Four Palaces

The Four Palaces (Tứ Phủ) are where “spirits of the Four Palaces” (thánh Tứ Phủ) reside in Vietnamese indigenous religion.^[1][2][3] The colour of the clothes of mediums reflects the token colour of each of the four spirits of which they are possessed.^[4] Trần Triều (literally "Trần dynasty"), the spirit of Saint Trần altars associated with Trần Hưng Đạo Supreme Commander of Đại Việt during the Trần Dynasty is distinguished from the spirits of the four palaces.^[5][6][7] The chair of the four spirits is found in many temples in Vietnam.

The four palaces are:

• Thiên phủ (Heavens Palace) ruled by mẫu Thượng Thiên (goddess of the upper sky)
• Nhạc phủ (Forest Palace) ruled by mẫu Thượng Ngàn (goddess of the highlands), also known as Lâm Cung Thánh Mẫu (林宮聖母)
• Thuỷ phủ (Water Palace) ruled by mẫu Thoải (Mother Water), also known as Thủy cung Thánh Mẫu (水宮聖母).
• Địa phủ (Earth Palace) ruled by mẫu Địa Phủ, also known as Lục cung thánh mẫu

References

1. Andrea Lauser, Kirsten W. Endres -Engaging the Spirit World: Popular Beliefs and Practices in Modern Vietnam Page 88 2012 "... examine changes in representations of the spirits of the Four Palaces that have occurred in the light of Vietnam's recent social and political transformations. Significantly, this process toward the elaboration of new spirit representations takes ..."
2. Karen Fjelstad, Thị Hiền Nguyễn - Possessed by the spirits: mediumship in contemporary Vietnamese ... 2006 - Page 43 "They believe that in their previous lives they were indebted to the spirits of the four palaces or Tran dynasty, or that they did not improve or rectify themselves (tu) properly. Consequently, in this life they must better themselves by serving/ paying ..."
3. Philip Taylor - Modernity and Re-Enchantment: Religion in Post-Revolutionary Vietnam 2007- Page 220 "The spirits of the Four Palaces are often referred to as thánh or ngài, the latter being a honorific also for addressing human excellencies. However, I have opted to use the term “spirits” so that long-established terms like spirit mediumship etc."
4. Hien Thi Nguyen - The religion of the Four Palaces: mediumship and therapy in Viet Nam 2002 "These four colors, along with varieties of pink, violet, and brown determine not only the colors of the costumes of mediums who are possessed by the spirits of the four palaces, but also of the mediums' offerings to the spirits."
5. Karen Fjelstad, Thị Hiền Nguyễn - The Possessed by the spirits: mediumship in contemporary Vietnamese ... - Page 48 2006 "Saint Tran and Mother Goddess Temples - Most Mother Goddess temples now contain Saint Tran altars called Tran Trieu (Tran dynasty). Moreover, Saint Tran and the Mother Goddess altars have also penetrated into many Buddhist pagodas."
6. Pham Quynh Phuong, Quỳnh Phương Phạm Hero and deity: Tran Hung Dao and the resurgence of popular ... 2009 "One owner of a Saint Tran temple, Mr. Ty, insisted that spirits of the Four Palaces have their regular mediums, but that Saint Tran never "seized" or "forces" anyone to be his regular medium. Hence, according to Mr. Ty, mediums of the Four
7. Barley Norton - Songs for the Spirits: Music and Mediums in Modern Vietnam - Page 110 2009 "The spirits of the four palaces have a childlike deception, because they must be presented with words, playing, and song, but remember the spirits of the four palaces are different from Tran Trieu. According to these remarks, song is necessary ..."