TL;DR: According to press accounts on Đồng Nai, Tiền Giang (formerly a province, now part of Đồng Tháp province) and Saigon, traditional Southern Vietnamese funerals usually pass through these main steps: tẩn liệm (washing and dressing the deceased) and nhập quan (placing the body in the coffin), dựng giá (setting up the funeral tent) and phát tang (announcing the mourning), cúng vong (offerings to the deceased) on the tuần sơ, tuần trung and tuần cuối (first, middle and final weekly anniversaries), nhạc lễ đưa khách (funeral music to see off guests) when visitors arrive, then động quan (closing and lifting the coffin), di quan (procession to the grave) and hạ huyệt (lowering the coffin into the grave). In old Đồng Nai, the rites largely followed the framework of Hồ Sỹ Tân's Thọ mai gia lễ, but practice in each locality differed in music, in timing and in how much was simplified. Alongside the traditional line of practice, urban life has also recorded variations such as funerals with popular music and live bands, which the press has reported on and which have stirred debate.
What rituals make up a Southern Vietnamese funeral, from encoffining to burial?
A Southern Vietnamese funeral is a fairly tightly ordered sequence of rites, beginning with tẩn liệm and nhập quan, moving through phát tang, cúng vong and guest visits, then động quan, di quan and hạ huyệt. In old Đồng Nai, funeral rites largely followed the framework of Hồ Sỹ Tân's Thọ mai gia lễ (he earned his doctorate in 1721)[1]; press sources show that each locality practices its own way regarding ritual music, timing and degree of simplification.
This article reviews the main rites in chronological order and notes where sources disagree and which variants the press has recorded in the urban South. The press articles used here concern Đồng Nai, Tiền Giang (former province, now part of Đồng Tháp province) and Sài Gòn; Phan Kế Bính's Việt Nam phong tục (1915) is written mainly about Northern customs and so is no evidence for Southern practice today[6].
How do nhập quan, tẩn liệm and phát tang take place?
After a family member dies, the household performs tẩn liệm (washing, dressing the body, placing it in the coffin) and then nhập quan. In Tiền Giang (former province, now part of Đồng Tháp province), according to Đồng Tháp newspaper in 2017, right after tẩn liệm the kèn nhạc lễ ensemble must sound the bài Ai to announce the death, after which the band performs the Dựng giá rite[3]. Dựng giá means preparing and arranging; the Dựng giá ensemble piece brings in the full set of instruments: trống nhạc, kèn trung, đồng lố, bạt, bồng, mõ sừng[3].
After Dựng giá come the Phát tang and Thành phục rites. In these, the band beats the trống thét first, then gài the bài Xuân nữ on the đàn cò for the thầy đám to conduct phát tang[3]. Next is Cúng vong, opened by gài thét bắt qua xây nghi and playing the bài Ngũ đối hạ[3].
Where does ritual music in Southern funerals come from?
Southern nhạc lễ originates from Huế court nhã nhạc, blended with local culture and music to form a distinctive musical genre[2]. Southern nhạc lễ is ritual music that has held a leading role in the cultural and folk-belief life of the South for over a century and is regarded as the origin of đờn ca tài tử art[2].
According to Cần Thơ newspaper (2024), the bài Đánh Nghinh, also called Nghinh thiên or tiếp giá, was adopted from the bài Tam luân cửu chuyển of Huế court music, which was used only for kings and mandarins; nhạc sư Ba Đợi (Nguyễn Quang Đại) adopted and recompiled it for use in common people's worship rites, though the 3 hồi, 9 chập pattern was kept as before[2]. This shows Southern nhạc lễ is not a purely indigenous product but the result of a process of acculturation.
In funerals, nhạc lễ is not merely for listening but marks each stage of the rite. Which piece, which instrument, how many hồi: all are conventional and serve to pace the family and guests.
How are cúng vong and the weekly offerings held?
