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Cúng việc lề (communal lineage death-anniversary offering)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Cúng lề, Giỗ hội của họ, Cúng dòng họ Nam Bộ, Thờ cúng việc lề

By custom in Nam Bộ and on Lý Sơn island, cúng việc lề is the common giỗ (death anniversary) of the whole lineage; each lineage keeps one day and its own offerings as a sign for descendants to recognize kin. Sources describe the practice differently: Long An and Tiền Giang set the offerings outdoors; Tây Ninh and Lý Sơn hold the offering at the lineage hall.

When
Each lineage has its own day in the year, by their custom
For whom
The ancestors of the lineage, especially those who went to reclaim land and found the village

Offerings and how the rite is done

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

South Central Coast, Lý Sơn, Quảng Ngãi, An Hải, Folk practice

When
Each lineage has one day in the year; the Phạm Văn lineage in An Vĩnh in 2015 held the nhập yết from 17 to 20 of the second lunar month; the main offering is at dawn or noon depending on the lineage
Where the offerings are set
The lineage hall (nhà thờ) of the lineage, plus an offering table outdoors in the yard; the arrangement differs for each lineage
Who makes the offering
The tộc trưởng (lineage head) serves as chủ tế (chief officiant), with two bồi tế (assistant officiants) who are the eldest sons of the branches; there is a xướng (caller), a ban chấp sự (service board), and a ban nhạc lễ (ritual music band); some lineages invite a pháp sư (ritual master)

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Nhập yết offering: cháo (rice porridge), bánh khô (dried cakes), rice, salt, trầu cau (betel leaves and areca nuts), chicken, meat, a vase of flowers, tea, wine, votive paper
Main offering: pig (lễ kỉnh sinh), chicken meat, fish, trầu (betel), winemany lineages do this
The particular offerings of each lineageRequired. formerly required: the Phạm lineage gỏi cá nhám (shark ceviche), the Dương lineage three boiled chickens, the Phan lineage a whole grilled fish, the Võ lineage tam sinh (grilled fish, boiled crab, chicken); according to the author this is now faded
A tray of trầu cau, a plate of rib meat, and some money to thank the pháp sư (ritual master)if the pháp sư is a member of the lineage, he does not accept money

Steps

  1. Nhập yết offering: tế cáo (announcement rite), inviting the ancestors to attend, with a prayer text read to invite each one
  2. The main offering follows the three rounds sơ hiến, á hiến, chung hiến as in the offering at lân, miếu, đình
  3. Those who died and are not yet out of mourning are offered to separately at a small table
  4. After the offering, the tộc trưởng writes the names of those who have completed mourning into the lineage's phổ ý (register)
  5. A feast is held for the kin and the pháp sư
  6. A lineage that has met misfortune for many years in a row holds the yết offering and then cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) for many nights; in an ordinary year it holds only the main offering

Southeast, Tây Ninh, Folk practice

When
Each lineage has its own day, tied to the history of that lineage's reclaiming land and founding the village in Tây Ninh
Where the offerings are set
The common lineage hall
Who makes the offering
The descendants of the lineage

Southern Vietnam (Nam Bộ, no finer detail in the source), Long An, Tiền Giang, Đồng Tháp Mười, Folk practice

When
Each lineage has one day, usually before and after Tết: Long An the 25th of the twelfth lunar month; Tiền Giang the 19th of the first lunar month or the 19th of the third lunar month; Đồng Tháp Mười holds the offering in the flood season
Where the offerings are set
Outdoors: on a riverbank or in the yard, laid out on banana leaves or lotus leaves, later on mats and chiếu (woven mats) on the ground; not offered indoors, not set on tables and chairs
Who makes the offering
A respected person in the lineage is assigned, much like the trưởng họ, trưởng tộc in the North

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Cháo ám (snakehead fish porridge with the whole fish)Required. the fish is scaled with a bamboo knife
Cá nướng trui (fish grilled whole over straw), mắm sống (raw fish sauce)
Wild vegetables boiled or left rawrau choại, cải trời, rau má, bắp chuối...
Thủ vĩ lợn, tam sên, đĩa thịt sốngthe author saw this at one clan in Bến Lức
Items particular to each clan: straw effigies, pieces of elephant skin, bows and arrowsOptional. each clan has its own convention, as a sign for recognizing kin
Cups made from coconut shells, chopsticks of bamboo sticks

Steps

  1. The offerings are laid out in the open air on leaves
  2. The person assigned makes the offering and prays to the ancestors who cleared the land
  3. If the clan has effigies, they are burned after the offering

Things to avoid

  • No offering inside the house, no laying out on tables and chairs

Sources

  • Nguyễn Duy Đoài, Thờ cúng việc lề trong gia đình, dòng họ người Việt ở huyện đảo Lý Sơn, Quảng Ngãi, Nghiên cứu Tôn giáo số 9 và 10 năm 2016 (vjol.info.vn)
  • Tài liệu Giáo dục địa phương tỉnh Tây Ninh lớp 12 (storage-edu.vnpt.vn)
  • Gia phả ngầm ở Nam bộ (plo.vn)

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

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