TL;DR: The cúng đất custom in Hue is a rite of offering to the Earth deity, held twice a year on a good day in the second and eighth lunar months; in the provinces of the South Central Coast a similar ceremony is held in the third month. The newspaper Huế Ngày Nay writes that the old Ngu Quang region all had this custom, and that many places have now let it fade while Hue still keeps it regularly. A full ceremony in Hue has three trays, upper, middle and lower, with boiled chicken, sticky rice, crab, eggs, boiled meat, boiled sweet potato greens, a bowl of shrimp paste dipping sauce, and a skewer of grilled fish. Its main meaning is to thank the earth deity and the former owners of the land, and to pray for âm siêu dương thái (the dead to be delivered and the living to be at peace) and a peaceful life.
What is the cúng đất rite in Huế?
The cúng đất rite in Huế is a ceremony of offerings to the thổ thần and associated deities, also called lễ Tạ thổ kỳ yên[3]. In Huế it is usually held on a good day in the second and eighth lunar months, twice a year[3]. In the Nam Trung Bộ provinces, a similar rite is also held in the third lunar month under different names[1].
In the common understanding of people in central Vietnam, cúng đất is an occasion to thank the thổ thần who watches over the land, and at the same time to remember those who lived on this land before the Vietnamese came to reclaim it[1][3].
Why does the đất offering rite exist in central Vietnam?
In 1306, King Chế Mân of Champa (Jaya Simhavarman III) gave the two châu of Ô and Lý as the bride price for Princess Huyền Trân, and Vietnamese settlers then came to take over the new land[1][3].
The inhabitants of the new land were originally people of the kingdom of Champa, so in the thinking of the Đại Việt people of that time, this land was still unfamiliar in soil, climate and terrain. When they came here to settle, they carried a reverence for the local people and the deities of this place, and from this the custom of cúng Đất took shape as a way of asking the deities and the souls of the former local inhabitants to bless and protect them and to accept the new settlers' presence and livelihood[3].
Is cúng đất held in the second month, the eighth month, or the third?
The đất offering in Huế is usually held twice a year on a good day in the second and eighth lunar months[3]. According to the newspaper Huế Ngày Nay, many people hold that the second month is an occasion to pray for a favourable start to the year, while the eighth month is an offering to thank the thổ thần of the land for support and protection[2].
In the Nam Trung Bộ provinces, this rite is also held in the third lunar month under names such as tạ thổ kỳ an, tá thổ, mãi thổ and khao thổ[1].
As observed by the author of a 2016 article in Huế Ngày Nay, the cúng đất rite of Huế people has been greatly simplified compared with the past. Some households follow the traditional ritual and set out all three trays with incense, lamps and offerings properly arranged. Some reduce it to two trays, thượng and hạ. Others, depending on what the family can afford, set out a single tray, offering whatever is available, the essential point being sincere reverence toward those above[2].
What do the three offering trays in the đất offering rite contain?
The fullest đất offering has three trays: the thượng tray, the trung tray and the hạ tray. Each tray has incense and lamps, flowers and fruit, betel, areca and wine, and votive paper[3].
- Thượng tray: a set of thổ thần robes, and food including a chicken, a bowl of xôi, surrounded by xôi chè[3]. According to another source, the thượng tray offers xôi and a whole boiled rooster with its full set of giblets and blood[2].
- Trung tray: two sets of bà robes, five sets of ngũ phương robes, and offerings including a piece of boiled pork, a plate of xôi, three plates of boiled crab and eggs with a piece of boiled meat and a few grains of salt placed on top, along with a tray of rice offerings. In particular there is a plate of boiled sweet potato greens, a bowl of ruốc brine, and a string of grilled fish and meat[3]. According to another source, the trung tray also has a whole chicken but a hen, then crab, eggs and boiled meat[2].
- Hạ tray: robes, cháo, rice, salt, sweet potato, cassava and groundnuts[3]. According to another source, the hạ tray has cơm cộ, xôi chè, sweet potato and cassava, puffed rice, a string of grilled fish scraps, mắm nêm and boiled greens[2].
The three trays are placed in front of the house, and the household head stands inside the house and bows outward[3]. The list of offerings and invocations covers the household's own house and land, the spring deity, the well deity, and the ancestors of the village and the clan. In particular, offerings are made to the lonely souls of the Chăm who once lived there, and to wandering souls with no one to venerate them[3].
Which dishes are indispensable, and what do they mean?
