Year-end thanks offering to the well (village well)

First-of-the-year well offering. On giao thừa (New Year's Eve) night or the morning of the first day of Tết; in some places, the third day of Tết

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

A year-opening thanksgiving offering at the village well, addressing the Buddhas, Hoàng Thiên Hậu Thổ, Táo quân (Kitchen Gods), the Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), the well deity, Thổ Công (Earth God of the house), Thổ Địa (Earth God), Long Mạch, Thần Tài (God of Wealth) and the former and later owners of the land; the tín chủ (the person making the offering) presents offerings, thanks the deities for blessing the family over the past time and asks forgiveness for any incomplete observance.

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.

Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

1 more blanks

(3 Vái)

How it differs from the common version

This text differs from the original: read before the village well at giao thừa (New Year's Eve), it adds sentences paying homage to Ngũ phương Ngũ thổ, Thổ Công (Earth God of the house), Thổ Địa (Earth God), Long Mạch, Tài Thần, and Tiền chủ Hậu chủ; it includes instructions to choose the 30th day of the twelfth lunar month or the first day of the first lunar month; it states clearly "con đến trước Giếng làng"; it ends with three sentences "Con Nam Mô A Di Đà Phật" and "(3 Vái)".

The common version: Well offering text for giao thừa night, no. 1

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for First-of-the-year well offering

Other texts for First-of-the-year well offering

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

Sources

  • Bài cúng Giếng đêm Giao thừa, đầu năm (hoatieu.vn)
  • Bài cúng giếng đầu năm (docungtamlinh.com.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.