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Daily offering to Thần Tài (God of Wealth) and Thổ Địa (Earth God)

Also called: Cúng ông Địa, Xin lộc buôn bán, Thần Tài Ông Địa, Cúng Thần Tài mùng 1, ngày rằm

  • Household deities

Culture and belief A record of custom.

Prayer text for Daily offering to Thần Tài (God of Wealth) and Thổ Địa (Earth God)9 texts, kept in Vietnamese, with an English summary.

According to folk belief, Thần Tài (God of Wealth) is associated with money and business, while Ông Địa (Earth God) is associated with land and houses, so the two are worshipped together, especially in business households. The worship cabinet is placed low, close to the ground, in a corner of the house near the door, unlike the ancestors' altar which is placed high.

At a glance

When it is held
Daily when opening the shop for business; the first day of the lunar month, the fifteenth day of the lunar month, and the 10th of every month; the major ceremony is the vía Thần Tài (God of Wealth's feast day) on the 10th of the first lunar month
For whom
Thần Tài (God of Wealth) and Thổ Địa (Earth God, Ông Địa) are worshipped together in one cabinet; the prayer text also pays respect to Táo quân (Kitchen Gods), Tiền chủ (former owner), and Hậu chủ (later owner)
Where
Thần Tài altar

Each family and each region may do it differently.

The offering tray

Porcelain statues of Thần Tài and Ông Địa on either side of an incense bowl full of burnt sticks, a coil of incense above, and behind them a red tablet printed with Chinese characters and dragons.
An altar to Thần Tài and Ông Địa in a family home, 2022.Photo: Phương Huy, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
A wooden shrine on the floor lit by red lamps, with two white porcelain statues, an incense bowl, a row of small cups, a small lidded jar, a golden toad figure, a pomelo and yellow chrysanthemums.
An altar to Thần Tài and Ông Địa at a small eatery, 2022.Photo: Phương Huy, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Region:

Nationwide

When
Every morning before working or doing business; the first day of the lunar month (lễ Sóc) and the evening of the fifteenth day of the lunar month (lễ Vọng)
Where the offerings are set
The worship cabinet is placed low, close to the ground, in a corner of the house near the entrance
OfferingQuantityVegetarian or notNotes
Incense, lamps, candles
Daily: incense, a cup of clean waterVegetarianMay add flowers, fruit, cakes and candies
Sóc vọng (first and fifteenth days of the lunar month), vegetarian offering: incense, flowers, betel leaves and areca nuts, fruit, votive paperVegetarian
Meat and savoury dishes
Sóc vọng (first and fifteenth days of the lunar month), savory offering: wine, boiled chicken, boiled meat, roasted meat, bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake), xôi (steamed sticky rice)Meat or fishOptional. May offer additionally
Rice and salt
Three jars of rice, salt, waterVegetarianPlaced between the two statues, replaced only at the end of the year
Tea, rice wine, water
Five cups of water5VegetarianArranged in a cross or a horizontal row in front of the incense bowl, water changed daily
A bowl of water with scattered flower petalsPlaced at the very front

South

When
Ông Địa in the market stalls is offered coffee and cigarettes every morning by the stall owners (Thanh Niên)
Where the offerings are set
On the floor inside the house, facing the main door; Thần Tài is worshipped in the same place as Ông Địa (Earth God)
OfferingVegetarian or notNotes
Fruit
Chuối xiêm (Pisang Awak bananas)VegetarianRural Mekong Delta
Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes
Chè xôi nước (glutinous rice balls in ginger syrup)VegetarianRural Mekong Delta

Steps of the rite

  1. Laying out the offeringsThe Thần Tài statue is placed on the left, the Thổ Địa statue on the right, the tablet close to the central wall, the incense bowl in front of the tablet
  2. Laying out the offeringsFlower vase on the right, fruit plate on the left (from the outside looking in)
  3. Reciting the prayerChange the water, light incense, pray

Good to know

Used across Vietnam, Folk practice

  • CafeF notes that because the shrine sits at floor level, the floor around it is kept clean when sweeping or mopping, so that dust, dirty water and floor cleaner do not splash onto it
  • A feng shui expert answering in VnExpress says that when the incense bowl on the Thần Tài altar is full, the burnt stems are pulled out, and people usually leave 3 to 5 stems

Southern Vietnam, Folk practice

  • In some places in the Mekong Delta the host eats one banana before offering the bunch, following the tale that Ông Địa fears being poisoned

What is avoided

  • Do not move the incense bowl when cleaning
  • Do not use artificial fruit or wilted flowers

The custom

According to folklorist Huỳnh Ngọc Trảng (Tuổi Trẻ), until the late 19th century the Earth God (Thổ Thần) still served as the god of wealth, following the idea that earth gives rise to metal; the Thần Tài (God of Wealth) that Vietnamese families worship today only appeared in the 1920s and 1930s as commerce grew, is most widespread in the South, and is still worshipped together with Ông Địa (Earth God).

Cultural researcher Dương Hoàng Lộc (Thanh Niên) says that in the South, Thần Tài is widely worshipped in households, together with Ông Địa, placed on the floor inside the house facing the main door; Vietnamese belief about Thần Tài is partly influenced by the Chinese god of wealth.

Assoc. Prof. Nguyễn Thanh Tú (CafeF) explains that the shrine of Thần Tài and Ông Địa is placed at floor level first of all to set it apart from the ancestral altar, which stands high.

Questions

What is needed for the daily offering to Thần Tài?

The daily offering is simple: one or three incense sticks, a cup of clean water, fresh flowers if available, fruit or a few sweets (according to some guides). Many shopkeepers light incense in the morning before opening; a feng shui expert answering in VnExpress holds that where there is a Thần Tài altar, incense is lit every day.

What is Ông Địa usually offered in the Mekong Delta?

According to a Thanh Niên article on the rural Mekong Delta, Ông Địa is usually offered chuối xiêm bananas and chè xôi nước (glutinous rice balls in syrup); in some places the host eats one banana before making the offering. Ông Địa in the markets is offered coffee and cigarettes every morning.

Communities and regions

More about Daily offering to Thần Tài (God of Wealth) and Thổ Địa (Earth God)

Sources

  • Văn khấn Thần Tài, Thổ Địa hàng tháng (hoatieu.vn)
  • Cách sắp xếp bàn thờ Thần Tài Thổ Địa (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
  • Tại sao bàn thờ Thần Tài, Ông Địa thường đặt sát mặt đất? (cafef.vn)
  • Cửa hàng kinh doanh có cần cúng ngày ông Công, ông Táo? (vnexpress.net)
  • Ngày vía Thần tài: Ông là ai, bày mâm cúng thế nào để may mắn cả năm? (thanhnien.vn)
  • Vì sao ông Địa... luôn cười? (thanhnien.vn)
  • Bỗng lù lù đâu ra ông Thần Tài? (tuoitre.vn)

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

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