TL;DR: A Southern Vietnamese giỗ offering tray, that is a Southern Vietnamese giỗ, usually includes chicken, duck, thịt kho hột vịt (braised pork with eggs), canh khổ qua dồn thịt (bitter melon soup stuffed with meat), lẩu cù lao, bánh ít, bánh tét and fruit. A Mekong Delta giỗ usually takes place over two days: the afternoon before is the tiên tray welcoming the ancestors, and the next day is the main giỗ day with about 8 to 10 dishes. The most recognisable feature is that neighbours join in the cooking, and guests at the giỗ are given a portion by the host to take home.
What is a Nam Bo gio?
A Nam Bo gio is when descendants gather to offer rice to the deceased on the exact date of death, commonly called cung gio or dam gio. In the familiar wording of Dong Nai and Nam Bo, ancestor veneration is called tho cung ong ba, meaning the veneration of grandparents, parents and deceased kin, tied to family rites of worship and offering[1].
Many field studies record that ancestor veneration among Viet residents in Dong Nai and Nam Bo began from cultural resources carried along during migration, not formed locally like the ancestor veneration of ancient Viet people in Bac Bo, which was tied to the formation of patrilineal clan communities[1].
On ritual, Phan Ke Binh's Viet Nam phong tuc (printed 1915) records that the death anniversary of great-grandparents, grandparents and parents is called ngay ky nhat; the afternoon before is a cung tien thuong, and the next day is the chinh ky. For a distant gio, people prepare a chicken, a tray of sticky rice or a few offering trays; for parents, custom is usually more elaborate. During a gio, however large or small, there must be at least a bowl of rice pressed over a boiled egg as the head[2].
Phan Ke Binh's book describes Viet customs in general, so offering from the afternoon before is not unique to Nam Bo. For Nam Bo itself, Bao Sai Gon Giai Phong records that the three days of tien thuong, chanh gio and hau thuong are now seen only in rural areas, especially the provinces of the Mekong Delta, while gio in the city is usually as light as possible[3].
What dishes are on a Southern Vietnamese gio offering tray?
A Southern Vietnamese gio offering tray, as recorded in the Mekong Delta, usually has chicken and duck dishes, braised pork with duck eggs, bitter melon soup stuffed with meat, cu lao hot pot, cakes such as banh tet, banh it, banh bo, along with fruit and incense and flowers. The main gio day is usually prepared more carefully with about 8 to 10 dishes[4].
According to Bao An Giang, the old Mekong Delta gio rice tray almost always had braised pork with duck eggs, bitter melon soup stuffed with meat, cu lao hot pot, and cakes such as banh tet, banh it and banh bo[4].
| Dish group | Common dishes | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Main savoury | Chicken, duck, braised pork with duck eggs, cu lao hot pot | Almost default on a Mekong Delta gio tray |
| Soup | Bitter melon soup stuffed with meat | Signature soup, often on the offering tray |
| Cakes | Banh tet, banh it, banh bo | Some families wrap hundreds per gio, offered first then given away |
| Fruit, incense and flowers | Fruit plates, fresh flowers, incense and lamps | Placed on the altar before the offering hour |
Banh it is the dish most often mentioned for a Nam Bo gio. Bao Sai Gon Giai Phong records that a Nam Bo gio characteristically has banh it, and it is common for a family to wrap several hundred cakes per gio, because they are offered to the ancestors first and then given to relatives and neighbours to enjoy[3].
The same paper notes that wrapping cakes is no longer mandatory; many families use a service that supplies cakes and fruit for the gio, but some still keep the tradition of wrapping cakes during the gio mainly so descendants gather, and around the cake preparation descendants are taught about remembering ancestors[3].
How many days does a Nam Bo gio last, and in what order?
A Mekong Delta gio usually runs over two days: the afternoon before is the mam tien, and the next day is the main gio. The mam tien is fairly simple, mainly to welcome the ancestors; in the evening relatives and neighbours gather to talk and recall the affection and way of life of the deceased so descendants better understand and respect their family roots[4].
At dawn the next day, the women of the neighbourhood gather in full to help in the kitchen: some prepare chicken, some duck, some chop meat, pick vegetables and cook. Around 10 a.m., the household lays out the full offering tray and burns incense in memory of the ancestors[4].
Preparation sometimes begins two or three months earlier. According to records of Mekong Delta folk life, the household plans to gather a flock of ducks or raise one or two flocks of chickens so that by the gio day the birds are large enough to eat; families wanting a bigger event plan to raise a pig. About half a month before the gio, the women managing the kitchen plan to soak sticky rice, grind flour and dry it so that the cakes can be made near the event[5].
Why do guests at a Mekong Delta gio get a portion to take home?
