Groundbreaking ceremony for a construction project
- House and land
- 7 prayer texts
- Offerings and steps
Culture and belief A record of custom.
About this rite: when it is held and for whom
Also called: Lễ khởi công, Khởi công xây dựng, Động thổ công trình, dự án, Cúng động thổ nhà xưởng, Cúng khởi công
By custom, before starting a business construction project such as a factory, office, or project, the project owner sets up an offering in the middle of the land plot to present to the deities governing the land and to ask that the construction proceed peacefully; after the prayer, a few strokes of the hoe are made on the ground or the first brick is laid. The prayer text and offering tray follow the same pattern as the residential groundbreaking ceremony, only the sentence presenting the work is changed.
- When
- Before starting construction of a factory, plant, office, or project, after site clearance; choose date and time according to the age of the project head
- For whom
- Hoàng thiên Hậu thổ (Heaven and Earth), quan Đương niên hành khiển (the current year's presiding official), Thái Tuế (Jupiter deity), Thành hoàng bản cảnh (local tutelary deity), Thổ địa (Earth God), Long mạch (dragon vein), the deities governing the land plot; spirits around the land plot; the construction unit additionally invokes the craft ancestor
Prayer text for the groundbreaking and commencement offering (construction project)
- Used across Vietnam
- Folk practice
What this prayer says
Prayer text in the groundbreaking ceremony for starting a construction project, addressed to Hoàng thiên Hậu thổ, the quan đương niên, Thành hoàng, the deities governing the land and the wandering spirits in the area; the tín chủ (the person making the offering) presents the offerings, asks permission to begin construction and prays for all matters to go smoothly and everyone to be safe. It is recited during the whole ceremony, after the offerings have been laid out before the altar.
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.
Showing the version used across Vietnam.
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How it differs from the common version
Compared with the residential groundbreaking text dong-tho.01: the matter presented is "khởi công/động thổ công trình ở địa chỉ" together with the purpose "sinh sống/ làm ăn/ buôn bán" instead of "khởi tạo ngôi đương cơ trụ trạch để làm nơi cư ngụ cho gia đình con cháu"; it keeps the sentence "Nay chọn được ngày lành tháng tốt, kính cáo chư vị Linh Thần, cúi mong soi xét và cho phép được" and the closing sentence "lễ bạc tâm thành"; there is no sentence "Con lạy chín phương Trời"; the deities worshipped are combined into one sentence, including the quan đương niên hành khiển of the year and "các vị hương linh chúng sanh vương vất trong khu vực này"; it adds a request to overlook any offense caused by the construction and filling; it has a box for the age; it ends with the additional "Cẩn cáo!".
The common version: Prayer text for the động thổ (groundbreaking) offering
Lines that depend on the occasion
- khởi công/động thổ công trình: Read according to the work being done: khởi công or động thổ.
- sinh sống/ làm ăn/ buôn bán…: Read according to the purpose for which the project is used.
Other texts for Groundbreaking ceremony for a construction project
Versions by region, by tradition and for each part of the rite.
