Refashioning of Chinese Shrine from Spiritual Religious Center to the New Purpose: Case Studies from Indochina

Abstract

Chinese shrine is a specific building that is usually existed in the Chinese ethnic community. This place plays role as spiritual center for the community. When time pass, the changing function of the Chinese shrine might occur and the refashioning is an interesting social science phenomenon. In this brief article, the authors present and discuss on examples of cases of refashioning of Chinese shrine from spiritual religious center to the new purpose. The dynamicity of culture over time can be reflected.