Warmth and reunion on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month in the countryside of Nghe An

The whole year is full moon in July

On the morning of the full moon day, Mr. Phan Cong Phuc (20 years old) in Nam Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) and his mother woke up early to cook chicken, sticky rice, and prepare 2 trays of sticky rice and chicken, 1 tray to worship ancestors, 1 tray to take to the church.

Mr. Phuc said he is a second-year student at the University of Commerce (Hanoi). On the night of the 13th of the 7th lunar month, he hurriedly took a bus back to his hometown with excitement to celebrate the 15th of the 7th lunar month with his family.

According to Mr. Phuc, he returned to the Full Moon Festival to represent his family members in worshiping their grandparents, ancestors and father, both as a responsibility and to show his respect and gratitude to the deceased.

In his Phan family temple, from the 13th day of the lunar calendar, descendants have gathered to clean the sacrificial objects, decorate the altar, and items in the ancestral hall. On the night of the 14th and the 15th, descendants in the family will continuously play the sacrificial drums.

On the 14th night, relatives will prepare sticky rice and chicken for the night offering. On the morning of the 15th, after finishing the ancestral offering at the church, he will return home to worship his ancestors.

“I feel very happy because I have arranged time to return to my hometown to celebrate the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, to show my respect to my ancestors and father,” said Mr. Phuc.

For the people of the coastal village of Nghi Thiet commune (Nghi Loc), a rural area with a rich history and culture, still preserving many ancient relics and traditional rituals, they celebrate the Full Moon of July in the joy of celebrating the 70th anniversary of the commune's founding.

Mr. Dau Van Thang - Secretary of Nghi Thiet Commune Youth Union shared that to celebrate the Full Moon Festival in July, from the 13th, according to custom, all clans mobilize their children and grandchildren to go to the ancestral temple to clean, wipe, and sanitize the grounds, hang the national flag and festival flags. Starting from the afternoon of the 14th, all clan temples will simultaneously burn incense.

In the atmosphere of celebrating the 70th anniversary of Nghi Thiet commune, the locality has deployed sports, cultural and artistic activities, mobilized people to clean up village roads and alleys, hung national flags in front of houses, along the roads... making the Full Moon Day more exciting and cozy.

For the people of Thanh Chuong district, the atmosphere of preparing to welcome the Full Moon and worshiping the Full Moon of the seventh lunar month is also as exciting as "Tet".

The Tran Dinh family is a large family in Dong Van commune with two main ancestral temples: the elder ancestral temple in Luan Phuong hamlet, headed by Mr. Tran Dinh Dai; the younger ancestral temple in Tien Quanh hamlet, headed by Mr. Tran Dinh Cung. From these two main ancestral temples, branches were developed. On the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, the Tran Dinh family ancestral temples all hold big full moon celebrations, and descendants from all over the country return to their hometowns to celebrate the full moon. From the 12th, the clan leaders have announced that their descendants will gather at the ancestral temple to clean, redecorate the communal house, and visit graves...

On the evening of the 14th, at the ancestral temple and the branch temples, there is a ceremony. On the 15th, to celebrate the Full Moon festival, each family must prepare at least two or more trays of offerings, including one tray for the ancestral temple and one tray for the ancestors. Some families even prepare 3-4 trays of offerings. The offering for the ancestral temple is a tray of sticky rice with chicken, with all kinds of chickens such as lying chicken, standing chicken, flying chicken... very unique.

After the ceremony, depending on each branch, they can organize a meal at the church or disperse to each house. Most people disperse to each house, but the church is a place "reserved" for descendants who come from far away. After the ceremony, they can eat and socialize here. Arranging for descendants who come from far away to be welcomed and stay at the church is a unique feature of the family.

Not only in Yen Thanh, Nghi Loc, Thanh Chuong... but also many other rural areas in Nghe An such as Nam Dan, Do Luong, Hung Nguyen, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai... also organize the Full Moon Festival and Full Moon Festival with a bustling, jubilant, and cozy atmosphere.

The full moon of July is associated with the Vu Lan festival, expressing filial piety of children and grandchildren towards the birth and upbringing of their parents and grandparents, showing gratitude to their parents, remembering their ancestors and origins, which is a beautiful feature in traditional Vietnamese culture.

Returning to the roots, spreading traditional values

This year, the weather is quite favorable for people in the province to celebrate the Full Moon (shopping for offerings, visiting ancestors' graves, and making pilgrimages to churches). Before the Full Moon, many children working far away return to their hometowns. Preparations for the Full Moon in the localities are also quite bustling, especially shopping at rural markets, decorating family altars, and family temples. Some families and descendants gather to visit graves as if they were going to a festival.

The preparation of food and offerings for worship at the church is of concern to the clans. Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan in Nam Cat commune (Nam Dan) shared: "To celebrate the Full Moon of July, the clan assigned me to organize a trip to the market to buy chicken, sticky rice, incense, flowers... to decorate the altar and offerings to worship the ancestors."

The tray of offerings on the full moon day is usually sticky rice, boiled chicken or sticky rice, boiled pork, so many families have chosen to buy pigs and chickens many days in advance. Some family groups also share pigs, slaughter pigs to welcome the full moon. Many families have rules that families organize their own ceremonies, preparing their own trays of offerings. Each family prepares a tray of offerings, and on the morning of the full moon day, they bring them to the church to worship.

Mr. Nguyen Van Huu in Xuan Lam commune (Hung Nguyen) shared: "Every full moon of the seventh lunar month, after finishing the food, my children and I return to the family temple in hamlet 9 of Xuan Lam commune, first to worship the full moon and burn incense for our ancestors, and then for my children to meet their relatives."

Full Moon worship at family temples is held solemnly with traditional rituals, such as offering incense, offering wine, reading funeral orations, etc. The ritual committee can wear casual clothes or long dresses and turbans, with neat costumes, with a master of ceremonies, chanting, and performing the ceremony with the accompaniment of drums and gongs.

Amidst the billowing incense smoke and the resounding drums, the ancestral worship ceremony at the family temple takes place solemnly and sacredly. The musical teams of large families often practice well to play on the full moon day and serve the ancestral worship ceremony.

After the ancestral worship ceremony, clans often report to their ancestors the achievements of their descendants. The education promotion committee of some clans organized commendations, presented certificates of merit, and presented gifts to encourage learning and talent to their children.

The 15th day of the 7th lunar month is not only an important holiday to pay homage to one's roots and ancestors, an occasion for people to gather, exchange information about bloodlines and relatives, ask about health and work, and strengthen brotherly affection, but also a space to honor the academic achievements, work, and contributions of descendants, and to encourage and promote the learning of families and clans.

On this occasion, many children who are far from home, working and studying abroad, cannot return home to celebrate the Full Moon Festival with their families, and feel a deep longing for their homeland and family.

Le Anh Huy, from Long Thanh commune (Yen Thanh), who is working in Korea, shared: “I have been away from home for 4 years now. Every time I return on the 15th of July, I feel a strange feeling. On normal days, I miss my home and my parents, but on the 15th, that feeling of longing multiplies, especially when I see my friends and family returning home to celebrate the full moon and posting pictures of the full moon on social media.”

The country and homeland are changing day by day, the organization of the Full Moon worship and the Full Moon feast in July of the people of Nghe An seems to be more vibrant, warmer, and more practical.

Besides the innovation and changes in form to better suit the new lifestyle, the traditional rituals and humanistic spirit of the 15th day of the 7th lunar month are still preserved, promoted and spread in today's life.