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Lễ Thiết linh (Thiết linh rite)

Also called: Thiết linh sàng, Lập linh sàng, Lập bàn thờ tang, Lập bài vị, Phục hồn

  • Funeral and mourning rites

Culture and belief A record of custom.

Prayer text for Lễ Thiết linh (Thiết linh rite)2 texts, kept in Vietnamese, with an English summary.

By custom, after the coffin has been placed in the house, the family sets up the linh sàng (symbolic bed) and linh tọa (mourning altar) for the newly deceased, then performs the Thiết linh rite; the eldest son or the eldest grandson reads the text before the linh vị. The pagoda calls the setting up of the spirit altar and the inviting of the soul to be seated the lễ phục hồn (rite of restoring the soul).

At a glance

When it is held
After the mourning altar has been set up and the linh vị (spirit tablet) has been placed
For whom
The newly deceased (before the linh vị); Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), Táo quân (Kitchen Gods) and ancestors are reverently worshipped first
Who makes the offering
The eldest son or the eldest grandson

Each family and each region may do it differently.

The offering tray

Folk practice

When
After the mourning altar has been set up and the linh vị placed; in old funerals it was performed at the same time as the thành phục (putting on mourning clothes)
Where the offerings are set
The linh sàng (symbolic bed) and linh tọa (mourning altar) in the house
Offering
Objects
Linh sàng: a small bed, mat, pillow, blanket and curtain, one set of clothes of the deceased
Linh tọa: bài vị (spirit tablet), hồn bạch (soul banner), di ảnh (portrait), lamp, incense, offerings

Buddhist

When
After encoffining (lễ Phục hồn)
Where the offerings are set
The spirit altar
OfferingVegetarian or notNotes
Objects
Linh ảnh (spirit portrait), bài vị (spirit tablet), bát nhang (incense bowl)Required
Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes
A bowl of rice with two bowls inverted over one, a pair of chopsticks stuck in it, and one boiled eggMeat or fishBy old custom

Steps of the rite

Used across Vietnam, Folk practice

  1. Arrange the linh sàng and linh tọa, place the hồn bạch or linh vị
  2. Offer incense and read the prayer text before the linh vị

Used across Vietnam, Buddhist

  1. Set up the spirit altar
  2. Invite the soul to be seated
  3. Set up the Buddha altar, chant sutras, and invite the spirit

Where the sources differ

  • The names are not consistent: in some places the whole temporary worship area for the newly deceased is called linh sàng, in others only the symbolic bed is called linh sàng while the mourning altar is called linh tọa or bàn vong (according to some guides).

Communities and regions

Sources

  • Văn khấn trong lễ tang (vankhan.vn)
  • Việt Nam phong tục, thiên I chương IX Tang ma (vi.wikisource.org)
  • Nghi thức tang lễ theo truyền thống Phật giáo (phatgiao.org.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.