Cúng thôi nôi, đầy năm (first-birthday ceremony, full-year ceremony)
- Life-cycle rites
- 5 prayer texts
- Offerings and steps
Culture and belief A record of custom.
About this rite: when it is held and for whom
Also called: Đầy tuổi tôi, Cúng đầy năm, Cúng đầy tuổi, Lễ thôi nôi
By custom, when the child is one year old and leaves the cradle; the parents make offerings to thank the Bà Mụ (Midwife Goddesses) as in the đầy tháng (first-month ceremony), prepare a feast to present to the ancestors, then lay out objects for the baby to choose in order to guess the future occupation. The three regions differ more in the offering tray than in the prayer text.
- When
- When the baby is exactly 12 months old, counted by the lunar calendar
- For whom
- 12 Bà Mụ (Midwife Goddesses) and Bà Mụ Chúa (the chief Midwife Goddess); ancestors; thổ công (Earth God of the house), đất đai (local earth deity), Thành hoàng bổn cảnh (village tutelary deity)
Prayer text for ancestors (when the child turns one year old)
- Used across Vietnam
- Folk practice
- Address to the ancestors
What this prayer says
Prayer to ancestors at the thôi nôi (first-birthday ceremony), when the child reaches one year, offering gifts to paternal and maternal ancestors and asking for protection so the child eats well and grows quickly and the whole family stays healthy; recited before the ancestral altar.
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 Cúng thôi nôi, đầy năm (first-birthday ceremony, full-year ceremony)
Versions by region, by tradition and for each part of the rite.
- Folk practicePrayer text for the thôi nôi ceremony for a baby girl and a baby boy
- Southern Vietnam, Folk practicePrayer text for the thôi nôi ceremony in the South
- Folk practice, Address to the deitiesPrayer text for the land and local deities, Thổ Công (thôi nôi ceremony)
- Folk practicePrayer text for the Mụ offering (đầy cữ, đầy tháng, đầy năm)
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
- When the baby is exactly 12 months old, counted by the lunar calendar; docungtamlinh.com.vn records the manner 'girls back 2, boys back 1'
- Who makes the offering
- The baby's parents
Offerings
| Offering | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lễ cúng Mụ (offering to the Midwife Goddesses) as in the đầy tháng (first-month ceremony): xôi (steamed sticky rice) and chè (sweet soup), each 12 small portions and 1 large portion | for boys, chè đậu trắng (white bean sweet soup); for girls, chè trôi nước (floating rice-ball sweet soup) | |
| Boiled chicken, roasted suckling pig, bánh hỏi (fine rice vermicelli sheets) | ||
| Five kinds of fruit, flowers, incense, candles, rice, salt, tea, wine, water, cakes and candies, trầu têm cánh phượng (betel leaves folded in phoenix-wing shape) | ||
| Set of votive paper for the thôi nôi (first-birthday ceremony) with the baby's name and date of birth | 1 set | |
| Set of hình thế (paper effigies) for male or female, with the baby's name and date of birth | 1 set | burned after the offering (hoatieu.vn) |
| Offering to ancestors: betel leaves and areca nuts, tea and wine, votive paper and incense, flowers and fruit | according to vankhan.vn | |
| Tray of objects for the baby to choose | vankhan.vn: for boys, lay out bow and arrows, paper and pen; for girls, lay out knife and scissors, needle and thread. Current pages list books, pens, stethoscopes, mirrors and combs, money |
Steps
- Offer to the Bà Mụ (Midwife Goddesses) and read the prayer text as in the đầy tháng (first-month ceremony)
- Prepare the feast and make the offering before the ancestors' altar
- Pray to đất đai (local earth deity) and thổ công (Earth God of the house); the same words are read before the tray for Thành hoàng bổn cảnh (village tutelary deity) and Cửu huyền thất tổ (nine generations of ancestors)
- Test the child: dress the baby neatly, place the baby before the objects, and see which object the baby picks up first
- Burn votive paper and paper clothes; keep the toys for the baby; the whole family shares the offerings
Northern Vietnam, Folk practice
Offerings
| Offering | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Boiled chicken | 1 | |
| Plate of five kinds of fruit | 1 plate | |
| Chè đậu trắng (white bean sweet soup) and xôi (steamed sticky rice) | 12 bowls of chè (sweet soup), 12 plates of xôi (steamed sticky rice) | offered to the 12 Bà Mụ (Midwife Goddesses) |
| Cháo (rice porridge) | 1 large bowl and 3 small cups | offered to the 3 Đức Thầy (three Master deities) |
| Trầu têm (folded betel), whole betel leaves, areca nut | 12 pieces of betel, 1 leaf, 1 nut | |
| Set of male paper effigies with the baby's name and date of birth | 1 set | burn after the offering |
| Hài xanh, nén vàng xanh, váy áo xanh (green shoes, green gold ingots, green clothes) | 12 portions | |
| Small glass of water or wine | 1 glass | sprinkle on flowers after the offering |
