Cúng khai xuân, mở hàng đầu năm (spring-opening offering and first-day-of-year shop-opening offering)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Khai bút, Khai hạ mùng 7, Cúng hạ nêu, Cúng đầu năm, Mở hàng đầu năm, Khai trương đầu năm, Hạ nêu

By custom, traders, offices and companies hold a beginning-of-year offering before reopening for work. The 7th day of the first lunar month is the day of khai hạ; households that erected a nêu pole hold the lễ hạ nêu (pole-lowering ceremony), considered the end of Tết.

When
The day for the first shop opening of the year is chosen by the head of the household within the first lunar month; the khai hạ (lowering the nêu pole) offering is on the 7th day of the first lunar month
For whom
Thần Tài (God of Wealth), Thổ Địa (Earth God) and the deities governing the place of business; at the khai hạ offering, prayers are made to the deities and ancestors

Prayer text for the first shop opening of the year at the Thần Tài altar

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice
  • At the altar of the God of Wealth and the Earth God

What this prayer says

Prayer for the first-day business opening at the altar of Thần Tài and Thổ Địa, recited during the opening ceremony; the tín chủ (the person making the offering) presents incense, flowers and offerings and asks the local Thành Hoàng, Ông Địa - Thần Tài and other deities to bless the business with smooth trade, growing sales, abundant wealth and all matters as desired.

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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Other texts for Cúng khai xuân, mở hàng đầu năm (spring-opening offering and first-day-of-year shop-opening offering)

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 day for the first shop opening of the year is chosen by the head of the household; trang docungtamlinh lists the 6th, 9th and 10th days, with the offering made in the morning
Where the offerings are set
The Thần Tài and Thổ Địa altar of the shop or company
Who makes the offering
The shop owner or company director

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Incense, flowers, offerings, votive paper and gold, tea and fruitaccording to the prayer text; the pages consulted do not list a detailed offering tray

Steps

  1. Arrange the offerings
  2. Pray at the Thần Tài altar or pray to the deities governing the area
  3. Open the doors for business

Used across Vietnam, Folk practice

When
The 7th day of the first lunar month, the day of khai hạ (lowering the nêu pole), usually in the afternoon
Where the offerings are set
A table set under the nêu pole and the altar inside the house

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Incense, flowers, simple offerings or a tray of ricethere is no obligatory offering tray
votive paper and paper moneyif the household has the custom of using it

Steps

  1. First light incense and pray to ask permission of the ancestors in the house
  2. Hold the offering outdoors under the nêu pole, giving thanks for the first days of the year
  3. Lower the nêu pole and take down the decorations
  4. Burn votive paper if there is any
  5. Clear away the Tết items and begin the work of the new year

Used across Vietnam, Buddhist

Steps

  1. Insert incense, kneel, join hands, the chanter recites
  2. Read the prayer text; may also make a charitable offering
  3. Chant the true words to transform food and water, universal offering
  4. Dedication of merit
  5. Take down the offerings

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

Sources

  • Văn khấn mở hàng, khai trương đầu năm 2025 (baoquocte.vn, Báo Thế giới và Việt Nam)
  • Văn khấn mở hàng, khai trương đầu năm mới Bính Ngọ theo chuyên gia (vietbao.vn)
  • Cúng đầu năm vào ngày nào, giờ nào tốt (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
  • Lễ hạ nêu mùng 7 tết Nguyên đán là gì, có ý nghĩa ra sao? (vietnamnet.vn)
  • Mùng 7 Tết là ngày gì? (hoatieu.vn)
  • Lễ Tết Nguyên đán (Lễ đầu năm mới) (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.