TL;DR: The Ông Hoàng Mười Temple Festival takes place at Ông Hoàng Mười Temple and the Nguyen family church in Xuân Am village, Hưng Thịnh commune, Hưng Nguyên district, Nghệ An province, with its main festival on the 10th day of the tenth lunar month, the legendary date of Quan Hoàng Mười's passing. It is tied to Mother Goddess worship and hau dong mediumship rites, including khai quang, moc duc, the palanquin procession of royal edicts, yet cao, dai te and ta ceremonies. In 2019 the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism added it to the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List under Decision No. 2970/QD-BVHTTDL.
When and where does the Ông Hoàng Mười Temple Festival take place?
The Ông Hoàng Mười Temple Festival takes place at Ông Hoàng Mười Temple and the Nguyen family church in Xuân Am village, Hưng Thịnh commune, Hưng Nguyên district, Nghệ An province. The main festival is held on the 10th day of the tenth lunar month, which local legend holds to be the date Quan Hoàng Mười passed away. Before that, khai quang (spirit opening) and moc duc (ritual bathing) rites begin on the 8th of the tenth lunar month, and on the 9th the royal edicts are carried in procession from the Nguyen family church to the temple.
According to documentation from the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies (Cục Di san van hoa), the festival is tied to the temple's history from the 17th century, during the Lê Trung Hưng period. After the temple was restored in 1995, the people of Xuân Am village concentrated the main festival on the 10th day of the tenth lunar month, while the 15th day of the third lunar month is observed only with incense and offerings. The 10th day of the tenth lunar month also coincides with Trung thap, the new rice festival and Ha nguyen, regarded as a complete and fulfilled day.
Who is Quan Hoàng Mười in the Đạo Mẫu system?
In the Đạo Mẫu (Mother Goddess) system, Quan Hoàng Mười is the tenth son of Đức Vua cha Bát Hải Động Đình, originally a heavenly mandarin at the Đế Đình court and an immortal in Đào Nguyên. By his father's command he descended to earth to help people and support life, was assigned the spiritual duty of guarding Nghệ An, and was specially granted full authority as imperial commissioner in the Nghe region. Ông Hoàng Mười is the third-ranked spirit in the pantheon of the Four Palaces, regarded as the saint who grants fortune in career and office.
The temple also preserves a legend about him tied to Xuân Am village, Yên Đổ canton, Hưng Nguyên prefecture in the past. According to the heritage dossier, he is described as accomplished in both letters and martial arts, credited with building a prosperous order and stabilizing the lives of local people, caring for and helping poor laborers, and as a talented general with great merit in the Lam Sơn Uprising. He was gravely wounded, rode his horse home and died; before the villagers could bury him, termites had piled earth around his body into a grave. The court and the people mourned and built a temple beside the grave to commemorate him.
Quan Hoàng Mười's merits were recognized by feudal dynasties, which granted him long honorary titles, including positions such as Khâm Sai Tiết Chế Nghệ An, Quảng Nam, Thuận Hóa Đẳng Xứ, Kiêm Thủy Bộ Chư Dinh, Bình Chương Quân Quốc Trọng Sự, Thái Úy, Vị Quốc Công.
Which historical figures is Quan Hoàng Mười identified with?
Legend holds that he is a manifestation of Lý Nhật Quang, Lê Khôi, Nguyễn Xí and Nguyễn Duy Lạc, historical figures tied to the Nghe region who rendered service to the country and the people and whose backgrounds resemble that of Quan Hoàng Mười. According to the heritage dossier, historicizing and localizing Ông Hoàng Mười into such historical figures shows the flexibility of Nghe region residents in expressing the tradition of honoring those who served their homeland, reminding later generations of the moral principle of remembering the source when drinking water.
It should be noted that these are different layers of legend and identification passed down locally, not a single verified historical identity. Available sources record the diversity of these legendary layers rather than asserting that there is only one way of understanding.
What are the main rituals of the Ông Hoàng Mười Temple Festival?
According to the heritage dossier, the main rituals include khai quang and moc duc on the 8th of the tenth lunar month, the procession of royal edicts on the 9th, yet cao, dai te and ta ceremonies. Each ritual has its own role in opening the festival, welcoming the deity and closing it.
The procession of royal edicts from the Nguyen family church to Ông Hoàng Mười Temple takes place on the afternoon of the 9th. Since feudal times, the temple's deity edicts were entrusted to the Nguyen clan for safekeeping. When the village holds the festival, the edicts are carried to the temple, and after the festival they are returned to the church. The Nguyen family church currently keeps 18 original edicts, of which 15 remain intact. Before 1975, when there was no large road, the procession traveled by boat on the Cồn Mộc river; today the route is convenient so the procession goes by land.
The ritual committee and ritual team are people in the family who are not in mourning and keep themselves pure. The procession includes the village community carrying drums, gongs, flags, palanquins, the long dinh palanquin and offerings, gathering at the Nguyen family church. The Nguyen clan head performs the rite requesting to carry the edicts to the temple for the festival, handing the edicts and incense burner to the ritual committee to place on the long dinh palanquin for the procession to the temple. On arrival, the palanquin is lowered in the temple yard, and the chief celebrant carries the edict box inside for the an vi (installation) rite at the Thuong dien.
