The Three Masters: Vietnamese Vs Chinese (中越三祖)

 

The Vietnamese Thanh To (三祖)Talisman.

 

 

There are many similarities between Vietnamese magic system and Chinese magic system. The Three Masters in Vietnamese is called ‘Thanh To’ (三祖) and The Chinese Taoist calls the Three Masters as ‘Sanqingzushi’ (三清祖师) or the ‘Masters of the Holy Three”. Although the pronunciation is different, the Chinese characters remain the same. This can be shown in the above talisman.

 

In the Vietnamese system I learnt, the above a practitioner seeks the blessing of Thanh To by reciting the below mantra and the above talisman is drawn in the air three times twice daily or before any magic rituals; especially anything concerning Ngai magics:

 

“Namo a did a phat” (3x)

 

“De tur ho… ten… tuoi… cau tren tam vi thanh to thai thurong lao quaq. Thai at chan nhan, hien vi dai de chuyen than thong, quai linh, sac lenh, chuyen dao mau, chuyen phep linh cap ky cho de tut ho phep…”

 

In Chinese Taoist magic system, the ‘Three Masters’ can also refer to ‘The Masters Of Three Mountains’ (三山祖师). The three mountains refer to: Maoshan (茅山), Lushan (闾山) and Hezhaoshan (閤皂山). All magical rituals of these Taoist schools should first start with:

 

·         Invocation of earth spirits (土地神咒)

·         Invocation of 28 houses (廿八宿咒)

·         Invocation of the 5 elements (五行咒)

·         Invocation of the 12 zodiacs (十二地支)

·         Invocation of the 10 heavenly elements (十天干)

·         Invocation of 7 stars (七星咒)

 

It is said that if magical rituals carried out without first performing all of the above invocations, then the rituals may not work. This was once a highly guarded secret of old Taoist magic schools.