Lễ hóa vàng (rite of burning votive paper)
Also called: Cúng tiễn ông bà, Cúng đưa ông bà, Lễ tạ năm mới, Mãn Tết, Cúng tiễn ông vải, Lễ tạ âm cảnh, Cúng tất, Cúng hóa vàng tổ tiên, Lễ tạ ông vải
- Lunar New Year (Tết)
Culture and belief A record of custom.
By custom, when Tết ends the family prepares a tray of rice to thank the deities, sees off the ancestors, and then burns the votive paper that has been placed on the altar during the Tết days. The day of the rite and its name vary from place to place.
At a glance
- When it is held
- The 3rd day of the first lunar month for most households; in some places the 2nd, 4th, 5th or 7th day
- For whom
- The ancestors, who are seen off after Tết; the deities of the house
- Where
- Ancestral altar, Buddha altar, Lineage hall
Each family and each region may do it differently.
The offering tray
Incense, lamps, candles
- Hương (incense sticks)
- Nến (candles)
Flowers
- Hoa tươi (fresh flowers)
Tea, rice wine, water
- Nước sạch (clean water)
- Rượu trắng (white rice liquor)
Fruit
- Mâm ngũ quả (five-fruit tray)
- Mía (sugarcane)
Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes
- Bánh kẹo (cakes and sweets)
- Savory offering tray: xôi (steamed sticky rice), chicken, bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake) or bánh tét (cylindrical sticky rice cake), Tết dishes
Betel leaves and areca nuts
- Trầu cau (betel leaf and areca nut)
Votive paper
- Vàng mã (votive paper offerings)
Nationwide
Folk practice
- When
- The 3rd day of the first lunar month for most households
- Where the offerings are set
- The ancestors' altar; the votive paper is burned in an open place
| Offering | Quantity | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incense, lamps, candles | |||
| Incense, flowers, water, five-fruit tray | Vegetarian | Required | |
| Betel leaves and areca nuts | |||
| Betel leaves and areca nuts, wine, lamps and candles, cakes and sweets | Vegetarian | ||
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | |||
| Savory offering tray: xôi (steamed sticky rice), chicken, bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake) or bánh tét (cylindrical sticky rice cake), Tết dishes | Meat or fish | If the offering is savory, there is a rooster | |
| Votive paper | |||
| Votive paper that has been placed on the altar during the Tết days | |||
| Fruit | |||
| Sugarcane | two stalks | Vegetarian | By custom, so that the ancestors have a staff to lean on and a carrying pole |
Buddhist
- When
- The 3rd day of Tết, at the hour of Ngọ according to the prayer text in Buddhist guidance
- Customary hour
- the hour of Ngọ (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.)
- Where the offerings are set
- The Buddha altar and the ancestors' altar; a separate offering tray may be added
| Offering | Vegetarian or not |
|---|---|
| Incense, lamps, candles | |
| Buddha altar: incense and flowers, fruit, lamps and candles, vegetarian food (rice, xôi, chè, cakes and candied fruit) | Vegetarian |
| Ancestors' altar: incense and flowers, lamps and candles, betel leaves and areca nuts, tea, water, cakes and sweets, fruit | Vegetarian |
| Vegetarian dishes | |
| Tết offering tray, preferably a vegetarian tray | Vegetarian |
North
- When
- Usually the 3rd or 4th day of the first lunar month; after giao thừa many households keep offering meals to the ancestors every day until the burning
| Offering | Vegetarian or not |
|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | |
| A feast of at least 4 bowls and 4 plates, not counting xôi and dipping sauce; well-off families have 6 bowls and 6 plates or 8 bowls and 8 plates, sometimes stacked in 2 to 3 tiers | Meat or fish |
| Dishes on plates: chicken, pork, nem thính (cured pork with toasted rice powder), giò lụa (pork roll); also possibly head-cheese roll, jellied meat, chả, kohlrabi salad, water-celery salad and stir-fries | Meat or fish |
| Dishes in bowls: simmered and stewed dishes, glass-noodle soup, meatball soup, steamed-braised dishes | Meat or fish |
Central
Hội An, Folk practice
- When
- Around the 4th or 5th day of the first lunar month, called cúng đưa ông bà (offering to see off the ancestors)
