Prayer text for the ceremonies of Tiểu Tường and Đại Tường (Giỗ Đầu, Giỗ thứ Hai)

Cúng giỗ đầu (first death-anniversary offering, Tiểu tường). Exactly one year after the date of death, counted by the lunar calendar; the day before there is a lễ tiên thường (offering ahead of the main day)

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice
  • Address to the ancestors
  • Sacrificial oration

Culture and belief A record of custom.

The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.

Fill in before the rite

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Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

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How it differs from the common version

The nôm parallel-prose sacrificial oration opens "Than rằng: Mây che núi Hỗ...", the one making the offering is the eldest son or the eldest grandson "vâng theo lệnh mẫu thân và các chú"; the invocation before the spirit tablet is "Hiển... chân linh"; at the end it respectfully reports to the Thánh Sư, Tiên Sư, and Ngũ tự Gia thần. One text is used for both giỗ đầu and giỗ hết by means of the "(hoặc ...)" options.

The common version: Prayer text for the main day of Giỗ đầu

Lines that depend on the occasion

  • núi Hỗ (hoặc núi Dĩ): Chosen according to whether the deceased being commemorated is the father or the mother (old allusion: núi Hỗ refers to the father, núi Dĩ refers to the mother). The source page does not explain.
  • cành Thung (hoặc Huyên): Chosen according to whether the deceased being commemorated is the father (Thung) or the mother (Huyên). The source page does not explain.
  • Giỗ Tiểu Tường (hoặc Đại Tường): Chosen according to whether the ceremony being held is giỗ đầu or giỗ hết; the preceding sentence also changes "một năm tròn" to "hăm bốn tháng tròn".

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Cúng giỗ đầu (first death-anniversary offering, Tiểu tường)

Other texts for Cúng giỗ đầu (first death-anniversary offering, Tiểu tường)

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

Sources

  • Văn khấn Lễ Tiểu Tường và Lễ Đại Tường, Giỗ Đầu, Giỗ thứ Hai (tuvi.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.