Vietnamese knowledge, page 2
Who are bà cô ông mãnh, and why are they worshipped separately beneath the ancestral altar?
Bà cô ông mãnh are kin who died young and unmarried, honoured at a small altar under the ancestral altar because the young do not sit level with elders.
The Thánh sư altar (patron of the trade): who is worshipped, where is it placed, and on which days are offerings made?
The Thánh sư altar honours a craft's patron. Learn the three names, altar placement, ritual objects, and offering days per custom books.
What Is Cưới Chạy Tang, Why the Rushed Wedding, and What Did People of the Past Think of This Custom?
Cưới chạy tang is a rushed wedding before the funeral announcement, squeezed into one or two days because mourning would force postponement.
What Does a Vietnamese Family Genealogy Record and Where Did People Keep It?
A clan genealogy lists taboo and courtesy names, birth and death dates, burial sites and children; it was kept in an altar cabinet or box at the clan hall.
What Is Giỗ Hậu: How Do People Without Sons Buy Hậu in the Clan, Village, or Pagoda to Be Offered Ancestor Rituals After Death?
Giỗ hậu is the custom of people without heirs giving money or land to their clan, village, or pagoda to be offered ancestor rituals after death.
What is written on the hoành phi and câu đối above the family altar? Where are they hung, and how do they differ from Tết couplets?
Hoành phi is a horizontal plaque above the family altar, câu đối parallel sentences on side columns or walls, honoring ancestors and praising their merits.
Avoiding ancestors' taboo names: how did people in the past observe the taboo when praying and when naming children?
Vietnamese taboo names of ancestors: why giỗ prayers whisper the dead's name, whether children could share a grandparent's name, and where the custom endures.
The Lễ Hạ Điền and Lễ Thượng Điền Rites of Vietnamese Villages: When Are They Held and What Do They Pray For?
Lễ hạ điền opens rice transplanting; lễ thượng điền marks formed ears or harvest end, both praying for good crops. Custom books differ on timing and names.
The lễ mát nhà (house-cooling rite) and bùa trấn trạch (house-guarding talisman): what did people of the past do when a house was not at peace?
Early 20th-century custom books record the lễ mát nhà rite and bùa trấn trạch talisman: who performed them, where it was posted, and Phan Kế Bính's critique.
The lễ tơ hồng and lễ hợp cẩn in traditional weddings: What is done, when, and by whom?
Lễ tơ hồng honors Ông Tơ Bà Nguyệt after the bride arrives; lễ hợp cẩn has the couple share wine and betel in the bridal chamber. Rites and meaning.
What Is a Thần Chủ Tablet, and Why Is It Buried at the Fifth Generation?
Thần chủ, a jujube wood tablet with name, title and dates, sits on the altar; custom keeps four generations, then the cao tổ tablet is buried at the fifth.
Thần Hổ, Sơn thần, Mộc tinh: the deities Vietnamese people once worshipped at outdoor incense trees
Northern Kinh households once set outdoor incense altars to Sơn thần and Thần Hổ, some building shrines to Mộc tinh at old tree bases.
Who Is the Tiền Chủ, and Why Do Many Houses Have a Shrine at the Cây Hương in the Yard?
Custom books explain the Tiền Chủ as the first owner's spirit, why many homes keep a cây hương altar in the yard, and how offerings are made.
Buddha Altar and Ancestor Altar: Which One Goes Above, Which Below?
The Buddha altar usually sits higher than the ancestor altar, but the exact layout depends on each home's space and regional or family tradition.
Does the 100-day memorial need a bowl of rice and an egg? Meaning of the upturned rice bowl and egg in the ceremony
The 100-day memorial does not require an upturned rice bowl and egg: Phan Kế Bính lists them for giỗ feasts, not for the tốt khốc rite.
Does the 49th-day memorial need to fall on the exact day? Is it a problem to hold it early or late?
Vietnamese custom does not require the 49th-day memorial on the exact day. Many families hold it early or late, choosing the nearest date.
Is the three-day offering (tế ngu) counted from the date of death or the date of burial? An interpretation from Việt Nam phong tục
In Việt Nam phong tục, tế ngu counts from burial: sơ ngu on the burial day, tam ngu on the third. The 49th, 100th day and first anniversary count from death.
Offering to wandering souls: should the tray face outward or inward, and where should it be placed?
By folk custom, the cô hồn tray is set in the yard or before the gate, not indoors, and many homes turn it outward. Timing, regional trays, and taboos.
Year-end land offering and tạ đất rite: should it be held indoors or outdoors? How many bowls of chè, what offerings, and how to prepare them
Year-end tạ đất rites are usually held outdoors in the yard, indoors only in cramped homes; offerings vary by region, with no fixed number of chè bowls.
Is the full-month ceremony counted by lunar or solar date, and what is the custom of one day earlier for boys and two for girls?
The full-month ceremony falls one lunar month after birth; by custom boys hold it one day earlier, girls two. How to count it, an example, and offerings.
New Year's Eve worship in southern vs northern Vietnam: the outdoor Heaven altar and the indoor tray
Southern and northern Tết Eve worship differ in the outdoor Heaven altar, the indoor tray and offerings, with origins, meaning and how to prepare each.
Can I Hold the Opening Ceremony in the Afternoon, and How Did Tradition Choose the Ritual Hour?
An afternoon opening ceremony is fine: almanacs judge the day first, and every day has at least one hoàng đạo hour between 1 PM and 7 PM.
How Does the Nhập Trạch Ritual for an Apartment or Rented Home Differ from a Landed House? Offerings and Sequence
Apartment and rented-home nhập trạch rites still announce the move to ancestors and thổ công but skip động thổ and structural changes, with simpler offerings.
Should the Rằm of the Seventh Month Be Observed on the 14th or the 15th, and What Time Should the Cô Hồn Offering Be Made?
The main Vu Lan rite falls on lunar 7/15; cô hồn offerings run from the 10th until before noon on the Rằm, often on the 14th evening.