Tế âm linh (offering to wandering souls)

Huế, Huế, Folk practice

When

The 23rd day of the fifth lunar month (the day Huế capital fell, in the year Ất Dậu 1885); households make offerings from the 23rd to the 30th of the fifth month, from afternoon to night

Where the offerings are set

The offering tray is placed in the yard or in front of the house; only households with a family member who died in the house make offerings at the altar

Who makes the offering

Every family, village, and ward organization in Huế

Offerings

Steps

1. Set up the offering tray in the yard or in front of the door
2. Place the water jar and light the fire beside the offering tray
3. Light incense and pray in remembrance of those who died

Huế, Huế, Village communal-house rites

When

The 22nd and 23rd days of the fifth lunar month; on the 12th day of the sixth lunar month there is the custom of collective grave visiting for those who died

Where the offerings are set

The miếu Âm Hồn (at the corner of Mai Thúc Loan and Lê Thánh Tôn streets, inside the Thành Nội) and the đàn Âm Hồn

Who makes the offering

At the miếu: village elders serve as chief celebrant and ritual chanter, the phường bát âm plays music, in the evening monks mount the altar for chẩn tế; at the đàn Âm Hồn: the Huế Monuments Conservation Centre organizes it

Offerings

Steps

1. On the 22nd: put up the tent, decorate the miếu and the outdoor offering tray
2. Morning of the 23rd, around 7 o'clock: khai kinh, sutra chanting
3. Noon of the 23rd: noon offering
4. 14:00 on the 23rd: tế âm hồn (offering to wandering souls) according to the tế ritual, reading the văn tế (sacrificial oration)
5. Evening of the 23rd: the đăng đàn chẩn tế ceremony led by one presiding monk and six sutra masters
6. After the ceremony: release birds, eels, and fish

Where the sources differ

• Year the shrine and the altar were built: one source records that the miếu Âm Hồn (shrine of wandering spirits) was built from the years 1885; another source records that the đàn Âm Hồn (altar of wandering spirits) was established by the court in 1894 under the reign of Thành Thái, nine years after the fall of the citadel. The two structures are different, and newspaper articles sometimes confuse the names.
• Ritual of sacrifice: a survey article records that the sacrifice at the shrine followed "nghi thức tế lễ của Khổng giáo" (Confucian ritual of sacrifice) and only then came the chẩn tế (offering to the hungry spirits) by the monk; the sacrifice at the đàn Âm Hồn in recent years includes quán tẩy (purification), thượng hương (offering incense), hiến tước (offering wine), reading the chúc văn (eulogy), and presenting offerings; in 2017 there was for the first time a great Buddhist requiem ceremony at the altar.

Central Highlands, An Khê, Gia Lai, Village communal-house rites

When

Falling within the major festivals of the communal house during the year: cúng khai sơn (opening of the mountains, early in the first lunar month), quý xuân (the rằm of the second lunar month), the rằm of the seventh lunar month, quý thu (the rằm of the eighth lunar month); separately, Thanh Minh tự in An Phú ward holds its offering at the Thanh minh festival.

Where the offerings are set

Miếu cô hồn đứng riêng hoặc nhà âm linh cạnh điện thần của đình, mang tên "Thanh Minh tự"; còn gọi miếu âm hồn, nhà âm hồn, nhà cô hồn

Who makes the offering

Villagers, the tế board of the communal house

Steps

1. Offering to the cô hồn (wandering spirits) and âm linh (wandering souls) together with the sacrifice of the communal house
2. Reading the văn tế (sacrificial oration) and văn chúc (eulogy) that name Tiêu Diện Đại Lực Sĩ (the one worshipped to govern the wandering spirits)

Huế, làng Thủ Lễ, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites

When

Once every three years, on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month (offering to the childless dead of the clans in the village)

Where the offerings are set

Set out in three bays, in each bay a throne is placed on the inner side, long mats are spread as seats, before each throne an incense table with a censer, box, and lamp; in the courtyard a table is placed as a place for washing hands

Who makes the offering

Three tế chủ (chief sacrificers) take turns serving as clan heads; one xướng (chanter), one reader of the chúc (eulogy), six dẫn lễ (ritual guides), all wearing ceremonial robes

Steps

1. Reading the văn tế for the cô hồn vô tự (wandering spirits with no descendants) of the clans in the village

Huế, làng Mỹ Lợi, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites

When

On the 12th day of the second lunar month, Hội Mỹ Ích holds a joint offering from early morning to evening (the hội was founded in 1851); the village also holds an offering at the nghĩa trủng (burial ground for the unclaimed dead) when it chạp mộ (visits and tends graves)

Where the offerings are set

The area of the đình and market of Mỹ Lợi

Who makes the offering

The branches of Hội Mỹ Ích: the Tư Văn branch handles the offering to the tiền hiền (founding ancestors), the women's branch handles the offering to the female tiền hiền

Steps

1. Offering to the cô hồn
2. Offering to the male tiền hiền
3. Offering to the female tiền hiền
4. After each round of offering, the feast is taken down and the poor and beggars are invited to share it

Huế, Thừa Thiên Huế, Village communal-house rites, At the grave

When

In the twelfth lunar month each year, on the occasion when the village chạp mả (visits and tends graves) (according to the rule establishing the nghĩa trủng from the 17th year of Tự Đức, 1864)

Where the offerings are set

The nghĩa trủng area (the burial ground of graves that no one offers to) of the xã thôn (village commune)

Who makes the offering

Villagers go together to tảo mộ (tend the graves)

Offerings

Steps

1. The whole village goes out to the burial ground to clear grass and tend the graves
2. Setting out the offerings, in many places with the reading of a văn tế (sacrificial oration)