Lễ Lồng tồng (Lồng tồng festival, going down to the fields) of the Tày and Nùng peoples
Also called: Lồng tông, Lồng thồng, Hội xuống đồng, Lễ hội Lồng Tồng
- Rites of ethnic communities
Culture and belief A record of custom.
Lễ cầu mùa (prayer for a good harvest) at the beginning of spring: households bring offering trays to the field, the mo priest prays in thanks to heaven and earth, sprinkles water to pray for rain, scatters seeds, then ploughs and transplants the first rows and tosses còn.
At a glance
- When it is held
- First lunar month, from the 4th to the 25th depending on the locality
- For whom
- Thần Nông (God of Agriculture), heaven and earth, the spirits of the village
Each family and each region may do it differently.
The offering tray
North
Northeast, Tày, Folk practice
- Where the offerings are set
- A large plot of land, a field, a hillside, or a stream bank
- Who makes the offering
- Tào master or mo priest (pú mo) presides; each household has one tray, the village has a common tray
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | ||
| Offering tray of each family: boiled chicken, pork, bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake), bánh khảo (pressed rice cake), chè lam (ginger sesame candy) | Meat or fish | |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | ||
| Colorful flower cakes and a pair of cloth còn balls, containing seeds | Vegetarian | Placed on each tray |
| Other | ||
| The village's common offering tray includes a pig's head | Meat or fish | Required. The common tray cannot lack a pig's head |
| Incense, lamps, candles | ||
| Incense, wine | ||
Northeast, Tày, Nùng, xã Đại Đồng, Tràng Định, Lạng Sơn, Folk practice
- When
- The 12th day of the first lunar month
- Where the offerings are set
- Beside the Chẹt Khum rock mound; altars to Thần Nông, Thần Tiên, Thần Hoàng Trùng
- Who makes the offering
- Ritual master and five officiants; 24 villages bring offering trays
| Offering | Quantity | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | |||
| Capon or pig's head placed on a tray of xôi (steamed sticky rice) | one per tray | Meat or fish | Required |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | |||
| Bánh dày (round sticky rice cake), bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake), khẩu sli, khẩu xà, xôi (steamed sticky rice), oản (steamed rice cake) | Meat or fish | ||
| Puffed corn, puffed glutinous rice, seed rice | Vegetarian | Used for the seed-scattering game | |
| Fruit | |||
| Fruit, wine, votive paper and incense | Vegetarian | ||
Northeast, Tày, Chiêm Hóa, Lâm Bình, Tuyên Quang, Folk practice
- When
- The 8th day of the first lunar month (Chiêm Hóa, year 2026)
- Where the offerings are set
- Đền Bách Thần then the stadium (Chiêm Hóa); đền Pú Bảo then the altar at the foot of the còn pole (Lâm Bình)
| Offering | Quantity | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | |||
| Nine tồng trays | 9 | Required. Chiêm Hóa | |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | |||
| Tray of five-colour xôi (steamed sticky rice) | Vegetarian | Lâm Bình | |
| Objects | |||
| Five-colour quả còn (cloth ball) | |||
Northwest, Tày, Nùng, xã Yên Thành, Lào Cai, Folk practice
- When
- The 6th day of the first lunar month (year 2026)
| Offering |
|---|
| Produce made by the people of the area |
Communities and regions
More about Lễ Lồng tồng (Lồng tồng festival, going down to the fields) of the Tày and Nùng peoples
Sources
- Lễ hội Lồng Tồng (greensm.com)
- Hội Lồng tồng: Nét đẹp của một lễ hội (sggp.org.vn)
- Lễ hội lồng thồng tại Lạng Sơn (vnexpress.net)
- Lễ hội Lồng Tông Chiêm Hóa (baophapluat.vn)
- Tuyên Quang: Đặc sắc Lễ hội Lồng Tông, Di sản văn hóa phi vật thể Quốc gia (baophapluat.vn)
- Đặc sắc Lễ hội Lồng Tồng ở Yên Thành (baolaocai.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