Main Process of a Sacrifice


The Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, still held separate ceremonies to worship heaven and earth, but from the 11th year of Hongwu (1378) onwards, this dynasty held combined ceremonies to worship heaven and earth. The Temple of Heaven itself, built during the Yongle period in Beijing in 1420, was originally also the Temple of Heaven and Earth. It was not until the 9th year of Ming Jiaxing (1520) that it became the Temple of Heaven along with the Ming Dynasty's return to the ritual of separate sacrifices.

In Vietnam, due to the profound influence of Northern Confucian culture, the practice of Giao sacrifices has existed quite early. Historical records show that from the reign of Ly Anh Tong (1138-1175), the king ordered the construction of a temple altar in the south of Thang Long citadel and held a Giao sacrifice every three years. From then on, it seems that every dynasty organized Giao sacrifices and built altars (except for the Tran dynasty, no historical records mentioned Giao sacrifices). However, it was not until the beginning of the Nguyen dynasty that the altar was elaborately built and that is the current Nam Giao altar. Regarding the method of Giao sacrifices, just like in China, the methods of Giao sacrifices were not completely the same in each dynasty. In the Nguyen dynasty, the Nam Giao altar was the place to hold sacrifices to heaven, earth, the sun, the moon and other gods. Thus, in terms of form, there were differences between the altars in Beijing and the Nam Giao altar in Hue.

About Hue Nam Giao Altar:


This project was built in the 5th year of Gia Long (1806) in Duong Xuan village, in the south of Hue citadel. In the history of Giao sacrifices in Vietnam, this is the largest altar. The total area of ​​Nam Giao altar is about 10 hectares, the ground is almost rectangular (265m x 390m). The main architectural works in the altar area include: Altar, Trai cung and auxiliary works. The altar has three floors, nearly 5m high, the structure and size of the floors are very harmonious and balanced. Surrounding the entire altar area, in a square area


The rectangular area (85m x 65m) surrounded by a wall is the Trai Cung. The Trai Cung of the Nam Giao Altar is also a complete architectural area, including the Main Hall, the Left and Right Houses, the Upper Tea Room, and the Upper Kitchen. The overall architecture of the Trai Cung is arranged in the style of "sitting with your back to the North and your face to the South". The main gate of the Trai Cung is located in the South, a majestic and very beautiful gate. Outside the altar area, in the Northeast corner, there is also the Than Tru (kitchen) where people lower and boil animals used in the ceremony; the Than Kho (warehouse) where sacrificial objects are stored during the ceremony. In addition, in the four directions East - West - South - North, outside the altar area, there are four large screens built of bricks. This can be considered the boundary of the four sides of the Nam Giao Altar. Under the Nguyen Dynasty, the Giao ceremony was always held in the spring. From the time the altar was built until the second year of Thanh Thai (1890), the Nguyen Dynasty held a Giao sacrifice every year, and from 1890 onwards, the Giao sacrifice was held only once every three years. In terms of the sacrifice method, the Nam Giao altar is the place where heaven, earth and the gods are worshiped together.

The first floor (the altar) worships both heaven and earth, and also worships Lord Nguyen Hoang (Thai To Gia Du Hoang De) and the kings of the Nguyen Dynasty.

The second floor (altar) has eight altars for other gods, specifically as follows:


The Great Ming altar (sun), first on the left, the stars all over the sky, on the second altar on the left, the god of clouds, rain, wind, thunder, on the third altar on the left, the god of Tai Sui, the god of Nguyet Tuong, on the fourth altar on the left, all facing West.

The Night Moon altar is on the first altar on the right, the God of the Sea and the Cham River is on the second altar on the right… The God of the Mound and the Islet is on the third altar on the right, and the gods of the whole country are on the fourth altar on the right, all facing the West.

About Beijing Temple of Heaven:


According to Dr. Phan Thanh Hai's document - Nguyen's mark in culture


Phu Xuan added:


In Beijing today, there are four altars: the Temple of Heaven, the Temple of Earth, the Temple of the Sun, and the Temple of the Moon. Of the four altars mentioned above, the Temple of Heaven is the most important and famous, and is also the largest in the history of Chinese altars. The Temple of Heaven is located inside the Beijing capital, facing southeast, right behind the main gate of Yongding Gate of the Outer City. The entire area of ​​the Temple of Heaven has a nearly rectangular plan, with the East-West side measuring 1,725m, the South-North side measuring 1,650.3m, and the total area is over 273 hectares. The Temple of Heaven has two surrounding walls, creating an architectural complex in the shape of the letter "Hui". The outer wall has a perimeter of 6,416m, and the inner wall has a perimeter of 3,292m. The boundaries of these two walls create two distinct parts for the Temple of Heaven: the inner altar and the outer altar. The main architectural works of the Temple of Heaven are concentrated in the inner altar and stretch along a north-south axis. This is also the main direction of the Temple of Heaven. In terms of architectural layout, we can divide the Temple of Heaven into three parts: the Ky Nien Hall, the Hoang Khung Hall, and the Vien Khau Hall [31].

