Definition

Verb phrase: - To perform a ritual of burning bamboo slivers or paper to ward off bad luck or negative spiritual influences: This is a traditional Vietnamese folk practice, often performed for a newborn baby or a person returning from a funeral, to symbolically burn away any attached bad luck or malevolent spirits ('vía').

Usage Examples

• Verb phrase:
  • Sau khi đi đám tang về, bà nội thường đốt vía ở cổng trước khi vào nhà. (After returning from a funeral, my grandmother usually performs the burning ritual at the gate before entering the house.)
  • Người ta tin rằng đốt vía cho trẻ sơ sinh sẽ giúp đuổi tà ma. (People believe that performing the burning ritual for a newborn will help drive away evil spirits.)

Advanced Usage

• The practice is based on folk belief, not organized religion. The object burned is typically a piece of bamboo stalk split into slivers or a sheet of paper, which is lit and waved around the person or at an entrance.
• It is often done for specific, culturally understood situations: after contact with death (funerals), for a newborn's first outing, or when someone has a streak of bad luck believed to be caused by a 'weak' or contaminated 'vía' (spiritual essence).

Variants and Related Words

• Đốt (verb): to burn.
• Vía (noun): a folk concept referring to one's spiritual essence or vitality; similar to 'soul' or 'spirit' in this context but is culturally specific. A person can have a 'nặng vía' (strong/potent vía) or 'nhẹ vía' (light/weak vía).

Synonyms

• Xông khói (verb phrase): to fumigate (often with herbs, for a similar cleansing purpose).
• Trừ tà (verb phrase): to exorcise evil.

Related Idioms/Phrases

• Đi đốt vía: Literally "to go perform the burning ritual," used to explain an outing, especially with a baby, for this specific purpose.
  • Dẫn em bé sang nhà hàng xóm chơi cho đốt vía. (Take the baby to the neighbor's to play for the ritual/to ward off bad spirits.)

1. Burn a bamboo spill (a piece of paper) for driving ill luck away