Mental Illness Debate
Mental Illness and Spirit Possession Terminology
From narquis@wjh.harvard.edu Wed Nov 17 12:30:36 1999
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999 14:16:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: Narquis Barak <narquis@wjh.harvard.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
Dear VSG group,
I have just returned from two years of research on the cultural dimensions of mental illness in Vietnam. I spent one year living in Hanoi conducting research at Bach Mai and at Benh vien tam than trung uong in Thuong Tin and then I spent a year living in a farming village of Phu Tho province participating in and observing the lives of a group of "mentally ill" farmers as well as conducting interviews at the provincial mental hospital and following a group of patients back to their home villages. My informants range from people who were diagnosed by health workers as suffering from schizophrenia, mood disorder, neurasthenia, and PTSD to people who have never interacted with the medical establishment and have been classified by local villagers as ro^`, ma la`m, cao so^U, and various other terms. During my first year of research in Hanoi I encountered the term d-ie^n and d-ie^n ti`nh a lot and did as much research as I could about the etiology of those terms. In the countryside where I lived continuously for a year, d-ie^n was rarely used if ever, whereas be^.nh ro^` was used commonly. A few of my main informants are considered to have gone through ro^` periods in their lives and have been undergoing healing rituals to avoid becoming ro^` again. I am wondering if anyone can give me leads or information about the term ro^`. How would one translate it into English, insane, mad, crazy? Of course I have rich narratives that describe the physical sensations, symptoms, opinions of what ro^` means, but I am interested in maybe the linguistic origins of this term? Another term that I am having difficulty translating and would like to know more about linguistically is can (this is a short a). Many of my informants have can (short a) of Co^ ChiUn or can of O^ng Hoa`ng 7 or, for instance a man suffering from severe depression has can of O^ng Hoa`ng Bo (midtone, rhymes with butter). If anyone has been doing research on similar topics as me or knows of sources or people who might be of help, please let me know.
(I rely on my Vietnamese font normally, so I am sorry if my diacritic marks are confusing)
Thankyou,
Narquis Barak
Dept of Anthropology
Harvard University
From daoduc@u.washington.edu Wed Nov 17 12:37:08 1999
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1999 20:32:00 -0800 (PST)
From: dao the duc <daoduc@u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 16:11:55 -0800 (PST)
From: K. Hoang <hgkhanh@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology (fwd)
Dear all,
Ro^` is a less offensive term for "die^n" or "khu`ng" these are the common terms applied for both "Ta^m tha^n pha^n lie^t" (Schizophrenia) and "Loan tha^`n Pha?n ung" (Reactive mental disorders); the former is uncurable but the later are curable. Of course, these technical terms can not be differentiated by lay-persons.
Medical terminology apart, I would like to mention the term ro^` in term of linguistics:
- In compound words such as "ro^` dai." or "die^n ro^`"; we easily reveal this equation: "ro^`"="dai"="dien"="ro^`". Let's consider the unequation: "ro^` dai." < "die^n ro^`"; this means "die^n ro^`" stronger than "ro^` dai." While "dai." bears "thanh ba`ng" (light accent) and "ro^`" bears "thanh tra'c" (heavy accent); "ro^`" in the second position of "die^n ro^`" would have lightened the meaning of this compound (Vietnamese grammar); in fact it boosts the meaning of this compound cf. "dai.". Apparently "ro^`" is not an adjective or an attributive by itself. ! Therefore "ro^`" should be considered as a noun but it is rarely used as a single noun in formal language. In cultural context, "ro^`" is often used by the Northern folks as an adjective rather than a noun.
In my view, "ro^`" shoud be culturally translated into "go crazy" rather than "insanse" or "craziness" or "mad" . Noun or adjective does not a
matter here!
Regards,
-------------------------
KHANH HOANG, MPH Student, IHP, Dept of HS, School of Public Health and
Community Medicine, University of Washington.
* School Address:
Box 357660
Seattle, WA 98195-7660
--------------------------
*Home address: 4716 - 19 Ave, NE, # B-1
Seattle, WA 98105
Phone : (206) 525-4159
From autopoy@brandx.net Wed Nov 17 12:37:53 1999
Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 10:43:07 -0800
From: Pensinger <autopoy@brandx.net>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness
Interesting observations. I should point out, however, that "dai." bears thanh tra('c while "ro^`" bears thanh ba(`ng , not the other way around.
