The Nam Giao Sacrifice

Under the Nguyễn emperors, one task in the whole country belonged to a single person. The Nguyễn were Vietnam's last royal dynasty. The task was offering sacrifice to Heaven and Earth. Princes, officials and ordinary people could not do it on their own, unless the emperor entrusted it to them. Even in the villages, lighting lamps to offer to the stars was seen as going against the way of Heaven, as taking the emperor's share. Some years the emperor handed the rite to someone else. In 1818, Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Đảm stood in for him. It was a rite heavy enough that only an emperor could carry it.

The emperor was the Son of Heaven, so the Nam Giao rite belonged to him and to no one else. The sacrifice began at two in the morning, in a pine forest south of the Hue Citadel, when he stepped out of the Fasting Palace. He wore a dragon robe embroidered with 12 emblems and a ceremonial hat hung with 12 strands. Officials with duties took part. Anyone without a duty could not enter the altar grounds until the rite was over. From that moment the ceremony lasted about three hours, and only one person stood in the place of chief celebrant.

The court prepared for that moment long in advance. After the Lunar New Year, the court's Bureau of Astronomy chose a lucky day and sent it to the emperor for approval. Three days before the rite, a bronze figure of a man was carried into the Cần Chánh hall. It bore a plaque with three words, tĩnh trai giới. From then on the emperor ate vegetarian food and kept his heart still. He also issued an edict thanking his officials and reducing prison sentences, as if he wanted to begin his talk with Heaven in a gentle spirit.

On the day before the rite, at eight in the morning, the emperor sat in his palanquin and left the Imperial City. The procession crossed the Perfume River on a pontoon bridge made of boats, because Trường Tiền Bridge did not exist yet. Along the road, the people raised welcome gates and set out incense tables. That afternoon, at the altar, the officials with duties rehearsed the whole ritual in full. Only one person was missing: the emperor, who never needed to rehearse.

On the round top terrace, the tablets named Thiên Thượng Đế and Hoàng Địa Kỳ stood in the center. On either side stood the tablets of the Nguyễn ancestors. Eight altars were set out on the square middle terrace. They were for the sun, the moon and the stars, and for the mountains, seas, rivers and lakes. They were for the clouds, rain, wind and thunder, and for the mounds and sandbars. The last ones were for the spirits of the years and months, and for the countless spirits under heaven. The top terrace was covered by a pavilion of blue cloth called Thanh Ốc. The middle terrace had a pavilion of yellow cloth called Hoàng Ốc. Blue above, yellow in the middle, and pine trees all around.

The rite had hundreds of small steps, but it came down to a few large beats. First, the welcoming of the spirits. Then the offering of jade and silk. Then wine, offered a first time, a second time and a last time. Next, a prayer text was read out to Heaven. Last, the spirits were seen off. Singing accompanied each beat. There were nine songs praising the spirits and asking for peace in the land, and each song came with a Bát Dật dance. All of it happened in the dead of night, in incense smoke and the sound of gongs and drums.

The people of old asked for something very simple with all of these offerings: rain and wind in their season. A country that lived on rice fields needed rain on time and sun in the right measure. That is why, among the eight altars on the middle terrace, the spirits of cloud, rain, wind and thunder all had a seat.

The altar was first built in the village of An Ninh in 1803. Only in 1806 was it moved to a spot south of the Citadel. The first rite at the new altar was held on March 27, 1807, in the reign of Emperor Gia Long. He was the founder of the dynasty. From then on there was a rite every spring until 1885. Then trouble struck the capital, and the rite stopped for many years. In the late 19th century, the court decided to hold it once every three years, in the years of the Rat, the Cat, the Horse and the Rooster. In all, the dynasty held 98 great rites. Ten of its 13 emperors led them, either in person or by sending someone in their place.

When the rite was done, the procession set off for home. Music, gongs and drums sounded along the road, to tell the people that the sacrifice was complete. By old belief, Heaven and Earth had also taken note of the wish for peace under heaven. When the emperor reached the Đại Cung gate, nine shots were fired and the ceremony closed.

On March 23, 1945, the last sacrifice of the Nguyễn dynasty took place, under Emperor Bảo Đại. Bảo Đại was the last emperor of Vietnam. Less than six months later, the dynasty came to an end. For almost 60 years after that, the rite fell silent.

At the Hue Festival, the people who protect the monuments of the old capital rebuilt the rite. At first there was only the procession of the emperor's return. In 2006, the full ritual was staged, with nearly 600 people, the main force being artists from the court theater of Hue. In later years, one ceremony lasted only about 90 minutes, much shorter than the old three hours. Yet for the first time, the offerings were laid out in full, and the ritual music was performed according to the Nguyễn rules. Some years the rite was held at midnight, and others before dawn, with great music and small music, gongs, drums and incense.

When the drums fell quiet, the people stepped into the altar grounds and lit a stick of incense. Where once a single person was allowed to stand as chief celebrant, ordinary people now stood lighting incense. Rain and wind in their season. That simple wish of the old days is what this altar was built to say.