Cải táng, bốc mộ (reburial, exhumation)

Northern Vietnam, Folk practice

When

After three years of mourning end, or a few more years

Where the offerings are set

The từ đường (family ancestral house), the old grave, and the plot where the new grave is placed

Who makes the offering

The children of the deceased

Offerings

Steps

1. The day before, a lễ cáo (announcement rite) is held at the từ đường
2. On the day of reburial, prayers are offered to Thổ công (Earth God of the house) at the place of the new grave; before and after moving the grave, prayers are offered to Long mạch, Sơn thần, Thổ thần at the old and the new places
3. Open the grave, gather the bones and arrange them in the tiểu sành, sprinkle nước vang
4. Cover it very tightly, not letting sunlight enter
5. Take it to be buried in another plot; a reburied grave is mounded in a round shape (a hung táng grave is mounded in a square shape)

Things to avoid

• When opening the grave, if one encounters a golden snake, red silk threads wrapped around the coffin, or a warm dry grave pit, or water pooling like milk, it is considered a grave that has kết phát (gathered auspicious energy), and it must be filled in at once

North Central Coast, Nghệ Tĩnh, Thanh Chương, Folk practice

When

After being buried for more than 3 years

Where the offerings are set

The common cemetery of the clan branch

Who makes the offering

The family members of the clan branch

Steps

1. Exhume the grave and bring the remains up to the clan branch's own plot in the cemetery
2. Arrange the graves by rank: ancestors in the top row, a wife's grave beside her husband's (men on the left, women on the right), then the later generations

Things to avoid

• A person who committed suicide may not be buried in the clan's common cemetery

Southern Vietnam, Folk practice

Steps

1. According to the newspaper article, the South does not have the custom of cải táng: the deceased is buried once, and the remains are not exhumed into a tiểu

Used across Vietnam, Buddhist

When

The earlier rites are held 7 to 10 days before the day of exhumation, at least 3 days; the hour for digging and lowering into the grave depends on what the family arranges

Where the offerings are set

The old grave, the new grave plot, and before the altar at home

Who makes the offering

The family does it themselves; one should go to the pagoda to hold a cầu siêu (prayer for the dead) rite beforehand

Offerings

Steps

1. Offer prayers at the old grave, announce the chosen day of exhumation, and invite the spirit to come home to hear the sutras
2. Offering at the plot of land where the new grave is placed
3. Offering at home
4. Offering before the hour of digging the grave
5. Offering at the lowering of the coffin into the grave at the new grave
6. Thank-offering at home after completion
7. Each session: nguyện hương (incense invocation), văn bạch (spoken petition), lễ tán Phật (praise of the Buddha), tụng kinh (sutra chanting), phục nguyện (renewal of vows), hồi hướng (dedication of merit), tam tự quy (three refuges)

Where the sources differ

• Hour for bốc mộ (exhumation): folk custom exhumes at night and covers the remains so that no sunlight reaches the bones (Việt Nam phong tục; phatgiao.org.vn recounts that notion); two pagoda pages say it is not necessarily done at night, and that there is no need to make much of choosing the hour, year, month, or direction.