Yiran Ma - Week 4

Yiran Ma - Week 4

After I read “We have Len Dong Too: Transnational Aspects of Spirit Possession”, I did some research about Len Dong. In 2016, Vietnam's "Practices related to the Viet beliefs in the Mother Goddesses of Three Realms" was listed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural asset of humanity under the symbol Nomination file No. 01064.

The "Len Dong" in this faith is also valued by Vietnam, which also established the status of Len Dong in the Vietnamese folk faith. In the past, the "Len Dong" was banned by the Vietnamese communist party, which was lifted only 10 years ago. Len Dong also reasserted its status after it was listed as a cultural asset of humanity by UNESCO in 2016. This not only brought about a cultural revival, but also brought about economic benefits. Although Len Dong was not meant to make money, each ceremony brought hundreds of thousands of dollars in sponsorship money for the temple, which was also a status symbol for the sponsors. Len Dong culture is characterized by the diversity of religious symbols and the combination with Taoism to create mystical religious characteristics.

Question:

However, in the face of Vietnam's active position of revitalizing culture, should USA reconsider its current policy?