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Lễ bồi hoàn địa mạch (rite to restore the earth's veins)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Hồi hoàn địa mạch, Điền hoàn địa mạch, Bồi hoàn long mạch, Chuộc đất, Hoàn long mạch

According to old beliefs, digging the earth, filling a pond, or opening a ditch can harm the long mạch (dragon veins) of the land. The head of the household then performs a rite to ask for restoration: a Thần Quy (divine turtle) is molded from earth, a five-colored offering is set beside a dug hole, prayers are said, and then the hole is filled back.

When
When digging the earth, filling a pond, or building a wall is considered to have disturbed the long mạch (dragon veins); a date is chosen according to the calendar
For whom
Địa Tạng Vương Bồ Tát (Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva), Kiên Lao địa thần (the Earth God Kiên Lao), Hoàng thiên Hậu thổ (Heaven and Earth deities), Ngũ phương Ngũ đế (the Five Directions and Five Emperors), các Địa mạch thần quan (the earth-vein spirit officials), Thổ thần (the Earth God)

Prayer text for Restoring the Earth's Veins

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

What this prayer says

Prayer text in the lễ bồi hoàn địa mạch (rite to restore the earth's dragon vein), offered to Địa Tạng Vương Bồ Tát (Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva), Kiên Lao địa thần (the Earth God Kiên Lao), Hoàng thiên Hậu thổ (Heaven and Earth deities), Ngũ phương Ngũ đế (the Five Directions and Five Emperors), the Địa mạch thần quan (earth-vein spirit officials) and Thổ thần (Earth Gods), stating the reason that digging soil and filling ponds harmed the long mạch (dragon vein) and asking for restoration, praying for harmony of the land, peace for the family, and freedom from disaster; recited during the whole rite when performing the rite to ask for restoration.

The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.

Fill in before the rite

Name, address and regional custom

Your name and address appear in the prayer below and are kept on this device only.

Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

2 more blanks

Offerings and how the rite is done

As commonly practised and recorded by the sources. Each family and each region may do it differently.

Used across Vietnam, Folk practice

When
Theo tục xưa, khi việc đào đất, lấp ao, khơi rãnh, xây tường bị coi là đã động tới long mạch; chọn các ngày Thiên Xá, Thiên Nguyên, Địa Nguyên, Cường Nhật, Trùng Mậu, Trùng Kỷ
Where the offerings are set
Beside a dug hole on the household's land
Who makes the offering
head of the household

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Thần Quy (a turtle molded from five kinds of earth mixed with water from three rivers), its body tied with five-colored threads
Five-colored fruits corresponding to the five elementsgreen, yellow, red, white, black or purple
Savory offerings corresponding to the five elements
Five-colored flowers
Incense, votive paper
Red-colored water cooked from water of three rivers
Sand taken from a river fork mixed with five kinds of beans: green, yellow, red, white, black

Steps

  1. Mold the Thần Quy, dig the hole, set the offerings beside the hole
  2. Read the prayer text for restoring the earth's veins
  3. Wait for three incense sticks to burn down, pour the red-colored water into the hole
  4. Place the Thần Quy into the hole
  5. Fill the hole with sand mixed with five kinds of beans

The wording is kept exactly as published by the source. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.

Sources

  • Văn khấn lễ hồi hoàn địa mạch (vankhan.vn)
  • Văn khấn lễ xin bồi hoàn địa mạch (tuvi.vn)

Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.

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