From political leader to sacred symbol: the process of vernacular sacralization of Ho Chi Minh in the worship spaces of private home shrines in Northern Vietnam

Abstract

This article examines the transformation of the symbol of Ho Chi Minh from a political leader into a sacred symbol within the worship spaces of private home shrines in Northern Vietnam. Rather than approaching this phenomenon as a form of official veneration or ideological cultism, the study situates it within the analytical framework of vernacular sacralization, understood as a process shaped by non-institutional cultural and religious practices. Employing methods such as synthesis and analysis of secondary sources, participant observation, and case studies conducted at several representative private home shrines in Northern Vietnam, the article investigates the historical, cultural, and social conditions that underpin the sacralization of the Ho Chi Minh symbol in domestic sacred spaces. The analysis focuses on the spatial configuration of worship settings, ritual practices, modes of spiritual cultivation, and the mechanisms through which vernacular sacralization operates. Through this approach, the study elucidates how Ho Chi Minh is reinterpreted as a moral exemplar, a protective figure, and an object of veneration within popular spiritual life. The findings indicate that this process is closely associated with the depoliticization and moralization of Ho Chi Minh’s image, alongside its incorporation into indigenous belief systems. The domestic worship space thus becomes a site of memory negotiation, where revolutionary memory is transformed into sacred social memory through repetitive ritual practices. By engaging in comparative dialogue with cases of political leader sacralization worldwide, the article contributes to broader scholarly debates on the interrelationship between politics, religion, and cultural memory in contemporary society.