VU LAN FESTIVAL: Vietnamese Day of Filial Piety and Mercy The Vu Lan Festival, also known as Vu Lan

VU LAN FESTIVAL: Vietnamese Day of Filial Piety and Mercy

The Vu Lan Festival, also known as Vu Lan Bồn (盂蘭盆), is a Vietnamese traditional Mahayana Buddhist festival held on the Middle Primary occasion (i.e. the full moon day of the Seventh month in the Vietnamese lunar calendar). This is the time for people to show filial piety towards deceased and living parents, as well as show mercy towards the beings suffering the exile of hunger.

This festival originates from the Vu Lan Bồn sutra. The story is about Bhikkhu Mục Kiền Liên and his quest to liberate his mother from her reincarnation as a hungry ghost (ngạ quỷ 餓鬼). That reincarnation is due to the accumulation of many evil karma she has created.

VU LAN FESTIVAL IN HISTORY

• Filial Piety towards the ancestors

The spirit of the Vu Lan festival in Vietnam is to pray for deceased parents as a way to offer filial piety.

For example, let’s read this paragraph in the “Complete Annals of Đại Việt” about the Vu Lan festival in 1118 under the reign of Emperor Lí Nhân Tông: “Autumn, the Seventh month, a feast of the Middle Primary festival is hosted because it coincided with the Vu Lan Bồn ceremony to pray for the salvation of the soul for Linh Nhân Imperial Empress Dowager.”

About the Vu Lan Festival in 1128, under the reign of his son, Emperor Lí Thần Tông, the text is as following: “Autumn, the Seventh month, the Middle Primary occasion, the Emperor stayed in Thiên An Hall, for the the mandarin to commend. Since that day was also the Vu Lan occasion to pray for the salvation of Nhân Tông’s soul, there was no feast.”

• Kindness and Mercy towards all beings

It is not clear whether it had already existed in the Lí Trần dynasties, however, by the beginning of the Early Later Lê period, the belief that one should offer kindness and mercy for all beings instead of only filial piety towards one’s ancestors had already become popular.

Specifically, during the reign of Emperor Lê Thái Tổ, “On the 15th, as the Vu Lan festival was celebrated, 50 criminals of misdemeanor were forgiven, the monks who chant sutras were granted 220 taels.”

In the Restored Later Lê period, the common folk practice for every household, besides offering to the ancestors, included arranging a leaf tray on a street to bless the wandering souls and organizing games to celebrate the Full Moon of the Seventh month. Leaf tray, also called mâm lá or cách bàn, is a set of foods, flowers, fruits, teas and sweets put on a lotus leaf and also covered by another lotus leaf.

“On the Full Moon of the Seventh month, people arrange leaf tray and votive clothing paper crafts to offer to the ancestors or organize Vu Lan activities to bless the wandering souls. Every village hosted swimming competitions.” (The votive clothing paper crafts, also called áo mã or ảnh y, are colored humanoid paper shapes)

THE VU LAN FESTIVAL OF MODERN VIETNAM

The custom of arranging the leaf tray in front of one’s house has been maintained until today. The Vu Lan Festival also embraces a new layer of purposes. It’s no longer a festival for the deceased only, but also an occasion for us to show love and respect for the living parents and grandparents. In a way, the festival has become the Vietnamese version of Parents’ Day.

For a long time, there has been a custom that anyone paying homage at a pagoda on this day would be given a flower to wear on their shirt at their heart. They would wear a red flower if their parent(s) are still living and a white flower if both already passed away.

This custom originated from a short essay written by the well-known monk Thích Nhất Hạnh, titled A Rose for Your Pocket. Thanks to the inspiration from the essay, songwriter Phạm Thế Mỹ composed a piece with the same title. The song starts with the following lyric: