tín ngưỡng

Sino-Vietnamese word from 信仰.

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [tin˧˦ ŋɨəŋ˦ˀ˥]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [tin˦˧˥ ŋɨəŋ˧˨]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [tɨn˦˥ ŋɨəŋ˨˩˦]

tín ngưỡng

1. a traditional belief

• A tín ngưỡng differs from a tôn giáo (“religion”) in that it is not organized and does not have a unified doctrine, a well-established mythology or pantheon, or an authority or an official place of worship. Some tín ngưỡng include: belief in the afterlife in the underworld ruled by King Yama; belief in karma; belief in reincarnation; belief in the blessing of deceased relatives; belief in the Vietnamese zodiac signs and associated omens in a particular year; belief in feng shui and fortune; etc. Many of the tín ngưỡng of the ethnically Vietnamese people actually stem from Buddhist, in other words, actual religious beliefs. Most Vietnamese people practice their tín ngưỡng chiefly through worshiping with home altars, or going to Buddhist temples wishing for good luck on Lunar New Year, etc., and at the same time they may still not identify with any specific religion (even Buddhism itself) because they may be doing those things in their own ways or customs (for example, doing every two years, or only in years projected as particularly unlucky for one's zodiac sign), rather than according to a strict religious guideline or doctrine.