Prayer text for the Lễ cáo Long Thần Thổ Địa before digging the grave (reference version)

Lễ cáo Long thần Thổ địa (rite to inform the Long thần and Thổ địa) before digging the grave. Before digging the grave; when lowering the coffin, the earth deity is again offered sacrifice

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice
  • Address to the deities

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Reference version of the prayer text for the rite reporting to the Long thần (Dragon God) and Thổ địa (Earth God) before digging the grave, in which the tín chủ (the person making the offering) and the family report to Hoàng Thiên Hậu Thổ, Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), Long thần, Thổ địa, and Long mạch Tôn thần of the burial area, asking permission to break ground and dig the grave in the correct position and according to proper rules, and to keep the area safe and serene; recited before digging the grave.

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.

6 more blanks

Phần niệm Phật ở đầu và cuối có thể sử dụng nếu phù hợp với tín ngưỡng của gia đình. Nếu không theo nghi thức Phật giáo, có thể bắt đầu trực tiếp từ phần kính lạy.

How it differs from the common version

Present-day prose replaces the four-character lines "Đất có dữ lành, đều do họa phúc": asking permission of the deities of the burial place to open the grave, stating the name of the deceased and the burial place.

The common version: Prayer text for the Lễ cáo Long Thần Thổ Địa (before digging the grave)

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Lễ cáo Long thần Thổ địa (rite to inform the Long thần and Thổ địa) before digging the grave

Other texts for Lễ cáo Long thần Thổ địa (rite to inform the Long thần and Thổ địa) before digging the grave

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.