Cúng rằm tháng Bảy (seventh-month full moon: ancestors and wandering souls)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Tết Trung nguyên, Vu Lan, Xá tội vong nhân, Lễ Vu Lan, Cúng chúng sinh, Cúng cô hồn, Cúng thí thực, Văn khấn rằm tháng Bảy

By custom, on the full moon of the seventh lunar month families make offerings to the deities and to their ancestors, and set a table outdoors for wandering souls (called cúng chúng sinh in the North, cúng cô hồn in the South). The offering to wandering souls differs clearly between the two regions in date, food and procedure.

When
Full moon of the seventh lunar month; the offering to wandering spirits can be done from the first day to the fifteenth; in the South, traders also offer to wandering spirits on the 2nd and 16th of every month
For whom
Deities; ancestors; wandering spirits, sentient beings without refuge

Prayer text for offering to the deities at home on the full moon of the seventh lunar month

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

What this prayer says

Prayer text to the deities in the rằm tháng Bảy (full moon of the seventh lunar month) offering at home, addressing Thái tuế, Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), Thổ địa (Earth God), Táo quân (Kitchen Gods) and the deities governing the area, presenting incense, flowers and offerings and asking them to witness and bless the family with health, peace and growing fortune. Recited when praying to the deities 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.

Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

Other texts for Cúng rằm tháng Bảy (seventh-month full moon: ancestors and wandering souls)

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
Full moon of the seventh lunar month; the offering to sentient beings can be done from the 1st to the 15th, after 12 noon
Where the offerings are set
Indoors: altar of Buddha, deities, ancestors; the offering to sentient beings is set outside
Who makes the offering
head of the household

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
Vegetarian meal tray or five-fruit tray offered to Buddha
Offering tray to deities and ancestorsmany households offer savory food
votive paper and paper moneyfrom 15 offerings
Clothes for sentient beings20 to 50 sets
Flowers, fruit5 types, 5 colors
Popcorn, boiled sweet potato, boiled corn, boiled cassava, cakes and candies
Porridge, tray of rice and salt5 bowls, 5 pairs of chopsticks or spoonsif offering porridge

Steps

  1. Offering to Buddha
  2. Offering to deities
  3. Offering to ancestors
  4. Offering food to wandering spirits (offering to sentient beings) outside
  5. Releasing living creatures, depending on the household

Things to avoid

  • The tray for sentient beings does not include xôi (steamed sticky rice) or chicken (according to sources)
  • Do not release red-eared slider turtles

Northern Vietnam, Folk practice

When
Concentrated on the full moon of the seventh lunar month, sometimes the first day of the seventh lunar month
Where the offerings are set
In front of the house, outdoors
Who makes the offering
head of the household

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Thin porridge (plain rice porridge)Required
Phẩm oản (steamed rice cakes)
Boiled sweet potato, boiled corn, a few pieces of sugarcane
Cơm vắt (compressed rice balls), popcorn, cakes and candies cut small
Tiền trần (worldly money), paper clothes for sentient beings

Steps

  1. Arrange offerings on a nong, nia, mẹt, or tray
  2. Prayer
  3. When the incense burns out, burn votive paper and scatter rice and salt far away

Southern Vietnam, Folk practice

When
In the seventh lunar month: any day from the 2nd to before the full moon; traders also make offerings on the 2nd and 16th of each month, after 12 noon or in the evening
Where the offerings are set
Outside in the yard, on the sidewalk, in the corridor in front of the house or in front of the shop; the person praying faces the street
Who makes the offering
The head of the household, the shop owner

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
Roast pigseventh lunar month offering tray
Thinly cooked plain rice porridge12 small bowls or 1 large bowl
water3 small glasses
Incense, candles3 incense sticks, 2 candles
Coarse salt, riceRequired
Rock sugar12 lumps
Sugarcaneleft whole or cut into pieces about 15 cm
Cakes, candies, popcorn, xôi (steamed sticky rice), chè (sweet soup), fruit
Small changescattered together with salt and rice

Steps

  1. Set up the offering tray outdoors
  2. Light incense first, then read the prayer text
  3. When the incense burns out, burn votive paper and scatter rice and salt in eight directions
  4. Children and people nearby "snatch the wandering spirits' offerings" (take things from the tray)
  5. After praying, go straight into the house

Things to avoid

  • Do not make the offering indoors
  • Do not bring the offered items into the house
  • Do not look back after scattering salt and rice

More about Cúng rằm tháng Bảy (seventh-month full moon: ancestors and wandering souls)

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

  • Bài cúng rằm tháng 7 âm lịch tại nhà (phatgiao.org.vn)
  • Văn khấn Tết Trung nguyên, ngày 15 tháng 7 (vankhan.vn)
  • Cúng cô hồn miền Nam và miền Bắc (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
  • Cúng cô hồn hàng tháng, bài văn khấn (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
  • Văn khấn, văn cúng cô hồn ngày 16 âm lịch hàng tháng (phatgiao.org.vn)

Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.

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