Cúng Giỗ Tổ Hùng Vương tại nhà (offering to the Hùng Kings at home)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Giỗ Tổ mùng 10 tháng 3, Mâm cơm giỗ Tổ, Cúng vua Hùng tại gia

Giỗ Tổ Hùng Vương (death anniversary of the Hùng Kings) is a national ceremony; besides the ceremony at Đền Hùng, many households prepare an offering tray and offer incense at home to remember the merit of the Hùng Kings in founding the country. Since 2018 Phú Thọ has encouraged every household to prepare an offering tray in gratitude on the 10th day of the third lunar month.

When
The 10th day of the third lunar month
For whom
The Hùng Kings, the National Ancestors of the Vietnamese people

Prayer text for the Giỗ Tổ Hùng Vương at home

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

What this prayer says

Prayer text for the Hùng Kings' giỗ (death anniversary) at home, recited during the whole ceremony: the descendant gives their name and address, offers incense, flowers and offerings to the Hùng Kings and ancestors, and asks for protection so the family may be at peace, all matters may go smoothly, the children may progress in their studies, and love and work may be favourable.

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.

Other texts for Cúng Giỗ Tổ Hùng Vương tại nhà (offering to the Hùng Kings at home)

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 10th day of the third lunar month
Where the offerings are set
The altar in the house

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake)18 piecesdienmayxanh notes that they symbolize the 18 reigns of the Hùng Kings
bánh giầy (round sticky rice cake)18 pieces
Savory offerings: boiled rooster or pork, xôi gấc (red sticky rice) or xôi vò (mung bean sticky rice), fried spring rolls, giò lụa (Vietnamese pork sausage), bamboo shoot soup or mọc soup
Incense, flowers, tea, five-fruit tray
Wine, clean water, rice, salt

Steps

  1. Arrange the offering tray on the altar
  2. Light incense, read the prayer text
  3. Take down the offerings, the whole family partakes of the offerings

Northern Vietnam, Phú Thọ, Việt Trì, xã Chu Hóa, Folk practice

When
On the 10th day of the third lunar month, at the same time as the Giỗ ceremony at điện Kính Thiên
Where the offerings are set
The family altar
Who makes the offering
The whole family, children and siblings gather together to prepare the offering tray

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake)Required
bánh giầy (round sticky rice cake)Required
Plain cooked rice4 bowls placed at the four corners of the trayRequired
A bowl of dipping sauce1 bowl placed in the middle of the round tray

Steps

  1. Children and grandchildren gather to cook the offering tray
  2. Present the offering tray on the altar, remember the merit of the Hùng Kings
  3. The elders tell the children and grandchildren about the Hùng Kings worship

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

Sources

  • Văn khấn Giỗ Tổ Hùng Vương tại nhà, đền thờ (dienmayxanh.com)
  • Giỗ Tổ Hùng Vương: nguồn gốc, ý nghĩa, phong tục cần biết (vankhan.vn)
  • Mâm cơm giỗ Tổ Hùng Vương, nét đẹp văn hóa người dân Phú Thọ (baohatinh.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.