests while also working as a team. We will split up the presentation into two parts, one focusing on politics, and one on geology.
Where were we in Vietnam?
Zoom into this interactive map and click on the yellow and red points to learn about the locations we visited!
Vietnam Destinations, ESRI
Part 1: Politics of Vietnam as investigated by Liam Dietrich
Introduction
Vietnam has always had a complex history of religion as it relates to the government. Officially, Vietnam is an atheist state, but in practice, this is rarely observed. Most of the population practices “folk beliefs” or has no affiliation. 73.3% of the population operates this way. I will delve into the history of folk beliefs later on in the presentation. After the vast majority of folk practitioners, 11.4% of the population practices Buddhism, followed by 6.7% practicing catholicism. This data is according to a 2019 study by the International Religious Freedom Report. The Vietnamese government is controlled by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). The government initially suppressed religious practices when it was originally founded in 1954. Going into Vietnam, I assumed that this would be the case throughout the country today, but I was wrong.
Methodology
Doing research in another country comes with all sorts of ethical concerns. How does one do research ethically? The answer came with lots of pre-trip research into the appropriate practices in Vietnamese culture. One big example of this has to do with entrance into Pagodas. On the first day, we were surprised to find that we could not wear shorts into the Pagodas, as this was seen as disrespectful. This was an easy fix for us, but the intermingling of cultural sensitivity was a large part of conducting ethical research. Most of my research was observational. Visiting museums, temples, churches, and pagodas allowed me to gain a basic understanding of the political/religious climate in the country. When I supplemented this with additional research, I was able to paint a more complete picture.
Findings and Results
Contrary to my initial research, I found that Vietnam today is a much more religiously tolerant state than I originally thought. Scattered throughout Hanoi are marvelous temples and pagodas, all with plaques outlining the religious significance and history of the places. There are armed guards outside many places (such as the Tran Quoc Pagoda), to keep the peace and enforce respectful practices. What was interesting, however, was that the plaques inside of the places of worship rarely supported or talked about supernatural entities and their religious significance. Most of the words were focused on explaining the cultural significance, which while valuable, didn't help us understand the religious nuance. Going further into the city of Hanoi, religious buildings and sites popped up all over the place. In the center of the city is a huge Catholic church, preserved from the colonial era. It is well maintained and respected, a sign that the government cares in its upkeep.
What may have been the most interesting was the tour that we took to Ninh Binh. There, we saw Hoa Lu, the old Vietnamese capital decorated with five colored flags, signifying intense cultural and religious symbolism. Here we learned more about the folk religions so commonly practiced by the population. Our guide told the story of the Emperor Lê Long Dinh who is still worshipped in the area and has several temples in his honor. Throughout the tour, we learned more and more about the religious practices of the Vietnamese people. Ceremonies and festivals occur year round in Vietnam, with many religious events taking place at Hoa Lu and Ninh Binh. One such festival we heard about was the Bai Dinh Pagoda Festival, which takes place in January or February each year, depending on the lunar calendar. It is the largest Buddhist festival in Ninh Binh and attracts thousands of visitors. The festival includes a variety of traditional Buddhist rituals, performances, and offerings to the Buddha.
Ho Chi Minh Statue in the History Museum
When we went to state sponsored museums, we found a different story. It was one relating to my initial research. In the Vietnamese history museum, there was very little history relating to religion as it was all CPV history. The museums were packed with mentions of the USSR, and the CPV was portrayed as the ideal government. In my view it was more of a memorial to the government. We visited many museums, from the museum of war to the general history museum. I noticed that we were often the only people in the museums, as they did not seem too popular. The exhibits were often grouped around a certain time period, and tended to focus on major governmental activities during that time. The traditions and history of the Vietnamese people were portrayed through a political lens. Vietnamese people were mentioned often in the context of their relationship with the government. I noticed that the exhibits tried to tie popular support and the will of the people into governmental actions.
Part two: Geology of Vietnam as investigated by Charlie Hite
Introduction: Geology is by definition the study of Earth’s physical structures and materials. By connecting this with the local mythology and religion of Vietnam, I hoped to better understand this relationship. Examining the effect of geology on religion and vice versa, has the potential to enhance Geologic studies at CC by deepening the connection geologists feel to the Earth which they work with everyday and provide a new avenue of thought. As a sophomore geology major, I went into Vietnam with a decent geologic understanding of coastal processes and events; however, karst topography is so different from anything I have ever encountered in Colorado. Vietnam and much of southeastern Asia is known for karst topography which is a landscape where ancient limestone beds have been dissolved by the acidity of the ocean and result in magnificent islands dramatically rising out of the ocean. It was through this preliminary research that sparked my initial interest in the geology of Vietnam: what could I derive from the karsts about their stages of formations through geologic history?
