Offering to Thổ Công and the household deities
- Household deities
- 3 prayer texts
- Offerings and steps
Culture and belief A record of custom.
About this rite: when it is held and for whom
Also called: Thổ Địa, Long Mạch, Thổ thần, Cúng thần linh tại gia, Thổ Kỳ
In folk belief, Thổ Công is the deity who governs the household, called Đệ nhất gia chi chủ; the tablet worships three deities together. Whenever offering to the ancestors, people offer to and invoke Thổ Công first.
- When
- On sóc vọng days (the first day and the fifteenth day of the lunar month), on giỗ and Tết days; the largest ceremony is on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month
- For whom
- Thổ Công (Đông trù Tư mệnh Táo phủ Thần quân), Thổ Địa Long mạch Tôn thần, Ngũ phương Ngũ thổ Phúc đức chính thần
Prayer text to Thổ Công
- Used across Vietnam
- Folk practice
What this prayer says
Prayer text to Thổ Công (Earth God of the house) and the household deities, recited during the whole offering ceremony, presenting incense, flowers and offerings and asking the deities to bless the whole family with peace and prosperity and all things well.
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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Showing the version used across Vietnam.
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Other texts for Offering to Thổ Công and the household deities
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, Folk practice
- When
- On giỗ and Tết days, and on sóc vọng days; whenever offering to the ancestors, one offers to Thổ Công first
- Where the offerings are set
- The altar of Thổ Công, with a joint tablet for the three deities and a set of Thổ Công hats
Offerings
| Offering | Notes |
|---|---|
| Vegetarian offerings on sóc vọng days: gold and silver paper, betel, water, fruit | |
| Savory offerings: boiled chicken, pork, xôi (steamed sticky rice), white wine | Optional. some households offer savory food; dienmayxanh notes it is used for lễ tạ (thank-offering ceremony) and Tết offerings |
| Rice, salt | according to dienmayxanh |
| Thổ Công hats: one set of three (one woman's hat, two men's hats), together with paper clothes, paper boots, 100 paper gold ingots | the color of the hats each year follows the element of the year: Kim white, Mộc green, Thuỷ black, Hoả red, Thổ yellow |
Steps
- Arrange the offerings, light incense, invoke Thổ Công first, then invoke the ancestors
- On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, burn the old tablet and hats, replace with a new set of hats to be worshipped until the following year
Things to avoid
- Offerings to Thổ Công are arranged separately, do not use wilted food or leftovers
Northern Vietnam, Folk practice
- Where the offerings are set
- The incense bowl for the deities is placed directly on the ancestors' altar, understood as the place of worship for Thổ Công, Thổ Địa, and Táo quân
Steps
- Place the incense bowl for the deities on the ancestors' altar, do not set up a separate altar for Thổ Công
The wording is kept exactly as published by the source. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.
Sources
- Văn khấn Thổ công (vankhan.vn)
- Bài văn khấn cúng Thổ Công (dienmayxanh.com)
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