Lễ Thành hoàng làng (village tutelary deity ceremony) at the đình (communal house) and miếu (shrine)
Also called: Tế đình, Xuân tế, Thu tế, Kỳ yên, Lễ Kỳ yên, Cúng đình, Túc yết, Đàn Cả, Lệ ba năm rước thần, Xã tế Ngũ thổ, Ngũ cốc, Mở hiệu trống đầu xuân
- Pagodas, communal houses, temples and shrines
Culture and belief A record of custom.
By custom, each village worships a Thành hoàng at the đình or miếu. Worshippers recite prayers according to a model text; the village conducts tế (sacrificial rites) with a tế committee and văn tế (sacrificial oration); in the South, the Kỳ yên ceremony lasts three days with Túc yết, Đàn Cả, and hát bội (classical opera).
At a glance
- When it is held
- On holidays, Tết, sóc vọng (first and fifteenth days of the lunar month), and village festival days; in the South, it is the Kỳ yên (cầu an) ceremony of the đình
- For whom
- The village's Bản cảnh Thành hoàng (local tutelary deity); in the South, Tiền hiền (forefathers) and Hậu hiền (foremothers) are also worshipped
- Who makes the offering
- Tế committee: chủ tế (chánh tế, chief sacrificer), bồi tế (assistant sacrificer), đông xướng (eastern chanter), tây xướng (western chanter), nội tán (inner celebrant), chấp sự (ritual assistant), gong and drum players; there are nhạc lễ (ritual music) and đào thài (opera singers)
Each family and each region may do it differently.
The offering tray
Region:
Nationwide
- When
- On holidays, Tết, seasonal festivals, sóc (first day), vọng (fifteenth day), and village festival days; some places hold festivals in spring, autumn, or on the deity's birthday or death anniversary
- Where the offerings are set
- At the altars in đình, đền, miếu, phủ
| Offering | Quantity | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incense, lamps, candles | |||
| Vegetarian offerings: incense, flowers, tea, fruit, phẩm oản (rice cakes) | Vegetarian | Offered at the altar of Buddha and Bodhisattvas (if any) and the altar of Thánh Mẫu (Holy Mother) | |
| Meat and savoury dishes | |||
| Savory offerings: chicken, pig, giò (Vietnamese sausage), chả (pork roll), cooked | Meat or fish | Placed at the Công đồng altar (Ngũ vị quan lớn, the five great mandarins) | |
| Offerings to Thần Thành Hoàng and Thư điền: boiled pork leg, xôi (steamed sticky rice), wine, money, votive paper | Meat or fish | ||
| Raw offerings: eggs, rice, salt, meat bait | 5 raw duck eggs on a plate of salt and rice, 2 raw chicken eggs in two small cups, one piece of meat scored into five parts | Meat or fish | Offered to quan Ngũ Hổ, Bạch xà, Thanh xà at the lower Công đồng altar |
| Sơn trang savory feast: crab, snail, eel, chili, lemon, xôi chè nếp cẩm (black sticky rice sweet soup) | prepared in the number 15 | Meat or fish | Corresponding to the 15 deities worshipped at the Sơn trang altar |
| Objects | |||
| Offerings at the Cô (young female spirits) and Cậu (young male spirits) altars: oản (rice cakes), fruit, incense and flowers, mirror and comb, hia (shoes), nón (conical hat), paper toys | Vegetarian | ||
South
Southern Vietnam (Nam Bộ, no finer detail in the source), Village communal-house rites
- When
- Lễ Kỳ yên (cầu an), the largest Thành hoàng ceremony of the year of the Southern đình, usually lasting three days
- Where the offerings are set
- The village's đình thần (communal house of the deity)
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | ||
| Pig (lễ Thỉnh sanh offering) | Meat or fish | In the past a live pig was offered before the outer Hội đồng altar; nowadays many places use a pig already slaughtered |
| Tam sinh: beef, goat, pig | Meat or fish | Offerings of the diên tế (communal banquet offering) according to some guides |
| Incense, lamps, candles | ||
| Betel leaves, wine, incense, lamps, votive paper | Vegetarian | Offering tray for the procession of the Tổ hát bội (patron of hát bội) |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | ||
