TL;DR: Thanh minh in Vietnam is mainly an occasion to remember ancestors through the custom of tomb visiting, unlike China where there are also spring outing activities. This custom reflects the seasonal transition and agricultural life of the Vietnamese people. Each year Thanh minh begins around April 4 or 5 on the solar calendar and ends around April 19 or 20, when it moves into the Cốc vũ period.
What is Tiết Thanh minh?
When Vietnamese people think of Thanh minh, they often recall the verse from Truyện Kiều: "Thanh minh trong tiết tháng ba, lễ là tảo mộ, hội là đạp thanh" (In the third month, at the Thanh minh festival, the rite is tảo mộ, the gathering is đạp thanh). The verse is not only a marker of time, but also opens a window onto a long-standing custom. So what exactly is Tiết Thanh minh, and where does it come from?
Tiết Thanh minh is one of the 24 solar terms of the lunisolar calendar, with origins in China. 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), it is a major festival tied to the spring season, when the weather turns warm, the air is fresh and plants begin to grow green. Tiết Thanh minh usually begins around April 4 or 5 on the solar calendar and lasts about 15 to 16 days, ending before the transition to Tiết Cốc vũ. For example, in 2026, Tiết Thanh minh begins on April 5 and lasts until April 20 on the solar calendar.
A comparison of tảo mộ activities and offerings during Tiết Thanh minh across different places, based on the article.
| Place | Main activities | Offerings | Timing of tảo mộ |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | Tảo mộ, clearing grass, repairing graves, and outings into the countryside | Food and drink | |
| Vietnam | Visiting, tảo mộ, clearing grass, adding soil to sunken spots, burning incense, honoring ancestors | ||
| The North | Gấc sticky rice and duck meat | ||
| The South | Sweeping and repairing graves if needed | In many places tảo mộ takes place before Tết Nguyên đán | |
| Ethnic Chinese communities in Cần Thơ, Sóc Trăng, Bạc Liêu | Going to the communal burial ground to honor ancestors | Flowers, fruit, xôi chè, roast duck, roast pig, chicken, bánh pía, bánh bò, bread, biscuits |
How does the Vietnamese tảo mộ differ from the Chinese spring outing?
In China: How are the rite and the festival combined?
In China, Thanh minh is an occasion for people to go tảo mộ, clean the ancestral graves, clear grass, repair the tombs and arrange offerings such as food and drink to show their sincerity. However, it is also an occasion for outings into the countryside, enjoying the warm air after the cold winter. This activity is called "hội đạp thanh", meaning going out to enjoy spring, admiring the scenery when flowers and grass are in bloom and the sky is clear. Thus, Thanh minh in China includes both the rite (visiting graves) and the festival (spring outings).
In Vietnam: How does it lean toward remembering ancestors?
In Vietnam, meanwhile, Tiết Thanh minh mainly carries the meaning of remembering ancestors. People visit, tảo mộ, clear grass, add soil to sunken spots and burn incense at the graves. Afterwards, families often gather to hold a ceremony honoring their ancestors. The clearest difference is that Vietnamese people have almost no element of spring outings or picnics on this occasion. The Vietnamese Thanh minh leans toward reverence and solemnity rather than recreation and entertainment.
One explanation for why Vietnamese people only tảo mộ and do not go on spring outings is that the tradition of ancestor worship holds considerable sway. When they adopted Tiết Thanh minh from China, Vietnamese people kept the tảo mộ rite, while the đạp thanh festival was almost entirely dropped, because the focus of this occasion in Vietnamese life is toward those who have passed away rather than toward nature for enjoyment. This interpretation is Nhật Nguyệt's own, based on the line of presentation by Dr. Dương Hoàng Lộc in Thanh Niên newspaper regarding the differences between Vietnamese and Chinese Thanh minh; the newspaper source does not state it directly as a separate explanation.
How do tảo mộ customs and offerings differ by region?
According to Dr. Dương Hoàng Lộc, the custom of tảo mộ during Thanh minh differs to some extent between regions. In the North, offerings for the Thanh minh ceremony often include gấc sticky rice and duck meat. In the South, meanwhile, many places have the custom of tảo mộ before Tết Nguyên đán, and Thanh minh is also a convenient time to sweep and repair graves if needed.
In addition, ethnic Chinese communities in Vietnam still keep a fairly strong Thanh minh character. In places such as Cần Thơ, Sóc Trăng and Bạc Liêu, they often go to the nghĩa từ (the community's communal burial ground) to honor their ancestors with abundant offerings such as flowers, fruit, xôi chè, roast duck, roast pig, chicken, along with many kinds of cakes such as bánh pía, bánh bò, bread and biscuits.
The book Việt Nam phong tục by Phan Kế Bính, first published in 1915, also records the tảo mộ custom of this occasion in its own way. The author places Thanh minh among the major solar terms of the year and remarks that Vietnamese people of old did not celebrate Tết Thanh minh in the Chinese manner, but many still took the occasion to visit the graves of their forebears: clearing thick grass, adding soil where it had sunk, then returning home to prepare a feast honoring their ancestors. This record matches today's description: the rite is kept, the festival portion is trimmed away.
What is special about Tiết Thanh minh from a feng shui perspective?
Mr. Hoàng Triệu Hải, Director of the Center for Research on Oriental Architecture and Geography, holds that festivals and holidays are all tied to the agricultural life of the Vietnamese people. Viewed by natural cycles, a year has 12 months, of which 4 months belong to earth, and these are the times of seasonal transition. The period from spring to summer falls in the month of Thìn (the fifth lunar month). This is the month of yang earth, according to the explanation of the Hà Đồ. When yang earth appears, yin energy begins to arise, creating a transformation in nature.
What is the meaning of cleaning the graves?
It is precisely at this time that Tiết Thanh minh forms, an occasion for descendants to tảo mộ, visit and care for the ancestral graves. Put simply, Thanh minh is when people go to the cemetery, clear weeds and trim trees so that the graves are open and clean. According to folk belief, this helps yin and yang energies be in harmony and "circulate" better.
The end of spring's wood energy
Trimming trees is also seen as a sign of the end of spring's wood energy, as the month of Thìn, belonging to yang earth, arrives and prepares the transition to summer's fire energy. In other words, Thanh minh is not only an occasion to remember ancestors, but also clearly reflects the rhythm of the seasons and the agricultural life of the Vietnamese people.
Around what date does Tiết Thanh minh fall each year?
Tiết Thanh minh each year begins around April 4 or 5 on the solar calendar and ends around April 19 or 20, when Tiết Cốc vũ arrives. The exact date for each year is calculated by the moment the sun reaches 15 degrees of longitude, so it can shift by one day; to look up the correct date for the year you are viewing, use the site's calendar tool.
What date is Tiết Thanh minh in 2026?
In 2026, Tiết Thanh minh begins on April 5 and lasts until April 20 on the solar calendar. Other years may shift by one day from this marker, depending on the moment the sun reaches 15 degrees of longitude.