Through the way the altars in Hue and Beijing are built above, we can immediately see that although the concept of Giao sacrifices has similarities, the way of organizing Giao sacrifices between us and China has quite clear differences. The biggest difference is that in China, Giao sacrifices are organized separately, while in our country, Giao sacrifice rituals are conducted in a combined style at a single altar.

Another difference between us and China is the presence of the human element in the Giao sacrifice. In all four altars of Beijing as described, the human element


Humans appear rather vaguely; heaven, earth and gods always play an important role and cover everything. However, at the Nam Giao altar in Hue, the human element is shown very clearly and is quite equal to all heaven, earth and gods (the theory of three talents: HEAVEN - EARTH - NHAN ), in other words, humans can be in harmony with heaven and earth, and this is also the pinnacle of national ideology that has been summarized over thousands of years of history, imbued with Eastern philosophy and divination of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty.

1.4. How to organize a Nam Giao ceremony

1.4.1. Preparation


The preparation period for the Giao sacrifice lasts for many months before the sacrifice day because a lot of work needs to be done. This period can be divided into two main stages: the first stage includes the work that must be done before the Giao sacrifice, the second stage includes the preparations for the Giao sacrifice, also known as the Giao sacrifice program.

1.4.2. Main process of a sacrifice


The main ceremony took place at night, at the fourth watch (around 2 a.m.), the Ministry of Rites hung a large flag called Ta Dao Bac Mao, a Hoang Viet hammer, an umbrella, a canopy, a fan, etc. in Trai Cung. At the beginning of the fifth watch, the king went to Giao Dan to perform the ceremony in the following order:

- The King left Trai Palace to go to Giao Dan: Around the beginning of the fifth watch, the Imperial Astronomer reported that it was almost time for the ceremony. The Lien assistant invited the King to go to Lien to go to Giao Dan.

- Hand washing ceremony: The palace official led the king into the Great House on the third floor and stopped there. Here the king performed the hand washing ceremony.

- Ceremony of giving blood, hair, and urine: The palace official leads the king into the royal palace.


Standing on the throne, the guards, the palace officials, the attendants, the palanquin attendants and the officials in attendance, the left and right attendants, according to their duties, stood in their assigned positions...

- Incense offering ceremony (or incense offering): The king kneels down to offer incense, two royal relatives or nobles, one holding a censer with lit charcoal, the other holding a box of incense, all kneel on either side of the king. The king takes the incense package with both hands and puts it in the censer, then raises it to his forehead to show respect, followed by the rituals.

- God welcoming ceremony; White jade palace ceremony; Returning ceremony; Initial offering ceremony; Single offering ceremony; Offering division ceremony; Sub-offering ceremony; Final offering ceremony; Four blessings ceremony; Final preparation ceremony; God sending ceremony; King returning to Trai palace.

Below is a comparison table of the process of the Giao and Thu rites at Phu Xuan communal house.

Giao sacrificial ritual

Phu Xuan communal house offering ceremony


Check the offerings (review the offerings)

Hand sanitizer

Hand sanitizer

The part used for burning wood to make incense


Buried hair and blood


Incense offering

incense

Welcome the god

Welcome the god

White Jade Palace (offering jade and silk)


Offering meat sacrifice


First offering of wine

First offering of wine

Reading the will

Reading the will

Second offering of wine

Second offering of wine

Final offering of wine

Final offering of wine

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Main Process of a Sacrifice


Giao sacrificial ritual

Phu Xuan communal house offering ceremony

Four blessings (offering sacrificial meat)


-Drinking wine


-Receive the offering

Invitation to pilgrimage (other villages come to attend the pilgrimage)

Thorough

Tea Point (pouring tea)

Sending the Gods Off

Thank God (thank and see off God)

The part of the congratulatory document (burning the congratulatory document)

Looking at the burning incense

The part of the congratulatory document (burning the congratulatory document)


Sending the divine decree back to its original place

Closing ceremony

Closing ceremony

(According to Phan Thuan Thao's document)


Through the comparison table above, we see that the ritual of the Giao sacrifice and the ritual of the folk sacrifice are basically the same, only different in the scale of the sacrifice.

