Prayer text for the first day of Tết offering to the ancestors (version of Báo Hà Tĩnh)

Offering on the first day of Tết. Morning of the first day of the first lunar month

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

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Prayer text for the first day of Tết offered to the ancestors, in which the tín chủ (the person making the offering) together with the whole family prepares incense, flowers and offerings and presents them before the altar, and respectfully invites the ancestral elders, uncles and brothers, aunts and sisters, and the spirits worshipped along with the ancestors to come and witness, and to protect the whole family in the new year with peace and prosperity, all matters as wished, the descendants advancing in their studies, and harmony in the household. Recited before the ancestors' altar on the first day of Tết.

The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during 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 list of reverences is longer (adds "bà cô Tổ, ông Mãnh, Hội đồng gia tiên"), has the sentence "Kính mời các cụ hiển linh", a field for year of birth, and ends with "Dãi tấm lòng thành... Cẩn cáo!"; there is no invitation to Tiền chủ, Hậu chủ.

The common version: Prayer text to the Ancestors (first day of Tết)

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Offering on the first day of Tết

Other texts for Offering on the first day of Tết

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

Sources

  • Văn khấn mồng 1 Tết Bính Ngọ 2026 theo Văn khấn cổ truyền Việt Nam (baohatinh.vn)

Part of the open dataset Vietnamese offering prayers (văn cúng), licensed CC BY 4.0.

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