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Year-end thanksgiving ceremony at đền, chùa, đình, phủ

Also called: Trả lễ cuối năm, Tạ lễ, Trả lễ tạ ơn, Cúng trả lễ

  • Pagodas, communal houses, temples and shrines

Culture and belief A record of custom.

Prayer text for Year-end thanksgiving ceremony at đền, chùa, đình, phủ7 texts, kept in Vietnamese, with an English summary.

According to folk belief, if at the beginning of the year one called upon and sought blessings at a particular đền or phủ, then at the end of the year one returns to that place to perform a thanksgiving ceremony. This ceremony is different from the tạ đất (thanksgiving to the earth) at home and the tạ mộ (thanksgiving at the graves) at the end of the year.

At a glance

When it is held
In the twelfth lunar month, before Tết Nguyên đán (Lunar New Year)
For whom
The deities worshipped at the place where one made offerings at the beginning of the year: Thánh Mẫu (Holy Mother) and the deities of Tứ Phủ (Four Palaces), Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), and the Buddhas at the Tam Bảo (Three Jewels) altar
Who makes the offering
The person who made offerings at the beginning of the year, preparing the offerings and praying themselves

Each family and each region may do it differently.

The offering tray

Region:

Nationwide

Where the offerings are set
Đền, phủ, đình, miếu, chùa where one made offerings and sought blessings at the beginning of the year
OfferingQuantityVegetarian or notNotes
Incense, lamps, candles
Vegetarian offerings: incense, flowers, tea, fruit, phẩm oản (rice cakes)VegetarianOffered at the altar of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; can also be offered at the altar of Thánh Mẫu, in which case votive paper is added
Offerings for the Cô altar and Cậu altar: oản (sticky rice cakes), flowers and fruit, incense and lamps, hia hài (shoes), nón áo (hats and clothes), mirror and comb, small toysVegetarian
Meat and savoury dishes
Cooked savory offerings: chicken, giò (Vietnamese pork roll), chả (Vietnamese sausage), xôi (steamed sticky rice)Meat or fishOffered at the Công Đồng (Ngũ vị quan lớn, the five great mandarins) altar at đền and phủ
Raw offerings: duck eggs, raw chicken eggs, rice, salt, a piece of raw pork scored into five parts, votive paper and gold5 duck eggs, 2 chicken eggs, 1 piece of meatMeat or fishAccording to some guides, offered to quan Ngũ Hổ, Bạch Xà, Thanh Xà at the lower altar of Công Đồng Tứ Phủ
Sơn Trang savory offerings: crab, snail, eel, chili, lemon; some places add xôi chè nếp cẩm (black sticky rice with sweet soup)prepared in the number 15Meat or fishAccording to some guides, divided among the 15 deities at the Sơn Trang altar
Offerings for Thành hoàng and Thư điền: boiled pork leg, xôi (steamed sticky rice), wine, votive paper and goldMeat or fish
Objects
Sớ (petition), prayer textPlaced on a small plate or on the offering tray

North

đền Bảo Hà (Lào Cai), phủ Tây Hồ (Hà Nội), đền Bắc Lệ (Lạng Sơn), Mother Goddess worship (Tứ Phủ)

When
On days in the twelfth lunar month, close to Tết
Where the offerings are set
The đền and phủ worshipping the Mother Goddess and the deities of Tứ Phủ in northern Vietnam that the worshipper visited at the beginning of spring

South

Southeast, Hoa (ethnic Chinese in Vietnam), chùa Quan Đế, Chợ Lớn (TP. Hồ Chí Minh), Folk practice

When
Borrowing lộc on the full moon of the first lunar month (Tết Nguyên tiêu), returning it at the end of the year
Where the offerings are set
Chùa Quan Đế (the guild hall of the Teochew Chinese community) in Chợ Lớn
OfferingVegetarian or notNotes
Fruit
Mandarin oranges and red lì xì envelopesVegetarianRequired. The pagoda prepares them for visitors to borrow at the start of the year; at the end of the year the borrower brings mandarin oranges to return them

Steps of the rite

Used across Vietnam, Folk practice

  1. First, present offerings at the altar of Thổ địa (Earth God) and to the temple keeper to announce one's arrival to perform the ceremony
  2. Arrange the offerings on the tray or platter of the place of worship; hold the offerings with both hands, placing them from the main altar to the outermost altar
  3. After placing the offerings, light incense, lighting from the inside out, with an odd number of sticks, usually three sticks; raise the incense to forehead level, bow three times, then plant it
  4. Ring the bell three times, then pray; if there is a sớ, hold the sớ plate to eyebrow level and bow three times
  5. Perform the ceremony from the main altar to the outermost altar; the Cô altar and Cậu altar are usually worshipped last
  6. When one incense stick has burned, bow three times at each altar, take down the sớ and prayer text to burn first, then take down the offerings from the outer altar to the main altar

Northern Vietnam, đền Bảo Hà (Lào Cai), phủ Tây Hồ (Hà Nội), đền Bắc Lệ (Lạng Sơn), Mother Goddess worship (Tứ Phủ)

  1. Returning to the temple (đền) or phủ (Mother Goddess shrine) where prayers were made in early spring to offer incense and a thank-offering

Southeast, Hoa (ethnic Chinese in Vietnam), chùa Quan Đế, Chợ Lớn (TP. Hồ Chí Minh), Folk practice

  1. On the full moon of the first lunar month, visitors borrow the pagoda's mandarin oranges and red lì xì envelopes to take home
  2. At the end of the year, the borrower brings mandarin oranges to return them, regarded as a thank-offering to the deities and sages

What is avoided

  • Dress neatly and politely when entering a place of worship
  • Do not take photos or record videos without permission; keep one's words and attitude proper (according to VOH)
  • Offerings at the Cô altar and Cậu altar such as mirrors and combs are left at the place of worship, not taken home (according to some guides)

Where the sources differ

  • One guide writes that at pagodas worshipping the Buddha there is no custom of borrowing and repaying; going to worship at the end of the year is only to give thanks; the thanksgiving ceremony is considered a necessary practice at đình, đền, miếu, phủ. VOH groups chùa, đền, phủ together in one statement: wherever one sought blessings and prayed for peace, there one repays the ceremony at the end of the year.

Communities and regions

Sources

  • Văn khấn tạ lễ cuối năm ở Đền, đình, chùa, miếu phủ (hoatieu.vn)
  • Lễ tạ cuối năm, cúng trả lễ như thế nào? (voh.com.vn)
  • Cuối năm đi chùa lễ tạ (vnexpress.net, 13/1/2014)
  • Viếng chùa Quan Đế ở Chợ Lớn (Báo Thanh tra, thanhtra.com.vn)

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

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