Guests at a Mekong Delta gio are not only served good food on the spot; after the meal they are also given a portion by the host to take home. Bao Thanh Nien calls this a very beautiful old custom kept by many rural families over generations, showing the generosity, plainness and affection of local people[6].
Those involved explain it simply: one host told Bao Thanh Nien that the gift is the family's way of thanking neighbours for taking the time to come[6]; Bao Sai Gon Giai Phong notes the small bag is so the children at home have something to look forward to[3].
A distinction is needed: the custom of sharing a take-home portion is recorded in an article about Mekong Delta gio[6], not a practice described for all of Nam Bo or for every family. The source's scope is gio in rural Mekong Delta areas that the reporter attended in person.
What is notable about the altar and its arrangement in a Nam Bo home?
The family altar in Nam Bo is placed at the front of the house, in the main room or front house, facing the main door. According to Bao Can Tho, people once believed a guest entering the house would partly judge the householder's character through the family altar, so the arrangement of objects on the altar followed a fixed pattern[7].
The same source records that in the past each altar of a Nam Bo household usually had a full ngu su set including an incense burner, two candlesticks, a vase for flowers and a wooden or bronze tube for holding incense[7].
On the scope of veneration, the ancestor veneration of Viet families in Dong Nai and Nam Bo clearly divides into two contents, phung tho and cung bai. However small the house, the most solemn place, the main room, is still kept for venerating grandparents, and those venerated span many generations: parents, paternal and maternal grandparents, and great-grandparents[1].
Many Mekong Delta families set up a Cuu Huyen That To altar, which has an incense burner for parents or paternal and maternal grandparents, or for aunts, uncles and other relatives in cases where those people had no children, so the nephews and nieces venerate them[5].
Tran Dinh Hang, in a research article on the origins of votive paper, analyses the understanding of filial piety behind the rites above: in this view, the deceased do not disappear but move to live in the other world; they are always present, witnessing and watching over descendants through the constant presence of the incense bowl and the tablet on the altar. The author also holds that the incense bowl must always burn bright, understood in two ways: there is always someone to offer incense, and the gio offering tray is complete[9].
How was lavish feasting at a gio criticised in the past?
That criticism has long existed in Vietnamese books, though the two books cited below do not write about Nam Bo specifically. According to Vu trung tuy but by Pham Dinh Ho, the custom of our country is that whenever a family reaches a gio day it pours all its effort into preparations, sometimes even borrowing to buy food to entertain guests, so that no trace of mourning remains; the author judges that the further one goes from ancient times, the more people distort the old meaning. The book also states a view: there is no harm in holding an offering on the gio day as custom has it, so long as one does not lay out lavish feasts and invite guests to eat noisily while forgetting the meaning of grief and respect[8].
Among the upper classes, the downside of this custom is also recorded by Phan Ke Binh in Viet Nam phong tuc: for a village notable's house, sometimes the whole village comes to the gio; for a teacher's house with many students, the students also come; and for an official's house, usually the whole tong, ly, phu and huyen come to the gio, with much troublesome and wasteful eating and drinking[2].
It should be said clearly that this is the observation of a book's author about the customs of the time he observed, not a moral verdict applied to today's Nam Bo gio. Bao Sai Gon Giai Phong records the opposite reality in the city: gio in the city is usually as light as possible, descendants remember the date, a few savoury and sweet dishes, fruit and fresh flowers are placed on the altar and incense is burned[3].
Where the sources disagree
The sources disagree on the number of days of a gio. Bao An Giang describes a Mekong Delta gio as usually lasting two days, with the mam tien in the afternoon before and the main gio the next day[4]. Bao Sai Gon Giai Phong mentions three days of tien thuong, chanh gio and hau thuong and says this structure is now seen only in rural areas[3]. Phan Ke Binh's Viet Nam phong tuc also records the afternoon before as cung tien thuong and the next day as chinh ky[2], that is, the two-day wording. It can be understood that the number of days varies by family, region and period, with no single standard number for all of Nam Bo.
On the number of dishes, only Bao An Giang gives a figure: about 8 to 10 dishes for the main gio day[4]. That is the account of one resident of An Giang, not a rule applied to every gio.
Nhat Nguyet's suggestion
If you are preparing the first gio in your home, you can start from four basic groups: one boiled chicken or duck dish, one braised dish, one soup, one cake, then add fruit and incense and flowers. This is a minimum framework, not a mandatory list, because the Nam Bo gio tray has always flexed with the family economy and the status of the person being honoured[5].
For urban families, reducing to one offering session and a few dishes is a choice many have made[3]. For rural families with many relatives, keeping the mam tien on the afternoon before is a way for those working far away to arrive in time. The most worth keeping, in the writer's view, is not the number of dishes but that descendants know the date, know the name of the person being honoured and know why they do it.
