Song inviting the buffalo to eat, calling the nine buffalo souls back (in Tày, with the source's translation)

Lễ cúng hồn trâu (buffalo soul offering rite) of the Tày and Nùng people. The 6th day of the 6th lunar month (Cao Bằng, Lạng Sơn); full moon of the seventh lunar month (Nghĩa Đô, Lào Cai)

  • Northeast
  • Tày, Nùng
  • Cao Bằng
  • Folk practice
  • Words addressed to the animal (buffalo, ox) during the rite
  • Ritual song

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

A ritual song in the Tày language in the buffalo soul-calling ceremony, calling the nine buffalo souls back from the deep valleys and the mountain passes to enter the four legs, the two horns, the two ears and the tail, then inviting the buffalo to eat lunch at the house and to graze in the afternoon.

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

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Your regional custom

This text is the version from the North.

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Lễ cúng hồn trâu (buffalo soul offering rite) of the Tày and Nùng people

Other texts for Lễ cúng hồn trâu (buffalo soul offering rite) of the Tày and Nùng people

Collected text. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.

Part of the open dataset Vietnamese offering prayers (văn cúng), licensed CC BY 4.0.

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