Cat Ba Karsts
Inland Cat Ba Karsts
Methodology: While doing fieldwork as a geologist, data is predominantly collected in little waterproof field notebooks. Since I didn’t have access to field instruments, I relied heavily on my notebook to collect information in the forms of visual observations, tactile observations, sketches of the landscape, questions, and notes from our tour in Ninh Binh. I tried to be as detailed as possible when it came to describing what I was seeing so that my post-trip research could be as complete as possible. Examples of observations commonly taken by geologists include size of the focus area, texture of the rock unit, location of discovery, color, composition of minerals within it, and many other important features. Another one of my methods was collecting rock and shell samples from various locations in Vietnam including: different beaches, the highest point on the island, and inside Trung Trang cave. I wasn’t sure if these samples would be useful for research upon returning to Colorado College, and I am currently in the process of collaborating with the geology department faculty on how I can use them.
Field notebook entry and collecting shells and rocks
Geologic and Religious Intersections
Rock poem carved by Emperor Le Loi in the 15th century: This was inside of a quiet, little temple we found in the middle of Hanoi. Emperor Lei Loi is worshipped as a God by ethnic groups of North Western Vietnam for his role in pushing back the Chinese Ming dynasty. Le Loi carved a poem into a slab of rock at the Pu Huoi Cho mountain about resistance to Chinese imperialism and the strength of the Vietnamese people.
We were surprised to find this geologic connection in the center of Hanoi. While this is a copy of the original poem, it still represents an ancient way in which rocks were used to convey message of national strength and unity.
We visited Ninh Binh on our third day in Vietnam with a group tour. Ninh Binh is known for rolling green karst hills and many temples. We took the stairs to the top where we had a view of the valley and the altar for the Goddess of Mercy who protects the area and the mountains. The statue is carved from stone and on the opposing mountain, a massive stone dragon winds along on top.
I was surprised to find the limestone karsts here in Ninh Binh, 20 miles from the coast. The elevation of Ninh Binh is around 10 feet above sea level and the limestone karsts indicate that at some point, the ocean reached farther inland. Here, the limestone was incredibly sharp and dark grey. The integration of religious practices directly into the karst mountains was breathtaking and elevated the experience for me.
We found this site on the first beach we visited on the southern side of Cat Ba Island. We had the entire beach to ourselves (because the water was freezing cold), so I spend the time making observations of the limestone formations and collecting sea shells.
Before coming to Vietnam, I had done some research on local myths and beliefs, and I found one directly related to Cat Ba. In ancient Vietnam, the country was attacked by enemies from the sea, so the mythical Jade Emperor felt sorry and sent the Mother Dragon and her children to earth. The dragons spat giant pearls into the sea blocking the enemy and destroying their ships. To remember the dragon’s help the Vietnamese people named the bay Ha Long Bay which means “descending dragon”. Today, we know these pearls to be the karsts. Cat Ba island and Hay Long Bay are stunning and almost otherwordly, and it wasn't hard to see how it could be the work of divine powers.
We spent a night in the center of Cat Ba, and visited the Trung Trang Cave system. Caves in limestone form when water slowly seeps into cracks and dissolves certain minerals. This process continued for millions of years to widen the cavities. Inside the cave, we found two small altars on which to make offerings such as the ones at the Ninh Binh temples. As geologists we take lots of rock samples from the locations we visit without ever thanking the land for it, so this time, I left some Vietnamese dong as a thank you to the island for the shells and rocks I would be taking back home.
After the caves, we hiked to the tallest peak on Cat Ba island: Ngu Lam at 732 feet. The peak is a popular hike within Cat Ba National Park. Here we had a gorgeous view of the karst peaks and valleys all over the island. Because of the thick vegetation, most of the landscape has little to no human interference which was lovely to think about.
