Tế lễ (communal rituals) of the villages of Thừa Thiên Huế
Also called: Xuân tế, Thu tế, Đông chí, Tế Khai canh, Xuân thủ, Kỳ an, Thu thường, Thu báo, Chánh kỵ Thành hoàng, Tống cựu Nghinh tân, Tế hữu công, Tế Xã thần, Tế Thần Nông, Cầu hòa, Na tế, Khao văn, Đảo lệ khí, Đảo vũ, Nghinh thần, Túc yết
- Regional and fishing-community rites
Culture and belief A record of custom.
In the villages of Thừa Thiên Huế, each ritual session includes nghinh thần, túc yết, chính tế with three rounds of offerings, and the reading of a parallel prose văn tế in Chinese characters copied in the village's ritual text; besides the seasonal rituals, there are also the death anniversaries of Thành hoàng, khai canh, rituals of each trade, and rituals held when there is an epidemic or drought. The dataset records the transliteration part of the special issue of the journal Nghiên cứu và Phát triển, and does not record the translation.
At a glance
- When it is held
- Xuân tế (Xuân tự, Kỳ an), Thu tế (Thu thường, Thu báo) in the seventh lunar month, Đông chí; lễ kỵ Thành hoàng, Khai canh on the date of each village
- For whom
- The deities worshipped at the communal house and village shrine: Thành hoàng, the khai canh and khai khẩn founders, the first ancestors of the clans, and other deities according to the village's regulations
Each family and each region may do it differently.
The offering tray
Central
Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites
- When
- At the communal house: Xuân tự (Kỳ an) in spring, Thu thường (Thu báo) in the seventh lunar month, Đông chí; at the Thành Hoàng shrine and Khai canh shrine: lễ húy nhật (kỵ). Chính tế in the early morning, túc yết in the afternoon of the previous day
- Where the offerings are set
- Village communal house; Thành Hoàng shrine, Khai canh shrine
- Who makes the offering
- The council of elders assigns: tướng lễ (writes and reads the chúc văn), chánh bái, two phó bái (bồi tế), dẫn lễ, thông tán (xướng), chấp sự, nhạc sinh. In the past only men participated in the ritual
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Incense, lamps, candles | ||
| Incense, lamps, agarwood, tea, bông ba, fruit offerings | Vegetarian | |
| Meat and savoury dishes | ||
| Con sinh: goat, pig or cow; for major rituals, tam sinh is used | Meat or fish | Do not use buffalo; not necessarily a whole animal, take the head, tail, neck, rump, the rest is cooked into dishes |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | ||
| xôi (steamed sticky rice) | Vegetarian | Phước Yên village has xôi đường (sweet sticky rice) |
| Tea, rice wine, water | ||
| Wine, tea | Vegetarian | Offered in three rounds |
| Votive paper | ||
| Gold and silver paper | Burned together with the văn tế sheet at the end of the ritual | |
Huế, làng Vinh Hòa, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites
- When
- On the night of trừ tịch (giao thừa), at the same time as erecting the cây nêu; on the 7th of the first lunar month the village holds a small ritual to lower the nêu
- Where the offerings are set
- Village communal house
- Who makes the offering
- Only officials and dignitaries of the village
Huế, làng Thủ Lễ, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites
- When
- Tế Xã thần on the Mậu day of the second month; tế Na (to drive away epidemic demons) on the 3rd of the third month; Xuân tế and Thu tế share the same văn cung nghinh
- Where the offerings are set
- Tế Xã thần arranges four seats of different heights in the middle and two seats on each side (Ngũ Thổ, Ngũ Cốc), sharing one incense table; tế Na is held on the road, arranging a row of four seats
- Who makes the offering
- Tế Xã thần: three members participate in the ritual, two members keep the bell and drum, two chant, one reads the chúc, two lead, two pour wine, all wearing ritual robes
| Offering |
|---|
| Objects |
| Incense table with enough incense burner, box, lamps |
| Tế Na (rite of Na): whips for the trành đồng (boy mediums) to hold, one painted white tiger figure |
| Tea, rice wine, water |
| rice wine |
Huế, làng Bác Vọng Đông, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites
- When
- Twice a year: on the 11th and 12th days of the first lunar month (lễ Minh niên, the Minh niên ceremony) and on the 18th day of the fifth lunar month (lễ húy nhật, the death anniversary, giỗ Bà Tơ)