There are two of thanh ba(`ng, e.g. ro^ and ro^`; and four of thanh tra('c, e.g. ro^', ro^., ro^?, ro^~. Thanh ba(`ng has a softening effect. Thus you will find that verse lines consisting a great number of words of thanh ba(`ng best express soft and gentle/melancholy sentiments.
CHTN Nha Trang
From sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca Wed Nov 17 13:05:14 1999
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 02:45:38 -0700 (MST)
From: Sinh Vinh <sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
Dear Narquis and All,
In the first place, I should say that my areas of research are so remote from "mental illness", I nonetheless would like to share with you some of my observations because I am interested in some aspects of your question.
1) With respect to the linguistic origins of the term "ro", Hoang Khanh and Nha Trang have provided us with useful information. Here I only would like discuss a bit more about the etymology of "dien" and "ro".
"Dien" is originally a Chinese term, written with two components: (a) "bo^. be^.nh", or "illness/disease radical"(all diseases are to be written with this "disease radical" in Chinese characters that represents the semantic component, i.e. meaning), and (b) "die^n", a phonetic component (i.e. sound) which means "upside-down/reverse".
"Dien" was adopted and commonly used in the Vietnamese language; its "chu nom" (demotic script, i.e. the scripts that the Vietnamese used, together with the Chinese characters, prior to the adoption of the romanized quoc-ngu) is exactly identical with the Chinese.
"Ro", on the other hand, is a term created by the Vietnamese, its "chu nom" is a combination of 2 parts: (a) "bo^. kha^?u" ("mouth" radical as a semantic component, i.e. something to do without "mouth", e.g. to speak, to cry, etc.), and (b) "do" (no accents), as in "tu-do" (freedom) as its phonetic component. As some dialects in Northern VN do not make distinction between "d" and "r" sounds, I have seen "ro" spelled as "do" at least in one Vietnamese dictionary. An observation that can be made from the above two "chu Nom" characters for "dien" and "ro" as described above which might be of some interest to Narquis, is that in pre-modern Vietnam, "ro" was, apparently, not considered as a disease.
2) About Ong Hoang Bay (7), Ong Hoang Bo (Ba=3), Co Chin (9), etc.: These are figures of 36 "vi. tha'nh" (sacred figures?) in "le^n do^(+grave)ng = ddo(^+grave)ng-co^'t (medium, in this case, "mental medium" but not "physical medium"). Please note that I can't not type "grave"(dau huyen) on my computer keyboard, so hereafter I will have to drop it when I type "ddo^ng" and other terms.
People who practice "Len ddo^ng", as you know, believe that the "ba ddong" (female medium; could be a male though) is the person who can go into a trance with the spirit of one of the above "vi thanh", communicates with him/her ("him" as Ong Hoang Bay, "her" as "Co Chin", etc.) and tells about the past or about the future, and cure one's disease. "Ca<n", or "vi'a", I guess, is the life principle of a person, which might correspond to "the specialty" of one of the above 36 "vi thanh". Please note that each of them specializes in one field/domain, e.g., Co Ba (3) specializes in "transportation" (both land and sea transportations). So if some serious "len dong" believers is going to travel afar, particularly under dangerous circumnstances, Co Ba will be the main "character" in their "len ddong" session. The "Ba ddong" in this case will put on a dress reserved for Co Ba, prayers will be offered, Ba ddong will be dancing, and when the "vi'a" of Co Ba enters Ba ddong, she begins to act as if she is rowing a boat. That would be the climax of the session, the participants will make the request, earnestly, for their safe travels.
The 36 "vi thanh", also practice cures.
The above information has been made from my observations and should not be taken for granted. I only hope that I could provide you with some hints for your most challenging research.
