Prayer text to the spirits at the old grave before Cải Cát
Cải táng, bốc mộ (reburial, exhumation). After the three-year mourning period ends or a few more years; also done when the grave must be repaired or moved
- Used across Vietnam
- Folk practice
- Address to the deities
Culture and belief A record of custom.
What this prayer says
Prayer to the spirits at the old grave before the reburial, bowing to Hoàng Thiên Hậu Thổ, the spirits governing the cemetery, the local Thổ thần, Long Mạch and the spirits, asking permission to break ground and open the grave within the grave area and to keep the area peaceful.
The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.
Fill in before the rite
Your name and address appear in the prayer below and are kept on this device only.
Showing the version used across Vietnam.
7 more blanks
How it differs from the common version
How this text differs from the original: the present wording bows to Hoàng Thiên Hậu Thổ and the deity managing the cemetery, asks permission for động thổ (groundbreaking) and opening the grave; it adds a promise to keep things clean, not to encroach on neighbouring graves, and to restore the ground. The page says households following other traditions may omit the invocation of the Buddha.
The common version: Prayer text to Long Mạch, Sơn Thần and Thổ Thần (before and after moving the grave)
Offerings and how the rite is done
Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Cải táng, bốc mộ (reburial, exhumation)
Other texts for Cải táng, bốc mộ (reburial, exhumation)
- Folk practice, At the graveLễ Cải Cát (transferring the remains into a small urn, repairing the grave, moving the grave): prayer before the grave
- Folk practice, Address to the deitiesPrayer text to Long Mạch, Sơn Thần and Thổ Thần (before and after moving the grave)
- Folk practice, Address to the ancestorsPrayer text announcing to the ancestors before going to Cải Cát
- Folk practice, At the gravePrayer text to the hương linh (spirit of the deceased) when transferring the remains into a small urn and moving the grave
- Folk practice, Closing thanks and burning of votive paperPrayer text for the thank-offering after completing Cải Cát and repairing the grave
- Buddhist, At the graveVăn bạch (spoken petition) for the offering at the grave before sang cát (bốc mộ) and moving the grave
- Buddhist, Closing thanks and burning of votive paperVăn bạch (spoken petition) for the thank-offering at home after sang cát (bốc mộ) and moving the grave
- Folk practice, Address to the deitiesPrayer text to deities at the grave (for tảo mộ, repairing the grave, bốc mộ)
Collected text. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.
Part of the open dataset Vietnamese offering prayers (văn cúng), licensed CC BY 4.0.
More prayer textsDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, life-cycle rites and regional rites.Open