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Offering on the 2nd and 16th of every month

Also called: Cúng cô hồn hằng tháng của người buôn bán, Cúng ngoài sân, Cúng cô hồn mùng 2, 16

  • First and fifteenth of the lunar month

Culture and belief A record of custom.

Prayer text for Offering on the 2nd and 16th of every month4 texts, kept in Vietnamese, with an English summary.

According to many guides, offering to wandering spirits on the 2nd and 16th of every month is a custom of traders, especially in the South: setting out a tray of congee, rice and salt in the yard, in front of the shop.

At a glance

When it is held
The 2nd and 16th of the lunar calendar every month, usually in the late afternoon and evening
For whom
Wandering spirits, souls without a place to rely on; deities of the place of business
Where
In the yard, in front of the house, shop, company
Who makes the offering
Small traders, business households

Each family and each region may do it differently.

The offering tray

South

Traders and shopkeepers, Folk practice, Offering to wandering spirits

When
The 2nd and 16th of the lunar calendar every month
OfferingQuantityVegetarian or notNotes
Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes
Thin plain congee12 bowls, in some places 5 to 7 bowlsVegetarian
Cakes and candies, slab sugar, xôi (steamed sticky rice) or chè, puffed rice, potatoes, boiled corn, sugarcaneVegetarian
Rice and salt
Rice, saltone plateVegetarian
Tea, rice wine, water
waterthree cupsVegetarian
Incense, lamps, candles
Incense, two candles
Votive paper
Paper money and votive paper, clothes for sentient beings
Fruit
Fruit, flowers, betel leaves and areca nutsVegetarian
Meat and savoury dishes
Chicken, roast pigMeat or fishDepending on means, the tray at a shop or company is usually fuller than the tray at home

Steps of the rite

  1. Set out the tray in the yard
  2. Light incense, read the prayer text
  3. Burn votive paper together with the prayer text sheet
  4. Scatter rice and salt

Communities and regions

Sources

  • Cúng cô hồn hàng tháng, bài văn khấn (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
  • Cúng cô hồn miền Nam và miền Bắc (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
  • Cúng cô hồn cần gì? Hướng dẫn chuẩn bị và thực hiện (didongviet.vn)

Part of the open datasets Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.

More ritesDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, the life cycle, village and ethnic rites.