VINH Sinh
From kirsten.endres@passau.baynet.de Wed Nov 17 13:05:28 1999
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 14:13:13 +0100
From: Kirsten Endres <kirsten.endres@passau.baynet.de>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
Dear Sinh Vinh, Narquis, and all,
just a short note on the term ca<n: So far, I came across this term twice, in a newspaper article and in a personal conversation with an ong ddong. Both times, "having ca<n" (not ca<n of anybody, just ca<n as such) was mentioned as a necessary prerequisite for becoming a medium. A Vietnamese friend explained that "having ca<n" is somehow like "having a light soul" (using the English term); and my immediate association was that a "light soul" could easily make room for other souls/spirits/deities to enter (or 'mount') the medium. Does that make any sense?
Kirsten
From narquis@wjh.harvard.edu Wed Nov 17 13:05:39 1999
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 10:27:56 -0500 (EST)
From: Narquis Barak <narquis@wjh.harvard.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
Dear Sinh Vinh, Kirsten, and all,
Part of my research was on a certain kind of be^.nh ro that mainly female farmers were afflicted with and is the result of being the can (short a) of a tha^`n thaUnh such as Co Chin or Ong Hoang Bo, etc. (Sinh Vinh mentioned that there are 36 of these spirits, but I encountered healers
and thay cung who claimed over 60 spirits.) My research took place in mental hospitals and rural villages with over 100 people and their families identified as ro, ma lam, than kinh, tam than phan liet, etc. I interviewed numerous thay cung and spirit mediums and followed the everday lives of a smaller group of women who were ro and men who were than kinh. According to many of my informants, the god, or than thanh makes you ro because you have not acknowledged your connection/relationship to that god. Many people talk about it as if one is the child of that god or the one's soul belongs to that god, that god is the equivalent of oneUs mother or ancestor, oneUs character/personality tinh cach is the result of that god. Not everyone has can, which is sometimes interchangeable with cao so^', people who are often very strongheaded, talented, difficult to defeat, immune to ghosts, never have dreams in which they are defeated. In the village in which I conducted most of my detailed ethnographic work, the only woman in the village who decided on her own to divorce her husband and live alone, who is very outspoken was considered to have a can or cao so, and other women who had "strong personalities" maybe not very khe'o mo^`m tend to have can. Can or cao so and ro is very different from ma la`m which is being possessed by a family/ancestral/wandering spirit And in contrast to someone who is tha^`n kinh may be that way because of drinking to many antibiotics as an infant or because of bomb pressure experienced in the battlefield. But all of these local classifications of illness are not necessarily bound concepts. One of my main informants is a local co^ dong in the village, who was made ro by two goddesses who reside in a tree near where she was weeding manioc one morning in 1981. After she came home she became ro- she was clean ro (there is clean ro and dirty ro), which meant she only wanted to dress in nice clothes and take baths every hour of the day and she did not eat nor sleep and the gods came to her at night to teach her about their history and teach her chants and what to do to make herself well. While she was ro which you suggest I translate as "flipped out" she became possessed by her father who had died in the battlefield in Laos. She dressed like him and told family and fellow villagers how he died and what unit members were with him and asked them to make a pretend grave for him, actually to "rebury" him boc mo^. They collected sticks and arranged them like bones in a tieu? She continued to be ro until ca'c cu. found some thay cung who knew what to do which was difficult in the early 80Us. Now, it is much easier to find ba dong and thay cung to help you if you become ro. I am still unsure as to how to translate ro to English, crazy, flipped out, insane? DoesnUt can mean root as well? Could this be a way to translate it, my root is Co Chin for example. In premodern Vietnam what was ro used for if not to refer to someone flipping out?
Thankyou for responding to my inquiries,
Narquis
From sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca Wed Nov 17 13:05:54 1999
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 08:44:18 -0700 (MST)
From: Sinh Vinh <sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
Dear Kirsten, Narquis et al.,
Kirsten, I like you remark. Ca<n, in retrospect, literally means "a root", "the origin", "the source", also signifies "nature" and "disposition". I also have heard people say: "That fellow has ca<n li'nh". Li'nh of course means "soldiers", but in "ddong cot" terminologies, means "those who possess a disposition to become a "ddong" to render service to ca'c v.i tha'nh. By the way, among the 36 vi thanh, according to one of
my acquaintances whose mother is a "well-known Ba ddong" in Edmonton, where I live, Ong Hoang Ba (lit. The Third Prince) specializes in "ba<'t l'inh" (military draft/conscription). Respected "Ba ddong" and "Ong ddong" are often referred to as "si quan" (officers, in contrast to "li'nh"). Back in my hometown in VN (Hue), one of my far relatives has even reached the rank of "trung ta'" (lieutenant colonel); his neighbours praised him as a "dedicated officer" who can cure sickness! The folks in Hue told me that during the period that len ddong was prohibited,its dedicated members len ddong on boats (a lot of these on the Perfume River!) near by Ddie^.n Hon che'n, a famous spot for "len ddong" in Hue, in its temple one could see a portrait of vua Ddong-Kha'nh, well-known as dedicated "soldier" (oop!).
