TL;DR: Buddhism has no single table of memorial days; each tradition and temple records them somewhat differently. In Mahayana temples in Vietnam, commonly mentioned days include the 1st of the 1st lunar month (Maitreya), the 19th of the 2nd, 6th and 9th months (Quan Âm), the 21st of the 2nd (Samantabhadra), the 4th of the 4th (Manjushri), the 8th of the 4th (birth of Shakyamuni), the 30th of the 7th (Ksitigarbha), the 17th of the 11th (Amitabha) and the 8th of the 12th (the Buddha's enlightenment). The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha now holds the main Buddha's Birthday ceremony on the full moon of the 4th month. Chanting, worship or releasing living beings on these days is an optional practice, not a requirement.
What are Buddha and Bodhisattva memorial days, and why are there different ways of calculating them?
A memorial day (ngày vía) commemorates a Buddha, a Bodhisattva or a deity, usually on the day of birth, sometimes on the day of renunciation or enlightenment, according to the tradition of each temple and school. There is no single table of memorial days for all of Buddhism; even the birth year of Shakyamuni Buddha is recorded differently in different sources. Trần Trọng Kim's book Phật lục records that according to the Mahayana scriptures of China, the Buddha was born on the 8th day of the 4th month in the 26th year of King Zhao of Zhou, that is 1027 BCE, while European and Japanese scholars accept that he was born around 560 BCE; on the day, the book writes: "As for the day of the Buddha's birth, it is commonly taken to be the 8th day of the 4th month"[1].
Theravada countries such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos hold Vesak on the full moon of the month of Vesākha (around April or May on the solar calendar), combining commemoration of the birth, enlightenment and parinirvana. Mahayana Buddhism in China and Korea takes the 8th day of the 4th lunar month as Buddha's Birthday. In Vietnam, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha now holds the main Buddha's Birthday ceremony on the full moon of the 4th lunar month, with a Buddha's Birthday week from the 8th to the 15th, so both days are observed.
Which Buddha and Bodhisattva memorial days are common in the lunar year?
Below are the memorial days often mentioned in Mahayana temples in Vietnam, set beside the table of sacred birthdays in one edition of the Ngọc hạp ký (玉匣記), a Chinese almanac for choosing days traditionally attributed to the Perfected Lord Xu, with a preface dated 1433. Names and dates may vary between localities and lineages.
| Lunar month | Day | Figure commemorated | Ngọc hạp ký records |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st month | 1st | Maitreya Buddha (birth) | 彌勒佛聖誕 (birth of Maitreya Buddha) |
| 2nd month | 8th | Shakyamuni Buddha (renunciation) | 釋迦文佛出家 (Shakyamuni leaves home) |
| 2nd month | 19th | Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, Quan Âm (birth) | 觀音菩薩聖誕 (birth of Quan Âm) |
| 2nd month | 21st | Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, Phổ Hiền (birth) | 普賢菩薩聖誕 (birth of Phổ Hiền) |
| 4th month | 4th | Manjushri Bodhisattva, Văn Thù Sư Lợi (birth) | 文殊菩薩聖誕 (birth of Văn Thù) |
| 4th month | 8th | Shakyamuni Buddha (birth) | 釋迦文佛聖誕 (birth of Shakyamuni) |
| 4th month | 15th | Main Buddha's Birthday ceremony of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha | 成道 (enlightenment) |
| 6th month | 19th | Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, Quan Âm (enlightenment) | 觀音菩薩成佛 (Quan Âm becomes a Buddha) |
| 7th month | 13th | Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva, Đại Thế Chí (birth) | 大勢至菩薩聖誕 (birth of Đại Thế Chí) |
| 7th month | 30th | Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Địa Tạng (birth) | 地藏王菩薩聖誕 (birth of Địa Tạng) |
| 9th month | 19th | Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, Quan Âm (renunciation) | Not recorded |
| 9th month | 30th | Medicine Buddha, Dược Sư (birth) | 琉璃光王佛聖誕 (birth of the Lapis Lazuli Light King Buddha) |
| 11th month | 17th | Amitabha Buddha, A Di Đà (birth) | 阿彌陀佛聖誕 (birth of Amitabha) |
| 12th month | 8th | Shakyamuni Buddha (enlightenment) | 釋迦佛成佛 (Shakyamuni becomes a Buddha) |
The table shows two points where traditions differ. This edition of the Ngọc hạp ký has no 19th of the 9th month for Quan Âm, and besides the Buddha's becoming a Buddha on the 8th of the 12th month, it also records the 15th of the 4th month as the day of enlightenment (成道), right after the line on Shakyamuni's birth. In some years the 7th lunar month has only 29 days; in those years the calendar has no 30th for the Địa Tạng memorial day. Some temples also have memorial days for figures such as Thiên Hậu, Quan Thánh and Ngọc Hoàng, depending on the temple's shrines.