Cat Ba Through Time: Post-trip Geologic Findings and Summary
Cat Co Beach 3 Pho Han Formation
The Pho Han Formation: The layered rock formations we found on Cat Ba Island I later researched and identified as the Pho Han Formation which was deposited in the Devonian to Carboniferous periods (400-320 mya). I knew the rock was limestone, and I confirmed that in Vietnam by putting a drop of diluted hydrochloric acid on it, which reacts with a mineral called calcite, making the rock fizz! The limestone ranged from dark grey to lighter grey and was extremely rough from millions of years of weathering. The Pho Han Fm is characterized by layers of this grey limestone and organic-carbon-rich shale with some shallow marine fossils.
Hangenberg Crisis: What is most spectacular about the formation, is that is marks the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary which is known around the world as the Hangenberg Event. This event happened around 360 million-years-ago and caused a massive extinction as the climate shifted from a greenhouse to an icehouse. Since there are few D-C transition records in southeast Asia, this makes the Pho Han Fm at Cat Ba Island extremely valuable. Ocean anoxia, decreased oxygen content, and quick changes in the sea level are believed to have caused the Hangenberg Event. In 2014 a group of geologists studied the D-C boundary on Cat Ba island and helped define what it looks like in southeast Asia. By looking at the rock layers, they discovered that the sediment beneath the boundary was characterized by light grey limestone and shallow water fossils while the transition above the boundary had algae remnants and dark grey limestone and shale (Toshifumi Komatsu). From this study, researchers suggested the figure below to explain where in the Tethys Ocean the Pho Han Fm formed. Before ocean anoxia, the limestone and shale were deposited in the deep ramp where small sea creatures could live with abundant oxygen. However, with the Hangenberg crisis, oxygen could no longer reach the deep ocean allowing plankton and algae blooms that are represented in the upper layers of the formation.
Deposition of Pho Han Fm. "Devonian–Carboniferous transition containing a Hangenberg Black Shale equivalent in the Pho Han Formation on Cat Ba Island, northeastern Vietnam"
Tethys Ocean and continental collisions: The Tethys Ocean was an ancient equatorial ocean that existed for close to 400 million years and preceded the supercontinent Pangea. It was in this shallow, warm ocean that the Pho Han Formation was originally deposited, and it was the closing of the ocean that allows us to see it today. This ocean used to stretch over half of Earth's circumference; however, it closed with the northward movement of the supercontinent Gondwana. Gondwana encompassed most of present day Africa, South America, Antartica, Australia, and India and closed for hundreds of millions of years as it collided with Laurasia. As this collision happened, chunks of continental crust were accreted onto Laurasia, particularly in the eastern Tethys Ocean and the Pho Han Formation was part of that. Now the layers of shale and limestone are in present day Vietnam; however, I still have to explain how the beds became so scrunched, stretched, and tipped.
Gondwana and Tethys Ocean around 200 mya
Faulting: To explain how the limestone karsts got so deformed as we see them today means going back hundreds of millions of years ago to the collision of the continents. When India, and the rest of Gondwana, slammed into Eurasia about 50 million years ago, an incredible amount of stress and pressure was radiated outwards created underground faults. One result is the Red River Fault System in Vietnam which has caused massive Earthquakes and is characterized as a left-lateral strike slip fault. Additionally, smaller faults have compounded and allowed the limestone layers to further deform. In the image below, I have compared a photo I took at Cat Co Beach 3 to a rendering of the tectonics at play in a 2013 study of the same area.
Cat Co beach 3 compared with "Evidences of Cenozoic StrikeSlip Dislocations of the Red River Fault System in Paleozoic Carbonate Strata of Cat Ba Island (Northern Vietnam)"
Sources
Kasatkin, S.A., Golozubov, V.V., Van Phach, P. et al. Evidences of Cenozoic strike-slip dislocations of the red river fault system in Paleozoic carbonate strata of Cat Ba Island (Northern Vietnam). Russ. J. of Pac. Geol. 8, 163–176 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1819714014030051
Olivia Paschall, Sarah K. Carmichael, Peter Königshof, et al. "The Devonian-Carboniferous boundary in Vietnam: Sustained ocean anoxia with a volcanic trigger for the Hangenberg Crisis?", Global and Planetary Change, Volume 175, 2019, Pages 64-81, ISSN 0921-8181, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2019.01.021. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818118304405)
Toshifumi Komatsu, Satoru Kato, Kento Hirata, et al. "Devonian–Carboniferous transition containing a Hangenberg Black Shale equivalent in the Pho Han Formation on Cat Ba Island, northeastern Vietnam", Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Volume 404, 2014, Pages 30-43, ISSN 0031-0182, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.03.021. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003101821400128X)