The distinction between ca<n and vi'a appears a bit clearer to me now. One could say that one's vi'a is Ong Hoang Chin's, Co Ba's, etc., or put it in "len ddong" terminologies, Ong Hoang Chin or Co Ba is your superior. That is to say, if one wishes to pray for healing or for something, you have to ask the Ba ddong or Ong ddong to "invite" them back. I have seen people whose have more than one vi'a.
To my previous response, I would like to add a few things:
1) Why 36? In "ddong cot" (or le^n ddong, the famed poet Tran-Te-Xuong, alias Tu-Xuong, at the turn of the twentieth century called it "thuong ddong" (same meaning with "len ddong", in his line "Cha<?ng su*o*'ng gi ho*n lu'c thu*o*.ng ddong!", lit. Nothing is more enjoyable than the moment of "len ddong"), there are 4 branches (called tu*' phu?):
Phu? quan, phu? Chu'a, phu? Tha'nh, ph?u Co^. Each branch has 9 (nine) figures. For example, in "phu quan", one has "Quan dde^. nha^'t (nha^'t is sometimes changed to nhu*'t in the Central and Southern dialects), Quan dde nhi (2), etc. So, together there are 36 (4 x 9 figures.
2) Len ddong in Chinese is called ling-mei, and in Japanese reibai. Both are written in identical Chinese characters, which in Sino-Vietnamese are linh-mo^i. The first, linh means spirit/spiritual/divine/supernatural; mo^i means "medium/intermediary/go-between. The English translation for ling-mei in a Chinese-English is "a spiritualistic medium". Reibai, according to a Japanese-English dictionary, is "a (psychic) medium". Reibai is explained in a Japanese dictionary that I have is "the situation in which a medium receives commands/directives from a spirit and is able to communicate with the dead" (Pardon my rough translation from Japanese). Narquis, perhaps you can find something about reibai, or ling-mei in English. Reibai, as practised in Japan, is a means of communication of the dead, and does not have the healing dimension.
I think I'd better stop here.
Cheers,
VSinh
dictionary explains reibai as follows:
1999, Kirsten Endres wrote:
From sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca Wed Nov 17 13:06:07 1999
Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 10:11:34 -0700 (MST)
From: Sinh Vinh <sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
Dear Narquis et al.,
My second response to Narquis' query was written before I received your latest mail. It was prompted by Kirsten's useful remark on ca<n.
If ddie^n, as a verb, could be translated as "go mad/insane/crazy", "benh ro", in my opinion, should be translated as "mental derangement/ mental aberation/mental disorder/mental handicap/or mental illness. I have provided the above terms, while taking into account of the increasing sensitivity toward "naming/designating", particularly in dealing with mental illness, in Vietnam. Narquis, you are the specialist on this subject, so please take your choice.
VSinh
From michaeld@netnam.org.vn Wed Nov 17 13:06:21 1999
Date: Sun, 07 Nov 1999 18:10:47 +0700
From: Michael Di Gregorio <michaeld@netnam.org.vn>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
Narquis,
You are right about ca<n meaning root or radical, but I think this root is connected to chi, tributary or branch. I took some time today to ask some friends who are hebalists to explain. They reiterated what you said about women who are ro>` being fated to have a spirit reside in them, and that they become ddie>n if they refuse. And as you said, they used the word ca<n interchangeably with so>' pha>.n and so>' me.nh. Which led me to ask if co' ca<n was related to ca<n chi, which are the meridians (roots and branches?) of Vietnamese astrology. If so, then co' ca<n might be translated as "destined". As in o>ng/ba` ddo>`ng was destined to become a channel for tha>`n tha'nh X. Does this make sense?
