Ông Trời

What it is

Ông Trời belongs among the most important gods of traditional Vietnamese folk religion. His name means old man sky, or heaven, and the shorter form Trời is used for the sky itself. He is pictured as a power above everything, the maker of land, water, weather and living things, and the father of all that exists. Because he is said to see and know all that happens, he is also the one who weighs conduct and sends reward or punishment. Vietnamese speakers call on him in everyday speech, and he is venerated in shrines and at household altars.

Where it comes from

How this god began is disputed. One widely told story places him before all things, an unequalled power who shaped the earth, mountains, rivers, sea, rain and sun, and who brought forth people, animals and plants. Another account credits Ngọc Hoàng with moulding creatures from leftover heavenly matter, then setting aside the cleaner part for humans, and later handing the shaping of people to twelve Bà mụ, or midwives. A further version holds that Thần Trụ Trời, the pillar-of-heaven god, and Ông Trời are the same being. The god is Vietnamese in origin; Taoism arriving from China later drew him together with the Jade Emperor.

How it is done

Veneration is largely a matter of offerings and address rather than a fixed rite. He is honoured throughout Vietnam at temples and shrines, and in the south and centre households keep an outdoor altar to him named Bàn Thiên, where the sky is open above the worshipper. In Đạo Mẫu he is called Vua Cha Ngọc Hoàng, the monarchical father, since he is the father of Liễu Hạnh. He is approached as the head of a heavenly court, and people speak to him as a father who sees what is done.

Tools and materials

His heavenly household is imagined on the model of a royal court, with mandarins, officers and generals around him, and guardian gods at the palace gate. He wears imperial clothing: a robe embroidered with a golden dragon, a hat hung with red tassels and thirteen pearls of five colours, and a hốt, the tablet held at court. He sits on a throne and touches the dragon when holding audience. His wife Tây Vương Mẫu keeps a garden at Côn Lôn mountain where Bàn Đào peaches ripen once in three thousand years and are said to give immortality.

What it is for

The god is believed to oversee the whole order of things, so people turn to him for fair dealing and for the general conduct of life rather than for one narrow aim. Since he is held to see every act and to answer with reward or punishment, oaths and appeals for justice are made in his hearing. When he is angered by human wrongdoing, storms, floods and droughts are said to follow. Households keep his altar so that the sky above the home is acknowledged in daily life.

Who does it

Worship is mostly in the hands of ordinary families, who maintain the outdoor Bàn Thiên altar in the south and centre of the country, and of temple and shrine keepers elsewhere. The god himself is served in story by a heavenly bureaucracy of mandarins and generals, and by twelve Bà mụ, the midwives to whom the shaping of human beings was assigned. In Đạo Mẫu he holds the rank of father of the spirit Liễu Hạnh. No special training is described for those who make offerings.

Peoples and places

Regional habit differs: in South Vietnam he is commonly called Ông Thiên, and in the south and centre the family altar set outdoors under the sky is usual. Vietnamese Buddhism often equates him with Śakra, called Đế Thích Thiên. Taoism from China gave him the name Ngọc Hoàng, short for Ngọc Hoàng Thượng Đế or Ngọc Hoàng Đại Đế, and that title is used alongside the older one.

What people believe

Heaven in this worldview has layers: nine are usually counted, though some say thirty-three, and Ngọc Hoàng ranks highest on the first. Creation came from him, and the dead are said to return to heaven. He keeps a wife, Bà Trời or Tây Vương Mẫu, and their quarrels are read in weather that is sunny and rainy at once. His court, with its officials and troops, mirroring the emperor's below, is believed to punish gods who rebel.

When it is done

Weather is the sign people read: when husband and wife in heaven are said to be angry with one another, sun and rain come together, and when Trời is displeased with human faults, storms, floods and drought are understood as his correction.

Compare and confuse

Other cultures have gods placed at the same height. Chinese and Taoist tradition has the Jade Emperor, and Japanese myth has Amenominakanushi. Hindu tradition offers Indra and the Trimurti, Buddhist tradition Śakra, Korean tradition Haneunim, and Turko-Mongolian tradition Tengri. Burmese Buddhism gives Thagyamin, a presentation of Śakra, and Taoism has Yuanshi Tianzun. Within Vietnam, Thần Trụ Trời is sometimes said to be the same god, and Đạo Mẫu and Buddhism each give him a place under another name.

Today

The god is still honoured in temples and shrines over the whole country, and the Bàn Thiên altar remains a familiar sight at homes in the south and centre. His name survives in ordinary speech too: the exclamation Trời ơi!, literally an address to heaven, is rendered into English as for goodness' sake, dear God or what the hell. He also appears on Vietnamese television, in the New Year programme Gặp nhau cuối năm.

Questions people ask about Ông Trời

Good reading and sources

• Ông Trời on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data