Lễ Hồi linh (rite of bringing back the spirit)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Rước linh vị về nhà, Phản khốc, An linh, Rước vong về nhà

By custom, after the burial the children and grandchildren bring the thần chủ (spirit tablet) or the portrait back to the mourning altar to be worshipped morning and evening until the day the mourning ends. The pagoda calls it the lễ an linh (rite of settling the spirit).

When
After the burial, when the portrait or spirit tablet is brought from the grave back home
For whom
The newly deceased (before the spirit tablet at the mourning altar)

Lễ Hồi Linh (bringing the portrait or spirit tablet from the grave back)

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

What this prayer says

Prayer text in the Lễ Hồi linh (rite of bringing back the spirit), when the portrait or spirit tablet is brought home from the grave after burial. The descendants bow to Heaven, the Buddhas, Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), Táo quân (Kitchen Gods) and ancestors, asking to welcome the spirit tablet to the altar so that they may worship morning and evening, and praying for protection and support.

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.

3 more blanks

Other texts for Lễ Hồi linh (rite of bringing back the spirit)

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
After the lễ thành phần (component rite), when the portrait or spirit tablet is brought from the grave back
Where the offerings are set
The mourning altar at home
Who makes the offering
The eldest son or the eldest grandson

Offerings

Offering
A modest offering presented before the spirit tablet

Steps

  1. Bring the portrait or spirit tablet (thần chủ) from the grave back
  2. Place it on the mourning altar (linh điện)
  3. Read the văn khấn hồi linh (prayer text for bringing back the spirit)
  4. After that, perform the lễ chầu tổ (rite of paying respects to the ancestors) at the main altar

Used across Vietnam, Buddhist

When
When arriving home or at the pagoda from the grave (the lễ An linh)

Steps

  1. Install the hương linh (spirit) so that incense and smoke may be offered in worship
  2. Worship at a separate altar for two years, at least 100 days, before joining the common altar with the ancestors

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

Sources

  • Văn khấn trong lễ tang (vankhan.vn)
  • Văn khấn Lễ Hồi Linh trong tang lễ (tuvi.vn)
  • Nghi thức tang lễ theo truyền thống Phật giáo (phatgiao.org.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.