Na tế: Dương tế dã, đạo thượng tế chi. Hương lệ, dĩ tam nguyệt sơ tam nhật. Án: Chu Lễ tam nguyệt Quốc na, bát nguyệt Thiên tử na, thập nhị nguyệt Đại na, thiên hạ giai tế. Hương thôn ứng tòng đại na vi thị. Đãn bổn xã nhân tuần tuy tam nguyệt diệc bất thậm phương. Án: Xuân Thu lễ vĩ, dĩ thập nhị nguyệt mệnh Phương Tướng mông hùng bì, hoàng kim, tứ mục, huyền y huân thường, chấp qua dương thuẫn, suất bách lệ cập đồng tử, thì na khu thất trục dịch. Hán Miêu chế dụng đồng nam thập tuế dĩ thượng thập nhị tuế dĩ hạ vị chi trành đồng, trứ xích tạo y, hựu tác đào nhân nhất hình thương nhĩ, bạch hổ nhị hình trì dĩ đồng hành dĩ trục quỷ. Kim nghi châm tửu hành chi, chỉ trạch trành đồng thập danh thượng hạ các trì vĩ sách. Hựu họa bạch hổ nhất hình, diệc lệnh đồng tử trì hành tứ chu trục quỷ; thứ bất lệ cổ đạo. Thượng bài liệt dụng nhất hàng tứ tọa, nội thượng tọa vi Hành khiển tôn tọa, đệ nhị tọa vi Hành binh Phán quan tọa, đệ tam tọa vi thập nhị Na thần cập thương nhĩ bạch hổ chi tọa. Tối hạ đệ tứ tọa vi phụ hưởng chi tọa.
The village's cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) ceremony to ward off epidemics
- Village farming rites
- 3 prayer texts
- Offerings and steps
Culture and belief A record of custom.
About this rite: when it is held and for whom
Also called: Nhương dịch, Tống ôn, Tống gió, Tống phong, Tống cói, Tống na, Kỳ an, Cầu mát
By custom, the village holds a cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) ceremony and then sends a paper boat or raft carrying offerings out to the river or sea to send away the misfortunes of the old year. In the South it is called tống ôn, tống gió, tống phong; along the central coast it is called tống cói, tống na and is tied to tế âm linh (offering to the unseen). The dataset records this ceremony as a village custom.
- When
- Cần Thơ from the 12th to the 14th of the first lunar month; Chánh Mỹ (Bình Dương) in the third lunar month; Nam Ô (Đà Nẵng) on the full moon of the first lunar month
- For whom
- Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), Bà and the earth god of the miếu (shrine); the lords of epidemics, epidemic soldiers; wandering spirits, the unseen
Văn tế xua đuổi quỷ gây ôn dịch làng Thủ Lễ (Na tế, mồng 3 tháng Ba)
- Huế
- làng Thủ Lễ, Thừa Thiên Huế
- Village communal-house rites
What this prayer says
Na tế prayer text read at the full ceremony of Thủ Lễ village on the 3rd day of the third lunar month, offered to Hành khiển, Hành binh, Phán quan, Quỷ vương and other deities, praying to drive away demons causing epidemics and disasters and to bring peace to the people.
The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.
Fill in before the rite
Regional custom
The prayer below is ready to read.
This text is the version from the Centre.
Other texts for The village's cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) ceremony to ward off epidemics
Versions by region, by tradition and for each part of 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.
