Offering ritual for Tết Đoan ngọ
Also called: Tết giết sâu bọ, Mùng 5 tháng 5, Tết Đoan dương, Tết nửa năm
- Festivals through the year
Culture and belief A record of custom.
By custom, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month is Tết Đoan ngọ, popularly called the festival for killing insects; households make offerings to ancestors with rượu nếp (fermented glutinous rice), bánh tro (ash cake) and early-season fruits. The offerings differ by region: the North has cơm rượu (fermented glutinous rice) and bánh gio (ash cake); the Central region has duck meat and chè kê (millet sweet soup); the South has bánh ú (pyramid-shaped sticky rice cake) and chè trôi nước (glutinous rice balls in sweet soup).
At a glance
- When it is held
- The 5th day of the 5th lunar month, at the hour of the Horse
- This year (2026)
- Next year (2027)
- For whom
- Household deities; ancestors on both sides; tiền chủ and hậu chủ (former and later owners of the land)
- Where
- Ancestral altar
Each family and each region may do it differently.
The offering tray
Incense, lamps, candles
- Hương (incense sticks)
Flowers
- Hoa tươi (fresh flowers)
Tea, rice wine, water
- Nước sạch (clean water)
- Rượu nếp (fermented glutinous rice)
Fruit
- Mận (plum)
- Hồng xiêm (sapodilla)
- Dưa hấu (watermelon)
- Vải (lychee)
- Chuối (banana)
Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes
- Bánh gio (lye water rice dumpling)
Votive paper
- Vàng mã (votive paper offerings)
Nationwide
- When
- The 5th day of the 5th lunar month, performed at the hour of the Horse (11:00 to 13:00)
- Customary hour
- the hour of Ngọ, 11:00 to 13:00
| Offering | Vegetarian or not |
|---|---|
| Incense, lamps, candles | |
| Incense, flowers, votive paper | |
| Tea, rice wine, water | |
| water | Vegetarian |
| Rượu nếp (fermented glutinous rice) | |
| Fruit | |
| Early-season fruits: mận (plums), hồng xiêm (sapodilla), dưa hấu (watermelon), vải (lychee), chuối (bananas) | Vegetarian |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | |
| Bánh tro (bánh gio, ash cake) | Vegetarian |
North
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tea, rice wine, water | ||
| Cơm rượu nếp cái hoa vàng (fermented yellow-flower glutinous rice) or rượu nếp cẩm (fermented black glutinous rice) | Some guides note it is a mandatory component for people of the North | |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | ||
| Bánh gio (bánh tro) eaten with mật mía (sugarcane molasses) | Vegetarian | |
| Fruit | ||
| Mận (plums), vải thiều (lychees) and seasonal fruits | Vegetarian | |
| Incense, lamps, candles | ||
| Incense, fresh flowers, votive paper | ||
Central
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | ||
| Duck meat | Meat or fish | According to the belief here, duck meat is cooling; the 5th day of the 5th lunar month is also duck season |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | ||
| Chè kê (millet sweet soup) eaten with bánh tráng vừng (sesame rice cracker) | Vegetarian | Not present in every province; some guides note it is a dish of the Quảng region people |
| Tea, rice wine, water | ||
| Cơm rượu nếp pressed into square blocks | ||
| Incense, fresh flowers, fruits, votive paper, tea and wine | Vegetarian | |
South
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | ||
| Bánh ú Bá Trạng (bánh ú nước tro, alkaline water pyramid-shaped sticky rice cake) | Vegetarian | Pyramid-shaped, larger than the northern bánh tro |
| Chè trôi nước (glutinous rice balls in sweet soup) | Vegetarian | Served with sugar water and coconut milk |
| Tea, rice wine, water | ||
| Cơm rượu rolled into round balls | ||
| Fruit | ||
| Fruits, often including vải thiều (lychees) | Vegetarian | |
| Incense, lamps, candles | ||
| Incense, fresh flowers, votive paper | ||
Steps of the rite
- Laying out the offeringsArrange the offerings on the ancestors' altar
- Reciting the prayerLight incense and pray at the hour of the Horse
- Early in the morning, by custom, eat rượu nếp and fruits to "kill insects"
What is avoided
- ConductBáo Quốc tế and some guides note that on this day people avoid leaving shoes in disarray and avoid dropping money
The custom
According to Báo Văn Hóa, "Đoan" means beginning and "Ngọ" is the hour from 11 to 13, so many families offer incense at the hour of Ngọ; Vietnamese people also call it the mid-year Tết, falling at the end of the spring rice crop, as a thanksgiving to heaven, earth and ancestors.
