The village's cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) ceremony to ward off epidemics
Also called: Nhương dịch, Tống ôn, Tống gió, Tống phong, Tống cói, Tống na, Kỳ an, Cầu mát
- Village farming rites
Culture and belief A record of custom.
By custom, the village holds a cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) ceremony and then sends a paper boat or raft carrying offerings out to the river or sea to send away the misfortunes of the old year. In the South it is called tống ôn, tống gió, tống phong; along the central coast it is called tống cói, tống na and is tied to tế âm linh (offering to the unseen). The dataset records this ceremony as a village custom.
At a glance
- When it is held
- Cần Thơ from the 12th to the 14th of the first lunar month; Chánh Mỹ (Bình Dương) in the third lunar month; Nam Ô (Đà Nẵng) on the full moon of the first lunar month
- For whom
- Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), Bà and the earth god of the miếu (shrine); the lords of epidemics, epidemic soldiers; wandering spirits, the unseen
Each family and each region may do it differently.
The offering tray
Region:
North
- Where the offerings are set
- The communal house and shrine in the village
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | ||
| Cháo lá đa (porridge with đa leaves) | Vegetarian | |
| Rice and salt | ||
| Rice, salt | Vegetarian | Scattered for thí thực (feeding the hungry spirits) |
Central
South Central Coast, Fishing communities, Nam Ô, Đà Nẵng, Lý Sơn, Village communal-house rites
- When
- Nam Ô village: on the occasion of the full moon of the first lunar month (lễ Cầu an and Tế âm linh)
- Where the offerings are set
- Nam Ô: the nghĩa trủng (burial ground for the unnamed dead), the village's mộ âm linh (tombs of wandering spirits), and the dinh
- Who makes the offering
- The hội đồng chư phái tộc (council of clan branches) of the village
| Offering | Notes |
|---|---|
| Objects | |
| A small boat made of bamboo strips with a sail, carrying offerings and set adrift on the sea | The lễ tống na in Khánh Hòa, according to a research article |
| Votive paper | |
| Hình nhân (paper effigies) | At Âm linh tự, Lý Sơn, according to a research article |
South
Mekong Delta, Xóm Chài, Hưng Phú, Cần Thơ, Village communal-house rites
- When
- From the 12th to the 14th of the first lunar month every year; on the evening of the 13th the offering is made, at noon on the 14th the raft is released. According to the research paper, in the Mekong Delta this ceremony is common from the full moon of the first lunar month to the third month or from the fifth to the seventh lunar month
- Where the offerings are set
- Miễu Bà Xóm Chài; the raft is released in the middle of the Hậu River
- Who makes the offering
- The tế tự board, the miễu management board, and the people of the river-fishing hamlet
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Objects | ||
| Boat (long chu) with a bamboo lattice frame covered in colored paper, placed on a raft made of banana trunks | Required. On the hull are written the boat's number, the launch date, and the place of making; it is called the epidemic-expelling ship, the water-and-land raft | |
| Votive paper | ||
| Paper human figures and clothes, votive paper | Required. Placed on the boat | |
| Rice and salt | ||
| Rice, salt | Vegetarian | Required. The research paper writes that they are indispensable |
| Other | ||
| Offerings contributed by the people are loaded onto the raft | ||
Southeast, Chánh Mỹ, Thủ Dầu Một, Bình Dương, Village communal-house rites
- When
- In the third lunar month every year, on a day chosen by the ritual master
- Where the offerings are set
- At Đình thần Chánh Mỹ, an altar is set up; the epidemic-expelling boat is placed at the outer altar
- Who makes the offering
- Two thầy pháp (ritual masters, thầy pháp văn and thầy pháp võ) perform the ceremony; the đình's Ban Nghi lễ (ritual board) and the Chánh bái (chief officiant) make offerings following the chanted instructions
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | ||
| Head, tail, feet and boiled pig innards | Meat or fish | Required. Before 1976 the main offering was a whole live pig |
| Tổ altar: 3 pieces of boiled meat, 3 sets of tam sên (three sacrificial offerings), a cup of rice, a cup of salt, a cup of water | Meat or fish | |
| Binh altar: 2 pieces of boiled meat, 2 sets of tam sên (three sacrificial offerings), a cup of rice, a cup of salt | Meat or fish | |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | ||