Mekong Delta, Xóm Chài, Hưng Phú, Cần Thơ, Village communal-house rites
- When
- From the 12th to the 14th of the first lunar month every year; on the evening of the 13th the offering is made, at noon on the 14th the raft is released. According to the research paper, in the Mekong Delta this ceremony is common from the full moon of the first lunar month to the third month or from the fifth to the seventh lunar month
- Where the offerings are set
- Miễu Bà Xóm Chài; the raft is released in the middle of the Hậu River
- Who makes the offering
- The tế tự board, the miễu management board, and the people of the river-fishing hamlet
Offerings
| Offering | Notes |
|---|---|
| Boat (long chu) with a bamboo lattice frame covered in colored paper, placed on a raft made of banana trunks | Required. on the hull are written the boat's number, the launch date, and the place of making; it is called the epidemic-expelling ship, the water-and-land raft |
| Paper human figures and clothes, votive paper | Required. placed on the boat |
| Rice, salt | Required. the research paper writes that they are indispensable |
| Offerings contributed by the people are loaded onto the raft |
Steps
- The boat is placed in front of the courtyard of Miễu Bà; offerings are made to Bà, to the Thổ thần (earth god) and the unseen, a cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) ceremony is held, with lion dance
- The lion goes first, young men carry the raft down to the ship
- The ship carries the raft and hundreds of boats and ships parade on the Cần Thơ River, people on the boats splash water on each other
- Going out to the middle of the Hậu River, the raft is set adrift
- People scoop river water to wash the boats and ships, wash their faces and hands, and go into the river to bathe
- When the raft is loaded onto the ship, along the bank households light incense and make offerings, burn leaves and coconut husks, then throw coarse salt into the fire to make it crackle
Things to avoid
- According to folk belief as recounted in the research paper, if the released boat lingers and does not drift away or meets with trouble, it is considered an unlucky sign, so the boat is made very carefully
Southeast, Chánh Mỹ, Thủ Dầu Một, Bình Dương, Village communal-house rites
- When
- In the third lunar month every year, on a day chosen by the ritual master
- Where the offerings are set
- At Đình thần Chánh Mỹ, an altar is set up; the epidemic-expelling boat is placed at the outer altar
- Who makes the offering
- Two thầy pháp (ritual masters, thầy pháp văn and thầy pháp võ) perform the ceremony; the đình's Ban Nghi lễ (ritual board) and the Chánh bái (chief officiant) make offerings following the chanted instructions
Offerings
| Offering | Notes |
|---|---|
| Head, tail, feet and boiled pig innards | Required. before 1976 the main offering was a whole live pig |
| Ngũ phương Ôn bộ altar: a tray of pig head and boiled pig innards, 3 sets of tam sên (three sacrificial offerings), a plate of rice and salt, betel leaves and areca nuts, votive paper, xôi (steamed sticky rice), rice vermicelli, bean sprouts, bánh bò, bánh phồng | |
| Tổ altar: 3 pieces of boiled meat, 3 sets of tam sên (three sacrificial offerings), a cup of rice, a cup of salt, a cup of water | |
| Binh altar: 2 pieces of boiled meat, 2 sets of tam sên (three sacrificial offerings), a cup of rice, a cup of salt | |
| The epidemic-expelling boat is about 1.8 meters long, with figures of soldiers and a captain | Required. on the boat are placed votive paper, a cup of rice, a cup of salt, cigarettes, a deck of cards |
| Văn cúng, khoa cúng, bài vị, điệp, hịch composed by the ritual master on giấy bản (bản paper) | Required |
Steps
- The Ritual Committee prays to Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity) for permission to invite the ritual master to perform the ceremony
