Lễ cúng sửa nhà, sửa bếp (ritual for repairing the house or kitchen)
- House and land
- 4 prayer texts
- Offerings and steps
Culture and belief A record of custom.
About this rite: when it is held and for whom
Also called: Cúng động thổ sửa nhà, Cúng chuyển bếp, Cúng nhóm bếp mới, Lễ tạ sau khi sửa nhà, Phá dỡ nhà cũ
By custom, before demolishing, extending, repairing the roof or moving the kitchen, the head of the household sets out an offering to ask permission from the deities who govern the land; if a person's age is considered to be in violation, someone else is asked to stand for the ritual. When the repairs are done, a lễ tạ (thank-offering ritual) is held.
- When
- Before major repairs to the house, repairing or moving the kitchen; after the repairs are done there is a lễ tạ (thank-offering ritual)
- For whom
- Hoàng thiên Hậu thổ, quan Đương niên, Thành hoàng, Thổ địa, Táo quân, Long mạch; tiền chủ, hậu chủ
Prayer text for moving house or major repairs
- 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.
Showing the version used across Vietnam.
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Other texts for Lễ cúng sửa nhà, sửa bếp (ritual for repairing the house or kitchen)
Versions by region, by tradition and for each part of the rite.
- Folk practice, Closing thanks and burning of votive paperReverent offering to thank the land of the new house after building (prayer text for the thank-offering after repairing the house)
- Folk practicePrayer text for moving the kitchen (when repairing, relocating the kitchen, or lighting the stove in a new house)
- Folk practicePrayer text for động thổ (groundbreaking), cất nóc, chuyển nhà (moving house), sửa nhà (house repair)
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
- Before major repairs (breaking walls, raising the floor, extending, repairing the roof, repairing the kitchen, moving the altar); for minor repairs no ritual is needed (according to docungtamlinh.com.vn)
- Who makes the offering
- The head of the household, or the person who lends his age when the householder's age is in violation of Kim Lâu, Hoang Ốc, Tam Tai
Offerings
| Offering | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bộ tam sinh (the three living offerings): a whole boiled chicken, boiled chicken eggs, boiled pork | ||
| Xôi đỗ (mung bean steamed sticky rice), xôi gấc (gấc steamed sticky rice) or bánh chưng (square sticky rice cake) | ||
| Mâm ngũ quả (five-fruit tray) | odd numbers of fruits, favouring red and yellow fruits | |
| water | 1 bowl | |
| rice wine | 1 bottle | |
| Salt | 1 plate | |
| Rice | 1 bowl | |
| Cigarettes | 1 pack | |
| Chè (sweet soup) | 1 box or bag | |
| Red oản (round glutinous rice cakes) | 5 pieces | |
| Vàng tiền (votive paper money) | 5 offerings | |
| betel leaves and areca nuts | 5 betel leaves, 5 areca nuts or 3 prepared betel quid pieces | |
| A separate plate of salt | 1 plate | scattered around the land after the ritual |
| Red roses | 9 flowers |
Steps
- Arrange the offerings on a high table
- Light incense, bow to the four directions and eight points, turn to the offering tray and read the prayer text
- Wait for the incense to burn out, burn votive paper, scatter salt and rice
- The person standing for the ritual personally dismantles or performs the groundbreaking first, then the workers begin
- Keep the salt, rice and water of the ritual for use at nhập trạch (moving into a new house)
- Repairing the kitchen, moving the kitchen: set out the offerings near the new kitchen, pray to Táo quân (Kitchen Gods), and when the incense has burned about two thirds, light the new kitchen fire (according to docungtamlinh.com.vn)
- When the work is finished, hold a lễ tạ (thank-offering ritual)
Things to avoid
- Do not eat first, taste or take away any of the offerings
- Do not bargain when buying the offerings
- When borrowing someone's age, the head of the household stays away until the ritual is finished
Where the sources differ
- Where to place the offering tray: voh.com.vn writes that it is placed at the centre of the house or in a large yard; docungtamlinh.com.vn writes that it is placed outdoors, at the area to be worked on, not inside the house. vankhan.vn writes that when praying and at the groundbreaking, the householder who borrows an age must stay at least 50 m away from the building site.
Used across Vietnam, Folk practice, Closing thanks and burning of votive paper
- When
- After the repairs are finished
Offerings
| Offering |
|---|
| An offering tray like the ritual before repairing the house |
Steps
- Arrange the offerings, light incense
- Read the prayer text to give thanks to the deities and ancestors
The wording is kept exactly as published by the source. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.
Sources
- Văn khấn khi chuyển nhà hoặc sửa chữa lớn (vankhan.vn)
- Mâm cúng, văn khấn sửa nhà (voh.com.vn)
- Bài văn khấn cúng sửa nhà, cách chuẩn bị mâm lễ (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
- Lễ cúng chuyển bếp 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