TL;DR: An afternoon opening ceremony is fine. Hiệp kỷ biện phương thư judges an opening by the day, Phan Kế Bính only records that a new undertaking usually has a hoàng đạo hour chosen for it, and none of these books forbids an afternoon rite. Every day has at least one hoàng đạo hour between 1 PM and 7 PM; in folk practice, people pick that hour and avoid hours that clash with the owner's age.
Can the opening ceremony be held in the afternoon?
An afternoon opening ceremony is fine. The day-selection books cited in this article contain no rule against holding the rite in the afternoon; in folk practice, people only take care to pick a hoàng đạo hour and to avoid days and hours that clash with the owner's age. Those books judge an opening first of all by the day.
The book Hiệp kỷ biện phương thư lists for the Thành day: "starting school, pacifying the borders, moving house, repairing dykes, opening a business", then explains: "Thành is the completion of a harmonious combination, Khai is the beginning of life energy"[1]. The book judges an opening by the day and does not divide it into morning or afternoon.
Besides the Thành day, the book also lists opening a business (開市) among the suitable activities of the Khai day and the Mãn day[1].
Why do many people still choose a morning opening ceremony?
The preference for morning stems from the folk belief about yang energy. Morning is seen as the time when all things begin a new day, yang energy is rising, and it is favorable for beginnings. A morning opening ceremony also allows the shop owner to open the doors and welcome customers right away that day, avoiding the feeling that "the ceremony is done but it's already dark."
This is a belief, not a rule. In the section on choosing days and hours of Việt Nam phong tục, Phan Kế Bính lists opening a shop among the matters for which people usually choose the day and hour, and writes that anything at its start, such as setting out on a journey, going to fetch a bride, raising a house or lowering a coffin into the grave, "usually has a hoàng đạo hour chosen for it"[2]. He speaks only of choosing a hoàng đạo hour, not of holding the rite in the morning.
Some people believe that an afternoon opening ceremony will make business "dark" and hard to brighten. This is an oral saying; the day-selection books cited in this article do not record it.
How did tradition choose the hour for the opening ceremony?
In folk practice, the hour of the opening ceremony is usually chosen by two points: prefer a hoàng đạo (auspicious) hour, and avoid hours that clash with the owner's age. Specifically:
- Hoàng đạo hours: each day has 6 hoàng đạo hours and 6 hắc đạo (inauspicious) hours, determined by the Earthly Branch (địa chi) of the day. For anything at its start, people of old usually chose a hoàng đạo hour.
- Avoiding hours that clash with age: many households avoid hours that clash with the owner's age by Earthly Branch. For example, someone born in a Dần (Tiger) year avoids the Thân hour, and someone born in a Mão (Cat) year avoids the Dậu hour.
The book Bát Môn Thần Khóa has another method: count the month, day and hour in turn around the eight trigram palaces to reach a gate, then read the matter by that gate, as in its example: "On the 8th day of the first lunar month, at the Thân hour, a guest came to consult a hexagram... the Thân hour falls in Khảm, Khảm is Hưu (Rest)"[3]. This is the reading method of one separate school, not the usual way of choosing an hour in Vietnamese folk practice.
Which days have a hoàng đạo hour in the afternoon?
Hoàng đạo hours are not fixed to clock times; they change with the Earthly Branch (địa chi) of the day. The table below follows the hoàng đạo reckoning that Phan Kế Bính recorded in Việt Nam phong tục; for Dần and Thân days he names the hoàng đạo hours as Tý, Sửu, Thìn, Tỵ, Mùi and Tuất[2].
| Day (Earthly Branch) | Six hoàng đạo hours | Afternoon hoàng đạo hours |
|---|---|---|
| Tý, Ngọ | Tý, Sửu, Mão, Ngọ, Thân, Dậu | Thân (3-5 PM), Dậu (5-7 PM) |
| Sửu, Mùi | Dần, Mão, Tỵ, Thân, Tuất, Hợi | Thân (3-5 PM) |
| Dần, Thân | Tý, Sửu, Thìn, Tỵ, Mùi, Tuất | Mùi (1-3 PM) |
| Mão, Dậu | Tý, Dần, Mão, Ngọ, Mùi, Dậu | Mùi (1-3 PM), Dậu (5-7 PM) |
| Thìn, Tuất | Dần, Thìn, Tỵ, Thân, Dậu, Hợi | Thân (3-5 PM), Dậu (5-7 PM) |
| Tỵ, Hợi | Sửu, Thìn, Ngọ, Mùi, Tuất, Hợi | Mùi (1-3 PM) |
Every day has at least one hoàng đạo hour between 1 PM and 7 PM. To use the table, look up the Earthly Branch of the intended day in a calendar.
What to note when holding the opening ceremony in the afternoon?
When holding an afternoon opening ceremony, there are a few points to note so the ceremony is solemn and proper:
- Choose a good hour in the afternoon: pick the afternoon hoàng đạo hour of that very day from the table above (Mùi, Thân or Dậu depending on the day).
- Prepare offerings fully: the opening offering tray usually includes incense, flowers, fruit, wine, tea, sticky rice, chicken or roast pig depending on scale, along with votive paper. Offerings do not depend on morning or afternoon.
- Leave time after the rite: with an afternoon ceremony, allow enough time to burn the votive paper in a safe spot, clear the tray and open the doors to customers before dark.
What about choosing the opening time by a Dịch hexagram?
Some people choose the opening day and hour by casting a Dịch hexagram for that very day and hour.
The book Chu Dịch nhật khóa by Phan Tín Thông (translated by Vũ Phác) states the principle: "The best opening day is one that obtains the Lục hợp (Six Harmonies) hexagram... avoid the Lục xung (Six Clashes) hexagram most," and explains: "Lục xung changing to Lục hợp, difficulty first then success. Lục hợp changing to Lục xung, good first then failure"[5]. The book gives the example of a clothing shop that opened at 9:40 in the morning (the Tân Tỵ hour) on the 11th day of the first lunar month of the Đinh Sửu year (1997), judged "greatly auspicious and greatly beneficial, money coming in and business going smoothly"; in its reading the book writes that "on that day, from the Mùi hour to the Dậu hour, there is gain"[5]. The book picks the hour by the hexagram and does not make the morning a condition.
This hexagram method is not the usual Vietnamese way of choosing days. In his section on choosing days and hours, Phan Kế Bính records only choosing the day by the calendar and its good and bad stars, and the hour by hoàng đạo hours; casting hexagrams he describes separately, in another part of the book[2].
Whether an afternoon opening ceremony brings luck has not been verified by any research. The conclusions in this article are based on the beliefs and conventions of day-selection books, not scientific evidence of financial effectiveness.
