Edyta Roszko - Fishers, Monks and Cadres

T his book has grown out of a dissertation submitted to the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in 2011. My initial interest in Vietnam began in 2002 when I went there as part of a postgraduate programme arranged by the Polish Ministry of Education and Sport. Since then, many individuals and institutions have helped me throughout this project. Before I thank them and acknowledge my gratitude and indebtedness for their constant support and encouragement, I will briefly describe how it happened that I decided to carry out research in Vietnam.

Some failures turn out to be our best friends. When in 2001 I failed to win a scholarship to study in China, I thought that I would have to give up my dream of doing research in the country that had long fascinated me. I was learning Chinese and wrote my masters thesis on Buddhism in China with a view to conducting research there. During that same year, I began attending seminars on Southeast Asia organized by Magorzata Pietrasiak at the Institute of International Relations (University of d). Why you dont apply to go to Vietnam? she asked me. I had never thought about going to Vietnam and I knew very little about it. Moreover, it was my last year of study at university and, according to the rules, I was no longer eligible to apply. When I had almost given up the idea, my thesis supervisor Sawoj Szynkiewicz exclaimed, More go-getting energy, Ms. Roszko! Their enthusiasm, encouragement, support, and trust helped convince the dean of the University of d to allow me to submit my application. Ten months later, just after my graduation, I received confirmation from the Polish Ministry of Education and Sport in Warsaw that I had won the scholarship! Without Sawoj Szynkiewicz and Magorzata Pietrasiaks help, I would not be where I am now.

My three-year stay in Vietnam (20022005) would have been impossible without financial support from the Polish Ministry of Education and Sport, which not only provided a grant but also, in an exceptional gesture, extended its scholarship to me twice. I particularly want to thank Jacek Wojtakiewicz (Department of International Cooperation), whose assistance and efficiency helped to overcome many formal constraints and make my stay in Vietnam possible. I would like to extend my thanks to the Polish Embassy in Hanoi, where I was warmly received and which assisted me whenever I needed during my early stay in Vietnam.

Upon my arrival in Hanoi in 2002, I would never have been integrated so quickly into Vietnamese society had it not been for the lively environment at the Vietnamese Academy of Social Science in Hanoi, in particular the Institute for Religious Studies, with which I was affiliated from 2002 to 2005. I am particularly grateful to its director, Professor Quang Hng, who helped me innumerable times with bureaucratic challenges. I am also grateful to the late Prof. Cao Xuan Ph and the late Dr. Nguyn Quc, as well as Dr. Ng Vn Doanh and Dr. o Th c. Special thanks also to the younger researchers: Dr. Nguyn Ngc Qunh, Dr. Nguyn Th Minh Ngc, Dr. Nguyn Vn Dng, Dr. L Tm c, Mrs. Phan Tng Vn, and many other colleagues with whom I not only had lively discussions, but also took field trips outside of Hanoi. They were my first guides through the culture and everyday life of Vietnam.

My adventure in Vietnam could not have taken on such serious and professional proportions without Andrew Hardy, the head of the cole Franaise dExtrme-Orient (EFEO) in Hanoi, who provided advice and support at critical moments during the first years of my stay in Vietnam. The EFEO also generously offered me two years of funding to study Vietnamese. In 2007 Andrew invited me to join his multidisciplinary project, The Long Wall of Qung Ngi, which he was organizing in cooperation with the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology. Andrews and Nguyn Tin ngs assistance and expertise in the field and their excellent relations with the Qung Ngi provincial authorities were invaluable for my PhD project. Much appreciated support in transcribing interviews and in collecting various documents was provided by Nguyn Hng Nhung. For teaching me Vietnamese, I am indebted to two professional teachers from Hanoi National University, L Th Thu Hoi and Nguyn Th Phng Thy, who tirelessly corrected my pronunciation and guided me through linguistic nuances. They were not only my tutors; they also became my good friends.

My doctoral studies formally began in the winter of 2006 when I became enrolled in the joint PhD programme of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and Martin Luther University in Halle. My doctoral fieldwork in Vietnam in 20062007 was made possible by financial support from the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. Chris Hann, my principal advisor, was most important in welcoming me to the Max Planck Society and helping me orient myself to the research project Religion and Morality, which he initiated. What Chris Hann offered to my dissertation in terms of a postsocialist studies approach and a solid ethnographic focus, Burkhard Schnepel of Martin Luther University my second advisor provided in guiding me through maritime history and polytheistic religions and by sharing his enthusiasm for small islands. In the course of my PhD trajectory I benefitted greatly from comments and suggestions from colleagues not only in informal discussions, but also when I presented earlier drafts of several chapters at conferences, workshops, and seminars or sent my papers directly to them. I want to specifically thank Fridrich Binder, Irene Becci, Pascal Bourdeaux, Andrew Hardy, Lle Yaln-Heckmann, Kirsten Endres, Tobias Klner, Nathan Light, Agata adykowska, Agnieszka Pasieka, Magorzata Rajtar, Detelina Tocheva, Philip Taylor, Markus Schlecker and Gbor Vargyas.

At this point, I would like to thank the Institute of Culture Studies and, particularly, Prof. L Hng L, who arranged my visa during my stay in Vietnam from September 2006 to September 2007, and Prof. Nguyn Thi Phng Chm, who continued to arrange my research visas between 2011 and 2018. I am aware that my hyper-mobility in Vietnam caused many troubles for the institute that hosted me and was responsible for my research and my whereabouts. I highly appreciate their patience, help, openness, and goodwill, all of which made this project possible. I would like to acknowledge that the Qung Ngi authorities helped me carry out my project in central Vietnam. I am particularly grateful to Nguyn Hong Sn, Dr. Nguyn ng V, Phan nh , Nguyn Kim Sn, Hong Nam Chu, and L Hng Khnh. I also owe my thanks to the authorities of Ph Thnh commune (c Ph District) and of L Sn District, who warmly welcomed me as a foreigner and organized my stay in their communities.