Folk practice
| Offering | Vegetarian or not |
|---|---|
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | |
| Bánh tét wrapped very tightly with mung-bean filling, keeping for almost a month | Meat or fish |
| Vegetarian dishes | |
| Pickles of dried papaya, white radish and carrot soaked in fish sauce | Vegetarian |
| Meat and savoury dishes | |
| Beef and pork soaked in fish sauce; tré (fermented pork), chả and nem | Meat or fish |
South
- When
- Usually after the 3rd day: the 4th, 6th or 8th; the cúng tất is not held on the 5th
| Offering | Vegetarian or not |
|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | |
| Chicken rice porridge, rice and soup, braised dishes, boiled dishes, cakes and fruit | Meat or fish |
| Stewed bitter melon | Meat or fish |
| Vegetarian dishes | |
| Pork braised in coconut water, eaten with pickled bean sprouts, mixed pickles, pickled scallion bulbs and dried shrimp | Meat or fish |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | |
| Bánh tét (cylindrical sticky rice cake) | Meat or fish |
| Votive paper | |
| Votive paper: clothes, hats, sandals and parasols for the ancestors | |
Steps of the rite
Used across Vietnam, Folk practice
- Reciting the prayerOffering the tray of rice to see off the ancestors
- Burning votive paperBurning the paper money of the household deities first, of the ancestors afterwards
- Burning votive paperVotive paper for those who died during the year is burned separately
- Burning votive paperHolding the two stalks of sugarcane over the embers of the votive paper
- Burning votive paperWhen the burning is done, a few drops of the offered wine are sprinkled on the embers
- Sharing the blessed offeringsThe descendants eat the meal of the hóa vàng rite
Used across Vietnam, Buddhist
- Lighting incenseArranging the offerings, lighting candles, lighting incense at the Buddha altar and the ancestors' altar
- Reciting the prayerJoining the palms in prayer
Central Vietnam, Hội An, Folk practice
- Offering to see off the ancestors, regarded as the end of Tết
Good to know
Used across Vietnam, Buddhist
- Housing (apartments, rented homes)Offerings are not set low on the floor or the ground
Southern Vietnam, Folk practice
- On a large scale the clan holds it at the ancestral hall, with the branches cooking together and then feasting
What is avoided
Used across Vietnam, Folk practice
- ConductDuring the Tết days the lamp and incense on the altar are kept from going out until the thank-offering rite
Used across Vietnam, Buddhist
- OfferingsLimiting the burning of votive paper (an article in Tuổi Trẻ citing Buddhist guidance)
- OfferingsThe temple's offering guide: no killing of animals and no burning of paper money, votive paper or petitions
Southern Vietnam, Folk practice
- TimingThe cúng tất is not held on the 5th, avoided like the 5th, 14th and 23rd days
The custom
In folk belief, as the offering on the afternoon of the 30th welcomes the ancestors home for Tết, the hóa vàng (burning of votive paper) rite sees them off and closes the Tết days; the votive paper placed on the altar during Tết is burned in this rite.
Each region has its own name: the North calls it the offering of hóa vàng to the ancestors, the Centre calls it the farewell to the grandparents, and the South calls it cúng tất. The day differs by place and by household; most families hold it on the 3rd day.
Where the sources differ
- Day of the rite: the 3rd day (VTC News, Báo Hà Tĩnh, some guides); the 3rd day, in some places the 4th (Báo Pháp luật TP. Hồ Chí Minh); from the 4th day onward, formerly the 7th (another guide); the 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 7th day, the khai hạ day (Báo Đại biểu Nhân dân); some households keep it until the 10th day (VTC News)
- Phan Kế Bính (Việt Nam phong tục, 1915) records the burning on the 4th day; if that day is inauspicious or falls on the head of the household's birth-sign day it is done a day earlier or later; some households wait until the 7th, calling it the farewell to the ancestors
Questions
On which day is the hóa vàng offering made?
