Cúng ông Công ông Táo (Kitchen Gods' send-off, 23rd of the 12th lunar month)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Cúng Táo quân, Đưa ông Táo, Tiễn Táo quân, Tết ông Táo, Tiễn Táo quân về trời, Văn khấn ông Công ông Táo 23 tháng Chạp

In folk belief the Kitchen Gods return to heaven on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to report on the household's year. Families hold a send-off; the mount offered to the gods, the hour of the rite and the dishes differ between the North, the Centre and the South.

When
The 23rd of the twelfth lunar month; the offering time differs among the three regions.
For whom
Táo quân (Đông Trù Tư Mệnh Táo Phủ Thần Quân), cùng Thổ Công, Thổ Địa trong nhà

Prayer text for the offering to Ông Công and Ông Táo (according to Văn khấn cổ truyền Việt Nam)

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

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.

Other texts for Cúng ông Công ông Táo (Kitchen Gods' send-off, 23rd of the 12th lunar month)

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 23rd of the twelfth lunar month
Where the offerings are set
At the altar of Thổ Công (Earth God of the house) (the incense bowl of Ông Công is placed together with the ancestors' altar) or at the kitchen place
Who makes the offering
head of the household

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
Mũ Thổ Công (hat for the Earth God of the house)1 set of 3 piecesone woman's hat, two men's hats; together with paper clothes and boots; each year a colour according to the five elements
Paper gold ingots100placed under the hats
Cá chép (carp)released after the offering
Incense, flowers, offering tray

Steps

  1. Clean the house and the altar before preparing the feast
  2. Prepare the offering, pray
  3. Burn votive paper, hats, clothes, boots of the previous year, replace the tablet and the new set of hats
  4. Release the carp

Northern Vietnam, Folk practice

When
Some households hold the offering from the 21st, at the latest in the morning (before noon) of the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month
Where the offerings are set
Altar
Who makes the offering
head of the household

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
Live red carp3 fishRequired. placed in a basin of clean water, released after the offering
Mũ Táo quân (hat for the Kitchen Gods)2 men's hats with dragonfly wings, 1 woman's hat without dragonfly wingsRequired
Paper clothes and shoes3 sets
Peach branch or a vase of chrysanthemums, betel leaves and areca nuts folded in phoenix-wing shape, a plate of five fruits
Savory feast: chicken, xôi gấc (steamed sticky rice with gấc fruit), giò (Vietnamese sausage), fried spring rolls, soup, stir-fried dishsome households add xôi chè nếp cái (steamed sticky rice and sweet soup with glutinous rice), lotus tea

Steps

  1. Arrange the offering, pray to send off before the hour of Ngọ (noon)
  2. Burning votive paper
  3. Releasing carp

Things to avoid

  • Do not make the offering after noon on the 23rd, according to the source

Central Vietnam, Huế, Hội An, Quảng Nam, Folk practice

When
Two sources say differently: the night of the 22nd into the early morning of the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month (fptshop); morning or noon of the 23rd, some households make the offering from the afternoon of the 22nd (docungtamlinh)
Where the offerings are set
Kitchen altar
Who makes the offering
head of the household

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
Paper horses with full saddle and bridleRequired. instead of carp; burned together with paper clothes and hats
Three Táo quân (Kitchen Gods) figurines of fired clay3Huế and nearby areas: the old figurines are carried out to an am miếu (small shrine) or the foot of a tree, and new figurines are brought up to the altar
Cooked mackerel or tuna
Boiled pork, ram (spring rolls)
Bánh tổQuảng Nam

Steps

  1. Farewell offering
  2. Sending off the three old Táo figurines, welcoming the new figurines
  3. Pulling out the incense stubs, replacing the sand in the incense bowl, cleaning the altar
  4. Burning the paper horses, paper clothes and hats
  5. In some regions a cây nêu (New Year pole) is put up after the 23rd

Where the sources differ

  • Two sources say differently: the night of the 22nd into the early morning of the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month (fptshop); morning or noon of the 23rd, some households make the offering from the afternoon of the 22nd (docungtamlinh)

Southern Vietnam, Folk practice

When
Evening of the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, from about 20:00 to 23:00, after dinner when cooking has finished
Where the offerings are set
Near the kitchen; in the rural Nam Bộ of former times the offering tray was placed on the ground right beside the stove
Who makes the offering
head of the household

Offerings

OfferingNotes
A set of "flying crane, running horse" in paperRequired. instead of carp; burned right after the offering
Peanuts, black sesame candy
Chè, xôi chè (sweet soup, sticky rice with sweet soup)
Savory tray: boiled chicken or roast pork, xôi gấc (red sticky rice), fried nem

Steps

  1. Evening farewell offering
  2. Burning the crane and horse set
  3. On the 7th of the first lunar month (in some places on the night of the 30th of Tết), a rite is held to welcome Ông Táo back

More about Cúng ông Công ông Táo (Kitchen Gods' send-off, 23rd of the 12th lunar month)

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 cúng ông Công ông Táo năm 2023 (phatgiao.org.vn)
  • Tổng hợp bài cúng ông Công ông Táo (docungtamlinh.com.vn, trang bán mâm cúng ở TP.HCM)
  • Văn khấn Thổ công (vankhan.vn)
  • Cúng ông Táo ở 3 miền (fptshop.com.vn, trang tin của cửa hàng)
  • Cúng ông Táo miền Bắc (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
  • Cúng ông Táo miền Trung (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
  • Cách cúng ông Táo ở miền Nam (docungtamlinh.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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