TL;DR: Tet worship rituals in northern Vietnam usually open with the rite to see off the Kitchen Gods (ong Cong ong Tao) on the 23rd of the 12th lunar month, continue with the year-end offering on the afternoon of the 30th to welcome ancestors home for Tet, and close with the vang ma burning rite, commonly called the rite to see off ancestors, usually on the 3rd or 7th day of Tet. Offerings vary with each household's means, but the shared principle is sincerity, enough offerings for the rite being performed, and not turning ritual into a contest of form.
What stages make up Tet worship rituals in northern Vietnam?
The flow of Tet worship in the north usually follows a fairly clear timeline: it opens with the rite to see off the Kitchen Gods (ong Cong ong Tao) on the 23rd of the 12th lunar month, continues with the year-end offering on the afternoon of the 30th to invite ancestral spirits home for Tet with their descendants, then daily rice offerings on the family altar, and closes with the vang ma burning rite, also called the rite to see off ancestors[2][4].
This is a common framework, not a single standard. Each clan, village and family may add, drop, combine or separate rites differently. This article follows the widespread northern presentation and notes where sources disagree.
Why is the 23rd of the 12th lunar month considered the start of Tet?
The 23rd of the 12th lunar month is the day to see off the Kitchen Gods to heaven, and this rite opens the whole Tet worship sequence[1][3]. In Vietnamese folk belief, the Kitchen Gods (Tao Quan) originate from three deities: Tho Cong, Tho Dia and Tho Ky, linked to the tale of two men and one woman, the god of the soil, the god of the house and the god of the kitchen[3].
In Phan Ke Binh's Viet Nam phong tuc (1915), folk tradition often held that the 23rd of the 12th lunar month was when the kitchen king went to court in heaven; the author also noted this custom is tied to Taoism, where the Kitchen God reports on human good and evil. He also recorded another folk variant on the origin of the Kitchen Gods, about a poor couple forced to part, the wife then marrying a rich man; later the wife threw herself into a fire, both husbands jumped in after her, and all three were made kitchen gods[7]. These are oral variants, not historical records.
In folk belief, carp is the vehicle the Kitchen Gods ride to heaven, so the farewell offering usually cannot lack carp, and after worship the household often releases the carp into a river or lake. If means are lacking, families may substitute paper carp[1].
What is on the offering tray for the Kitchen Gods on the 23rd of the 12th lunar month?
According to Dr. Dinh Duc Tien, lecturer in the Faculty of History, University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi), offerings to see off the Kitchen Gods include incense, flowers, fruit, betel and areca, plain water and votive money. Notably, the set of hats, robes and boots must have three sets, two for the men and one for the woman, with the men's hats having upright wings and the woman's hat without wings. The colors of the hats, robes and boots change each year according to the five elements[1].
The elaborateness of the tray depends on each family's economic means. What is stressed is that the offering need not be elaborate but must show the household's sincerity and reverence[1]. This is also worth noting when comparing families: a fuller tray is not a measure of sincerity.
| Offering | Meaning / note |
|---|---|
| Incense, flowers, fruit, betel and areca, plain water | Basic offerings, can vary with means |
| Votive money | Indispensable offering in the farewell rite |
| Three sets of hats, robes, boots | Two men, one woman; men's hats have wings, woman's hat does not |
| Live carp or paper carp | Vehicle for the Kitchen Gods to ride to heaven; released after worship |
What does the year-end offering on the afternoon of the 30th mean?
The year-end offering on the afternoon of the 30th is the rite inviting ancestral spirits, grandparents and deceased relatives to eat Tet with their descendants[2]. From this moment until the end of Tet, in folk belief, ancestors and grandparents are gathered with their descendants, the family altar stays warm with incense and lamps and full offerings, and each day descendants prepare careful rice trays to offer[2].
In Nguyen Thi Ha's 2023 survey of Tet imagery in Vietnamese literature, the author observed that on the 30th day of Tet every house looks forward to family reunion in the year-end offering; that offering tray usually has a pot of banh chung just lifted out, and one is unwrapped to be offered first[6]. This is a record through literary texts, reflecting customs described in works, not a mandatory rule for every family.
What is the vang ma burning rite and why is it done?
