Vietnamese folk religion in the context of "Eastern religion"

The Eastern religions are the religions which originated in East, South and Southeast Asia and thus have dissimilarities with Western and African religions. Eastern religions include:

• Taoic religions or East Asian religions such as Confucianism, Taoism, Tengrism, Korean shamanism, Chinese folk religion, and Shinto
• Dharmic religions or Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism
• Southeast Asian religions such as Kejawen and Vietnamese folk religion

The East-West religious distinction (just like the East-West culture distinction, and the implications that arise from it) is broad and not precise. Furthermore, geographical distinctions have less meaning in the current context of global transculturation.

The majority of Vietnamese do not follow any organized religion, instead participating in one or more practices of folk religions, such as venerating ancestors, or praying to deities, especially during Tết and other festivals. Folk religions were founded on endemic cultural beliefs that were historically affected by Confucianism and Taoism from ancient China, as well as by various strands of Buddhism (Phật giáo). These three teachings or tam giáo were later joined by Christianity (Catholicism, Công giáo) which has become a significant presence. Vietnam is also home of two indigenous religions: syncretic Caodaism (Đạo Cao Đài) and quasi-Buddhist Hoahaoism (Phật giáo Hòa Hảo).

Buddhism in Vietnam (Vietnamese: Đạo Phật, 道佛 or Phật Giáo, 佛教), as practiced by the Vietnamese people, is a form of East Asian Mahayana Buddhism. It is the second religion in Vietnam. According to the Vietnamese government's 2019 National Population and Housing Census, approximately 4.6 million individuals identified as Buddhists, representing about 4.8% of the total population at that time. Roman Catholics represent 6.1% of the total population and the vast majority (83.6%) stated that they had to no religion or practice folk religion. However, the U.S. Department of State's 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom cites Vietnam's "White Book" that the Buddhist population increased from nearly 10 million in 2008 to approximately 14 million in 2021, which accounts for 13.3% of the overall population of Vietnam.

Buddhism may have first come to Vietnam as early as the 3rd or 2nd century BCE from the Indian subcontinent or from China in the 1st or 2nd century CE. Vietnamese Buddhism has had a syncretic relationship with certain elements of Taoism, Chinese spirituality, and Vietnamese folk religion. Theravada Buddhism also exists, as well as indigenous forms of Vietnamese Buddhism such as Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương and Hòa Hảo.

Caodaism is a Vietnamese monotheistic syncretic religion that retains many elements from Vietnamese folk religion such as ancestor worship, as well as "ethical precepts from Confucianism, occult practices from Taoism, theories of karma and rebirth from Buddhism, and a hierarchical organization from Catholicism". It was officially established in the city of Tây Ninh in Southern Vietnam in 1926.

The full name of the religion is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ (chữ Hán: 大道三期普度 'The Great Faith [for the] Third Universal Redemption').

Hòa Hảo is a Vietnamese new religious movement. It is described either as a syncretistic folk religion or as a sect of Buddhism. It was founded in Cochinchina in 1939 by Huỳnh Phú Sổ (1920–47), who is regarded as a saint by its devotees. It is one of the major religions of Vietnam with between one million and eight million adherents, mostly in the Mekong Delta.

The religious philosophy of Hòa Hảo, which rose from the Miền Tây region of the Mekong Delta, is essentially Buddhist. It reforms and revises the older Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương tradition of the region, and possesses quasi-millenarian elements. Hòa Hảo is an amalgam of Buddhism, ancestor worship, animistic rites, elements of Confucian doctrine, and the White Lotus religion, transformed and adapted to the mores and customs of the peasants of the region. Coming from the remote edges of Southern Vietnam, it opposes urban life and prefers a communitarian lifestyle. Unlike orthodox Buddhism, Hòa Hảo eschews elaborate rituals and temples, maintains no monastic order, and teaches home practice. It also advocates that each devotee can have direct communion with the Buddha, and that inner faith is more important than external rites. Regular Hòa Hảo rites are limited to four prayers a day, while the devotees are to maintain the Three Fundamental Bonds and Five Constant Virtues.