Hát chầu văn (Vietnamese: [háːt cə̂w van], chữ Nôm: 喝朝文), or in secular form hát văn (喝文),[1] is a traditional folk art of northern Vietnam which combines trance singing and dancing.[2] Its music and poetry are combined with a variety of instruments, rhythms, pauses, and tempos.[3][4][5] Hát chầu văn originated in the 16th century and spread quickly.[6] The main musical instrument used in hat van performance is the đàn nguyệt or moon-shaped lute.[7] The genre is famous for its use in rituals for deity mediumship. Chầu văn serves two purposes: to help hypnotize the medium for reception of the deities and to accompany the medium's actions with appropriate music.
The singing and dance in non-religious form is hát văn ("sung literature") without the word chầu ("to have an audiene with someone of higher power", "to perform a service and pay homage to a deity").[8]