Skip to content

Lễ trả nợ Tào quan (rite of repaying the debt to Tào quan)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Khoa Điền hoàn thiên khố, Trả nợ tiền kiếp, Khoa Tào quan, Trả nợ mã Tam phủ, Tứ phủ

According to the conception of those who perform the rite, each person has a sum borrowed from the heavenly treasury from previous lives; the lễ trả nợ Tào quan (rite of repaying the debt to Tào quan) (khoa Điền hoàn thiên khố) is conducted by a ritual master who sets up the altar, offers tiền Thiên khố (heavenly treasury money) and the Kinh Thọ Sinh (Sutra of Long Life). In Mother Goddess worship there is a rite of similar meaning called trả nợ mã Tam phủ, Tứ phủ (repaying the votive debt of the Three Palaces and Four Palaces).

When
According to the guide page: ngày Thiên xá (Heavenly Pardon day), the death anniversaries of the ten Diêm vương (Kings of Hell), or combined in a great cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) ceremony at a temple (đền) or pagoda
For whom
Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Ngọc Hoàng (Jade Emperor), Nam Tào Bắc Đẩu (the Southern and Northern Dippers), the Phán quan (judges) and Tào quan (officials) who keep the treasury according to birth year; in Mother Goddess worship, the Tam phủ (Three Palaces) and Tứ phủ (Four Palaces)

Offerings and how the rite is done

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

Used across Vietnam, Another tradition (see note)

When
According to the page: ngày Thiên xá (Heavenly Pardon day), the death anniversaries of the ten Diêm vương (Kings of Hell) and some other death anniversaries (such as the 8th of the first lunar month, the 1st and 18th of the second lunar month, the 30th of the seventh lunar month, the death anniversary of Địa Tạng (Kṣitigarbha)); or combined into a great cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) ceremony, on the first day of the lunar month, the fifteenth day of the lunar month at a pagoda
Where the offerings are set
Đền (temple), pagoda, điện (shrine); the altar is set up facing North
Who makes the offering
Thầy cúng chủ lễ; tín chủ dự lễ và đội sớ

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Incense, flowers, lamps, candles, xôi (steamed sticky rice), wine, meat
Tiền Thiên Khố (heavenly treasury money) (tiền Tào quan)Required. the page says that without this item the rite cannot be performed
Kinh Thọ Sinh (Sutra of Long Life)Required
Other sutras: kinh Trường thọ diệt tội (Sutra of Long Life and Extinction of Sins), kinh Nhân quả (Sutra of Cause and Effect), kinh Kim cang thọ mạng (Vajra Long Life Sutra), kinh Phật đảnh tôn thắng (Sutra of the Supreme Victory of the Buddha's Crown)
Bird cages, fish basins for phóng sinh (releasing living beings)
Tray of rice, tray money, sugar, salt
Tray of sớ văn (petition texts); the offering tray for thí thực (food offering to wandering spirits) is set separately

Steps

  1. Tiểu đàn (small altar): invoking the Buddhas, khoa Tào quan (Tào quan ritual), thí thực (food offering to wandering spirits), phóng sinh (releasing living beings), tạ (thanksgiving) and tiễn đàn (sending off the altar)
  2. Đại đàn (great altar), the previous afternoon: setting up the altar, biểu kinh (presenting sutras), sám hối (repentance), reciting Đại bi (Great Compassion), Thập chú (Ten Mantras), kinh Dược Sư (Medicine Buddha Sutra) or Thủy Sám (Water Repentance)
  3. Đại đàn (great altar), the next morning: kinh đầu tràng (opening sutra), phát tấu (submitting the memorial), invoking the Buddhas, khoa Tào quan (Tào quan ritual), đội sớ (carrying the petition), reciting sutras
  4. Đại đàn (great altar), the next afternoon: phóng sinh (releasing living beings), thí thực (food offering to wandering spirits), tạ quá (thanksgiving), tiễn đàn (sending off the altar), thụ lộc (receiving blessings)
  5. After the Điền hoàn rite, one usually recites kinh Dược Sư (Medicine Buddha Sutra), Phổ Môn (Universal Gateway), Thủy Sám (Water Repentance)

Central Highlands, Lâm Đồng, Mother Goddess worship (Tứ Phủ)

When
The death anniversary or feast day of a saint or a good day in the month, combined in a lên đồng (spirit possession ritual) ceremony of đại đàn (great altar) character
Where the offerings are set
Bản điện (the main shrine hall), đền thờ Mẫu (Mother Goddess temple)
Who makes the offering
Thầy đồng (medium); the person performing the rite is one who does not have the medium's root

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Votive paper of various kinds according to the ranks of the saints in the Tứ phủ (Four Palaces) pantheonRequired. the characteristic items of đại đàn (great altars)
Petition paper, votive money
Fruit, cakes and sweets, trầu cau (betel leaves and areca nuts), dried chè (sweet soup), cigarettes, xôi (steamed sticky rice), rice, meat, eggsthe common offerings of the hầu (mediumship) session

Steps

  1. The rite is called trả nợ mã Tam phủ, Tứ phủ (repaying the votive debt of the Three Palaces and Four Palaces); it is performed within a hầu đồng (spirit mediumship ritual) session together with other tasks of the con nhang đệ tử (followers)

Sources

  • Trả nợ tào quan là gì (hoatieu.vn)
  • Bùi Thị Thoa, Cắt tiền duyên trong nghi lễ lên đồng của người Việt ở Lâm Đồng, Tạp chí Khoa học Xã hội số 9 (229) năm 2017 (vjol.info.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.