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Lễ bồi hoàn địa mạch (rite to restore the earth's veins)

Also called: Hồi hoàn địa mạch, Điền hoàn địa mạch, Bồi hoàn long mạch, Chuộc đất, Hoàn long mạch

  • House and land

Culture and belief A record of custom.

Prayer text for Lễ bồi hoàn địa mạch (rite to restore the earth's veins)1 texts, kept in Vietnamese, with an English summary.

According to old beliefs, digging the earth, filling a pond, or opening a ditch can harm the long mạch (dragon veins) of the land. The head of the household then performs a rite to ask for restoration: a Thần Quy (divine turtle) is molded from earth, a five-colored offering is set beside a dug hole, prayers are said, and then the hole is filled back.

At a glance

When it is held
When digging the earth, filling a pond, or building a wall is considered to have disturbed the long mạch (dragon veins); a date is chosen according to the calendar
For whom
Địa Tạng Vương Bồ Tát (Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva), Kiên Lao địa thần (the Earth God Kiên Lao), Hoàng thiên Hậu thổ (Heaven and Earth deities), Ngũ phương Ngũ đế (the Five Directions and Five Emperors), các Địa mạch thần quan (the earth-vein spirit officials), Thổ thần (the Earth God)
Where
Beside a dug hole on the household's land
Who makes the offering
head of the household

Each family and each region may do it differently.

The offering tray

When
By old custom, when digging soil, filling ponds, dredging ditches, or building walls is considered to have disturbed the long mạch (dragon vein); people choose the days Thiên Xá (Heavenly Pardon), Thiên Nguyên (Heavenly Origin), Địa Nguyên (Earthly Origin), Cường Nhật (Strong Day), Trùng Mậu (Repeated Mậu), Trùng Kỷ (Repeated Kỷ)
OfferingVegetarian or notNotes
Objects
Thần Quy (a turtle molded from five kinds of earth mixed with water from three rivers), its body tied with five-colored threads
Sand taken from a river fork mixed with five kinds of beans: green, yellow, red, white, blackVegetarian
Fruit
Five-colored fruits corresponding to the five elementsVegetarianGreen, yellow, red, white, black or purple
Meat and savoury dishes
Savory offerings corresponding to the five elementsMeat or fish
Flowers
Five-colored flowers
Incense, lamps, candles
Incense, votive paper
Tea, rice wine, water
Red-colored water cooked from water of three rivers

Steps of the rite

  1. Mold the Thần Quy, dig the hole, set the offerings beside the hole
  2. Read the prayer text for restoring the earth's veins
  3. Wait for three incense sticks to burn down, pour the red-colored water into the hole
  4. Place the Thần Quy into the hole
  5. Fill the hole with sand mixed with five kinds of beans

Communities and regions

Sources

  • Văn khấn lễ hồi hoàn địa mạch (vankhan.vn)
  • Văn khấn lễ xin bồi hoàn địa mạch (tuvi.vn)

Part of the open datasets Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.

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