In this rite, besides the offerings present in almost all Vietnamese rituals such as incense, flowers, lamps, lights, fruit and other items, boiled sweet potato greens, a bowl of ruốc brine (or mắm nêm sauce), grilled fish and shrimp, and tam sên (three crabs, three pieces of pork belly, three eggs, all boiled and arranged on three plates) are indispensable[1].
These dishes are explained in folk belief as food for "ma mọi" or "mọi rừng", "ma núi"[1]. According to what Nguyễn Đình Tư records in the book Non nước Ninh Thuận, in Ninh Thuận the food is also placed on plates made from banana sheaths[1]. The detail of using banana leaves as food containers is also described by Lê Quang Nghiêm in the cúng Dàng rite performed by Chăm ritual masters in the Khánh Hòa area[1].
The presence of dishes and indeed of a non-Vietnamese way of arranging dishes in a Vietnamese rite is held to express the officiant's understanding of and respect for the peoples who lived there before, even if, as the scholar L. Cadière put it, for them "only a vague memory remains (...). Most of them have forgotten the names"[1].
The raft-releasing rite and chicken-leg divination after the ceremony
After the ceremony ends, the household head takes a little of each dish from the food tray and puts it into a xalet or a raft made of banana sheaths, hung at a road junction (if a xalet) or released down a river (tống bè)[1].
Some hold that the food placed in the xalet is meant for the "man ri", "mọi rợ" or "kẻ Chàm" who did not arrive in time for the ceremony. However, the content of the prayer text used when releasing the raft, which the author was able to consult in Phú Yên, reflects the meaning of this act: first, to provide provisions for the deities to return to their dwelling places, and second, to carry away illness and misfortune, leaving blessings and wellbeing behind for the household[1].
When the ceremony is nearly over, the household head portions out a little of the food and some of the above provisions into a banana sheath folded into a small bag, along with some paper robes for spirit soldiers, and hangs it in a corner of the garden. The votive paper is burned, and cháo thánh, rice and salt are scattered over it as the fire is about to die down[3].
After the rite, Huế people often keep the pair of chicken legs from the offering to "read the leg" and learn the good or ill fortune, misfortune or blessing, that the family will meet in the year[3].
Why is the đất offering rite in Huế still kept up regularly?
Huế Ngày Nay writes that, by hearsay, formerly from Quảng Bình southward through the whole ngũ Quảng region (Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Quảng Đức, that is the Huế area, Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi) the cúng đất rite existed everywhere[2]. But because of historical upheavals and differing economic and social circumstances, after many centuries this custom has faded almost entirely in many areas, and only Huế remains a place where it is kept up regularly and distinctly[2].
As a land of the Kinh kỳ region steeped in spirituality, Huế still preserves that tradition with full reverence[3]. In the second month, whatever else must be done, Huế families must finish the đất offering rite before they feel at ease[2].
The meaning of thanks to the thổ thần and the former chủ đất
This offering rite is a form of remembrance and gratitude to the deities and the spirits of the ancestors, the "former owners" of the land, praying that they will bless the new settlers' life on the new land with peace and prosperity[2].
From an anthropological angle, the commemorative symbols in the đất offering rite of Vietnamese people in central Vietnam are objects that practitioners interpret as tied to the traces of the peoples with whom they lived together in history in the Đàng Trong region[1]. This can be seen as a deeply humane way of behaving, respecting the deities and people of the peoples who lived in the Vietnamese newcomers' new land before them[1].
The rite expresses a beautiful aspect of the mentality of Huế people, praying for âm siêu, dương thái and a peaceful life[3].
Summary table of the three offering trays for cúng đất
| Offering tray | According to Khám phá Huế[3] | According to Huế Ngày Nay[2] |
|---|---|---|
| Thượng tray | Set of thổ thần robes, a chicken, a bowl of xôi, xôi chè | Xôi, a whole boiled rooster with giblets and blood |
| Trung tray | Two sets of bà robes, five sets of ngũ phương robes, boiled pork, a plate of xôi, three plates of boiled crab and eggs, a tray of rice offerings, boiled sweet potato greens, a bowl of nước ruốc (shrimp paste sauce), a string of grilled fish and meat | A whole hen, crab, eggs, boiled meat |
| Hạ tray | Robes, cháo, rice, salt, sweet potato, cassava, groundnuts | Cơm cộ, xôi chè, sweet potato and cassava, puffed rice, a string of grilled fish scraps, mắm nêm, boiled greens |