The vang ma burning rite closes the Tet holiday and is how descendants show filial reverence to ancestors[4]. It is also called the rite to see off ancestors, aiming to send ancestors back to the eternal realm after days of reunion with descendants[4].
According to VietnamPlus, the Tet vang ma burning rite is an important ritual in Vietnamese ancestor worship, expressing the moral of remembering the source when drinking water, upholding filial piety and gratitude to roots[2]. On the 3rd or the 7th day of Tet (khai ha), when the spring feast has ended, descendants prepare a farewell offering to send ancestors back to the underworld, and this rite is called vang ma burning, offering travel expenses and utensils for ancestors to return to the far realm[2].
In the article Cac yeu to nguon coi cua vang ma (Journal of Religious Studies, 2015), Tran Dinh Hang placed votive paper in the historical process of sacrifice at three levels: fellow humans, animals, objects. The author affirms that paper votive money still holds many important values and functions in sacrificial rites, meeting the aspiration for peace and a good harvest for individuals and the community; the issue of votive paper should also be viewed in its specific historical and cultural context, with due caution[8].
Tran Dinh Hang also notes a psychological phenomenon of bribery in modern rituals, as today's votive products include every means of life, from servants to mansions, cars, and various kinds of underworld money. This is one author's observation on an ongoing phenomenon, not an independently verified conclusion.
On which day and at what time should vang ma be burned?
In practice the vang ma burning rite is not fixed to a single day; it can be performed from the 3rd to the 7th day of the lunar new year, depending on convenient time and a day matching the householder's destiny. Most families choose the 3rd day of Tet to hold the vang ma burning rite ending Tet[4]. Phan Ke Binh, writing in the early 20th century, records a different date: vang ma is burned on the 4th, a day earlier or later if that day is inauspicious or clashes with the householder's birth-year day, and some households wait until the 7th, called the day of seeing off the ancestors[7].
In feng shui belief, if a good time is chosen to burn vang ma, ancestors will receive the full heart of descendants and bless the family with a peaceful, full new year[4]. This is a feng shui interpretation, not a scientific conclusion. Choosing an auspicious day and hour is a convention of divination, not a calendrical fact checkable against an independent table.
For the Binh Ngo year, the 3rd day of Tet falls on Thursday, 19 February 2026 in the solar calendar, and the hours listed as good for the vang ma burning rite on that day are 5-7h, 11-13h, 15-17h and 17-19h[4]. These hours are given by the source according to feng shui belief, not a mandatory recommendation.
Why is there debate over custom versus superstition?
The long-standing question is whether Tet worship rites should be seen as custom or superstition. Hoang Trieu Hai, director of the Oriental Architecture Geography Research Center, in an article in Thanh Nien newspaper, argued that customs and practices are habits and rituals formed long ago and passed down through generations, tied to the history and life of each people[5].
He holds that because they have existed for hundreds or thousands of years, many customs are more symbolic than explainable by scientific reasoning, and viewed through modern thinking not a few practices are deemed unreasonable, even superstitious. The confusion often stems from using scientific standards to judge stories belonging to the realm of belief[5].
This view is not the only voice. Some opinions hold that cultural ritual and superstitious behavior must be distinguished, especially when burning votive paper becomes costly or polluting. This article does not conclude which side is right, only notes that this is an ongoing social debate.
Points to note in practice
- Sequence: see off the Kitchen Gods on the 23rd of the 12th lunar month, year-end offering on the afternoon of the 30th, daily rice offerings during Tet, vang ma burning from the 3rd to the 7th day of Tet[1][2][4].
- Offerings to see off the Kitchen Gods: incense, flowers, fruit, betel and areca, plain water, votive money, three sets of hats, robes, boots and carp[1].
- Vang ma burning: prepare travel expenses and utensils to send ancestors back, usually with votive paper[2][4].
- Shared spirit: the offering need not be elaborate but must be sincere, and the level of offerings depends on each family's means[1].
Conclusion
Northern Vietnamese Tet worship rituals from the 23rd of the 12th lunar month to the vang ma burning rite are a sequence with a clear timeline, tied to ancestor worship and the moral of remembering the source when drinking water. These rites have many variants and practices across clans, villages and families, so readers should treat this as a reference framework, not a mandatory standard. What sources stress consistently is reverence and remembrance of roots, not the elaborateness of the tray or the amount of votive paper.
