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Cúng căn (age-milestone offering) at 3, 6, 9, 12 years old

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Cúng đốt, Cúng dứt căn, Cúng căn

According to guide pages, cúng căn is the ceremony following the cúng Mụ (offering to the Midwife Goddesses) for đầy tháng and thôi nôi, thanking the 12 Bà Mụ for protecting the child through each age milestone. The 12-year-old time is called dứt căn, the last cúng Mụ.

When
In the years the child turns 3, 6, 9 and 12 years old, around the lunar birthday
For whom
The 12 Bà Mụ (Midwife Goddesses) and Đức Ông; if the house has altars, also offer to Buddha, deities, and ancestors

Prayer text for cúng căn at 6 years old

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

What this prayer says

Prayer text for the cúng căn ceremony for a child who has reached 6 years old, offering to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, the Midwife Goddesses and the honored deities, giving thanks for protecting the child and asking for blessings so the child eats well and sleeps peacefully, eats much and grows quickly, is free from illness and misfortune, is bright and intelligent, and the family is peaceful and well. Recited during the cúng căn ceremony for 6 years old, before the altar.

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

  • bé tròn 6 tuổi: Change the age number according to the cúng căn milestone: 3, 6, 9 or 12 years old. The version on xoichesaigon.com writes 'bé tròn 3,6,9,12 tuổi'.

Offerings and how the rite is done

As commonly practised and recorded by the sources. Each family and each region may do it differently.

Used across Vietnam, Folk practice

When
In the years the child turns 3, 6, 9, 12 years old; the 12-year-old time is called dứt căn, held on a larger scale
Who makes the offering
Grandparents or parents

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
Mâm ngũ quả (five-fruit tray), vase of flowers, nhang (incense), pair of candles, rice, salt
Trầu cau têm cánh phượng (betel leaves and areca nuts folded in phoenix-wing shape)12 small portions and 1 large portion
Tea, wine, water3 cups of each kind
Boiled chicken with crossed wings or roasted pigvegetarian households may make a vegetarian tray
xôi (steamed sticky rice)12 small portions and 1 large portion
Chè (sweet soup)12 small portions and 1 large portionRequired. for boys, chè đậu trắng (white bean sweet soup), for girls, chè trôi nước (floating rice-ball sweet soup); docungviet.vn notes not to change to another kind of chè
Bộ giấy cúng căn (set of paper offerings for cúng căn): giấy cúng Mụ (paper for the Midwife Goddesses), shoes, paper clothes, sớ (petition), giấy độ thế Nam or Nữ (paper for salvation of male or female)1 set
12 roi ngựa giấy màu (colorful paper horse whips, bông chi)12 piecesOptional. varies by region; after the offering, toss onto the roof (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
Books, notebooks, pensOptional. placed additionally at the 6-year-old offering, when the child enters first grade
Bánh kem (cream cake)1 pieceOptional. not a traditional offering

Steps

  1. Arrange the offering tray to the Bà Mụ facing the main door; if the house has altars to Buddha, deities, and ancestors, add small trays at those altars
  2. Pour tea, wine, water; an adult lights three incense sticks and reads the prayer text
  3. The mother holds the baby and bows three times; if the child is older, the child bows by themselves
  4. When two-thirds of the incense has burned, burn paper money, skirts and clothes, shoes, horse whips

Where the sources differ

  • Which calendar to use for calculating the date: docungtamlinh.com.vn notes it must follow the lunar birthday, some places move the date back by 'gái lùi 2, trai lùi 1' (girls back 2, boys back 1); docungviet.vn notes either lunar or solar is fine
  • Time of offering: docungtamlinh.com.vn notes morning or noon, best from 9 to 11 o'clock; xoichesaigon.com notes early morning or at sunset

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

Sources

  • Cúng căn 6 tuổi cho bé trai, bé gái (docungviet.vn)
  • Văn khấn cúng căn (xoichesaigon.com)
  • Cúng căn là gì? Lễ vật cúng căn 3, 6, 9, 12 tuổi (docungtamlinh.com.vn)

Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.

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