What does the Thanh Minh festival offering tray include?

In 2025, the Qingming Festival begins on April 4 and ends on April 19 of the Gregorian calendar. Qingming Festival (April 4) falls on Friday, March 7 of the lunar calendar. Traditionally, Qingming Festival ceremonies are held at two locations: ancestral graves and at home. Each location has its own requirements for offerings and rituals.

People organizing Thanh Minh worship at the cemetery. Photo: suckhoevadoisong

Tomb worshiping ceremony on Qingming Festival

Tomb sweeping is often very important on this occasion for descendants to take care of and clean their ancestors' graves to make them cleaner and more spacious.

The Thanh Minh Festival ceremony at the ancestors' graves can be performed as a vegetarian or non-vegetarian ceremony, depending on the conditions and traditions of each family. Regardless of the form, the basic offerings that cannot be missed include incense, lamps, tea, wine, water, betel and areca nuts, votive paper money and fruit.

For vegetarian dishes, you can prepare sticky rice, banana cakes, cakes, water, rice, salt, popcorn, and a bowl of honey. For savory dishes, in addition to the above offerings, there is also wine, meat, sticky rice, boiled chicken or ham.

When burning incense at a grave, if there are many incense bowls, incense should be burned for all bowls, and the offerings can be shared. The offerings should be neatly arranged on plates, placed on mats or towels when placed on the ground and placed on a flat surface before performing the worship ritual.

After completing the worship ritual, wait until the incense has burned about 2/3, then perform the thanksgiving ceremony, burn the votive paper and ask for luck to bring home to perform the ceremony for the family gods and ancestors. If there is a prayer written on paper, after reading it, burn it.

According to Vietnamese custom, during Thanh Minh festival, people often bring shovels and hoes to the cemetery to fill the graves, remove weeds and bushes growing on the graves, to avoid snakes, rats digging holes or attracting buffaloes and cows to destroy them.

For built graves, thorough cleaning is done, then the grave-sweeper lights incense and places offerings to worship.

Offering Thanh Minh Festival at home

Although it is a big holiday, the Thanh Minh festival offerings do not have to be elaborate but are prepared in accordance with each family's conditions or according to the customs of each region. The important thing is the sincerity of the descendants expressed through each dish and each offering.

The Thanh Minh Festival offering tray usually includes traditional dishes such as sticky rice, boiled chicken, bamboo shoot soup, vermicelli, and a stir-fried dish. In addition, there are also traditional offerings such as fruits, fresh flowers, betel and areca nuts, and votive paper. In particular, for Buddhist families, a vegetarian offering tray will be prepared instead of a meat offering tray.

Offering tray for Thanh Minh Festival. Photo: baogiaoducthoidai

In case conditions do not allow, the offering can be simplified, only needing fresh flowers, fruits, and candy.

Before performing the Thanh Minh Festival worship at home, it is necessary to clean the house and wipe the family altar. The person who burns incense must wear neat and clean clothes, showing respect to the ancestors. When burning incense, the worshiper will bow and recite prayers, expressing sincerity and respect. After the incense has burned out, the family can burn votive papers and ask for blessings.

Qingming Festival is an important occasion for descendants to show their filial piety and strengthen family traditions. Preparing the right offerings not only helps honor the deceased but also brings deep meaning to the living.

PV

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/cung-tet-thanh-minh-can-chuan-bi-le-vat-gi-post340272.html