The unique land offering custom of the people in the ‘five Quang’ region

The ‘five Quang’ region includes: Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Quang Duc (now Thua Thien Hue province) since ancient times, there is a very unique custom of worshiping the land. This is an offering ceremony to the Earth gods and their dependent gods, which takes place twice a year.

The land offering is also known as the “Tai Tho Ky Yen” ceremony. Legend has it that, during the Tran dynasty, when Princess Huyen Tran was married to the king of Champa, Dai Viet received a wedding gift from the land of two continents: Chau O and Chau Ly (Chau Ri). When Dai Viet people came to these two continents to settle down, they were not familiar with the soil and climate, so there was a ritual of worshiping the land. This ritual is to show respect to the native gods and wish for a peaceful settlement. The time to worship the land is done on auspicious days, auspicious hours, the “zodiac hour” of the second or eighth lunar month. People in these regions often tell each other to be rich to do double, narrow to make a single, but a tray of earth offerings usually has three tables including: upper table, middle table and lower table. Some places make two tables. Each table has the scent of lamps, fruits, betel nut wine, votive paper. The upper table is placed in a dress of the earth god, the food includes chicken and sticky rice, surrounded by sticky rice and tea. Particularly for chickens, we must have red flags, yellow feathers, and yellow legs. Especially, the chicken is just right (neither young nor old), fat and fat. The middle table is placed on the middle table, the five-way robe, the offerings include boiled pork, a plate of sticky rice, three plates of crabs and boiled eggs, a piece of boiled meat and salt placed on top, and a tray of rice offerings, especially a plate of boiled potatoes and vegetables, a cup of water. Grilled and grilled fish and meat. The table put clothes, porridge, rice, salt, potatoes, cassava, peanuts… The tables are placed in front of the house, the owner stands from the house to bow. The list of offerings and prayers includes the land and houses of the owner to the gods of streams, gods of wells and ancestors of villages and clans. Especially offering to the souls of the Cham people who used to reside, the souls that no one worships… When the ceremony is almost over, the householder takes some offerings such as sticky rice, bananas, crab claws, chicken eggs, sweet potatoes, baked rice paper, etc. into a small folded banana sheath (the people call it “salad”). Then bring it out and hang it at the corner of a tree in the garden or near the house. The custom of hanging Sa Let has become a very unique feature. Finally, after the donation of the land, the neighbors will be invited to join in the fun because they have the concept of “selling distant relatives to buy close neighbors”, as well as an opportunity to exchange events to tighten “neighborhood friendship”. Over the years, today people in the “five Quang” regions still keep the custom of worshiping the land as a beautiful cultural feature. Invite readers to watch the video: Dangers of using weight loss foods online. Source: VTV24.