Most households do it on the 3rd day of the first lunar month; some places on the 2nd, 4th or 7th, and some households wait until the 10th. In the North it is usually the 3rd or 4th; in Hội An around the 4th or 5th; in the South the cúng tất usually comes after the 3rd, on the 4th, 6th or 8th, never the 5th. For Tết Đinh Mùi, the 3rd day is 8 February 2027 (8/2/2027).
What does the hóa vàng offering tray include?
The offerings are like those for the ancestors: a five-fruit tray, incense and flowers, votive paper, lamps and candles, betel and areca, wine, tea, bánh chưng or bánh tét and a savoury or vegetarian feast of Tết dishes; a savoury feast includes a rooster. Many households add two stalks of sugarcane, by custom as walking sticks or carrying poles for the ancestors.
How is the hóa vàng rite carried out?
A meal is offered to see off the ancestors; when the incense has burned out, the head of the family bows to ask permission to take the votive paper away to burn. The household deities' paper money is burned first and the ancestors' after, paper goods after the paper money, and the votive paper for someone who died recently is burned separately. Afterwards a few drops of the offered wine are sprinkled, the two stalks of sugarcane are held over the embers, and the offerings are taken down for the descendants to share.
What is on the 3rd-day Tết offering tray in the South?
In the South the farewell to the ancestors is called cúng tất; the offering tray usually has pork braised in coconut water with pickled bean sprouts, mixed pickles, pickled scallion bulbs and dried shrimp, stewed bitter melon and bánh tét, along with chicken porridge, rice and soup, braised and boiled dishes, cakes and fruit. Families burn paper clothes, hats, sandals and parasols for the ancestors.
Can the hóa vàng offering be vegetarian?
Yes: the hóa vàng feast may be savoury or vegetarian. The Buddhist guidance uses a vegetarian feast and limits burning votive paper, replacing it with good deeds whose merit is dedicated to the ancestors.
Communities and regions
More about Lễ hóa vàng (rite of burning votive paper)
- Festival customsWhen Is the Votive Paper Burning Ceremony to See Off Ancestors After Tet, and What Should You Prepare?
- Festival customsTet worship rituals in northern Vietnam from the 23rd of the 12th lunar month to the vang ma burning rite: sequence, offerings and meaning
- Festival customsTết Rites in Southern Vietnam: Welcoming the Ancestors, the Giao Thừa Offering, Tết Nhà on the Third and the Farewell
Sources
- Văn khấn lễ tạ năm mới (vankhan.vn)
- Lễ Tết Nguyên đán (Lễ đầu năm mới) (vankhan.vn)
- Lễ hóa vàng đầu năm mới là gì? (vtcnews.vn)
- Lễ vật 'hóa vàng' mùng 3 tết Tân Sửu 2021 (plo.vn, Báo Pháp luật TP. Hồ Chí Minh)
- Nghi lễ và thực hành nghi lễ cổ truyền dịp Tết (daibieunhandan.vn)
- Văn khấn mùng 3 Tết Bính Ngọ 2026: hóa vàng, cúng gia tiên, Thần Tài, ông vải (baohatinh.vn)
- Việt Nam phong tục, mục XII Tứ thời tiết lạp, Phan Kế Bính, 1915 (vi.wikisource.org)
- Cúng đưa ông bà mùng 3 Tết: 7 lưu ý cho đúng chánh pháp (tuoitre.vn)
- “Cúng tất” trong ngày Tết cổ truyền ở ba miền (Pháp Luật TP.HCM, tuoitre.vn/plo)
- Mâm cúng giao thừa 3 miền gồm những gì? Chuyên gia văn hóa giải đáp chi tiết (thanhnien.vn)
- Tết của người Hội An (vnexpress.net)
Part of the open datasets Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
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