Why does Guanyin have as many as three memorial days in the year?
In Mahayana temples in Vietnam, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva (Quan Thế Âm) has three memorial days: the 19th of the 2nd month (birth), the 19th of the 6th month (enlightenment) and the 19th of the 9th month (renunciation). The Ngọc hạp ký edition mentioned above records only two of them: the 19th of the 2nd month as the sacred birthday (觀音菩薩聖誕) and the 19th of the 6th month as the day she became a Buddha (觀音菩薩成佛). Trần Trọng Kim's Phật lục tells the story of Diệu Thiện (Miaoshan), a third daughter who left home and attained the Way with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes, then writes that a later novelist built on that story a tale of King Trang of the state of Sở (Chu) with three daughters, the youngest, Diệu Thiện, becoming a Buddha, and that the Vietnamese in turn drew on it to create the story of Lady Buddha Quan Âm practising at Hương Tích cave[1]. When the 19th of the 9th month was added is not known.
At the Chinese guild halls of Thừa Thiên Huế, besides the memorial day of Lady Thiên Hậu as the main festival, there are memorial days for Quan Thánh Đế Quân (13th of the 3rd month and 24th of the 6th lunar month), for the Jade Emperor (9th of the 1st lunar month) and for Lady Buddha Quan Âm (19th of the 2nd lunar month)[2].
The same Ngọc hạp ký edition also records the 9th of the 1st month as the Jade Emperor's sacred birthday (玉皇上帝聖誕) and the 24th of the 6th month as that of Lord Guan (關王聖誕).
Buddha's Birthday and the practice of releasing living beings: how should it be understood?
Phan Kế Bính's Việt Nam phong tục also records that the Buddha "was born on the 8th day of the 4th month, but the year is not known"[5].
In folk practice, many people choose the 8th day of the 4th lunar month to visit temples, chant and release living beings. The almanac Ngọc hạp ký ties releasing living beings to memorial days through a reckoning of merit: under the 10th month, it lists the 8th day as the day of nirvana (涅盤), unlike the 15th of the 2nd month on which many temples mark the Buddha's parinirvana, and writes "此日放生一個比常日放生十千萬功德", meaning that releasing one creature on that day earns ten thousand times ten thousand the merit of an ordinary day. These are the words of an almanac, not of a sutra.
Releasing animals improperly, such as freeing them where they cannot survive, can kill them, which runs against the compassion that releasing living beings is meant to express.
What is the meaning of commemorating memorial days in Buddhist life?
A memorial day is not a day of sacrifice to ask for favours, but an occasion for Buddhists to recall the vows of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and to reflect on themselves. In the Vimalakirti Sutra and the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, the Bodhisattvas are present in the assembly listening to the Buddha's teaching; the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment opens with the World-Honoured One together with the Bodhisattvas Văn Thù Sư Lợi, Phổ Hiền, Phổ Nhãn, Kim Cang Tạng and Di Lặc[3][4].
Việt Nam phong tục records, in its section on the association of chư bà, that chư bà are women aged fifty or more, or older widows, who join the association and take refuge in the Buddha; "each month, on the sóc and vọng days, they go up to the temple to worship the Buddha"[5]. The sóc (1st day) and vọng (15th day) set the monthly rhythm of worship in villages, alongside the memorial days of the year.
Should one only go to the temple on memorial days?
In the fifth section of Cư trần lạc đạo phú, Trần Nhân Tông writes: "The Buddha is in the house; there is no need to search far away," meaning the Buddha is within oneself. In that spirit, memorial days are reminders, not a requirement for receiving merit.
Nhật Nguyệt's suggestions for choosing a memorial day to visit a temple
Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: If you want to visit a temple on a memorial day, choose a day that suits your time and health. What matters is maintaining a reverent mind and understanding the meaning of worshipping the Buddha, not chasing the number of memorial days or outward forms of worship. You can check the schedule of a nearby temple to know the exact date of its memorial ceremony. If you cannot go to a temple, chanting and reciting the Buddha's name at home on these days is also a good practice.
What do memorial days mean in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people?
A 2024 study by Trần Thị Lan Hương and Hoàng Thị Mỹ Nhị records that, as the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha issued guidance for preparing the 2020 Buddha's Birthday celebration, asking provinces and cities not to set up mass ceremonial stages or hold flower-float processions; in 2020 many rituals were scaled down and moved online[8].
Trần Diễm Thùy's 2019 study of the tống ôn, tống gió ritual (expelling epidemics and ill winds) in the Mekong Delta records that, under Buddhist influence, the ritual now incorporates prayers for peace and for the dead and is usually held on major Buddhist festivals such as the full moon of the 1st month and of the 7th month[9].
