Cúng nhập trạch (moving into a new home)
- House and land
- 3 prayer texts
- Offerings and steps
Culture and belief A record of custom.
About this rite: when it is held and for whom
Also called: Về nhà mới, Cúng về văn phòng mới, Thần Tài Thổ Địa về nhà mới, Lễ về nhà mới, Cúng tân gia, Dọn về nhà mới, Văn khấn nhập trạch
By custom, on moving into a new home the head of the household first asks the local deities for leave to settle and to set up an incense bowl, then informs the ancestors that their altar has been moved; many families light the stove and boil water right after the prayer.
- When
- The day of moving into the new house, usually a day and hour are chosen
- For whom
- The deities governing the new dwelling (invoked first); ancestors (announced afterwards)
Prayer text to the deities for the nhập trạch (moving into a new house) rite
- Used across Vietnam
- Folk practice
- Address to the deities
What this prayer says
Prayer text to the deities in the nhập trạch (moving into a new house) ceremony, in which the tín chủ (the person making the offering) presents offerings and petitions the deities governing the new dwelling to let the family enter the new house, set up an incense bowl for worship, and welcome the ancestral spirits to be venerated there; recited when praying to the deities first, after moving into the new house.
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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Showing the version used across Vietnam.
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Other texts for Cúng nhập trạch (moving into a new 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 day of moving to the new house; the move is made in the morning, at midday, or just after sunset
- Where the offerings are set
- A table or tray set up temporarily in the new house, facing a direction that suits the head of the household
- Who makes the offering
- head of the household
Offerings
| Offering | Notes |
|---|---|
| Betel leaves and areca nuts, incense, flowers, votive paper | Required |
| Seasonal fruit, cakes and sweets | |
| Savory offering tray: wine, meat, xôi (steamed sticky rice), chicken | |
| A mat or cushion in use | the item carried into the house first |
| A fire source (gas stove, oil stove), broom, rice, water |
Steps
- The head of the household carries the tablets of the household deities and ancestors to the new house with his own hands; family members follow behind holding money and valuables
- Light incense in a temporary incense bowl and invoke the deities for permission to enter the house
- Light the stove and boil water (khai bếp, lighting the kitchen fire), brew tea to offer to the deities and ancestors
- Announce to the ancestors
- Arrange the belongings; when finished, hold a thank-offering rite
Things to avoid
- Avoid moving house in the evening
- Do not use an electric stove as the stove for lighting the first fire
- A pregnant woman should not move house
- A person helping with the move who was born in the year of the Tiger should not hold things
- If the nhập trạch (moving into a new house) day is taken but no one is living there yet, the head of the household sleeps there one night
More about Cúng nhập trạch (moving into a new home)
Nhật Nguyệt articles on the rite, the custom and how to prepare.
The wording is kept exactly as published by the source. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.
Sources
- Văn khấn lễ nhập trạch (vankhan.vn)
- Hướng dẫn cúng về nhà mới (docungtamlinh.com.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.Open