The Function and Authority of Family Rituals in Vietnam during the 17-19th centuries, Manual of Family Rituals Thọ mai gia lễ

Family ritual manuals were lithurgical texts whose aim was proliferation of Confucian doctrine into the daily life of Vietnamnese population. This thesis describes the environment and circumstances under which the individual manuals originated and developed, and subsequently the nature of the Vietnamese manuals themselves. The following part of the thesis analyses funeral rituals in the most common family rituals manual in Vietnam, Thọ mai gia lễ. The aim is to compare the Vietnamese text with the best known model for manuals devoted to family rituals - the Family Rituals Manual by Neoconfucian philospher Zhu Xiho, and to expose and interpret the identified differences