| Tray for Thần Tài (God of Wealth) and Thổ Địa (Earth God): fruit, white bean sweet soup, xôi gấc (steamed sticky rice with gac fruit), 3 glasses of water, cakes and candies, betel leaves and areca nuts, glutinous rice wine, boiled chicken |
Steps
- Offer to ancestors, the 12 Bà Mụ (Midwife Goddesses) and Đức Ông
- Offer to Thần Tài (God of Wealth) and Thổ Địa (Earth God); at the heaven altar and the Buddha altar, present flowers, fruit, xôi (steamed sticky rice), and sweet soup
- Let the baby pick objects: books, pen, stethoscope, packet of xôi (steamed sticky rice), mirror and comb, gold, money
Central Vietnam, Folk practice
- When
- Calculated according to the lunar calendar
Offerings
| Offering | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Plate of five fruits | 1 plate | |
| Boiled rooster | 1 | |
| Chè (sweet soup) | 12 small cups and 1 large cup | for a girl, chè trôi nước (glutinous rice balls in sweet soup); for a boy, white bean sweet soup |
| xôi (steamed sticky rice) | 12 small plates and 1 large plate | |
| Plain rice porridge | 12 small cups and 1 large cup | |
| Cát tường flowers, candles, incense | 1 vase of flowers, 2 candles, 3 incense sticks | |
| Trầu têm (folded betel), whole betel leaves, areca nut | 12 pieces, 1 leaf, 1 fruit | |
| Set of hình thế (paper effigy) for a boy or girl with the baby's name and date of birth | 1 set | burn after the offering |
| Green shoes, green dress, trầu cánh phượng (betel leaves shaped like phoenix wings) | 12 portions |
Steps
- Offer to the Midwife Goddesses, read the thôi nôi (first-birthday ceremony) prayer text
- Father or mother holds the baby's hand and bows three times; after three incense sticks have burned, give thanks, burn votive paper, sprinkle wine while burning
- Pray to the local land and Thổ Công (Earth God of the house); the same words are read before the tray for Thành hoàng bổn cảnh (village tutelary deity), Cửu huyền thất tổ (nine generations of ancestors) and deceased grandparents
- Let the baby choose objects
Southern Vietnam, Folk practice
- When
- According to the lunar calendar, 'girls back 2, boys back 1'; the offering is made around 8 to 9 in the morning or in the evening
- Who makes the offering
- The baby's grandparent or father
Offerings
| Offering | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Boiled chicken with crossed wings or boiled duck | 1 | |
| Roast pig | 1 | Optional. depending on circumstances |
| Xôi gấc (steamed sticky rice with gac fruit) or xôi đậu xanh (steamed sticky rice with mung beans) | 12 small plates and 1 large plate | |
| Chè (sweet soup) | 12 small bowls and 1 large bowl | usually white bean sweet soup with coconut milk; for a girl, chè trôi nước (glutinous rice balls in sweet soup) |
| Bộ tam sên (three offerings): boiled pork, boiled eggs, boiled shrimp or crab | 1 set | |
| Tray of five fruits: mãng cầu (soursop), dừa (coconut), đu đủ (papaya), xoài (mango), sung (fig) | 1 tray | |
| Trầu têm cánh phượng (betel leaves trimmed in phoenix-wing shape), white wine, tea, nhang (incense), candles, rice, salt | ||
| Paper money, paper shoes and paper clothes | 13 pairs of shoes, 13 sets of clothes | 12 small ones for the 12 Bà Mụ, 1 large one for Bà Mụ Chúa |
| Tray for Thần Tài, Thổ Địa, Ông Táo: five fruits, xôi (steamed sticky rice), chè (sweet soup), tam sên (three sacrificial offerings), flowers, betel leaves and areca nuts, tea and wine, rice and salt | placed at those two altars | |
| Tray for ancestors, with meat dishes or vegetarian dishes | boiled chicken or duck, xôi (steamed sticky rice) or bánh tét (cylindrical sticky rice cake), soup, stir-fried dish, meat dish, white rice |
Steps
- Arrange three trays: the tray for the 12 Bà Mụ and 3 Đức Ông in the middle of the house, the tray for Thần Tài, Thổ Địa, Ông Táo, and the tray for ancestors
- The ritual master lights 3 incense sticks and reads the prayer text
- When the incense is nearly burnt out, arrange the tray of objects and let the baby crawl over and choose one item
- When the incense has burnt out, burn votive paper, and the whole family partakes of the offerings
Things to avoid
- On this day keep the household cheerful, avoid loud voices
The wording is kept exactly as published by the source. The dotted italic words are blanks for you to fill in.
Sources
- Văn khấn lễ cúng mụ (Đầy cữ, đầy tháng, đầy năm) (vankhan.vn)
- Lễ vật và bài văn cúng thôi nôi cho bé trai, bé gái (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
- Bài cúng thôi nôi cho bé trai và bé gái (hoatieu.vn)
- Lễ cúng thôi nôi miền Bắc (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
- Cách cúng thôi nôi miền Trung (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
- Cách cúng thôi nôi miền Nam (docungtamlinh.com.vn)
Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
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