As recorded in the former Tiền Giang province, Cúng vong is performed in three rites: tuần sơ, tuần trung and tuần cuối[3]. In the Gò Công area, the sequence is usually: tuần sơ plays bài Ai, tuần trung plays Bụa tư rơi, tuần cuối plays Bụa đảo, also called Đảo bụa, meaning reversing the strings and turning the music back; finally gài thét to end the rite, called đánh Thái bường/bình[3].
During Cúng vong, the band usually uses Bắc-mode pieces such as Xàng xê, Ngũ đối thượng, Ngũ đối hạ, Long đăng, Long ngâm, Vạn giá, Tiểu khúc (7 pieces), but the most common is Ngũ đối hạ; sometimes Nam-mode pieces are used to share the family's grief, commonly bài Xuân nữ[3]. Instruments used include trống nhạc, trống cái, phệch, đàn cò, gáo, kìm, sáo[3].
Đồng Tháp newspaper notes that using many pieces in this rite was because formerly several bands took turns; now usually only one band is present, so fewer are used, and normally one piece suffices[3]. This shows current practice has been simplified compared with earlier records, and the simplification is uneven across localities.
When guests come to visit, how does ritual music escort them?
When guests come to visit and offer condolences, the band uses bài bồng and lớp thét[3]. Bài bồng is a drum solo on the trống bồng; lớp thét is an ensemble piece for common people to bow, including trống nhạc, kèn trung, đồng lố, bạc xà, bồng, mõ sừng[3]. The bowing person has four basic movements, so the trống thét mainly keeps rhythm for the bows[3].
When important guests visit, Rập bang or Vân long must be played, including trống nhạc, kèn thau, đồng lố, đẩu, bạc; this playing style is also used when escorting a guest delegation to tế[3]. Thus in one funeral the band must distinguish several guest ranks and ritual situations, each with a different piece and instrument set.
On bowing rites, Phạm Đình Hổ in Vũ trung tùy bút (about customs of the North, not a source on the South) raises the question that the two-bow versus four-bow rite is not meant to divide before and after burial; he records that folk custom held the two-bow rite to be a hung lễ (inauspicious rite), so before burial or when guests came to offer condolences people followed that two-bow rite, and he objects to this[8]. This is a debate about the origin of ritual, separate from practice of the time.
Động quan, di quan, hạ huyệt and cải táng
The press articles above do not describe the động quan and di quan stages, so this part draws on Phan Kế Bính's Việt Nam phong tục (1915), a book written mainly about Northern customs; it shows only a general Vietnamese framework of old and is no evidence for Southern practice today. Phan Kế Bính records the procession with a paper nhà táng covering the bier; wealthy families made very ornate nhà táng, sometimes costing thirty or forty silver coins. Descendants followed the bier, with a bạch mạc (phương du) to shield from sun and rain. In the countryside, đồ minh tinh, nhà táng, vồng chủ and đèn biển were simpler, but there were vãi carrying phướn to hộ phúc, chanting sutras and invoking Buddha, and monks riding in vehicles in cà sa robes chanting to pray for the soul's rebirth in the Western Paradise[6].
Along the way, vàng thỏi and vàng giấy were scattered, following the custom that quỷ phụ enter the coffin, so gold must be scattered to drive them off, lest the coffin become too heavy to move. On the route, rich families set up trạm trung đồ to place the bier and perform rites there; this station was temporarily roofed with leaves or woven mats, decorated with cloth flowers, lamps and liễn, arranged elegantly; on reaching the grave, another trạm tế hạ huyệt was set up[6].
After đoạn tang, usually three years or a few years later, children begin to arrange cải táng. Before the reburial day, the family performs a lễ cáo từ đường; on the burial day, they perform a lễ khấn Thổ công at the new grave site. The work begins with khai mả, collecting the bones and placing them in a tiu sành, sprinkling nước vang, then sealing tightly to keep sunlight out[6].
