Sám cầu an (I)

Lễ cầu an đầu năm (New Year prayer for peace and safety). From Tết Nguyên đán (Lunar New Year) to the full moon of the first lunar month; in Huế it is held in a spread-out way from the 2nd day of Tết

  • Southern Vietnam
  • Buddhist
  • Buddhist repentance text or verse (sám, kệ)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Sám cầu an (I), a penitential chant recited in the pagoda ceremony, bowing to the Buddha and praying for the donor and relatives to be peaceful, long-lived, and blessed; it praises Quan Âm for saving beings from suffering and urges reciting the Bodhisattva's name so that disasters may pass. Chanted throughout the ceremony.

The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.

Fill in before the rite

The prayer below is ready to read.

Your regional custom

This text is the version from the South.

How it differs from the common version

This sám is in lục bát verse, recited during the pagoda's cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) ceremony, without stating name, age, or address; it prays to Quan Âm to protect the tín chủ (the person making the offering) and family members, and recounts twelve vows.

The common version: Prayer text to the Buddha (pagoda ceremony for cầu an (prayer for peace and safety) at the beginning of the year)

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Lễ cầu an đầu năm (New Year prayer for peace and safety)

Other texts for Lễ cầu an đầu năm (New Year prayer for peace and safety)

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.