The theme of androgyny in traditional religious and mythological representations of Vietnamese people

The idea that all things are endowed with the qualities of both sexes inevitably follows from the idea of androgynous deity as a paradigm and the beginning of all existence. The theme of androgyny is present in a number of Indian traditions. Avalokiteshvara, one of the major Bodhisattvas in Buddhist mythology of Mahayana and Vajrayana, is the embodiment of compassion. Since the 7-8 centuries, the change of sex is observed; as the male image of Avalokiteshvara, arose, so did the female, which later pushes away male subsistence. The mysterious origins of androgyny, performed during the northern Thai calendar holidays can be found in the Zhuang culture. These are ethnic groups, whose members speak a type of Thai-family language, and tend to live in southern China. Supreme deity is a mother (grandmother) color, which is believed to have created the world and, moreover, can convert to become her husband, the lord of heaven; the God with a bird's head. One of the names of the androgynous deity Zhuan and sounds is Mother-to-head father. The persistence of archaic belief is such that the deity (spirits) and those who communicate with them, have the ability to be and show signs of both sexes; a message manifested in Thai dances by mediums (or shamans). In Viet Thai people and women played an important role. In Vietnam, a woman was lower in rank in religious ceremonies, but not in the family and not by law. Although the family was based on the patriarchal model, females still enjoyed almost equal rights with men. In Vietnam, due to the authority of women, there was a perfume called «Ba» or «Madam», where the subject, symbolizing the spirit, is the linga, which contains a male entity. The legend of the Holy Mother of four Gulf Kohn gained widespread popularity in Vietnam, which replaced the spirit of the sea waves, which had a male face. Viet uprising against Chinese rule, would sometimes be led the women fighters. For example, at the head of the uprising against the rule of the Chinese Han Dynasty (40-43 AD.) were the Trung sisters, who helped their early widowed mother. Among fellow members together with the Trung sisters there were a lot of women fighters. The tradition of turning a woman into a man entered the Vietnamese traditional collections of short stories, for example, in «Records of what they saw and heard» Wu repairing (18 in.) and an anonymous collection of early 19th century «Notes of a hermit».