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Cúng rằm tháng Chạp (full moon of the twelfth lunar month offering)

Also called: Rằm tháng 12 âm lịch, Rằm cuối năm

  • Lunar New Year (Tết)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

Prayer text for Cúng rằm tháng Chạp (full moon of the twelfth lunar month offering)2 texts, kept in Vietnamese, with an English summary.

The full moon of the twelfth lunar month is the last full moon of the lunar year. By custom, the family prepares the offering and prays to deities first, then to ancestors, using the form of the monthly full-moon prayer text.

At a glance

When it is held
The 15th day of the twelfth lunar month, can be offered from the 14th day
This year (2026)
Next year (2027)
For whom
Deities, Thổ Công (Earth God of the house) and ancestors
Where
Thổ Công altar, Ancestral altar
Who makes the offering
The eldest person, the eldest son, or a person of standing in the household

Lunar calendar

Each family and each region may do it differently.

The offering tray

Common offerings

Incense, lamps, candles

  • Vegetarian offering: incense, flowers, fruit, betel leaves and areca nuts, clean water, candles or oil lamps

Meat and savoury dishes

  • Savory offering: boiled rooster, xôi (steamed sticky rice) or bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake), giò chả (Vietnamese sausage), fried spring rolls, a stir-fried dish, soup, rice wine
When
The 15th day of the twelfth lunar month; some guides note it can be offered from the 14th day
OfferingVegetarian or not
Incense, lamps, candles
Vegetarian offering: incense, flowers, fruit, betel leaves and areca nuts, clean water, candles or oil lampsVegetarian
Meat and savoury dishes
Savory offering: boiled rooster, xôi (steamed sticky rice) or bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake), giò chả (Vietnamese sausage), fried spring rolls, a stir-fried dish, soup, rice wineMeat or fish

Steps of the rite

  1. Laying out the offeringsArrange the offerings
  2. Reciting the prayerPray to deities and Thổ Công first
  3. Reciting the prayerInvoke the ancestors afterwards

What is avoided

  • TimingNot too early or too late: apart from the 14th and 15th the rite is not held on other days; it is not held late at night
  • ConductAccording to VOH, on the full-moon day and throughout the twelfth lunar month folk custom avoids quarrels, picking up dropped money, borrowing and lending, and breaking things

The custom

The full moon of the twelfth lunar month falls on the 15th day of the 12th lunar month, the last full moon of the year. According to VOH, it is seen as the offering that closes the year, thanking the deities and remembering the ancestors, so it is usually prepared more carefully than an ordinary full moon; some guides count it among the three big year-end rites, with the send-off of Táo quân and the year-end offering.

Questions

Which day is the full moon of the twelfth lunar month?

The full moon of the twelfth lunar month is the 15th day of the 12th lunar month, the last full moon of the year; in the Bính Ngọ year it falls on 22 January 2027 (22/1/2027).

On which day and at what time is the full-moon offering of the twelfth month made?

According to VOH, Vietnamese usually make the offering on the 15th of the twelfth lunar month itself; if busy, on the 14th, neither too early nor too late; preferably in the daytime or early evening before dark, not late at night.

What is offered at the full moon of the twelfth lunar month?

According to VOH, the tray may be vegetarian, savoury or both. One guide lists the vegetarian offering as incense, flowers, fruit, betel leaves and areca nuts, clean water, candles or an oil lamp; the savoury one has boiled chicken, bánh chưng or xôi, giò or chả and a few other savoury dishes.

Who is prayed to first at the full-moon offering of the twelfth month?

According to VTC News, there are two prayer texts following the book "Văn khấn cổ truyền Việt Nam": the deities and Thổ Công (Earth God of the house) are prayed to first, then the ancestors.

Communities and regions

Sources

  • Văn khấn rằm tháng Chạp, mâm cúng và những điều kiêng kỵ (voh.com.vn)
  • Văn khấn Rằm tháng Chạp (hoatieu.vn)
  • Văn khấn cúng rằm tháng Chạp (vtcnews.vn)

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

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