Nam Giao Ceremony In Hue

Nam Giao sacrifice was for worshiping the Heaven and the Earth as well as other important genies of the territory. Formerly, the emperor governed the world and was the self-proclaimed Son of Heaven. Hence, he must worship his parents. Then, in accordance with the Oriental Five Principles, he had the esplanade constructed, th the south and north of the city in order to worship Heaven and the Earth. Nonetheless, as the passage of time passed by, the sacrifices were organized at the south of the esplanade, people got to used to calling it Nam Giao Sacrifices (the sacrifice takes place at the South of Nam Giao esplanade). The world "Giao" means the area located out of the city.

This kind of sacrifice has its roots from China, which has had a strong influence on the Confucius countries including Vietnam.

As recorded, the first Giao Sacrifice in Vietnam belonged to the region of Ly Anh Tong emperor (1138 - 1175). Apart from Tran Dynasty (1225 - 1400), and the following dynasties; especially the Nguyens (1802 - 1945) who ruled and made Hue City the capital city of Vietnam at that time, all considered Te Giao Sacrifice as the most important imperial ceremony that was carried out in utmost solemness.

As the last capital city of the feudal monarchs, Hue fortunately has managed to preserve a perfectly-intact royal architectural system including not only the ramparts, palaces, mansions, garden house, but also temples, pagodas, ect.

Nam Giao esplanade is a special relic of the Hue temple, not only is it a typical example of the world view of ancient ancestors, but also the sole perfectly kept esplanade of the monarchs remaining in Vietnam. The esplanade is at the south of the citadel, and 3km far from Flag Tower.

The Nguyens aimed at joint sacrificing, thus, no esplanade was built at the North (to worship the Earth), the East (to worship the Sun), and the West (to worship the Moon).

In Hue, the esplanade was constructed at the South to sacrifice to the spirits of Heaven and Earth, plus the Genie. The esplanade was built in 1806 with the participation of thousands of sappers. According to the Three-Symbol principle, esplanade must consist of three parts, the highest of which was round (called Vien Dan) representing the Heaven. The next stage was square (called Phuong Dan) symbolizing the Earth, and the last stage was also square (also called Phuong Dan) representing the Human being. In Nam Giao sacrifice, the highest handrail was painted blue, the next part was with yellow, and the lowest one was painted red to in accordance with the concept of "sky, soil, and humans". Each of the three parts was 4.65m high, and its staircases faced the four directions namely South-North-East-West. The esplanade was located in a square area of 10ha and was surrounded with a rock wall of 1.6m height. Beside the esplanade, the campus comprised minor construction such as Trai Cung (where the emperor carried out abstinence), Than Kho (the storehouse keeping the sacrificial things, palanquins and ceremonial tables), Than Tru (the kitchen slaughtering and processing the sacrificial animals) and some other temporary house, for instance: Khoan Tiep, Cu Quan and so forth. The whole campus was hidden in a greenish pine tree forest.

The Nguyens divided the sacrifice into three groups namely the Great Sacrifice, the Middle Sacrifice and the Ordinary Sacrifice. Nam Giao Sacrifice was of the first group (the ceremonies at temples worshiping ancestors and Xa Tac esplanade were a bit less important). Under the Nguyen Dynasty, the date for Nam Giao Sacrifice was not permanent. From Thanh Thai emperor's reign and afterwards, because of the lack of national budget, it was held once every three years. 

In olden times, Nam Giao sacrifice was an extremely important event. Therefore the dynasty prepared for it with the greatest care. Sacrificial animals were selected and flattened one year before with good food. Every province submitted their local fruits and specialties. Thua Thien Hue province presented the wine, Thai Thuong Tu and Quan Loc tu were responsible for the pearl and silk. The Kham Thien Giam ( the astronomers) chose a good day. The Ministry of Rites was to prepare for the sacrificial necessaries, and arrange the tables. entourage included up 7 to 8 million participants together with elephants and horses. The time for sacrifice were informed nationwide.

The sacrifice started from the imperial palace with the great audience rites. After escorting the emperor out of the Palace, the royal palanquin went out of the capital city via The Nhon entrance to reach Nghinh Luong Dinh landing. The mandarins, together with the royal convoy, sailed up Huong River, entered An Cuu Canal, halted at Ben Ngu Landing, and walked to Tai Cung (After Truong Tien bridge was built, the convoy traversed Thuong Tu Gate, passed the bridge, went along Le Loi - Dien Bien Phu street system). Along the street, local people set up many altars, greeting gates to welcome the royal convoy. The sacrifice begun at midnight and continued till the morning with such strict rites as Le Quan Tay (the hand washing), Le Phan Sai - E Mao Huyet (The sacrificial animal burning - the sacrificial feather and blood burying to inform the God of the ceremony), Le Thuong Huong (the purifying) Le Nghenh Than (The God welcoming), Le Dien Ngoc Bach (the silk and pearl submitting), Le Tan tro (the sacrificial animal offering), Le Doc Chuc (the speech reading to reflect desires), and so on. After the sacrifice, the emperor was escorted to Trai Cung to take a rest. The next morning, the rejoicing ceremony (Le Khanh Ha) was then carried out. After it was all over, the royal convoy returned to the royal palace.

After more than half a century from the last day of the monarchs, Nam Giao sacrifice was fist organized again in Hue Festival 2004. Nevertheless, it was not the true royal sacrifice. lnstead, it was just a reproduction to conserve the culture , and the most eventful and only the most attractive parts of name Giao sacrifice were selected to be performed. ln Hue Festival 2006, Name Giao sacrifice comprised of 3 parts; namely the palace leaving, the sacrifice at the Giao esplanade, and the palace Returning. Until Hue Festival 2010, Nam Giao sacrifice consisted of only the ceremonies at the esplanade. However, the organizers focused deeply on the rites, costumes and offerings. A formal and imposing royal sacrifice with various types of ceremonial objects of ceremonial objects, Nha Nhac - the court music, together with thousand of participants were revived.

Although the current Name Giao sacrifice serves long for the day when the master of emperor and mandarins but real people representing the voices and expectations of everyone at all social levels.

ln so doing, Nam Giao sacrifice may become ac valuable heritage of the nation, and become immortalized.

Hue Festival - Nam Giao Ceremony In Hue.

Posted in: History