Maybe Sinh Vinh can help with a better translation for ca<n chi.
My neighbors also reminded me that there were many kinds of ro>`, of which tha>`n kinh is one, ixteri is another. Ixteri seems only to affect women. An interesting piece of the 19th century still hanging on, no? Its funny you note bomb pressure as related to tha>`n kinh. I have only ever heard tha>`n kinh as related to bomb pressure, birth defects, or inability to deal with sudden, catastrophic events. But even in this latter case, the person was regarded as being physically predisposed.
Some months ago there was an issue of VIR with a cover story on stress. Have you seen this? I filed it in my mind, but nowhere else. I hate to quote from memory, but I think the article quoted the minister of health as informng the national assemble that 20 percent of tha adult population were suffering with stress disorders. Sombody correct me, please.
From soh@hawaii.edu Wed Nov 17 13:06:35 1999
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 06:57:22 -1000
From: Stephen O'Harrow <soh@hawaii.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
People in this discussion might be interested in the work of Karen Fjelstad who several years ago did her Ph.D. in anthro at UH on spirit mediums and thay boi and the dimension of women's mental health -- if I can get the precise bibliographical reference I will forward it -- Karen went back to VN a year ago and updated her work, but I have not yet seen the results and do not know if she has managed to get into publication.
Aloha, STEVE O'H.
From sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca Wed Nov 17 13:06:43 1999
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 13:33:15 -0700 (MST)
From: Sinh Vinh <sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
The "can" (no accents) as "can chi" (no diacritical mark and accents on both words) that Mike referred to is different from "ca<n" that has discussed in the e-mails by Narquis, Kirsten, and myself. There is no such word as "ca<n chi" in Chinese or Sino-Vietnamese.
"Can chi" (in Chinese "kan chih") is the system of celestial STEMS and terresrial BRANCHES which makes the sexagenary cycle in the Chinese calendar. The only link between "can chi" and "ca<n" ( in "le^n ddo^`ng" ) is that both are related to fortunetelling (bo'i toa'n).
VINH Sinh
From dduffy@email.unc.edu Wed Nov 17 13:07:02 1999
Date: Sun, 07 Nov 1999 19:10:30 -0500
From: Dan Duffy <dduffy@email.unc.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: mental illness
I would like to contribute to the discussion on terms for mental illness among Vietnamese people.
The medical anthropologists in Alumni Hall here at UNC are hesitant in interpreting the terms for mental illness current in the UNC hospital, across campus, where several of them work part of the day as staff. I am respectful of the authority with which the meaning of words for mental illness in Viet Nam has been discussed here, but I am skeptical of the social insights which I am tempted to draw from them. I would like to see some broad interpretations stated plainly by someone else.
The linguists who have taken part in this thread already know that historical analysis is only one of the rational approaches to the meaning of language. The anthropologist who asked for help interpreting his fieldwork doesn't need my notes on medical anthropology. I'm saying that I would like to see some social insights floated on the basis of all this erudition.
Michel Foucault demonstrated that categories of mental illness are an dynamic, shifting part of the discourse that creates the present world. Allen Young showed the discourse at work in PTSD, and Judith Farquhar showed it in traditional Chinese medical diagnosis.
So, what are Vietnamese people talking about when they talk about being crazy?
From narquis@wjh.harvard.edu Wed Nov 17 13:07:13 1999
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 21:39:58 -0500 (EST)
From: Narquis Barak <narquis@wjh.harvard.edu>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness
Dear Dan,
When I asked for people's input about the linguistic origins of these terms, it is because I wanted to understand the origins of these terms from a linguistic standpoint, not because I wanted people to interpret my field data utilizing Foucault. There is a value in asking what are the linguistic origins of the term schizophrenia in English for instance, meaning when does it first appear in written discourse and in what way is it used in order to add to one's social analysis of the conceptualization of schizophrenia in the U.S. based on ethnographic data with people diagnosed with schizophrenia who may or may not attribute similar meanings to the term. I do not think that anyone who has taken part in these exchanges was assuming that terms for mental illness are static and bounded entities. My research was initially devised based on readings of Allen Young, Ian Hacking, Arthur Kleinman, yes and of course Madness and Civilization and Birth of a Clinic, etc etc. Having just come back from the field, I am not ready yet to theorize out loud about interpretations of why people are ro. I only wanted to find out the etiology of the terms and I have appreciated hearing in what situations other people have encountered this terminology. And by the way, I am a woman. You referred to me as "his."
