Cúng rằm tháng Tám (full moon of the eighth lunar month offering), Tết Trung thu (Mid-Autumn Festival)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Tết Trung thu, Tết trông trăng, Rằm tháng 8, Tết đoàn viên

By custom, on the full moon of the eighth lunar month households prepare a feast to offer to ancestors, and on the tray there are always bánh nướng (baked mooncake), bánh dẻo (sticky rice mooncake) and autumn fruits; in the evening they set out a tray to watch the moon, children carry lanterns and break the feast.

When
Full moon of the eighth lunar month; offering to ancestors during the day, displaying a tray to watch the moon in the evening
For whom
Household deities (Thổ Công (Earth God of the house)); ancestors on both sides; former and later owners

Prayer text for ancestors on Tết Trung thu

  • Used across Vietnam
  • Folk practice

What this prayer says

Prayer text to ancestors on Tết Trung thu (Mid-Autumn), offering gifts and inviting Thành hoàng (village tutelary deity), Thổ Địa (Earth God), Táo quân (Kitchen Gods), ancestors on both sides, and the former and current owners of the house to witness and bless the family with peace and prosperity; recited during the whole offering ceremony.

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.

Your regional custom

Showing the version used across Vietnam.

Other texts for Cúng rằm tháng Tám (full moon of the eighth lunar month offering), Tết Trung thu (Mid-Autumn Festival)

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
Full moon of the eighth lunar month; offering to ancestors during the day, displaying a tray to watch the moon in the evening. Sources suggest different times
Where the offerings are set
Ancestor altar; the moon-watching tray is placed on a table indoors or in the yard, it does not need to be placed on the altar

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Bánh nướng (baked mooncake), bánh dẻo (sticky rice mooncake)Required. sources note there must always be
Cốm (green rice flakes), bananas, na (sugar apple), hồng (persimmon), bưởi (pomelo)
Incense, flowers, lamps, candles
Xôi (steamed sticky rice), chè (sweet soup)meticulous households cook additionally
Tray of rice with savory or vegetarian offeringsOptional. depending on each household's circumstances
Betel leaves and areca nuts, votive paper, wine, tea, water, rice, salt

Steps

  1. During the day, prepare a feast to offer to ancestors and Thổ Công (Earth God of the house)
  2. In the evening, set out a tray of cakes and fruits to watch the moon
  3. When the incense has burned about one third to one half, burn votive paper (if any)
  4. The whole family breaks the feast, children carry lanterns

Where the sources differ

  • Times of offering: Báo Đại Đoàn Kết notes that by folk experience offering early in the morning is better than at noon or in the afternoon; Báo Văn Hóa suggests the hours of Thìn, Tỵ, Mùi and allows offering early from the 13th, 14th; vankhan.vn notes the tray is placed on the altar at dusk

Northern Vietnam, Hà Nội, Folk practice

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Five-fruit tray: bananas, pomelo, peach, persimmon, mandarinthe bunch of bananas is placed at the bottom, the pomelo in the middle; some households replace the pomelo with Buddha's hand
A box of mooncakes placed on the ancestor altarchoose about 10 days before the full moon, it is also the box of cakes for breaking the feast on the full moon night
Cốm (green rice flakes), hồng (persimmon), bưởi (pomelo)

Steps

  1. First give cakes to the elders in the clan
  2. Place the box of cakes on the ancestor altar
  3. On the full moon night the whole family breaks the feast under the moon

Central Vietnam, Hội An, Huế, Folk practice

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Simply arranged five-fruit tray: đu đủ (papaya), xoài (mango), mãng cầu (sugar apple), sung (fig), chuối (banana)
Tray of offerings to welcome the moonthe article describes in Huế

Southern Vietnam, Folk practice

Offerings

OfferingNotes
The five-fruit tray does not use bananas as the main fruit; watermelon and green-skinned pomelo are placed in the middlesome households use three coconuts as a base

More about Cúng rằm tháng Tám (full moon of the eighth lunar month offering), Tết Trung thu (Mid-Autumn Festival)

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 Tết Trung Thu (vankhan.vn)
  • Tết Trung thu (Ngày 15 tháng 8): Sự tích, sắm lễ, văn khấn (vankhan.vn)
  • Cúng Rằm tháng 8 như thế nào cho đúng? (daidoanket.vn)
  • Cúng Rằm Trung thu 2025: Giờ đẹp, mâm cúng và văn khấn (baovanhoa.vn)
  • Cách bày mâm ngũ quả tết Trung thu 2025 (vietnamnet.vn)
  • Trung thu ở 3 miền Bắc, Trung, Nam (vnexpress.net)

Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.

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