1.5. Sacrificial clothes, objects, musical instruments and instruments

The King's Robe


Including crown, jade hairpin, hammock, hat, tunic, skirt, fan, belt, jade pendant, shoes, socks.

The ceremonial dress of the Prince and the civil and military mandarins


- The ceremonial attire of the Prince and Royal Family: Includes crown, hairpin, hammock, robe, skirt, feather duster, belt, jade pendant, shoes, and socks.

- The ceremonial costumes of civil and military mandarins from the second rank and above: Including crown, ivory hairpin, red silk hammock, ivory duster, shirt, skirt, feather duster, jade pendant, belt, and shoes.


- The ceremonial costumes of civil and military mandarins from second to third rank: Including crowns, ivory hairpins, red silk hammocks, ivory dusters, shirts, skirts, feather dusters, belts, jade pendants, shoes...

Meaning of the sacrificial vestments.


The crown system or the clothing worn to worship Giao has existed in ancient Chinese history books until later dynasties such as: Han, Tang, Song, Ming, Qing. In Vietnam, the Le kings also used the crown system in the Giao worship. Under the Nguyen dynasty, King Minh Mang also discussed the crown system as follows: "The crown system established from the Hien Vien dynasty of the Third Dynasty 1 onwards was rarely used, now following the rules is also a restoration of the past, moreover, that form has tassels, hanging to look more elegant

"During the Giao ceremony, when the king entered the main ceremony, there were inspectors, censors or scholars standing by, but in reality, they were there to control the king. When the king made a mistake, they would remind him, and vice versa, if they were not reminded, after the ceremony, the king would demote him or imprison him... From that, it can be seen that the clothes used in the Giao ceremony have a profound, profound, solemn and extremely respectful meaning.

Self-energy


The sacrificial objects used to hold the offerings such as the altar, the bean tray, the tray, the urn, the ghost, the lamp, the image, etc. are all made of enameled metal in round and square shapes, symbolizing heaven and earth.

Musical instruments


Including musical instruments in the Grand Music, Small Music, Royal Music, and Eight-sound ensembles, such as: drums, trumpets, gongs, bells, ivory, buffalo horns,


1Three dynasties: Xia, Shang, Zhou.


Erhu, moon, flute… Along with genres, pieces, and performance methods associated with ritual procedures, before, after, and during the Giao ceremony, specifically:

Eight tones : Eight ancient musical instruments used in ceremonies


- Bao: The trumpet includes Vu and Sinh hoang. Vu has 36 tubes 4 meters 2 inches long made of bamboo, the tubes are staggered like phoenixes, Sinh hoang tubes are made of gourds, each Sinh has 13 hoang (whistles).

- Earth: Musical instruments made of earth, including earthenware pots and earthen drums. To make earthen drums, you have to dig a hole about 20 centimeters deep in the ground, cover the hole with a wooden board, use bamboo poles to prop up the wooden board, tie strings to two bamboo poles at both ends, then use a wooden stick to hit the strings, the two ends produce music.

- Method: Drum sound covered with leather


- Wood: Musical instruments made of wood, such as gongs and cymbals.


- Stone: The sound of a gong made of stone


- Metal: Musical instruments made of bronze, such as bells, cymbals and gongs.


- Ty: Musical instrument made of silk strings, such as the zither or moon lute.


- Bamboo: Musical instruments made of bamboo tubes, such as flutes (blown horizontally) and pipes (blown vertically).

The Eight-tone Orchestra mainly plays in rituals, accompanying the Thai songs (songs) in the nine main rituals of the Giao ceremony.

The Eight-Wheel Dance : The Eight-Wheel Dance has existed since ancient times. In the first year of Minh Mang (1820), the king ordered the Academy to revise it to be danced during the Giao, Mieu, Xa Tac, Lich Dai De Vuong and Confucius Temple ceremonies.

Dai Nam Hoi Dien book records: There are 9 times of music played at the Giao ceremony, 9 times of music played at the Thai Mieu, Hung Mieu, The Mieu ceremony, 7 times of music played at the Xa Tac ceremony, 7 times of music played at the Mieu ceremony

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