thankyou,
Narquis Barak
From sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca Wed Nov 17 13:08:08 1999
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 23:02:31 -0700 (MST)
From: Sinh Vinh <sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
Dear Narquis and All:
I just made a quick check to see if I could find an example of the use of "ro^`" (now I can type "grave") in premodern Vietnamese. I browsed through the Kie^`u (i.e. The Tale of Kieu) concordance compiled by the late noted scholar Dda`o Duy Anh, but saw neither "ro^`" nor "ddie^n". "Da.i" apparently was used 5 times. Like "ro^`", "da.i" is a term of Vietnamese origin (i.e. it is not a Sino-Vietnamese term); in demotic script (chu*~ No^m), I have seen it written with an "illness radical" (bo^. be^.nh) or without it. I thought this information might be of some interest to you.
I can only guess that in premodern Vietnamese, "rro^`" was used in the sense of "flipped out". "Be^.nh ro^`" certainly sounds better than "be^.nh ddie^n". I still remember during the 1950s when I lived in Hue^', there was a "Nha` thu*o*ng [Be^.nh vie^.n] ddie^n" not far from my house. I felt quite nervous every time I passed by this hospital. If its name were " Be^.nh vie^.n ro^`", I would have certainly felta bit more at ease.
I agree with Narquis that it is important to study the evolution in the use of the terms related to the subject of one's study. Take for example, my field of research is intellectual and cultural history, but I cannot say enough about the importance of the linguistic dimension (etymology, semantics, etc.) in my work.
Regards.
VSinh
From sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca Wed Nov 17 13:08:45 1999
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 07:52:22 -0700 (MST)
From: Sinh Vinh <sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness
Dear Narquis and All:
In Ba?ng tra chu*~ No^m (A Chu*~ No^m Checklist) (Hanoi: Nxb Khoa hoc xa hoi, 1976), there is an entry for "ro^`", used in the compound word "ddie^n ro^`" (madness/insanity/lunacy/craziness with varied nuances, I suppose). Judging from the texts (premodern) which the compilers have used to make this checklist, the source might have been Truye^`n ky` ma.n lu.c by Nguye^~n Du*~ of the 16th century.
In this checklist, the chu*~ No^m (demotic script) for ro^` is a combination of "illness radical" (semantic component) and "ddo^`" (meaning "disciple", used to indicate sound , i.e. ddo^`, ro^`). Please note that it is possible to write a single term in different ways in chu*~ No^m.
VSinh
From cchung@ccsf.cc.ca.us Wed Nov 17 13:08:58 1999
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 08:34:50 -0800 (PST)
From: Chuong Chung <cchung@ccsf.cc.ca.us>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
Dear all,
I think Frank also knows her. Hien Nguyen did her MA in Folklore at IU and did a study on the "giai han" related to what Dr. O'Harrow mentioned in his e mail message. She is working on her doctorate thesis on the same subject. Dr. Ngo Duc Thinh published two volumes on Dao Mau and trance-medium. Please check these out
Chung Hoang Chuong
From michaeld@netnam.org.vn Wed Nov 17 13:09:57 1999
Date: Tue, 09 Nov 1999 07:13:30 +0700
From: Michael Di Gregorio <michaeld@netnam.org.vn>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
I should have checked my dictionary rather than my memory. Sorry for the divergence.
Does "co' ca<n" then have the sense of "having room in the soul" to allow the a deity to dwell there? How then does the aspect of fate, destiny fit in. I have been impressed in my conversations with neighbors on this topic by the degree of compulsion. One of my neighbors just turned pale over the discussion, noting that he would rather avoid everything to do with spirit mediums since there was no guarantee that he also would not become possessed (tha>`n tha'nh nha>.p va`o).
