Thuong Nguyen festival - sacred space for practicing “Chau van” singing

Hanoi (VNA) - Thuong Nguyen festival in Dau temple, or Thuan My Linh Tu, in Hanoi is a sacred space for practicing “Chau van” singing (spiritual singing).

Thuong Nguyen festival 

Thuong Nguyen festival is one of the four important rituals of the Mother Goddess worshipping in a year, including the Thien quan Thuong Nguyen ritual in the first lunar month, the Dia quan Trung Nguyen ritual in fourth lunar month, the Thuy quan Ha Nguyen ritual in seventh lunar month and the New Year's Eve in the last month of a lunar year.

After the eight day of the first month of the lunar New Year, temples will select a day for the ritual. The Dau Temple, located on Hang Quat street in Hanoi's ancient quarter, is one of the few relic sites in Hanoi that still fully preserves the practice of the Thuong Nguyen ritual.  


The Thuong Nguyen festival at the beginning of the year is an occasion for people to pray for good luck and ward off bad luck. In preparation for the ritual taking place on the 18th day of the lunar New Year, the temple was cleaned, and decorated along with offerings repaired a couple of days ago, said Trang Cong Tuan, who is responsible for incense offering work in the Dau temple. 

The offerings include incense, flowers, tea, fruits and foods, Tuan added.

The ritual usually starts at 7am with a worshiping ceremony, and is followed by “Chau van” singing performance.

However, “this year, the relic site is closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic”, Tuan said.


A venue preserving valuable heritage

“Chau van” singing for worshiping is the most special ritual in the Thuong Nguyen festival at Dau temple. The temple's singing team consists of up to members, singing and playing traditional musical instruments such as lute, drum, flute, and trumpet.

Chau van singing in worshipping rituals is a sacred heritage in Dao Mau (Mother Goddess worship), in which lyrics and performance rules are preserved very carefully.

‘Chau van’ or ‘hat van’, also known as ‘hat bong’, is a popular singing ritual in Vietnamese spiritual culture, and started in the north of the country.

It appears in the Vietnamese beliefs of the Mother Goddesses of Three – Four Realms, which often accompanies ‘hau dong’ or spiritual rituals in pagodas and temples to honour the Mother Goddesses and form a connection between people and the Gods.

‘Chau van’ singers are often elderly artisans who can play instruments and take turns singing for up to eight hours.

The dan nguyet (moon-shaped lute) is normally the main instrument used for a ’chau van’ performance, along with phach (a piece of wood or bamboo to mark the rhythm), senh (clappers), trong ban (drums), chieng (small gongs), dan tranh (16-stringed zither) and sao (flute). 

Experts said instruments play a very important role in ’chau van’ as they could both emphasise important passages and create contrasting effects to the lyrics.


According to elite artist Pham Van Ty, deputy director of the Vietnam Traditional Music Development Centre, the Dau temple is one of the places that still preserves the most complete and correct lyrics and performance rules of  “Chau van” singing for worshiping.

The Dau temple is located at No. 64 Hang Quat - a small street  in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. This was originally the land of Thuan My village, Thuan My commune, Tho Xuong district of the Thang Long ancient capital. The Dau temple is also known as Thuan My Linh Tu.

The temple is the place of worshipping for the legendary national ancestors of Vietnam, Father Lac Long Quan, and the Hung Kings, and the Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh in the Le dynasty. It is also one of few relics in Hanoi that still fully preserves rituals of the Thuong Nguyen festival./.