- Folk practiceSample prayer text for the groundbreaking of a project (office, factory, public works)
- Folk practicePrayer text for the groundbreaking of a factory and a project
- Folk practicePrayer text for the commencement offering of a project (worshipping the 24 long mạch thần quan, with a passage on borrowing the age)
- Folk practicePrayer text for the lễ Thần linh văn (used when performing groundbreaking; Sino-Vietnamese sounds, with a translation of the meaning)
- Folk practicePrayer text for the động thổ (groundbreaking) offering
- BuddhistPrayer text for the động thổ offering, levelling the land and digging the foundation, in the case of empty land (without chanting sutras)
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
- Before groundbreaking, after site clearance; choose date and time according to the age of the project head
- Where the offerings are set
- The offering tray is placed on a table in the middle of the land plot, or at the place where construction will first begin
- Who makes the offering
- The project owner or the project manager; the contractor and construction unit offer incense afterward
Offerings
| Offering | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Boiled rooster | 1 | |
| Bộ tam sên (three offerings): boiled meat, shrimp, eggs | 1 set | |
| xôi (steamed sticky rice) or bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake) | 1 plate | some sources record xôi gấc (red sticky rice) |
| Ngũ quả (five-fruit tray) | 1 plate | |
| Fresh flowers | yellow chrysanthemums, gerbera daisies; some sources record 9 red roses | |
| Rice, salt, water | 1 small bowl of each | some sources advise adding three small jars of salt, rice, and water to keep |
| White wine, tea | ||
| Betel leaves and areca nuts | ||
| Incense sticks, candles | 2 candles | |
| Votive paper, a red outfit for Quan Thần linh (the deity) | ||
| Cakes and candies | ||
| Roast pig | Optional. sources record as optional, used in large ceremonies |
Steps
- Choose date and time; if the head of the household has an incompatible age, ask someone with a compatible age to perform the groundbreaking instead
- Arrange the offering tray in the middle of the land plot, light the lamps, light the incense
- The ritual master bows to the four directions and eight compass points, then turns to the offering tray and reads the prayer text
- The contractor and construction unit come in to offer incense; according to one source, they also invoke the craft ancestor (Lỗ Ban)
- Scatter rice and salt around the land plot; burn votive paper
- The ritual master makes a few strokes of the hoe on the ground or lays the first brick, then the workers begin
Things to avoid
- Tránh ngày Nguyệt kỵ (5, 14, 23), Tam nương, Sát chủ
- Do not pour wine or water onto votive paper that is burning
- Ceremonial flowers are replanted at the construction site, not taken home
Where the sources differ
- Number of incense sticks: 5 sticks (phongthuytamnguyen); 7 sticks if the ritual master is male, 9 sticks if female (bodetam).
- Order: bodetam and hoatieu describe that after the prayer, votive paper is burned and salt and rice are scattered, then the ground is broken; phongthuytamnguyen describes that after the offering, groundbreaking is done immediately at the designated positions (digging about 30 cm deep), waiting for the incense to finish before burning votive paper and then sprinkling wine, tea, water, rice, and salt; andole arranges scattering rice and salt, digging the first stroke, then burning votive paper.
- Only phongthuytamnguyen advises that the day before, one goes to the communal house or temple, shrine, phủ, or pagoda to perform a permission ceremony, and the offering includes one piece of fried meat, 2 bowls of sweet soup, 5 bánh bao, and votive paper with 2 red horses.
Southern Vietnam, TP. Hồ Chí Minh, Folk practice
- Where the offerings are set
- At the construction site
- Who makes the offering
- The project owner; the contractor additionally holds an offering to the patron saint of the building trade
Offerings
| Offering |
|---|
| Fruit |
| Chrysanthemums |
| Dragon and phoenix incense sticks, candles |
| Votive paper for the động thổ (groundbreaking) offering |
| Candies and sweets, betel leaves and areca nuts |
| White bean sweet soup, gấc (steamed sticky rice with gấc fruit) with mung bean, plain rice porridge |
| Boiled chicken |
| Roast pig, bánh hỏi (fine rice vermicelli sheets) |
| Bộ tam sên (set of three offerings) |
| A jar of rice, a jar of salt |
| Water, tea, wine |
Steps
- Choose the day and hour, avoiding Hắc đạo (Black Path) days, Sát chủ days, and Trùng tang days
- Arrange a tray of savory offerings or a tray of vegetarian offerings according to the master's instructions
- The project owner performs the groundbreaking offering; the contractor holds an offering to Tổ Lỗ Ban (the patron saint of carpentry and building)
- When the incense is nearly burnt out, pour the water, wine, and tea onto the construction site, burn the votive paper, scatter the candies and sweets, and scatter the rice and salt over the land
Things to avoid
- Ceremonial flowers are replanted at the construction site, not taken home
The wording is kept exactly as published by the source. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.
Sources
- Cúng khởi công động thổ công trình (mamcungnhanh.com)
- Văn khấn lễ động thổ, bài cúng động thổ làm nhà (hoatieu.vn)
- Cách chuẩn bị mâm cúng động thổ nhà xưởng và công trình xây dựng (andole.vn)
- Lễ vật và bài khấn lễ động thổ khởi công xây nhà, sửa nhà, xây công trình (bodetam.vn)
- Lễ vật, văn khấn cúng khởi công công trình xây dựng (phongthuytamnguyen.com)
- Hướng dẫn cúng động thổ xây nhà (shome.vn)
- Cúng động thổ nhà ở, khởi công công trình (quangphuc.com.vn)
Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
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