Tống ôn and tống gió are rituals of the Vietnamese people in the Mekong Delta, held annually to send epidemics, wandering souls and misfortune away down the river, usually by means of a paper boat. The ritual is tied to life on the water and to the Vietnamese beliefs about souls and wandering spirits.
Vietnamese worship customs vary by region and ethnicity through environment, migration, and cultural exchange, not through one practice being more correct.
A guide to preparing New Year's Eve offerings, arranging the outdoor and indoor trays by Vietnamese custom, with safety notes and regional differences.
Tet Nhay (Pút Tồng) is the key Bàn Vương worship ritual of the Red Dao in Lào Cai, tied to migration legends and performed in 11 steps with dances and music.
Five-color sticky rice is essential to the Tay people's Lồng Tồng festival, its colors drawn from natural leaves, roots and fruits with five-element meaning.
What is Vietnamese astrology (tu vi), how a chart is cast, and core concepts such as the 12 palaces, major stars, Four Transformations, nap am and Bát Tự.
What goes on a southern Vietnamese giỗ tray and how a Mekong Delta death anniversary is held: the dishes, the two days, and the portions guests take home.
BaZi, or Four Pillars, is a traditional destiny analysis system built on the birth year, month, day, and hour, each with a Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch.
Giỗ hết đại tường marks the end of two years of mourning. It covers the offering tray, how to arrange it, and the sequence for xả tang in Vietnamese custom.
Kathina, the Khmer Theravada robe offering after the three-month rain retreat, runs from the 16th of the ninth lunar month to the full moon of the tenth.
Giỗ thường (cát kỵ) yearly rites need no full feast like giỗ đầu or giỗ hết. Core offerings: hương đèn, trầu cau, rượu trà, a bowl of upside-down rice.
How is a death anniversary kept in Central Vietnam? The tiên thường and chính kỵ rites, the joint 7th-month giỗ in Quảng Nam, and Hue dishes on the tray.
An overview of Vietnamese traditional cuisine by region: Tet dishes, ancestral trays, festivals, vegetarian food and local specialties, with cultural context.
Tết in northern Vietnam: the feast tray, Nhật Tân peach blossom, the Hàng Lược flower market and three days of family reunion, with origins and meaning.
Southern and northern Tết Eve worship differ in the outdoor Heaven altar, the indoor tray and offerings, with origins, meaning and how to prepare each.
Hexagram Guan (Wind over Earth) in the I Ching symbolizes observation and contemplation, with lessons on seeing oneself and the world clearly before acting.