As for coffins, according to a Thanh Niên report in 2025, Southerners often use large, long, wide coffins with elaborate carved patterns, painted red and gilded; people in the trade explain that because the land is low and the water acidic, small coffins easily collapse, so they must be large and made of good wood[5]. This explanation is from practitioners, not research findings, so it should be seen only as a folk hypothesis.
How do Southern funerals today differ from before?
Two streams run in parallel. One is traditional practice following the Thọ mai gia lễ framework, with nhập quan, phát tang, cúng vong, động quan, hạ huyệt, cải táng, and accompanying nhạc lễ[1][3]. The other is the urban variant, especially in Sài Gòn, where funerals may feature ca nhạc, invited singers, an MC introducing songs, and guests clapping and clinking glasses[4].
A Thanh Niên article in 2013 reported the phenomenon of loud, festive Sài Gòn funerals, sometimes livelier than weddings, and asked whether this still matches the original traditional custom[4]. It should be clear this is a newspaper reporting a phenomenon and offering opinions, not a survey study with a representative sample; so it should not be generalized to the whole Southern region.
Academically, in Tạp chí Nghiên cứu Tôn giáo (2013), Đỗ Lan Hiền examines certain funeral rites of the Vietnamese in general (not only the South) through the philosophies of several religions and beliefs about medicine, feng shui and astrology, aiming to avoid mistaken notions and invented superstitions in funerals today; the article opens by observing that campaigns for civilized funeral practice have achieved little and some outdated practices persist[7].
Table of main rites
| Stage | Main rite | Nhạc lễ / accompanying action |
|---|---|---|
| Before nhập quan | Tẩn liệm, cáo phó | Sound bài Ai (as recorded in the former Tiền Giang province)[3] |
| Nhập quan | Placing body in coffin | Dựng giá, ensemble with full instruments[3] |
| Phát tang | Phát tang, Thành phục | Trống thét, gài bài Xuân nữ on đàn cò[3] |
| Cúng vong | Tuần sơ, tuần trung, tuần cuối | Tuần sơ: Ai; tuần trung: Bụa tư rơi; tuần cuối: Bụa đảo; end: Thái bường/bình[3] |
| Guest visit | Phúng điếu, bowing | Bài bồng, lớp thét; important guests: Rập bang or Vân long[3] |
| Động quan, di quan | Procession to grave | Paper nhà táng, bạch mạc cover, scattering vàng giấy[6] |
| Hạ huyệt | Tế hạ huyệt at station near grave | Trạm trung đồ, trạm tế hạ huyệt[6] |
| After funeral | Cải táng (after đoạn tang) | Lễ cáo từ đường, lễ khấn Thổ công[6] |
Why does each place in the South do it differently?
There are at least two reasons. First, Southern nhạc lễ formed from the blend of Huế court nhã nhạc and local music, so each band and each nhạc sư may recompile differently[2]. Second, economic conditions, terrain and urbanization differ, leading to different degrees of simplification, such as using only one piece in Cúng vong now instead of many as before[3].
Where sources disagree: Đồng Tháp newspaper records practice in the former Tiền Giang province and the Gò Công area[3], while Cần Thơ newspaper records restoration and teaching of nhạc lễ at Đình Bình Thủy, Cần Thơ city[2]. These two sources do not contradict but reflect two different contexts: one is practice in funerals, the other is practice in đình miếu and tế occasions. The two contexts should not be merged.
Conclusion
A Southern Vietnamese funeral from nhập quan to hạ huyệt is a structured sequence of rites in which nhạc lễ marks the rhythm and each stage. In old Đồng Nai the rites followed the Thọ mai gia lễ framework, but specific practice varies by locality, band and economic conditions. Alongside traditional practice, urban life records debated variants, and researchers have raised the issue of outdated practices persisting in funerals today. Readers should see this as a diverse picture, not a single mold applied to the whole region.
