MOUND OF SACRIFICE IN HEAVEN (OR DAN NAM GIAO)
On the 12th day of the 5th month in China and Vietnam, the rite of tracing the first furrow was performed. Called Nam Giao (ceremony of sacrifices to Heaven and Earth), it was one of the greatest ritual ceremonies of the Nguyen dynasty, intended to pay homage to Heaven and to pray for peace, happiness and fruitful harvests in the country. Until 1945, the rite was celebrated in Hué, at the Temple of Heaven. The ceremony included a ritual sacrifice, singing and dancing. In 1890, for financial reasons, this celebration became triennial.
The temple was built in 1806, under Gia Long, near the river, in the heart of a pine forest. But as it had to be placed at the top of a hill, it rose on a square platform, made of 3 successive floors. The complex was built on the model of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. In the centre was a circular mound, itself made of 3 concentric circles corresponding to 3 superimposed enclosures. It was accessed by 4 staircases facing the 4 cardinal points. The main entrance was the southern entrance, as in almost all Chinese-style buildings. The temple, which also served as a war memorial (the new regime has thus recovered this high place of imperial legitimacy), has recently undergone a restoration that some consider unsuccessful. Nowadays, the Nam Giao ceremony, in a simplified version, is reconstituted during the Hue Festival.
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