Lễ cúng hồn trâu (buffalo soul offering rite) of the Tày and Nùng people
Also called: Cho trâu ăn Tết, Tết Khoăn vài, Roọng Khoăn vài, Au khoăn vài, Cúng vía trâu
- Rites of ethnic communities
Culture and belief A record of custom.
After the ploughing and transplanting season, the head of the household holds a rite to thank the buffalo for its work, calls the buffalo's soul back, feeds the buffalo cakes, rice and wine, and lets the buffalo rest.
At a glance
- When it is held
- The 6th day of the 6th lunar month (Cao Bằng, Lạng Sơn); full moon of the seventh lunar month (Nghĩa Đô, Lào Cai)
- For whom
- The soul (khoăn) of the buffalo; Thần Nông (God of Agriculture), the deity guarding livestock; ancestors
Each family and each region may do it differently.
The offering tray
North
Northwest, Tày, Nghĩa Đô, Lào Cai, Folk practice
- When
- Morning of the full moon of the seventh lunar month
- Where the offerings are set
- In front of the buffalo pen door, under the floor of the stilt house
- Who makes the offering
- The male head of the household performs the offering; the female head of the household and the buffalo herder feed the buffalo
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | ||
| Offering tray: boiled chicken, grilled fish, boiled vegetables, cakes, wine, betel leaves and areca nuts, kim ngân vàng bạc (gold and silver votive paper), fruit | Meat or fish | Required |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | ||
| For each buffalo: one bundle of fresh grass, one handful of sticky rice mixed with salt and galangal, wine, two bánh tét (cylindrical sticky rice cakes) of the seventh month | Vegetarian | Required |
Northeast, Tày, Nùng, Cao Bằng, Lạng Sơn, Folk practice
- When
- The 6th day of the 6th lunar month (tết Khoăn vài); present the offering on the ancestors' altar at the giờ Thìn (hour of the Dragon)
- Where the offerings are set
- The ancestors' altar; outside on the floor or in the yard in front of the house; the buffalo pen
- Who makes the offering
- The head of the household does it himself, without inviting a ritual master
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | ||
| Duck meat | Meat or fish | Required |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | ||
| Bánh sừng trâu (pẻng coóc vài), wrapped in dong leaves, filled with mung bean and pork, curved like a buffalo horn | Vegetarian | Required. A note records that few people still know how to wrap it today, replaced by bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake) and bánh coóc mò |
| Bún (rice vermicelli), xôi (steamed sticky rice), chicken meat | Meat or fish | |
| Votive paper | ||
| Votive paper, wine, fruit from the home garden | Vegetarian | |
| Objects | ||
| Branches of the núc nác tree with joints like buffalo knees, as many branches as there are buffaloes in the household | Required. Placed on the offering tray in place of the buffalo | |
| Red paper pasted on the buffalo pen posts and the buffalo horns | Required | |
What is avoided
- Do not scold or beat buffaloes and cows
- Do not repair the buffalo shed, do not repair the plough and harrow
- Rest from field work
Communities and regions
Sources
- Cho trâu "ăn tết" tháng Bảy (baolaocai.vn)
- Con trâu trong đời sống văn hóa của người Tày, Nùng Xứ Lạng (baolangson.vn)
Part of the open datasets Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
More ritesDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, the life cycle, village and ethnic rites.Open