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Lễ giải trùng tang (rite to resolve trùng tang)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Nhốt trùng, Trùng tang liên táng, Gửi vong giải trùng, Hóa giải trùng tang

By folk belief, if the deceased passed away at an hour or on a day considered phạm trùng, the household may have successive deaths, so the family asks a master to perform the rite and takes the portrait to a pagoda to send the spirit. In the North, chùa Hàm Long (Bắc Ninh) is said to be a place many households turn to; family members keep a talisman for three years.

When
After a death in the household, when the date and hour of death are counted as phạm trùng
For whom
The spirit of the newly deceased; monks and ritual masters perform the rite

Offerings and how the rite is done

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

Red River Delta, chùa Hàm Long, Bắc Ninh, Folk practice

When
After a death in the household, when the deceased is considered to have died at a phạm giờ trùng hour (by folk belief, the hours and days of Dần, Thân, Tỵ, Hợi)
Where the offerings are set
chùa Hàm Long, which folk tradition says is a place to send spirits and "nhốt trùng"
Who makes the offering
Family members take the portrait to the pagoda; a ritual master performs the rite at home first; the monks at the pagoda give guidance

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Portrait of the deceasedRequired. left at the pagoda
Talismanfamily members keep it for three years

Steps

  1. Ask a master to examine the date and hour of death; if it is considered trùng tang, the ritual master performs the rite
  2. The family takes the portrait of the deceased to the pagoda to send the spirit
  3. The monks give guidance on the taboos
  4. Family members receive the talisman and keep it for three years

Things to avoid

  • The taboos are instructed by the pagoda to each household; the source does not list them specifically

Where the sources differ

  • Which district chùa Hàm Long belongs to: Báo Pháp luật Việt Nam writes Quế Võ, Bắc Ninh; the mytour page writes Thuận Thành district, Bắc Ninh.
  • Whom trùng tang affects: a master quoted by Báo Pháp luật Việt Nam says that according to Thọ mai gia lễ, trùng affects only blood relatives, not daughters-in-law or sons-in-law; the folk accounts in the article count close relatives in general.

Used across Vietnam, Folk practice

When
When the mourning is held, if the date and hour of death are counted as phạm trùng tang
Who makes the offering
The bereaved family; ritual masters and the pagoda

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Ashes from burning votive paper, requested at the pagodascattered under the grave before the coffin is lowered
Set of linh phù (spirit talismans)placed under the pillow or pasted on the chest of the deceased
Garlicscattered into the false grave

Steps

  1. Calculate trùng tang by the lunar age and the date and hour of death (counting the pallets on the hand, men starting from the Dần pallet, women from the Thân pallet)
  2. Send the spirit of the deceased to the pagoda
  3. Postpone the burial by one or two days from the date of death to avoid a lowering hour considered bad
  4. Scatter the ashes from burning votive paper under the grave; place the linh phù; in some places a false grave is made and garlic is scattered
  5. In the Buddhist way: doing good deeds and giving charity to dedicate the merit to the deceased

Things to avoid

  • On days considered trùng tang, people avoid weddings, house repairs, and exhumation for reburial
  • Do not let dogs or cats come near the coffin

Sources

  • Hoá giải nỗi khiếp sợ mang tên trùng tang (baophapluat.vn)
  • Trùng tang: khái niệm, cách xác định và phương pháp hóa giải (mytour.vn)

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

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