- Where the offerings are set
- Miếu Bà Tơ (shrine of Bà Tơ) by the Bồ River
- Who makes the offering
- Villagers of Bác Vọng Đông
| Offering | Quantity | Vegetarian or not |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | ||
| Lễ Minh niên (Minh niên ceremony): cow, pig, duck | one of each | Meat or fish |
| Lễ húy nhật (death anniversary ceremony): cow, pig, xôi (steamed sticky rice), wine | Meat or fish | |
Huế, làng Mỹ Lợi, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites
- When
- Tế hữu công (offering to those with merit, the khai canh, khai khẩn, hậu khẩn) on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month; Thanh minh ceremony jointly offering at the two unclaimed graves of the Bùi family and to former officials; Đông chí (winter solstice) offering to the founding ancestors, khai canh, khai khẩn
- Where the offerings are set
- Đình làng (communal house, originally a miếu khai canh, shrine of the khai canh)
Steps of the rite
Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites
- Nghinh thần (morning of the previous day): carry the spirit tablets from the separate shrines to the communal house, the ritual master reads the chúc văn
- Túc yết (afternoon of the previous day): a village representative reads the văn khấn to the deities
- Khai lễ: thông tán xướng, wash hands, inspect the offerings, strike the gong and drum three times, music, present the sacrificial offerings, offer incense, bow four times to welcome the deities
- Sơ hiến: offer wine, read the chúc văn (văn tế)
- Á hiến and chung hiến: offer wine a second and third time, without reading the chúc
- Ẩm phúc, thụ tộ; some villages read an additional prayer (hỗ từ)
- Tạ thần with four bows, burn the văn tế and gold and silver paper, tống thần, lễ tất, hương ẩm
Huế, làng Vinh Hòa, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites
- Read the Tống cựu văn to thank and send off the deities who watched over the old year (Hành khiển, Hành binh, Phán quan and their retinues)
- Read the Nghinh tân văn to welcome the deities who will watch over the new year
Huế, làng Thủ Lễ, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites
- Tế Xã thần (offering to the village god): jointly offer to Thần Nông (God of Agriculture), Hậu Tắc (God of Grain), Câu Long (Dragon of the Fields), Thành Hoàng (village tutelary deity), Ngũ Thổ (Five Earth Gods), Ngũ Cốc (Five Grains), and the successive Điền Tuấn (field officials) in one ceremony for simplicity, and read the chúc văn (congratulatory text)
- Tế Na (rite of Na): choose about ten trành đồng (boy mediums) holding whips, one boy holds a white tiger figure and goes in four directions to chase away demons, pouring wine as they go; read the văn tế (sacrificial oration) announcing to the gods of the year and the twelve Na gods
Huế, làng Bác Vọng Đông, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites
- Offer at the miếu (shrine), read the văn tế (sacrificial oration) in Chinese characters
- On the death anniversary there are boat races on the Bồ River in front of the miếu (shrine)
- The village also holds a cầu ngư (prayer for good fishing) at the miếu (shrine)
Huế, làng Mỹ Lợi, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites
- Read the văn tế (sacrificial oration) in Chinese characters announcing to the khai canh (eight persons), hậu khai khẩn (fifteen persons), hậu khẩn (nine persons) and the founding ancestors of the families
What is avoided
- The wine offered is only poured to the back of the cup, not filled to the brim
Communities and regions
Sources
- Trích tuyển văn tế làng xã Thừa Thiên Huế, Phần thứ nhất: Đôi nét về tín ngưỡng thần linh ở làng xã Thừa Thiên Huế (Lê Nguyễn Lưu). Chuyên đề của Tạp chí Nghiên cứu và Phát triển, số 7 (141), 2017 (vjol.info.vn)
- Trích tuyển văn tế làng xã Thừa Thiên Huế, Phần thứ hai: Văn tế trong các lễ cúng theo mùa quanh năm. Chuyên đề của Tạp chí Nghiên cứu và Phát triển, số 7 (141), 2017 (vjol.info.vn)
- Trích tuyển văn tế làng xã Thừa Thiên Huế, Phần thứ ba: Văn tế trong các lễ cúng kỵ hàng năm. Chuyên đề của Tạp chí Nghiên cứu và Phát triển, số 7 (141), 2017 (vjol.info.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