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice), roast pig, fruit, cakes | Meat or fish | Offerings brought by each household to the communal house, depending on trade and on the heart |
Steps of the rite
Used across Vietnam, Folk practice
- Lễ trình (introductory offering): first offer to Thần Thổ địa and the temple keeper to ask permission to enter and worship
- Arrange the offerings again, display them on trays, and present them with both hands to the altars, starting from the main altar outward
- After placing offerings at all altars, light incense; light from inside out, with an odd number of sticks, usually three
- Ring the bell three times, then recite prayers; if there is a sớ (petition), place it on a plate, raise it to eyebrow level, and bow three times
- Worship from the Công đồng altar into the main sanctuary, then to the two side bays, and finally to the Cô and Cậu altars
- After one incense cycle, bow three times to ask to conclude the ceremony, burn the sớ first, then burn votive paper for each altar, and remove offerings from the outer altars to the main altar
- Mirrors, combs, and khăn chầu (medium's scarves) at the Cô, Cậu, and Mẫu altars are left on the altar for the temple keepers to arrange
Southern Vietnam (Nam Bộ, no finer detail in the source), Village communal-house rites
- Procession of the Tổ hát bội (where hát bội is performed)
- Lễ Thỉnh sắc: carrying the deity's sắc (patent of investiture) back to the communal house, with incense rounds, wine rounds, and reading of the văn tế
- Nghinh thần (welcoming the deity), chanting sutras for cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) (some communal houses)
- Lễ Thỉnh sanh
- Tế Túc yết: the hương chức (village notables) present themselves to the deity; inspection of offerings, incense round, three wine rounds, offering of fruit, offering of cakes, tea round, reading of the văn tế in Chinese characters
- Building the drum platform, opening the drum, then hát chầu (ritual opera performance)
- Chánh tế (Đàn Cả, Đoàn Cả): the order is nearly the same as Túc yết, with the chant "Tạ thần" instead of "Nghinh thần"
- Tế Tiền hiền, Hậu hiền
- Lễ hồi sắc (returning the sắc), bringing the deity's sắc back to its place of worship
Where the sources differ
- On the order of worship: some guides write that some places first offer to the Thổ địa altar and the temple keeper before entering the main altar; one of them adds that if the đền or miếu does not have those altars, worship starts from the Công đồng altar or from the main sanctuary first.
- On offerings to Thành Hoàng: one guide writes that savory offerings are commonly used (boiled pork leg, xôi, wine); a guide on visiting pagodas writes that offerings to Thành Hoàng and Thư điền must be vegetarian (the Thành hoàng làng article of that same guide copies the first guide).
- On timing: one guide writes that Kỳ yên takes place only in spring, many places hold it on the full moon of the second lunar month or the full moon of the third lunar month (Sài Gòn Giải Phóng also writes the full moon of the second or third lunar month); that same guide also writes that Kỳ yên may be combined with the Thượng điền or Hạ điền ceremony depending on the place, and the text of the văn tế of Lăng Ông Bà Chiểu says it is held in autumn; Báo Văn Hóa writes that đình Bình Thủy (Cần Thơ) holds Kỳ yên Thượng điền on the full moon of the fourth lunar month and also has a Hạ điền ceremony.
- On the hour of the Tế Túc yết: one guide writes the afternoon of the first day; another writes that properly it should be at night or in the afternoon, nowadays at Lăng Ông Bà Chiểu it is held in the morning.
Communities and regions
Sources
- Văn khấn tại Đình, Đền, Miếu (vankhan.vn)
- Văn khấn Thành Hoàng làng (hoatieu.vn)
- Những nghi lễ chính tại đền, miếu, phủ (vankhan.vn)
- Văn cúng, văn tế lễ Kỳ Yên (hoatieu.vn)
- Khám phá lễ hội Kỳ Yên ở Nam Bộ (fptshop.com.vn)
- Rước lễ Kỳ Yên (Sài Gòn Giải Phóng)
- Độc đáo Lễ hội Kỳ yên đình Bình Thủy, Cần Thơ (Báo Văn Hóa)
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