Yen Thanh: Many people no longer believe in the Hoang Thien Long cult.

(Baonghean) - In 2007, Nguyen Thi Thuy began to propagate the Hoang Thien Long cult in Trung Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). From then on, the Hoang Thien Long cult spread like a poisonous wind to many communes in the district and province. However, after realizing its true nature, the people of Yen Thanh no longer believed in the so-called "Hoang Thien Long cult".

April 10, 2014 was a memorable day for Mr. Hoang Dinh Danh, the patriarch of the Hoang Dinh clan in Nam Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). In the presence of commune officials and neighbors, he and his son brought all the worship items of the Hoang Thien Long "religion" to the yard and burned them. He breathed a sigh of relief and said: "I have abandoned this evil religion for almost a year now, but today I have completely broken away!". Not having to "struggle mentally" like Mr. Danh, Mr. Nguyen Duy Chau, a carpenter in the same village and his mother over 80 years old, were much more determined. A few years ago, his mother became seriously ill. After a period of treatment, the hospital sent her home... While she was confused, the older brother brought home 3 women who introduced themselves as members of the Hoang Thien Long "religion". One named Thuy told the whole family that if they followed the Hoang Thien Long "religion" then she might recover. If she "passed away", the "religion" would hold a funeral for her. When sick, one prays in all directions, but while his mother was bedridden, he could only nod. Thuy gave him a picture of the leader, parallel sentences, two flags modeled after the Party flag and the national flag, and a large incense bowl to “refresh” the altar. In front of the altar were three bowls of cooled water, which after the mother and son lit incense and recited prayers became three bowls of medicine.

Mr. Hoang Dinh Danh in Nam Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) destroyed documents related to the Hoang Thien Long cult.

However, the more she took the “medicine”, the worse her condition became. Unwilling to see her mother getting weaker, Chau and his uncles decided to take her to Hanoi hospital for treatment. There, the doctor said that she had pleural effusion, luckily her family was able to get her out in time. Just a month later, her condition gradually improved and she was discharged. The day before, the next day, despite the argument between her eldest brother and his wife (who were following the evil religion of Hoang Thien Long), Chau and his mother put the ancestral altar back as before. From then on, they did not care about the “religion” of Hoang Thien Long.

Mr. Nguyen Van Binh - Chairman of the Fatherland Front of Nam Thanh commune said that before 2013, the commune had 27 households following the Hoang Thien Long cult, but through propaganda and mobilization of mass organizations and neighbors and relatives, now 20 households have returned to worshiping their ancestors according to traditional customs.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hy in Hamlet 6, Trung Thanh Commune said that she followed the Hoang Thien Long "religion" because she heard from some acquaintances. At first, she felt happy, although her children working far away advised her not to. Later, when she heard officials and neighbors say that it was an "evil cult", taking advantage of the worship of leaders and heroic martyrs to commit fraud, she gradually understood. She laughed: "I'm this old but still foolish. When I understood, I quit completely". Mr. Tran Thuong Hoan, Secretary of the Party Committee of Trung Thanh Commune, said: Since Nghe An newspaper pointed out the fraudulent nature of the Hoang Thien Long cult, and named Nguyen Thi Thuy as the leader of this cult in Yen Thanh and Nghe An, many people have just realized. The scriptures are written in a silly way, and the water is said to be a medicine. Yet they spend money to go all the way to Ung Hoa district (Hanoi) several times a year to meet "Master Dien". It only makes them rich. Not only in Nam Thanh and Trung Thanh communes, many people have completely abandoned this heresy, but in Van Thanh and Nhan Thanh communes, dozens of households have also returned to traditional worship. The head of Van Thanh commune police said that the phenomenon of people following the Hoang Thien Long religion chanting and worshiping together like before no longer exists.

Mr. Nguyen Van He in Hoa Thanh commune said that his uncle in Van Thanh was living a peaceful life, with a good economy, but in 2011, he didn't know who prompted him to suddenly go to "Master Dien" in Ung Hoa district (Hanoi) to "convert". Seeing his younger brothers object, he glared. Now it was "freedom of belief", the uncles forbade him because he was "violating the law" (?). Besides, he only worshiped the leaders and heroic martyrs, so what was "wrong"? He said so. Although he was so infatuated, recently he was no longer interested in this evil religion. He hadn't completely given up, but it seemed that he had become very indifferent.

It is known that in 2011 - the peak year, the whole Yen Thanh district had about 150 households following the Hoang Thien Long cult. In early 2014, when the authorities, departments, branches and organizations in the whole district started to propagate and mobilize people to eliminate the cult and protect traditional customs, up to now, about 90 households have completely abandoned it. However, to completely eliminate this cult in life is still very difficult and requires the drastic participation of all levels and branches. The evidence is that when we were watching a homeowner remove the cult altar and burn the "scripture" books in Trung Thanh, we received a phone call from an official of Phu Thanh commune informing us that Phu Thanh commune had just invited Ms. Nguyen Thi Khoi, residing in Nhan Thanh commune, to the commune committee headquarters to remind her, because Ms. Khoi had gone to Phu Thanh commune to propagate and entice people to follow the Hoang Thien Long cult.

Article and photos:Viet Long