- The rites in order: thỉnh Thành hoàng (inviting the village tutelary deity), thỉnh Tổ (inviting the ancestors), thỉnh Binh (inviting the spirit soldiers), nghinh Thành hoàng (welcoming the village tutelary deity), thiết Binh (setting up the spirit soldiers), phát lương (distributing provisions), phát khiển (sending off), nghinh Ôn bộ (welcoming the Ôn bộ), đưa Ôn (escorting the Ôn away), tạ Tổ (thanking the ancestors)
- Phát lương: distributing rice, salt, and votive paper at the five directions of the altar and on the thuyền tống ôn (plague-expelling boat)
- Phát khiển: sending people to carry the hịch (proclamation) to three directions, the pagoda, the communal house, and the crossroads, then burning it
- Nghinh Ôn bộ (welcoming the Ôn bộ): reciting the Ý Tống Ôn, the Điệp Tống Ôn, and chanting the Tống Ôn Tống Khách khoa
- Khai quang điểm nhãn (eye-opening consecration) for the effigies on the boat, then sending the thuyền tống ôn away
Things to avoid
- When choosing the date, avoid sát chủ days and ô uế days, according to the words of the date-reader
South Central Coast, Fishing communities, Nam Ô, Đà Nẵng, Lý Sơn, Village communal-house rites
- When
- Nam Ô village: on the occasion of the full moon of the first lunar month (lễ Cầu an and Tế âm linh)
- Where the offerings are set
- Nam Ô: the nghĩa trủng (burial ground for the unnamed dead), the village's mộ âm linh (tombs of wandering spirits), and the dinh
- Who makes the offering
- The hội đồng chư phái tộc (council of clan branches) of the village
Offerings
| Offering | Notes |
|---|---|
| A small boat made of bamboo strips with a sail, carrying offerings and set adrift on the sea | the lễ tống na in Khánh Hòa, according to a research article |
| Hình nhân (paper effigies) | at Âm linh tự, Lý Sơn, according to a research article |
Steps
- Nam Ô: dẫy mả âm linh (clearing the graves of the wandering dead) and offering incense at the nghĩa trủng (burial ground of the unclaimed dead), trần thiết tại dinh (setting up the altar at the dinh), nhương ôn tống ôn (appeasing and sending off the Ôn), lễ túc (the evening rite), chánh tế âm linh (the main offering to the wandering dead)
- Khánh Hòa: offerings placed on a bamboo boat and set adrift on the sea, with hát bả trạo, and finally hát bội
Northern Vietnam, Village communal-house rites
- When
- The source page only says in the past, without recording the date
- Where the offerings are set
- The communal house and shrine in the village
Offerings
| Offering | Notes |
|---|---|
| Cháo lá đa (porridge with đa leaves) | |
| Rice, salt | scattered for thí thực (feeding the hungry spirits) |
Steps
- Villagers set out offerings of cháo lá đa
- Scattering rice and salt for thí thực to send away bad omens and pray for good things
The wording is kept exactly as published by the source. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.
Sources
- Trích tuyển văn tế làng xã Thừa Thiên Huế, Phần thứ ba: Văn tế trong các lễ cúng kỵ hàng năm. Chuyên đề của Tạp chí Nghiên cứu và Phát triển, số 7 (141), 2017 (vjol.info.vn)
- Tống ôn, nét văn hóa tâm linh miệt sông nước Cần Thơ (plo.vn)
- Rộn ràng lễ hội Tống phong vùng sông nước Cần Thơ (sggp.org.vn)
- Sôi động lễ hội Tống phong trên sông nước Cần Thơ (baovanhoa.vn)
- Cần Thơ: Lễ cầu an Miễu Bà Xóm Chài (baovanhoa.vn)
- Trần Diễm Thùy, Nghi lễ tống ôn, tống gió của người Việt ở Đồng bằng sông Cửu Long, Tạp chí Khoa học Trường Đại học Đồng Tháp số 39 (08/2019) (dthujs.vn)
- Đinh Thanh Huy, Thực hành nghi thức Tống Ôn tại đình thần Chánh Mỹ, thành phố Thủ Dầu Một, tỉnh Bình Dương, Tạp chí Khoa học Trường Đại học Đồng Tháp số 38 (06/2019) (dthujs.vn)
- Đà Nẵng: Lễ Cầu an và Tế âm linh làng Nam Ô năm 2024 (baovanhoa.vn)
- Lễ hội Kỳ Yên là gì? Nguồn gốc lễ hội Kỳ Yên (hoatieu.vn)
Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
More prayer textsDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, life-cycle rites and regional rites.Open