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Lễ hạ điền, thượng điền (rice-planting and harvest thanksgiving ceremonies)

Also called: Xuống đồng, Lên đồng (thượng điền), Cầu bông, Tế Thần Nông, Tế Tiên Sắc, Khai canh

  • Village farming rites

Culture and belief A record of custom.

The village ceremony that opens and closes the rice-planting season, praying for favorable rain and wind and giving thanks after the harvest. According to sources, communal houses in Nam Bộ perform it together with or near the Kỳ yên ceremony at the Thần Nông altar outside the communal house courtyard; in Quảng Ninh the chief officiant plants the first rice plant and then the villagers plant; the vegetable village of Trà Quế (Hội An) holds the Cầu bông ceremony on the 7th day of the first lunar month.

At a glance

When it is held
Hạ điền before planting (in Nam Bộ in the 4th and 5th lunar months; in Phú Thọ and Quảng Ninh in the 5th and 6th months); thượng điền when the crop is finished (in Nam Bộ in the 11th and 12th months); cầu bông when the rice is in the milk stage or at the beginning of the year
For whom
Thần Nông (God of Agriculture); Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity); in some places Hậu Tắc and the gods of Clouds, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning are also included

Each family and each region may do it differently.

The offering tray

Region:

North

Northeast, Phong Cốc, Quảng Yên, Quảng Ninh, Village communal-house rites

When
In the 6th lunar month, before sowing the crop season
Where the offerings are set
Đình Cốc (đình Phong Cốc) and the field in front of the communal house; the Cửa Đình river
Who makes the offering
The village's chief officiant

Phú Thọ, Cẩm Lý (Bắc Ninh), Village communal-house rites

When
Phú Thọ in the past: the hạ điền (planting rite) season usually fell in the fifth and sixth lunar months. Đền Thần Nông (Temple of the God of Agriculture) in Cẩm Lý commune: lễ khai canh (first-plowing rite) and hạ điền during the festival on the 15th and 16th of the first lunar month
Where the offerings are set
Phú Thọ: at the communal house (đình). Cẩm Lý: Đền Thần Nông on the Huyền Đinh mountain range
OfferingNotes
Agricultural products of the localityPhú Thọ, according to Hán Nôm customary texts; the summary article does not list them specifically

Central

South Central Coast, Farmers, Trà Quế, Cẩm Hà, Hội An, Village communal-house rites

When
The 6th and 7th of the first lunar month (Cầu bông offering rite); the 7th is also the day of lowering the nêu (New Year pole); the offering rite is from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the 7th
Where the offerings are set
The offering platform, communal house, and hamlet shrines of the vegetable-growing village
Who makes the offering
The village elders; a Chánh bái (chief worshipper), tả hữu phân hiến (left and right assistants), a khánh tiết team, a reader of the text, and a chanter of the rite are chosen
OfferingVegetarian or notNotes
Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes
A tray of pink xôi (steamed sticky rice)Vegetarian
Meat and savoury dishes
A roosterMeat or fish
Incense, lamps, candles
Incense and lamps, flowers and fruit, tea and wine, votive paperVegetarian
Fruit
Trays of fruit and flower palanquins of the hamletsVegetarianCarried in procession to the hamlet shrine to be offered to the Thổ thần (Earth God)

South

Southern Vietnam (Nam Bộ, no finer detail in the source), Đồng Tháp, Cần Thơ, An Giang, Village communal-house rites

When
Hạ điền at the beginning of the rainy season (4th and 5th lunar months; in Đồng Tháp from the 3rd to the 5th month); thượng điền at the end of the rainy season (11th and 12th lunar months); cầu bông when the rice is in the milk stage. Đình Bình Thủy (Cần Thơ) holds Kỳ yên thượng điền on the 12th to 14th or 15th day of the 4th lunar month
Where the offerings are set
The Thần Nông altar (Xã Tắc platform) in the open air in front of the communal house courtyard or beside the communal house, in some places a separate shrine; where there is no longer an altar platform, a mat is spread to place the offerings
Who makes the offering
Hương chức (village notables) and the ban quý tế (ritual committee) of the communal house; học trò lễ (ritual assistants) chant
OfferingQuantityVegetarian or notNotes
Meat and savoury dishes
A live pig already slaughtered, with hair singed off, left whole1Meat or fishĐình Mỹ Luông, đình Chợ Thủ (An Giang); in the past some places offered oxen, pigs, goats, and a pure black boar, now reduced
Cooked pork, a cut of meat, a plate of tam sên (three offerings)Meat or fishĐình Mỹ An Hưng (communal house in Mỹ An Hưng, Đồng Tháp)
Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes
Xôi (steamed sticky rice), cakes, fruit, flowers, tea, white wine, incense and lampsVegetarian
Rice and salt
A basket of rice placed on the altar platform, in some places accompanied by a cộ (container) tied with banana stemsVegetarianOptional. In some places

