Abstract

Daoism was introduced into the South-West of Vietnam via two main entries: the missionaries from North and Central Vietnam who migrated to the South by following the Southward movement and the spread of Daoism by Chinese migrant men who came and settled in the South-West of Vietnam from the late seventieth century to late nineteenth century. However, the biggest influence of Daoism in the Southwest of Vietnam was mainly the Chinese missionaries of Daoism. As time went by, together with the impacts of social and historical circumstances, Daoism had a strong influence on the lives of the South-West people in terms of different aspects, especially their faith and religions. The impact of Daoism into people's faith and religion was considerable, especially to the indigenous religions, of which the religion, Four Debts of Gratitude, is a representative example. With the aims of clarifying how Four Debts of Gratitude was influenced by Daoist thought and how the indigenous religions and systemized ideologies in the South-West of Vietnam were related during the period of living condition expansion as well as cohabitation of several ethnic groups in the region, this article focuses on Daoist thought expressed in typical symbols in the sacred architecture of the Four Debts of Gratitude such as Cổ Lầu, wine gourds, and the Eight Trigrams. Once properly examined, it becomes clear that the prominent symbols and other Daoist elements show that Daoism had a profound influence on the Four Debts of Gratitude.