This paper uses a case study of the Hồi An–Da Nang corridor in
Quảng Nam province, Việt Nam, to examine some of the pressures
that whale worship – a traditional cultural practice of coastal fishing
communities in central and southern Việt Nam – has faced since the
̶Dồi reforms of 1986. Whale temples, the physical manifestation of
the veneration of the whale as an ancestor of fishers, are coming under
increasing pressure as tourism development displaces coastal communities from
the shores and as the younger generations turn their back on the sea as a source
of livelihood. The paper seeks to draw attention to a locally important
manifestation of intangible cultural heritage, the existence of which is
threatened even before the country's first tentative efforts at cultural
heritage conservation come into full swing.
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