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Lễ chạm ngõ (first formal visit of the groom's family)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Dạm ngõ, Giạm ngõ, Lễ giạm, Nạp thái

Chạm ngõ is the first of the three marriage rites Vietnamese families usually keep: chạm ngõ, ăn hỏi (betrothal) and the wedding. By custom the groom's family announces to its ancestors, then brings betel and areca to the bride's family to ask for the engagement. Poor families sometimes skip this rite.

When
On a good day chosen by the two families once they agree on the marriage, before the betrothal
For whom
The household deities and ancestors of the groom's family (announced to before setting out), and those of the bride's family (the offerings brought over are placed on their altar)

Prayer text for the yết cáo (announcement) to the Gia Thần (household deities) and Gia tiên (ancestors) (on the occasion of a wedding)

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

What this prayer says

Prayer text for yết cáo (announcement) to the household deities and ancestors at a wedding, in which the tín chủ (the person making the offering) presents offerings to Hoàng thiên Hậu Thổ (Heaven and Earth), Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), Thổ địa (Earth God), Táo quân (Kitchen Gods) and the ancestors, asking them to witness the marriage of a son or daughter and praying for the young couple to have a hundred years of harmony and for the two families to be enduring. It is read during the whole wedding ceremony, once the marriage procedures are completed.

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

Fill in before the rite

Name, address and regional custom

Your name and address appear in the prayer below and are kept on this device only.

Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

4 more blanks

Lines that depend on the occasion

  • Sinh trai có vợ (nếu là nhà trai), Sinh gái có chồng (nếu là nhà gái): The groom's family reads the upper sentence, the bride's family reads the lower sentence.
  • con trai (con gái): Choose according to whether it is the groom's family or the bride's family.
Offerings, steps and what is avoided for this riteDates, offerings by region and how the rite is done, on the Vietnamese customs page.

The wording is kept exactly as published by the source. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.

Sources

  • Văn khấn khi cưới gả (vankhan.vn)
  • Văn khấn cưới gả yết cáo Gia thần, Gia tiên (tuvi.vn)

Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering prayers (văn cúng), licensed CC BY 4.0.

More prayer textsDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, life-cycle rites and regional rites.