TL;DR: According to records on the Southern Tet, the chain of Tet offerings in the South includes welcoming the ancestors on the 30th of Tet, the giao thừa offering on the night of the year's turning, the Tết nhà (home Tet) ritual on the third day, and the farewell to the ancestors, a custom in former times held on the fourth day. The Southern offering tray carries its own imprint with bánh tét, braised pork with eggs, bitter melon soup and watermelon, while the ritual part still follows the shared ancestor worship of the Vietnamese people. Cultural experts stress that sincerity and symbolic meaning matter more than a tall tray and a full spread.
What rituals make up Tet worship in southern Vietnam?
According to accounts of Tet in the South, the chain of Tet offerings comprises the ancestor-welcoming rite on the 30th of Tet, the New Year's Eve offering during the night of transition, the Tết nhà rite on the third day, and the farewell to the ancestors, which by old custom fell on the fourth day[5][6]. These rites belong to the same thread of Vietnamese ancestor worship, but the preparation and atmosphere carry the distinctive marks of the southern land.
According to Dr. Dương Hoàng Lộc, Director of the Center for Research on Religion and Ethics at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City), the New Year's Eve offering trays of southerners and northerners are usually not the same[1]. Some families prepare according to the regional "traditional standard," while others are flexible, offering whatever they have, as long as sincerity is kept whole[1].
In the south, the Tet atmosphere appears right on the offering tray: rolls of bánh tét, a jar of ginger jam, a watermelon green outside and red inside, and a pot of fragrant thịt kho tàu[1]. Each dish carries a small wish for the new year, among them thịt kho tàu with its square meat and round eggs evoking the harmony of square and round, âm and dương, while canh khổ qua is simply understood as "bitterness has passed"[1].
Why do southerners welcome ancestors on the afternoon of the 30th of Tet?
The ancestor-welcoming rite opens the chain of Tet worship and is performed on the 30th of Tet. The household head prepares the altar, lights incense, and invites the deceased ancestors and grandparents home to eat Tet with their descendants. This rite expresses the moral of remembering one's source and opens the days of family reunion in the household's place of worship.
Dương Văn Minh Lộc's account of old Tet in the South, published in Tuổi Trẻ, relates that on the thirtieth the most important person in the house personally arranged the altar and pasted the red couplets while the women prepared the tray for welcoming the ancestors; in some homes the whole family was already gathered before the ancestral altar at noon sharp[5]. Huỳnh Ngọc Trảng's book Khảo luận về Tết says that in the South the farewell to the ancestors is performed exactly like the welcoming: incense sticks are lit along both sides of the path from the door out to the gate[6].
How is the southern New Year's Eve offering different?
The New Year's Eve offering, also called the lễ trừ tịch, is an important custom on the traditional Tet holiday of Vietnamese people, marking the close of the past year and the welcome of the new[2]. This rite also carries the meaning of remembering the merits of ancestors and inviting them home to eat Tet with their descendants[2].
As for timing, the New Year's Eve offering is made at the moment of transition between the old year and the new, that is, the giờ Tý[3]. For example, with Bính Ngọ Tet 2026, the first day falls on Tuesday, 17 February 2026 in the solar calendar, so the transition moment occurs on the night of 16 February 2026, and the offering is made between 11 p.m. on the 29th of Tet and 1 a.m. on the first day of Tet[3].
In structure, the New Year's Eve rite usually divides into two parts: offerings indoors and outdoors[2]. The indoor offering is to "welcome the new, send off the old," inviting the new year's deities and bidding farewell to the old year's, while giving thanks to ancestors who protected and supported the family throughout the past year[2]. The outdoor offering sees off the Hành khiển of the old year and welcomes the Hành khiển of the new year, because people of old believed that each year one Hành khiển oversees human affairs and hands over to the next when the year ends[2].
On the principle of preparing the tray, Dr. Lưu Huyền Trang, lecturer in the Department of Vietnamese Cultural Foundations at the Academy of Journalism and Communication, says that in Vietnamese cultural history, the New Year's Eve tray does not need to be "a high tray and full spread"; what matters is that it conveys symbolic meaning and purity, and expresses the householder's sincerity[3]. She names three elements to ensure: the sacred (incense, flowers, lamp, water, wine); abundance and sufficiency (sticky rice, chicken, bánh chưng or bánh tét); and cleanliness and freshness (fruit, betel and areca)[3].
