Animists.  The Pubiao are animists. They worship and attempt to appease a large number of disembodied spirits.  However,  the religious world-view of the Pubiao, like most minority groups in Vietnam,  is  complicated.  Their beliefs combine elements of ancestor worship, Taoism, and polytheism, as well as other superstitious ideas.  Animism holds that both living and non-living things possess spirits.  These beliefs create a life of fear that involves a dread of the spirit world. The Pubiao hold regular rituals determined by the lunar calendar. They are often assisted by a shaman, who assists in performing the proper ceremony. 

       Ancestor worship.  Like the Tay, Nung, Lahu and many other minority people, the Pubiao worship their ancestors.  They believe that the spirits of their ancestors can assist and bless them.  The Pubiao worship three generations of ancestors during festivals, and especially on New Year's  or Tet holidays. On New Year's Eve, each family is expected to participate in a ritual to recall the name of each deceased ancestor for the past three generations and request their blessing on the year to come.  Similar ceremonies are held during the 5th and 6th Lunar Month Festival.  Each family keeps an ancestral altar in the home with small sandstone jars on the altar to represent the spirits of the dead.  At least three jars must be present to represent the three past generations.   Also found on the altar are a dried pumpkin and a bundle of ox-tail hair attached to a stick, which are believed to enable the ancestors to recognize their descendants.  

        Other Beliefs.  They believe that each person has eight souls and nine spirits.  These souls and spirits govern their existence and guide their activities, and shape the entire lives and world view of the Pubiao. Ceremonies are held to pray for peace and to ask the spirits of nature and the spirits of the dead to bless the harvest. Some of their legends include a memory of a great flood in the past where the only survivors were a few who hid in a giant hollowed-out pumpkin.  If a serious illness strikes a family, the shaman will often recommend that the family put a new jar on the altar in the hope that the spirits will grant healing.

    During the Tet festival, they make black rice cakes to say goodbye to old year, and white rice cakes to welcome the new.  Tet, itself, is a happy occasion, with games for children.  But during the three days of the Tet festival, the Pubiao do not wash their dishes.  They only wipe them out with paper.  This is done in the hope of preventing torrential rains from eroding their precious fields.   

     Their belief system, like that of most tribal groups,  includes a system of taboos or forbidden actions which are designed to avoid offending the spirits.   They live lives dominated by fear of the evil spirits, who beset them on all sides. Fear of the spirit world and ceremonies to placate spirit beings are serious matters of life and death.  These people are trapped in their belief system, living in darkness, waiting for the light.

        Funerals. Like many tribal groups, the Pubiao have complicated funeral and burial customs.  All of these are designed to enable the soul of the departed to find its way to the Pubiao heaven, called Old Mother's Land.   After death, the body is prepared for burial by placing it in a coffin..  While the body is in the house, cooking on the kitchen hearth is forbidden.  If necessary, a meal may be cooked on the fireplace in the central room.  At the funeral, a long ritual invocation is read, reminding all of the legends of the Pubiao people, and to say farewell to the deceased.  Ceremonies also involve barring the way back to the house, so that the spirit of the dead will not try to return home.  After the funeral, a fire is built outside the house, water is boiled, and the feet and hands of the people are washed before re-entering the home.  They also place ashes outside the door.  These ashes are examined the next morning.  The footprints found in the ashes are said to indicate the spiritual state of the deceased.  A second ceremony remembering the dead will be held several years after the funeral.  In all these ceremonies the bronze drums are played and home-made wine is shared.   At the death of a parent, one of the sandstone jars is turned upside down on the family altar to inform the ancestors.  Thirteen days after burial, the jar is returned to the upright position in a special ritual.

        Christian Witness.   Many Pubiao customs are directed at preserving their unique culture, which makes it difficult for the Gospel to penetrate their hearts and minds with the message of the Savior.  Most Pubiao in Vietnam have never heard a clear presentation of the claims of Jesus Christ.   There is not even a single known Christian believer or church among the La Chi in Vietnam or China. They are a distinct and unique people group without any Gospel witness and without any knowledge of the Name of Jesus Christ.   There is no Pubiao version of the Jesus film available, nor are there gospel recordings.  There is no Pubiao Bible available, nor are there even portions of the Bible translated.  The fact that the language seems to be going extinct has discouraged translation work, no doubt.   Similarly, there are no Pubiao radio broadcasts.

This means that the Christian literature needs of the Pubiao have received no attention from the Christian community.  These are precious people for whom Jesus died, but they remain spiritually isolated from Christian influence.  The Pubiao flood story, however, may be one key to introducing the Gospel message to the unreached Pubiao. It may also be possible to use literature in other languages to reach the Pubiao.

05/22/2004