Regulated re-enchantment: How Vietnam reframes folk beliefs from superstition into cultural heritage

Since the 1986 Đổi Mới (Renovation) reforms, Vietnam has witnessed a state-guided revival of diverse folk beliefs. This article demonstrates how these practices have been reframed from “superstition” to “cultural heritage” through a dual mechanism: institutional heritagization and narrative legendizing. Drawing on a comparative analysis of two contrasting case studies—the veneration of âm hồn (wandering souls) at Miếu Âm Hồn in Huế and the national worship of the Hùng Kings at Đền Hùng in Phú Thọ—alongside an examination of state media discourse, this study traces how state agencies, communities, and the press co-produce morally charged “belief stories.” These cases represent two distinct forms of spiritual practice: one rooted in local traumatic memory and the other in the construction of national identity. The article shows how these narratives stabilize ritual forms while negotiating tensions between the state's secular orientation and lived spirituality. Synthesizing these findings with an analysis of state-affiliated media coverage, the article argues that this process constitutes a state-regulated “re-enchantment.” This formulation describes a distinctive pathway through which contemporary Vietnam negotiates modernity and tradition, one that is comparable to, but not reducible to, the more commercialized or folklorized models of supernatural belief discussed in studies of neighboring East Asian nations.