A basic New Year's Eve tray according to common guidance usually includes boiled pork leg, fruit, sweets, wine, gấc sticky rice, bamboo shoot soup, votive paper, incense, betel and areca, and flowers[2]. In the south, these are often replaced or supplemented with bánh tét, thịt kho hột vịt, canh khổ qua, and watermelon, creating a distinct flavor.
Table comparing the three Tet worship stages in southern Vietnam
| Stage | Timing | Main meaning | Distinctive southern dishes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcoming ancestors | The 30th of Tet, in some homes at noon | Inviting ancestors home to eat Tet with descendants | The tray for welcoming the ancestors[5] |
| New Year's Eve offering | Giờ Tý on the night of transition | Sending off the old year, welcoming the new, honoring ancestors | Thịt kho hột vịt, canh khổ qua, watermelon, ginger jam |
| Tết nhà and the farewell | Tết nhà on the 3rd day; farewell on the 4th day by old custom | Thanking the ancestors and seeing them off after the Tet days | Tết nhà: bánh ít, tam sên, candied fruit, fresh fruit; farewell: stewed chicken (gà tiềm)[5] |
How are the third-day Tết nhà rite and the farewell to the ancestors held in the South?
According to the Tuổi Trẻ account of old Tet in the South, during the Tet days every meal was offered to the ancestors before the family ate. The third day was Tết nhà: the family had to rise before the fifth watch and offer three plates of bánh ít, three plates of tam sên (dried shrimp, boiled pork, chicken eggs), three plates of candied fruit and three plates of fresh fruit. Only on the fourth day did a few sellers return to the market so that people could buy offerings to see the ancestors off, and stewed chicken (gà tiềm) was indispensable on that day's tray[5].
The book Khảo luận về Tết likewise records that in the South every household holds the Tết nhà rite on the third day, while the custom of seeing the ancestors off in the South falls on the fourth. The book calls this the Lễ Tạ, the great rite of Tet, with much weight given to burning votive paper for the ancestors; at the farewell, descendants light incense along both sides of the path and carry offerings such as rice, sticky rice, salt, bánh tét and bánh tổ on shoulder poles, following the ancestors from the main door out to the lane[6].
How do Chinese communities in Chợ Lớn make New Year's Eve offerings?
Within the picture of Tet worship in southern Vietnam, the Chinese community in Chợ Lớn is a notable separate part. Tet for Chinese people in Chợ Lớn is the most important holiday of the year, with ancestor worship rites, lion and dragon dances, and Tet cuisine expressing wishes for luck and prosperity[4].
According to records from a cultural reenactment program held at Sơn Trà communal house (Tân Định ward, Ho Chi Minh City), the organizers recreated three old southern-style altars of the Kinh and Chinese peoples[4]. What these altars share is that they all display offerings and remember deceased ancestors and grandparents in the last and first days of the new year, but each ethnic group has a different way of arranging them[4]. According to the organizers, on New Year's Eve the Chinese usually offer groups of dried goods such as shiitake mushrooms, wood ear and beans rather than dishes with liquid, because the New Year's Eve offerings stay on display for up to seven days and must keep well, and dried goods symbolize a bountiful harvest[4].
It should be noted that the above description is based on a reenactment program, not direct observation of contemporary family life, so it cannot be taken as representative of the entire Chinese community in Ho Chi Minh City. Specific families may have different arrangements and offerings.
Points where sources do not agree
There are several differences among sources that should be stated clearly. On the timing of the New Year's Eve offering, most documents agree on giờ Tý, that is, about 11 p.m. on the 30th to 1 a.m. on the first day of Tet[3].
On the offering tray, there are two streams of opinion. The first advocates keeping the region's traditional dishes exactly, the second holds that it depends on family conditions, as long as sincerity is kept[1]. Both streams exist side by side in practice, and cultural experts usually do not frame the two approaches as right or wrong.
On the day of seeing the ancestors off, both accounts of the South give the fourth day, with the third being Tết nhà[5][6]. Khảo luận về Tết adds the view that in the past officials' households saw the ancestors off on the third day and commoners on the fourth[6].
Nhật Nguyệt's suggestions
If you are preparing Tet worship in southern Vietnam, you can refer to arranging it in three stages: welcoming ancestors on the 30th, offering outdoors and indoors on New Year's Eve night, and seeing ancestors off on the third or fourth day according to your family's practice. As for the tray, there is no need to chase a rigid formula; choose dishes suited to your family's conditions while keeping the symbolic elements: one savory dish, one sweet dish, incense and flowers, betel and areca, water, and wine. If your family has its own tradition passed down from grandparents, ask the elders at home to keep the old ways correctly. This is Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion, not a mandatory rule in any ritual text.
