Prayer text for offering to Ông Táo on the 7th of the first lunar month (lễ khai hạ, offered together with the ancestors and the deities)

Rước ông Táo (ceremony to welcome back the Kitchen Gods). The 30th day of the twelfth lunar month (the 29th in a short month), many places do it at giao thừa (New Year's Eve); some sources record that the central and southern regions welcome them back on the 7th day of the first lunar month

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Prayer text for the 7th day of the first lunar month (lễ khai hạ, the ceremony marking the end of Tết), offered together with ancestors and deities, paying respects to the Tôn thần, the Hành khiển of the year, Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), Thổ Địa (Earth God), Táo quân (Kitchen Gods), Long mạch and the ancestors, presenting the ceremony to thank the deities and see off the spirits back to the underworld, and asking for blessings of peace for the descendants and prosperity for the household.

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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Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

2 more blanks

How it differs from the common version

Used for the 7th of the first lunar month rather than at giao thừa: the words are those of a thank-offering rite ("Tiệc xuân nay đã mãn tàn, Nguyên Đán cũng đã qua"), offered jointly to the deities, Táo quân, and the ancestors; it ends with three times "Nam mô chứng minh sư bồ tát". There is no section for seeing off and welcoming the Hành khiển mandarins.

The common version: Sample prayer text for welcoming Ông Táo back home (the 30th of Tết, at giao thừa)

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Rước ông Táo (ceremony to welcome back the Kitchen Gods)

Other texts for Rước ông Táo (ceremony to welcome back the Kitchen Gods)

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

Sources

  • Lễ rước ông Táo về nhà mùng 7 (hoatieu.vn)

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

More prayer textsDeath anniversaries, Tết, the home, business, life-cycle rites and regional rites.