I also have a question about bo'c bat' hu+o+ng. Is the "o" in bo'c long (o>)? That is bo>'c meaning to flare up? I cannot always hear the difference in conversation. Flare up seems to fit, as in "the remaining bits of incense flare up when the deities (or ancestors) show their willingness to hear the supplications of the living (linh thie>ng). Is there another bo'c ba't hu+o+ng with an unaccented o?
When the deities are asked to dwell in newly carved statues placed in temples or pagodas, what is the Vietnamese term? Can this be called "consecration" ? What is the opposite term? Kirsten will know of the village I am refering to here, where deities residing in statues in the pagoda were invited to leave before the statues were sent floating down the river in 1951. More recently, when elderly people transfered their worship from an old teaching temple (nha` nghe) to a new pagoda, they conducted a ceremony to release the spirits in the old and invite spirits into the new.
I ask this question since in the case of spirit mediums, there does not seem to be any choice, or any means of release. While inanimate objects are more receptive to human agency.
Mike
From kirsten.endres@passau.baynet.de Wed Nov 17 13:10:15 1999
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 10:51:42 +0100
From: Kirsten Endres <kirsten.endres@passau.baynet.de>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
Mike,
I take from my notes that the Vietnamese term for inviting the deities to dwell in the statues is "la`m le^~ ho^ tha^`n nha^.p tu+o+.ng" - "consecration", I think, would be the English equivalent, although maybe not in the strict sense of the term (e.g. are the spirits of saints etc. invited when a catholic priest consecrates a statue?).
Kirsten
From cchung@ccsf.cc.ca.us Wed Nov 17 13:10:28 1999
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 09:28:53 -0800 (PST)
From: Chuong Chung <cchung@ccsf.cc.ca.us>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
Dear All,
"Co can" such as in the expression "co can tu" could mean that you are fit to devote your life to priesthood or monkhood. Then it is a little
different than what anh Vinh Sinh discussed about " can chi"
Chuong
From sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca Wed Nov 17 13:10:45 1999
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 11:14:44 -0700 (MST)
From: Sinh Vinh <sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness and spirit possession terminology
I thought I have made myself clear that ca<n (root/nature/disposition) as in "co' ca<n" or "co' ca<n tu" is entirely a different term from "can" in "can chi", which has no "diacritical marks" or accents.
VINH Sinh
From sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca Wed Nov 17 13:12:34 1999
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 10:01:01 -0700 (MST)
From: Sinh Vinh <sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: mental illness
Dear Narquis and All:
In today issue of the Edmonton Journal, there is a news report which I thought might be of interest to you.
Headlined "Miracle cure attributed to Mother Teresa", the news report was written by Jonathan Petre of The Sunday Telegraph (London). Following is a summary provided by the Edmonton Journal:
Mother Teresa may be a step closer to sainthood after a British doctor claims that his patient was cured of a "serious and incurable" case of paranoid schizophrenia after praying with the Indian missionary. Mother Teresa died two years ago in Calcutta. Since her death, Vatican officials have been sifting through evidence that is expected to lead to her beatification -- the first step toward canonization -- next year.
In the news report, Dr. Joseph Chandy of Peterlee near Durham, said that his patient, Norman Imms (aged 54) had suffered from "paranoid schizophrenia, depressive psychosis and psychopathy from the early years of his adult life" and had been an "extremely difficult and demanding patient".
"As I was not making much headway ", Dr. Chandy said, I advised him that only by spiritualizing his illness would he ever get better in himself and gain peace and happiness". Dr. Chandy then concluded: "I am in no doubt that Mother Teresa has cured Norman of his seriousincurable mental illness for good. It is nothing short of a miracle that there is no trace of his previous illness now in him. If you are interested in having this article, I can send it to you by post.
Also in relation to the practice of "spirit medium" in Vietnam, over the weekend, I happened to come across a 2-page story entitled "Vu+o+`ng nhu+o+ng va` nhong nhong" by Kha'i Hu+ng, an influential writer until his death (1947). In this article, Khai Hung ridiculed the practice of "le^n ddo^`ng". The story is included in Tie^'ng suo^'i reo, published by Nxb Ddo+`i Nay (Saigon 1962).
VINH Sinh