Văn tế cô hồn làng An Thành (Tế cô hồn)

Tế âm linh (offering to wandering souls). In Huế: the 23rd day of the fifth lunar month; at communal houses in the central region: incorporated into the spring and autumn tế ceremonies, the full moon of the seventh lunar month, or Thanh minh

  • Huế
  • làng An Thành, Thừa Thiên Huế
  • Village communal-house rites
  • Sacrificial oration
  • Sino-Vietnamese reading

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Prayer text for the wandering spirits of An Thành village, read at the offering to wandering spirits; it addresses the local wandering spirits, the ten categories of wandering spirits, and the wandering spirits of wartime, mourns those who died without names or anyone to worship them, and invites them to receive the offerings.

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 Centre.

How it differs from the common version

It lists three categories of cô hồn (local, ten kinds, and those of the present war) without the phrase "Cảm cáo vu"; the body opens with "Viết ô hô!", recounting men and women, scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, and mentions both Champa and ancient Viet cô hồn; it ends with "Thượng hưởng".

The common version: Văn tế nghĩa trủng làng Mỹ Lợi (Nghĩa trủng văn)

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Tế âm linh (offering to wandering souls)

Other texts for Tế âm linh (offering to wandering souls)

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

Sources

  • Trích tuyển văn tế làng xã Thừa Thiên Huế, Phần thứ ba: Văn tế trong các lễ cúng kỵ hàng năm. Chuyên đề của Tạp chí Nghiên cứu và Phát triển, số 7 (141), 2017 (vjol.info.vn)

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.