Southern Vietnam (Nam Bộ, no finer detail in the source), Farmers, Folk practice

When
The hạ điền and thượng điền days of the hamlet; in some places the offering is made before the crop season
Where the offerings are set
A tent is set up in the hamlet, offerings are placed on a high table; in some places the offering is made right in the field or in front of the house
Who makes the offering
The chief officiant on behalf of the farmers in the hamlet
OfferingVegetarian or notNotes
Meat and savoury dishes
Pig, chickenMeat or fish
Incense, lamps, candles
Incense and flowers, tea and fruitVegetarian
Chicken, cakes and fruit, incense and lampsMeat or fishWhen each household makes the offering in front of the house before the crop season

Steps of the rite

Northeast, Phong Cốc, Quảng Yên, Quảng Ninh, Village communal-house rites

  1. Tế yết (opening rite), offering to Thần Nông (God of Agriculture) and Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity) at the communal house (đình)
  2. The chief officiant goes down to the field in front of the communal house and plants the first rice plants before the villagers
  3. After this planting rite, the households in the village may plant their own fields
  4. Festival part: planting contest, boat race with three rounds (bơi yết, bơi giải hà, bơi chung cuộc)

Northern Vietnam, Phú Thọ, Cẩm Lý (Bắc Ninh), Village communal-house rites

  1. Phú Thọ: the village performs the hạ điền rite at the communal house, with most villagers taking part
  2. Cẩm Lý: offering to Thần Nông and the deities, then performing the khai canh (first-plowing) and hạ điền rites by sowing symbolic seeds and handing seeds to the hamlets

South Central Coast, Farmers, Trà Quế, Cẩm Hà, Hội An, Village communal-house rites

  1. From the 24th of the twelfth lunar month the village erects the nêu (New Year pole)
  2. On the 6th of the first lunar month, the deities are welcomed to the offering platform and the túc offering rite is performed
  3. On the 7th, the hamlets carry offerings in procession to the shrine, present the offerings, and offer to Thần Nông, with a sacrificial oration read
  4. When offering, the names of the land and village and the offerings are recited, then they bow to Thần Nông, Thành hoàng bổn xứ (the local tutelary deity), and the deceased elders of the vegetable-growing craft
  5. Lowering the nêu, then entering the festival part

Southern Vietnam (Nam Bộ, no finer detail in the source), Đồng Tháp, Cần Thơ, An Giang, Village communal-house rites

  1. Offering incense, wine, and tea before the Thần Nông altar according to the chant of the học trò lễ, bowing 4 times (đình An Hòa, Trảng Bàng)
  2. Where the full ritual is performed, there is a văn tế (sacrificial oration) and ritual music like the Kỳ yên ceremony; where it is simple, only offerings are made
  3. At đình Bình Thủy (communal house in Bình Thủy): carrying the deity's title deed in procession, offering to Thần Nông (God of Agriculture), changing the cloth over the deity's title deed, xây chầu đại bội (great drumming ceremony), offering at bàn soạn (table of offerings), túc yết (evening announcement rite), chánh tế (main sacrifice), tôn vương (honouring the king), tế sơn quân (offering to the mountain god), tống khách (farewell to guests)

Southern Vietnam (Nam Bộ, no finer detail in the source), Farmers, Folk practice

  1. Setting up the tent, placing offerings on a high table, without ritual music
  2. The chief officiant gives thanks to Thần Nông, Hậu Tắc, and the gods of Clouds, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning who helped during the year
  3. After the offering, the whole hamlet eats and drinks together

What is avoided

  • By custom, if the planting rite at the communal field has not been performed, households do not plant rice in their own fields

Where the sources differ

  • The month of the thượng điền ceremony: the research article in Doanh nhân Plus writes that thượng điền is in the 11th and 12th lunar months, but that same article and two articles in Báo Văn Hóa record that đình Bình Thủy holds Kỳ yên thượng điền on the full moon of the 4th lunar month; đình Mỹ An Hưng holds it on the 19th and 20th days of the 11th month.

Communities and regions

Sources

  • Đặc sắc lễ hội xuống đồng của cư dân đảo Hà Nam, Quảng Ninh (baophapluat.vn)
  • Nguyễn Thị Hoàng Yến, Nghiên cứu nghi lễ cúng tế tiết Hạ điền qua nguồn thư tịch Hán Nôm: trường hợp thờ cúng thần linh ở tỉnh Phú Thọ, Tạp chí Khoa học Trường Đại học Thủ đô Hà Nội số 92 năm 2025 (vjol.info.vn, trang tóm tắt)
  • Khai hội đền Thần Nông, gìn giữ tín ngưỡng nông nghiệp truyền thống (baovanhoa.vn)
  • Lễ hội Cầu Bông ở Làng du lịch tốt nhất (baovanhoa.vn)
  • Làng rau Trà Quế ở phố Hội nô nức tổ chức lễ cúng Cầu bông (baovanhoa.vn)
  • Tục thờ Thần Nông ở Nam bộ (doanhnhanplus.vn)
  • Độc đáo Lễ hội Kỳ yên đình Bình Thủy, Cần Thơ (Báo Văn Hóa)
  • Khai mạc Lễ hội Kỳ yên thượng điền đình Bình Thủy 2024 (baovanhoa.vn)

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

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