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Cúng nhập trạch (moving into a new home)

Also called: Về nhà mới, Cúng về văn phòng mới, Thần Tài Thổ Địa về nhà mới, Lễ về nhà mới, Cúng tân gia, Dọn về nhà mới, Văn khấn nhập trạch

  • House and land

Culture and belief A record of custom.

Prayer text for Cúng nhập trạch (moving into a new home)3 texts, kept in Vietnamese, with an English summary.

By custom, on moving into a new home the head of the household first asks the local deities for leave to settle and to set up an incense bowl, then informs the ancestors that their altar has been moved; many families light the stove and boil water right after the prayer.

At a glance

When it is held
The day of moving into the new house, usually a day and hour are chosen
For whom
The deities governing the new dwelling (invoked first); ancestors (announced afterwards)
Where
A table or tray set up temporarily in the new house, facing a direction that suits the head of the household
Who makes the offering
head of the household

Each family and each region may do it differently.

The offering tray

Common offerings

Incense, lamps, candles

  • Hương (incense sticks)

Flowers

  • Hoa tươi (fresh flowers)

Tea, rice wine, water

  • Rượu trắng (white rice liquor)
  • Nước sạch (clean water)

Fruit

  • Trái cây (fruit)

Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes

  • Bánh kẹo (cakes and sweets)
  • Xôi (sticky rice)

Meat and savoury dishes

  • Thịt lợn (pork, preparation unspecified)
  • Gà (chicken, preparation unspecified)

Betel leaves and areca nuts

  • Trầu cau (betel leaf and areca nut)

Rice and salt

  • Gạo (rice)

Votive paper

  • Vàng mã (votive paper offerings)

Objects

  • Đồ dùng (household items)
  • Củi lửa (firewood, fire)
When
The day of moving to the new house; the move is made in the morning, at midday, or just after sunset
OfferingVegetarian or notNotes
Betel leaves and areca nuts
Betel leaves and areca nuts, incense, flowers, votive paperVegetarianRequired
Fruit
Seasonal fruit, cakes and sweetsVegetarian
Meat and savoury dishes
Savory offering tray: wine, meat, xôi (steamed sticky rice), chickenMeat or fish
Objects
A mat or cushion in useThe item carried into the house first
A fire source (gas stove, oil stove), broom, rice, waterVegetarian

Steps of the rite

  1. PreparationThe head of the household carries the tablets of the household deities and ancestors to the new house with his own hands; family members follow behind holding money and valuables
  2. Reciting the prayerLight incense in a temporary incense bowl and invoke the deities for permission to enter the house
  3. Light the stove and boil water (khai bếp, lighting the kitchen fire), brew tea to offer to the deities and ancestors
  4. Reciting the prayerAnnounce to the ancestors
  5. Arrange the belongings; when finished, hold a thank-offering rite

Good to know

  • VnExpress (Nguyễn Mạnh Linh) notes that the kitchen is finished before moving in; the incense bowl is usually filled 1 to 2 hours before the rite; rice and water are taken at the new home itself
  • According to VnExpress, when entering the new home everyone in the family carries something in rather than going in empty-handed

What is avoided

  • Avoid moving house in the evening
  • Do not use an electric stove as the stove for lighting the first fire
  • A pregnant woman should not move house
  • A person helping with the move who was born in the year of the Tiger should not hold things
  • If the nhập trạch (moving into a new house) day is taken but no one is living there yet, the head of the household sleeps there one night

The custom

According to VnExpress (Nguyễn Mạnh Linh, Institute of Urban Planning and Architecture, Hanoi University of Civil Engineering), nhập trạch is the rite of moving into a new home, for newly built and newly bought houses alike, a traditional rite alongside động thổ (groundbreaking) and cất nóc (roof-raising); performing it is to report to the deities and the Thổ Địa (Earth God) of the place where the house stands.

One guide notes that the head of the household personally carries the tablets of the household deities and ancestors to the new home, prays to the deities for permission to move in, then lights the stove and boils water to open the kitchen and make tea for the deities and ancestors.

Where the sources differ

  • Who may move into the new home: some guides say pregnant women should not move house and helpers should not be born in the Year of the Tiger; VnExpress (Nguyễn Mạnh Linh) says family members of any age may enter, with no taboo

Questions

What is the nhập trạch rite?

It is the rite of moving into a new home, held for newly built and newly bought houses alike, to report to the deities and the Thổ Địa (Earth God) of the place where the house stands (VnExpress). The owner first prays to the deities for permission to move in, then informs the ancestors (according to some guides).

What goes on the nhập trạch offering tray?

One guide notes that the tray for the deities and ancestors holds betel and areca, incense, flowers, votive paper, seasonal fruit and sweets, plus a savoury tray of rice wine, meat, xôi and chicken; a sleeping mat, a stove, a broom, rice and water are also carried into the new home. VnExpress notes the offerings need not be elaborate: fresh flowers, fresh fruit and water, with rice and water taken at the new home itself.

Communities and regions

More about Cúng nhập trạch (moving into a new home)

Sources

  • Văn khấn lễ nhập trạch (vankhan.vn)
  • Hướng dẫn cúng về nhà mới (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
  • Nhập trạch nhà mới thế nào cho đúng (vnexpress.net)

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.