Skip to content

Lễ rước sắc, mừng sắc phong (procession of the royal edict and celebration of the conferment)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Cáo tuyên sắc, Bái khánh sắc, Thỉnh sắc, Hồi sắc, Nghinh sắc

By the custom of many villages, the royal edicts granted to the deities are kept in the house of a respected person or in the village when it is that village's turn; when the village festival comes, the edicts are carried in procession to the place of worship, and after the ceremony they are taken back. In Nam Bộ this is called thỉnh sắc and hồi sắc.

When
At the beginning of the communal house festival (in Nam Bộ: the first day of the Kỳ yên festival); Phú Gia (Hà Tĩnh) on the 7th of the first lunar month
For whom
The deities granted edicts: the village Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity) and other deities and figures worshipped

Offerings and how the rite is done

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

Southern Vietnam (Nam Bộ, no finer detail in the source), Châu Đốc (An Giang), Trảng Bàng (Tây Ninh), Sóc Trăng, Village communal-house rites

When
The first day of the Kỳ yên festival. Đình Châu Phú (Châu Đốc): 7 a.m. on the 10th of the 5th lunar month; đình Gia Lộc (Trảng Bàng): 6 a.m. on the 14th of the 3rd lunar month
Where the offerings are set
From the place where the deity's edict is kept (usually the private house of a respected person, or a temple or shrine) to the main hall of the communal house
Who makes the offering
The ritual committee and the communal house officials; the Chánh lễ (chief officiant) receives the edict

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
Incense, wine, teaAt the place where the edict is kept: one round of incense, three rounds of wine; at the communal house: one round of incense, three rounds of wine, one round of tea
Long đình (a ceremonial palanquin) or a palanquin to place the edictRequired
A new red cloth to wrap the edictđình Gia Lộc

Steps

  1. The procession includes gongs, drums, flags, parasols, long đình, ritual music, and lion dancers, and goes to the place where the deity's edict is kept
  2. Offer one round of incense and three rounds of wine, read a short sacrificial oration or prayer, then place the edict in the long đình
  3. At đình Gia Lộc: the Chánh lễ takes the edict kept in a tin tube, spreads it out, rolls it up in a new red cloth, and places it on a palanquin carried by four guards, with đào thài, trò lễ, and attendants following
  4. Carry the edict in procession to the communal house, perform the an vị (installation) ceremony, and place the edict box on the deity's altar in the main hall
  5. Some villages also perform the Nghinh ceremony: carrying palanquins to the temples and shrines in the village to invite the deities to the communal house
  6. At the end of the festival, perform the hồi sắc ceremony and take the edict back to its place of keeping

North Central Coast, Phú Gia, Hương Khê, Hà Tĩnh, Village communal-house rites

When
The 7th of the first lunar month every year
Where the offerings are set
Từ nhà cố đạo chủ cũ, qua đền Cộng Đồng Hội Sở, thành Sơn Phòng, đền Trầm Lâm, về nhà cố đạo chủ mới
Who makes the offering
The ritual committee consists of village elders; the new cố đạo chủ performs the khai hạ ceremony; the palanquin bearers are unmarried young men, 8 people per palanquin

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Three palanquins: the palanquin carrying the portrait of King Hàm Nghi, the palanquin carrying the edict of Đức Đại Vương, the palanquin carrying Đức thánh mẫu and Mã Hồng Công chúa
The treasures carried in procession: 40 royal edicts, a precious sword, a golden elephant, a bronze elephant, a bronze nghê, a đục lạc, gongs, drums, and ritual robesaccording to a 2023 newspaper article

Steps

  1. On the full moon of the twelfth lunar month, a new cố đạo chủ is chosen by voting and by asking for yin and yang divination blocks before the king's altar
  2. On the 7th of the first lunar month, a ceremony is held to hand over the treasures at the house of the former cố đạo chủ
  3. The procession walks through the temples and thành Sơn Phòng to offer incense and prayers
  4. The new cố đạo chủ performs the khai hạ ceremony
  5. Carry the palanquin and the royal edicts in procession to the house of the new cố đạo chủ to keep for one year

South Central Coast, đảo Phú Quý, Village communal-house rites

When
Once a year when the village's turn to receive the edict comes; the newspaper article does not record the date
Where the offerings are set
The village's square house whose turn it is to keep the offering
Who makes the offering
Nine villages in three communes on the island take turns

Steps

  1. Nine villages take turns, each village brings the thầy Nại's royal decree to the village's square house to worship for one year, then hands it to another village
  2. The worship of Công chúa Bàn Tranh also follows that rule of taking turns

Sources

  • Lễ Kỳ Yên (mytour.vn)
  • Khám phá lễ hội Kỳ Yên ở Nam Bộ (fptshop.com.vn)
  • Đào Ngọc Cảnh, Huỳnh Văn Đà, Bảo tồn và phát huy giá trị văn hóa truyền thống của lễ hội đình trong cộng đồng người Kinh ở tỉnh Sóc Trăng, Tạp chí Khoa học Trường Đại học Cần Thơ, phần C, số 29 năm 2013 (sss.ctu.edu.vn)
  • Lễ hội Kỳ Yên là gì? Nguồn gốc lễ hội Kỳ Yên (hoatieu.vn)
  • Độc đáo Lễ hội Kỳ yên đình Bình Thủy, Cần Thơ (Báo Văn Hóa)
  • Hàng ngàn người dân trang trọng rước báu vật vua ban đầu năm (sggp.org.vn)
  • Phú Quý, những giai thoại truyền kỳ: Chuyện thầy Nại (nongnghiepmoitruong.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.