| Ngũ phương Ôn bộ altar: a tray of pig head and boiled pig innards, 3 sets of tam sên (three sacrificial offerings), a plate of rice and salt, betel leaves and areca nuts, votive paper, xôi (steamed sticky rice), rice vermicelli, bean sprouts, bánh bò, bánh phồng | Meat or fish | |
| Objects | ||
| The epidemic-expelling boat is about 1.8 meters long, with figures of soldiers and a captain | Required. On the boat are placed votive paper, a cup of rice, a cup of salt, cigarettes, a deck of cards | |
| Văn cúng, khoa cúng, bài vị, điệp, hịch composed by the ritual master on giấy bản (bản paper) | Required | |
Steps of the rite
Northern Vietnam, Village communal-house rites
- Villagers set out offerings of cháo lá đa
- Scattering rice and salt for thí thực to send away bad omens and pray for good things
South Central Coast, Fishing communities, Nam Ô, Đà Nẵng, Lý Sơn, Village communal-house rites
- Nam Ô: dẫy mả âm linh (clearing the graves of the wandering dead) and offering incense at the nghĩa trủng (burial ground of the unclaimed dead), trần thiết tại dinh (setting up the altar at the dinh), nhương ôn tống ôn (appeasing and sending off the Ôn), lễ túc (the evening rite), chánh tế âm linh (the main offering to the wandering dead)
- Khánh Hòa: offerings placed on a bamboo boat and set adrift on the sea, with hát bả trạo, and finally hát bội
Mekong Delta, Xóm Chài, Hưng Phú, Cần Thơ, Village communal-house rites
- The boat is placed in front of the courtyard of Miễu Bà; offerings are made to Bà, to the Thổ thần (earth god) and the unseen, a cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) ceremony is held, with lion dance
- The lion goes first, young men carry the raft down to the ship
- The ship carries the raft and hundreds of boats and ships parade on the Cần Thơ River, people on the boats splash water on each other
- Going out to the middle of the Hậu River, the raft is set adrift
- People scoop river water to wash the boats and ships, wash their faces and hands, and go into the river to bathe
- When the raft is loaded onto the ship, along the bank households light incense and make offerings, burn leaves and coconut husks, then throw coarse salt into the fire to make it crackle
Southeast, Chánh Mỹ, Thủ Dầu Một, Bình Dương, Village communal-house rites
- The Ritual Committee prays to Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity) for permission to invite the ritual master to perform the ceremony
- The rites in order: thỉnh Thành hoàng (inviting the village tutelary deity), thỉnh Tổ (inviting the ancestors), thỉnh Binh (inviting the spirit soldiers), nghinh Thành hoàng (welcoming the village tutelary deity), thiết Binh (setting up the spirit soldiers), phát lương (distributing provisions), phát khiển (sending off), nghinh Ôn bộ (welcoming the Ôn bộ), đưa Ôn (escorting the Ôn away), tạ Tổ (thanking the ancestors)
- Phát lương: distributing rice, salt, and votive paper at the five directions of the altar and on the thuyền tống ôn (plague-expelling boat)
- Phát khiển: sending people to carry the hịch (proclamation) to three directions, the pagoda, the communal house, and the crossroads, then burning it
- Nghinh Ôn bộ (welcoming the Ôn bộ): reciting the Ý Tống Ôn, the Điệp Tống Ôn, and chanting the Tống Ôn Tống Khách khoa
- Khai quang điểm nhãn (eye-opening consecration) for the effigies on the boat, then sending the thuyền tống ôn away
What is avoided
Mekong Delta, Xóm Chài, Hưng Phú, Cần Thơ, Village communal-house rites
- According to folk belief as recounted in the research paper, if the released boat lingers and does not drift away or meets with trouble, it is considered an unlucky sign, so the boat is made very carefully
Southeast, Chánh Mỹ, Thủ Dầu Một, Bình Dương, Village communal-house rites
- When choosing the date, avoid sát chủ days and ô uế days, according to the words of the date-reader
Communities and regions
Sources
- Lễ hội Kỳ Yên là gì? Nguồn gốc lễ hội Kỳ Yên (hoatieu.vn)
- Đà Nẵng: Lễ Cầu an và Tế âm linh làng Nam Ô năm 2024 (baovanhoa.vn)
- Trần Diễm Thùy, Nghi lễ tống ôn, tống gió của người Việt ở Đồng bằng sông Cửu Long, Tạp chí Khoa học Trường Đại học Đồng Tháp số 39 (08/2019) (dthujs.vn)
- Tống ôn, nét văn hóa tâm linh miệt sông nước Cần Thơ (plo.vn)
- Rộn ràng lễ hội Tống phong vùng sông nước Cần Thơ (sggp.org.vn)
- Sôi động lễ hội Tống phong trên sông nước Cần Thơ (baovanhoa.vn)
- Cần Thơ: Lễ cầu an Miễu Bà Xóm Chài (baovanhoa.vn)
- Đinh Thanh Huy, Thực hành nghi thức Tống Ôn tại đình thần Chánh Mỹ, thành phố Thủ Dầu Một, tỉnh Bình Dương, Tạp chí Khoa học Trường Đại học Đồng Tháp số 38 (06/2019) (dthujs.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