Sample prayer text for nhập quan (placing the body in the coffin)

Tang lễ (funeral rites: common rites, announcing the death, placing the body in the coffin). From the time a family member passes away until burial; the same text is also used at the memorial ceremonies afterward

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

Culture and belief A record of custom.

What this prayer says

Prayer text for the rite of encoffining, read at the ceremony of dressing and placing the deceased in the coffin, reverently reporting to the deities and the ancestors on both sides, asking them to witness and guide so that the rite proceeds solemnly and peacefully, and bidding farewell to the deceased.

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.

5 more blanks

How it differs from the common version

A separate text for the hour of khâm liệm and nhập quan, in present-day prose: bowing to the deities and the ancestors, stating the hour of death, with a passage addressed directly to the deceased asking for forbearance, ending with "Cẩn cáo"; it does not use the mourner's kinship title (cô tử, ai tử).

The common version: Văn tế (or khấn) to grandparents and parents at the funeral

Offerings and how the rite is done

Offerings, steps and things to avoid for Tang lễ (funeral rites: common rites, announcing the death, placing the body in the coffin)

Other texts for Tang lễ (funeral rites: common rites, announcing the death, placing the body in the coffin)

Collected text. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.

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.