The beliefs of Vietnamese folk medicine associate illness with the absence of any of the three souls which maintain life, intelligence, and the senses or of the seven spirits which collectively sustain the living body. A number of rituals performed at childbirth, which are aimed at protecting the mother and the infant from medical and magical dangers, derive from these beliefs but they play a relatively limited role in medical behaviour generally. Conversely, Chinese medicine plays a major role in the maintenance and restoration of health and is observed by Vietnamese. Principles from Chinese medicine provide the scripting for the management of birth for both groups and more generally, establish guidelines whereby good health may be maintained.
