Offering incense and praying to ancestors on ordinary days
- Ancestors and death anniversaries
- 2 prayer texts
- Offerings and steps
Culture and belief A record of custom.
About this rite: when it is held and for whom
Also called: Văn khấn thờ cúng gia tiên, Xin gia tiên phù hộ, Cáo gia tiên, Thắp hương gia tiên hằng ngày
By custom, apart from giỗ (death anniversary) and Tết, descendants still offer incense at the ancestors' altar on ordinary days and whenever the household has a matter, to remember and report to the ancestors. Offerings depend on circumstances; the prayer states clearly the date, the name of the person praying, the reason, and those invited.
- When
- Any day the family offers incense at the ancestors' altar: ordinary days, the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month, or when the household has a matter to report (marriage, childbirth, building a house, going far away, examinations)
- For whom
- Ancestors on both the paternal and maternal sides, grandparents, parents, and the souls worshipped at the ancestors' altar
A short prayer text to the ancestors
- Used across Vietnam
- Folk practice
- Address to the ancestors
What this prayer says
A short prayer text to the ancestors, offering incense, flowers and clean water, inviting the ancestors on both sides, grandparents, parents and the family's ancestral spirits to witness the sincere heart; asking for protection so the family may be peaceful and harmonious, and its members healthy and loving and helpful to one another. It is read when lighting incense at the ancestors' altar on ordinary days or when the household has a matter to report.
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.
Showing the version used across Vietnam.
Other texts for Offering incense and praying to ancestors on ordinary days
Versions by region, by tradition and for each part of the rite.
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
- The first day of the lunar month, the fifteenth day of the lunar month, festival days, or when the household has a wedding or funeral matter to report to the ancestors
- Where the offerings are set
- The ancestors' altar, usually in the central compartment of the house
- Who makes the offering
- The head of the household or the person who continues the duty of worship, in neat clothing
Offerings
| Offering | Notes |
|---|---|
| Incense, lamps and candles | |
| Fresh flowers, fruit | |
| Clean water, tea or wine | Optional |
| Betel leaves and areca nuts | Optional. when the household has the custom of offering betel leaves and areca nuts |
| A tray of vegetarian or non-vegetarian rice dishes | Optional. on ordinary days it may be just a vase of flowers, a plate of fruit, a cup of water |
Steps
- Arrange the offerings on the altar, light the lamps and candles
- Light incense sticks and place them in the incense bowl, stand before the altar, bow three bows, then pray
- State clearly in the prayer the date, the name of the person praying, the place of residence, the reason for the rite, and those invited
- After praying, perform four and a half lễ and three vái; nowadays four long vái and three short vái may replace the lễ
- Wait for one incense stick to burn out, then make the farewell lễ, burn votive paper (if any), and take down the offerings
Things to avoid
- When the tray of food is cooked, it is offered to the ancestors first; before the offering no one may touch it
Collected text. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.
Sources for the offerings and steps
- Văn khấn Thờ cúng gia tiên (vankhan.vn)
Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
More prayer textsDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, life-cycle rites and regional rites.Open