By custom, early on the 5th day of the 5th month people eat fermented sticky rice and fruit to "kill the insects". Phan Kế Bính (1915) describes eating fermented sticky rice, boiled eggs, peaches, plums and watermelon that morning, and a feast for the ancestors at midday, noting that the Vietnamese keep the festival without making offerings to Khuất Nguyên (Qu Yuan).
Where the sources differ
- Báo Quốc tế, Báo Văn Hóa and some guides note the Central region's specific dishes are duck meat and chè kê; Buddhist guidance notes the Central region has bánh ú tro and chè kê in some localities
Questions
What is offered at Tết Đoan ngọ?
The ancestral tray at Tết Đoan ngọ usually holds rượu nếp (fermented sticky rice), bánh tro (ash-water rice cake), early-season fruit such as plums, lychees and watermelon, with incense, flowers, votive paper and water. The dishes differ from region to region.
What is on the Tết Đoan ngọ tray in the North?
The Đoan ngọ tray in the North has fermented nếp cái hoa vàng sticky rice (or black sticky rice), bánh gio eaten with sugarcane molasses, and seasonal fruit such as plums and lychees, with incense, fresh flowers and votive paper.
What is on the Tết Đoan ngọ tray in the Central region?
The Đoan ngọ tray in the Central region adds duck, since local people consider duck meat cooling; many localities have chè kê (millet sweet soup) eaten with sesame rice crackers; the fermented sticky rice is often pressed into square blocks.
What is on the Tết Đoan ngọ tray in the South?
Besides incense, flowers, fruit (often lychees) and fermented sticky rice, the Đoan ngọ tray in the South has two almost indispensable dishes, bánh ú Bá Trạng (pyramid sticky rice cake) and chè trôi nước (rice balls in sweet soup); the fermented rice is usually rolled into small balls.
At what hour is the Tết Đoan ngọ offering made?
By custom, the Tết Đoan ngọ offering is made at the hour of Ngọ (11 to 13) on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month; Phan Kế Bính (1915) also records that a feast for the ancestors is laid out at midday.
Whom is the Tết Đoan ngọ offering made to?
The household Đoan ngọ offering is made to the household deities and the ancestors: the prayer invites Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), Thổ địa (Earth God), Táo quân (Kitchen Gods) and other deities, then the ancestors of both sides, to receive the offerings.
Communities and regions
More about Offering ritual for Tết Đoan ngọ
Sources
- Văn khấn Tết Đoan Ngọ (vankhan.vn)
- Văn khấn Tết Đoan Ngọ mùng 5 tháng 5 (tuvi.vn)
- Cúng Tết Đoan Ngọ 2026: Văn khấn và lễ vật (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
- Tết Đoan Ngọ: Mâm cúng ba miền khác nhau thế nào? (baovanhoa.vn)
- Văn khấn Tết Đoan Ngọ (mùng 5 tháng 5 Âm lịch) (baoquocte.vn)
- Việt Nam phong tục, mục XII Tứ thời tiết lạp, Phan Kế Bính, 1915 (vi.wikisource.org)
- Tết Đoan ngọ: một nếp thương trong văn hóa Việt (phatgiao.org.vn)
Part of the open datasets Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
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