On the morning of the 10th, villagers hold the dai te with tuyen sac (proclamation of edicts) and te rituals. The edict box in the Thuong dien is carried to the Ha dien, the chief celebrant opens the box and takes out two edicts, one from the Le era and one from the Nguyen era, and reads their contents. After the proclamation, the edicts are returned to the box and reinstalled as before. Then comes the te ceremony, with villagers and visitors offering incense. In the evening is the ta ceremony thanking Quan Hoàng Mười and the deities for protecting the festival; afterward the edicts are carried back to the Nguyen family church, with offerings announcing to the deities and ancestors that the festival is complete.
| Ritual | Timing | Main content |
|---|---|---|
| Khai quang, moc duc | 8th day of the tenth lunar month | Opening and purification rites |
| Procession of edicts | Afternoon of the 9th day of the tenth lunar month | Edicts carried from the Nguyen family church to the temple, installed at the Thuong dien |
| Yet cao | During the festival | Report to the deities |
| Dai te, tuyen sac | Morning of the 10th day of the tenth lunar month | Edict box carried to the Ha dien, two edicts from the Le and Nguyen eras read, then offerings made |
| Ta | Evening of the 10th day of the tenth lunar month | Ceremony thanking the deities, edicts carried back to the Nguyen family church |
What is special about hau dong of Quan Hoàng Mười compared with other places?
The distinctive feature of the Ông Hoàng Mười Temple Festival is activities tied to Mother Goddess worship, including hau dong mediumship performances. Ông Hoàng Mười frequently descends, remains in trance for a long time and appears after the Quan and Chau gias. Hau dong rites attract pilgrims from afar; each year the temple receives about 400 to 500 groups practicing the worship, mainly from northern provinces and some from the south. From the eighth to the tenth lunar month, hau dong is practiced regularly at the temple.
According to the heritage dossier, hau dong of Quan Hoàng Mười in Nghệ An has distinctive features compared with other places, with chau van songs praising the glorious career of Quan Hoàng Mười, performed by cung van in the Nghệ Tĩnh folk singing style. He appears with the distinctive style of a son of the Nghe region, representing the character and spirit of Nghe people: heroic, charging into battle, elegant, refined, romantic, fond of poetry and literature. This is the dossier's description of local performance style, not a comparative judgment of better or worse between regions.
Why is hau dong tied to the 10th day of the tenth lunar month?
According to the heritage dossier, the 10th day of the tenth lunar month is regarded as the date Quan Hoàng Mười passed away, and is also the occasion of the new rice festival, Trung thap and Ha nguyen, as well as the feast day of those who practice hau dong. People believe this is a complete and fulfilled day bringing many good things. For this reason, after the temple was restored in 1995, the main festival has been concentrated on this occasion instead of only maintaining the Tu dien ceremony on the 15th day of the third lunar month as before.
How long has the Ông Hoàng Mười Temple Festival existed?
The Ông Hoàng Mười Temple Festival formed and existed alongside the temple's history from the 17th century, during the Lê Trung Hưng period, to commemorate and honor the merits of Quan Hoàng Mười. According to the Xuân Am thon tuc le text currently kept at the Institute of Sino-Nom Studies, feudal dynasties all granted deity edicts to the deities worshiped here. The court assigned Xuân Am village the responsibility of tong tien phung su (contributing to and serving) the deities, strictly stipulated in the village's convention.
Besides festival days and monthly full moon days requiring careful offerings, the village also held the Tu dien ceremony on the 15th day of the third lunar month on a large scale with full rituals such as the procession, yet cao and dai te. The people of Xuân Am village maintained the practice regularly each year and regarded it as the village's great festival. From 1995, after the temple was restored, the festival changed as described above.
Besides the rituals, what other activities does the festival include?
Alongside the rituals, the festival includes folk games such as boat racing, tug of war, human chess, floating flower lanterns, along with displays of traditional craft village products and sports activities. According to the heritage dossier, the festival plays an important role in the spiritual and cultural life of local people. Joining the festival and collective games is an occasion for people to meet, interact and strengthen community solidarity. The festival also plays a role in the local community's economic life, giving people the opportunity to improve their material conditions.
When was the Ông Hoàng Mười Temple Festival recognized as heritage?
With its outstanding values, the Ông Hoàng Mười Temple Festival was added by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List under Decision No. 2970/QD-BVHTTDL dated 27 August 2019. This recognition places the festival within the system of heritage managed, protected and promoted by the state under cultural heritage regulations.
According to the heritage dossier, the festival preserves traditional beliefs and rituals, reenacts the legends, backgrounds and merits of historical figures such as Quan Hoàng Mười, Lý Nhật Quang, Lê Khôi, Nguyễn Xí and Nguyễn Duy Lạc, helping people understand the history and traditions of their homeland. Hau dong rites preserve and nurture the art of hat van and contribute to educating younger generations about the merits of national heroes.
What should be noted when learning about this festival?
First, information about Quan Hoàng Mười's identity exists in multiple layers: both as a deity in the Đạo Mẫu system and as identified with different historical figures. Readers should distinguish between legend, locally transmitted tales and verified historical sources.
Second, the festival timing has changed across periods. Previously the Tu dien ceremony on the 15th day of the third lunar month was the village's major occasion; after 1995 the main festival shifted to the 10th day of the tenth lunar month. This is a change recorded in the heritage dossier, not speculation.
Third, the festival is closely tied to Mother Goddess worship and hau dong practice, a form of folk belief with a long history in Vietnam. Study should be placed in the context of cultural belief, avoiding judgments by criteria from other fields.
