Prayer text when visiting and repairing graves (the version "Cung duy... Cẩn cáo")
Cúng tiết Thanh minh, tảo mộ (Thanh minh observance and grave tending). During Thanh minh, beginning around 4 or 5 April of the solar calendar
- Used across Vietnam
- Folk practice
- At the grave
Culture and belief A record of custom.
What this prayer says
Prayer text recited at the grave when descendants visit and repair the tomb during Thanh minh; it announces the offering to the Tôn thần (honoured deities) and to the spirit of the deceased being honoured, asks permission to clean and repair the grave, gives thanks for their merit, and prays for the family's peace, for misfortune to be dispelled and for wealth and blessings to flow smoothly.
The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.
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Showing the version used across Vietnam.
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How it differs from the common version
It differs from the original text in that it does not invoke the Buddha and does not bow to the nine directions of Heaven; it opens with "Kính lạy (cha hoặc mẹ...)", records the grave's address by commune, district, province and the country name, the body is in four-syllable verse, and it ends with "Cẩn cáo".
The common version: Prayer text for the offering to spirits at the grave
Offerings and how the rite is done
Other texts for Cúng tiết Thanh minh, tảo mộ (Thanh minh observance and grave tending)
- Folk practice, Address to the ancestorsPrayer text for the Thanh minh offering at home
- Folk practice, Address to the deitiesPrayer text at the shrine of the spirits of the cemetery
- Folk practice, At the gravePrayer text at the clan's burial ground
- Family rites (Confucian gia lễ), Address to the ancestorsThanh minh prayer text offering to the ancestors (in Sino-Vietnamese pronunciation, with a translation)
- Buddhist, At the gravePrayer text for the Thanh minh offering at the grave (without chanting sutras)
- Folk practice, Address to the deitiesPrayer text to deities at the grave (for tảo mộ, repairing the grave, bốc mộ)
- Folk practice, At the gravePrayer text for the offering to spirits at the grave
- Huế, làng Mỹ Lợi, Thừa Thiên HuếVăn tế Thanh minh tảo mộ làng Mỹ Lợi (Thanh minh tế văn)
More about Cúng tiết Thanh minh, tảo mộ (Thanh minh observance and grave tending)
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
- Tiết Thanh minh, Văn khấn Tiết Thanh Minh (vankhan.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.Open