Cúng thí thực (Mông Sơn thí thực)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Mông sơn thí thực, Thí thực cô hồn, Chẩn tế cô hồn, Trai đàn chẩn tế, Cúng thí

Thí thực is a Buddhist rite in which the pagoda uses sutras and mantras to share food with wandering spirits and urge them to hear the Dharma. The rite has three sizes: Đại, Trung, and Tiểu Mông Sơn thí thực; the small session needs only water and thin rice porridge. The order at pagodas is the same because it follows the ritual manuals, while the altar, ritual music, and votive paper differ between the North and the South.

When
The pagoda performs it daily and during trai đàn chẩn tế (rites to feed the hungry) and lễ cầu siêu (prayers for the dead); the head of the household can request it to be done at home
For whom
Wandering spirits, hungry ghosts, and the spirits of the dead; the Buddhas and Tiêu Diện Đại Sỹ (the Great Being with a scorched face) are invited to witness

Kệ cúng thí cô hồn (Verse for offering to wandering spirits) (Thí thực cô hồn 1)

  • Southern Vietnam
  • Buddhist

What this prayer says

Verse for the offering to wandering spirits in the Mông Sơn thí thực rite, setting up an altar before the Buddha's gate to give offerings to wandering spirits and urge them to take refuge and hear the Dharma; recited throughout the ceremony.

The prayer below is kept in Vietnamese, the language it is read aloud in during the rite.

Fill in before the rite

The prayer below is ready to read.

Your regional custom

This text is the version from the South.

Other texts for Cúng thí thực (Mông Sơn thí thực)

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, Buddhist

When
The pagoda performs it daily (Tiểu Mông Sơn) and during trai đàn chẩn tế and lễ cầu siêu; the head of the household can request it to be done at home
Where the offerings are set
At the pagoda or at the home of the head of the household
Who makes the offering
A monk leads the rite; the simplified session can be done by the head of the household

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
Flowers, fruit, incense, lamps
Food, drinks, cakes and sweets
Water and thin rice porridge1 cup of water, 1 bowl of thin rice porridgeRequired. the minimum for the Tiểu Mông Sơn session

Steps

  1. Offering incense, paying respects to the Patriarch, inviting the Buddhas
  2. Inviting the Three Jewels to guide the spirits
  3. Taking refuge for the spirits
  4. Phát tấu (presenting the petition) to the messengers of the five directions
  5. Chanting sutras, reciting mantras
  6. The ritual master mounts the altar, opens the Mông Sơn thí thực offering, forms mudras, and recites mantras
  7. Releasing living beings, concluding the rite

Red River Delta, Hà Nội, chùa Tảo Sách, Buddhist

Where the offerings are set
Setting up the altar and offering right at the Three Jewels altar
Who makes the offering
1 to 3 monks, with additional ritual masters in the music and chanting group; one session lasts 2 to 4 hours

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Food for the offering
Votive paper, tiền tào quan (paper money for the underworld), paper horses, life-size paper utensils, paper servant figuresthe source records far more than pagodas in Ho Chi Minh City

Steps

  1. Inviting the Buddhas
  2. Inviting the spirits, bathing the spirits, returning the spirits
  3. Phát tấu (presenting the petition) to the messengers of the five directions
  4. Chanting sutras, reciting mantras
  5. Mounting the altar to offer; during the offering the monks perform the lục cúng dance (incense, lamps, flowers, fruit, tea, water) around the altar

Red River Delta, chùa Côn Sơn, Hải Dương, Hải Phòng, Buddhist

When
Evening of the 23rd of the first lunar month (2026), the final rite of the Côn Sơn, Kiếp Bạc spring festival
Where the offerings are set
Côn Sơn pagoda courtyard, in front of the tiền đường (front hall): the main altar and the bàn tiến (offering table)
Who makes the offering
Monks of the city Buddhist Sangha Executive Board preside

Offerings

Offering
Rice porridge, vegetarian rice
Sugarcane, bánh đa (rice cracker), fruits, popcorn
Hoa đăng (flower lanterns), incense and candles, hoa nghi (ceremonial flowers)

Steps

  1. Setting up the Mông Sơn altar, placing the Buddha statue seated on the altar
  2. Offering to the Buddha, offering to the Saints
  3. Presenting the sớ (petition) for cầu an (prayer for peace and safety)
  4. Arranging vegetarian offering trays along the way from the main altar to the bàn tiến (advancement table) to distribute to sentient beings

Southeast, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, chùa Linh Tiên, Buddhist

Where the offerings are set
Besides the Tam bảo (Three Jewels) altar, there is also an altar to Tiêu Diện Đại Sỹ (bày vật cúng chúng sinh), five altars of Phật ngũ phương (Buddhas of the five directions) and cầu Nại Hà (Nại Hà bridge)
Who makes the offering
5 to 7 monks, no ritual master; one ceremony lasts 4 to 6 hours

Offerings

Offering
Incense, lamps, water, flowers, fruits at the five altars of Phật ngũ phương
Vật cúng chúng sinh (offerings to sentient beings) at the altar of Tiêu Diện Đại Sỹ

Steps

  1. Inviting the Buddhas
  2. Taking refuge for the spirits
  3. Chanting sutras, reciting mantras
  4. The chief celebrant goes to invite the Buddha at the five altars of ngũ phương, performs the rite to open the gates of hell
  5. Inviting Tiêu Diện Đại Sỹ, summoning the wandering spirits
  6. The chanting masters circle the altar, leading the spirits across cầu Nại Hà
  7. Ascending the altar to perform the thí offering

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

Sources for the offerings and steps

  • Lê Hoàng Hải, Hoàng Văn Chung: Thực hành nghi lễ Mông Sơn thí thực trong Phật giáo Việt Nam hiện nay, Nghiên cứu Tôn giáo số 5 năm 2022 (vjol.info.vn)
  • Linh thiêng Lễ Mông Sơn thí thực tại Côn Sơn (tapchitoaan.vn)
  • Lễ Mông Sơn thí thực ở chùa Côn Sơn (mekongasean.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.