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Tết Trùng cửu and Tết Trùng thập

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Tết Trùng dương, Tết Song thập, Mùng 9 tháng 9, Mùng 10 tháng 10, Tết thầy thuốc

These two seasonal observances are now held in few places. According to domestic sources, Trùng cửu is an occasion to make offerings to ancestors and to pray for longevity for the elderly; Trùng thập is usually combined with the new-rice offering of the tenth lunar month, with the custom of bringing new rice to present to one's craft teacher and physician. No separate prayer text for Trùng cửu has been found.

When
The 9th day of the 9th lunar month (Trùng cửu) and the 10th day of the 10th lunar month (Trùng thập)
For whom
Ancestors; for Trùng thập there are also deities and Đức Thần Nông (the God of Agriculture), as with the new-rice offering

Prayer text for Tiết Thường tân (New Rice)

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

What this prayer says

The prayer text for Tiết Thường tân (Cơm mới, New Rice Festival) is recited for the whole ceremony, paying respects to Heaven and Earth, the Buddhas, Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), Thổ Địa (Earth God), Táo quân (Kitchen Gods) and ancestors on both sides; the tín chủ (the person making the offering) presents offerings including betel leaves and areca nuts, incense, flowers, and rice from the new crop to give thanks for the harvest and ask for protection for the descendants.

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

Fill in before the rite

Name, address and regional custom

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.

Lines that depend on the occasion

  • ngày mồng Một (mồng Mười Rằm) tháng Mười: Choose according to the day your household performs the new rice ceremony: the first day, the tenth day, or the full moon of the tenth lunar month.

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
Trùng cửu: the 9th day of the 9th lunar month. Trùng thập: the 10th day of the 10th lunar month, usually combined with the new-rice offering
Where the offerings are set
Ancestor altar

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Incense, chrysanthemums, wine, cakes, fruitthe Trùng cửu offering tray is simple, according to a commercial page
New rice cooked as rice, glutinous rice, mung beans, turtledovesTrùng thập: cook rice and bring it to present to one's craft teacher and physician

Steps

  1. Trùng cửu: make offerings to ancestors, pray for health and longevity for the elderly; in some places a longevity celebration is held on this day
  2. Trùng thập: offer the new rice, pay Tết visits to one's craft teachers and physicians

More about Tết Trùng cửu and Tết Trùng thập

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

  • Văn khấn Lễ Trùng thập (10-10) và Tết Hạ nguyên (Lễ cơm mới) (15-10) (vankhan.vn)
  • Văn Khấn Tết Hạ Nguyên, Tết Cơm Mới, Tết Trùng Thập (hoatieu.vn)
  • Tết Trùng Cửu là gì? (fptshop.com.vn)
  • Tại sao Tết Hàn thực lại phải ăn bánh trôi bánh chay? (tuoitre.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.