Tiet Thanh Minh is especially important for descendants to show respect to ancestors and grandparents. So, on what date is Tiet Thanh Minh in the year of the Rabbit 2023?
With the principle of “drinking water, remember the source”, since ancient times, Tiet Thanh Minh has become an important and sacred holiday that goes deep into the subconscious of Vietnamese people.
Although Thanh Minh is not a big Tet, it is associated with morality, with Vietnamese people’s obligations – the duty of descendants to remember the merits of their ancestors and their predecessors. This is the common anniversary of the ancestors’ death anniversary so that everyone has the opportunity to repay the filial piety, call it a partial return for the birth and creation of the ancestors.
Qingming is the fifth period in the “Twenty-Four Four Qi” and has been considered by the East as an annual ceremony. Tiet Thanh Minh arrived 45 days after Lap Xuan day. Literally, sound is clear qi, and luminosity is bright. When the Spring equinox passes, the dusty rains of spring have ended, the sky becomes clear and bright is the time of Tiet Thanh Minh.
The Qingming Festival is the period that begins around the 4th or 5th of April when the spring equinox ends.
By convention, the Qingming Festival is a period that begins around April 4 or 5 at the end of the spring equinox and ends around April 20 or 21 of the solar calendar. This year, Tet Thanh Minh begins on April 5 (on the 17th day of the second lunar month in the year of the Goat) and lasts until the 5th day of the fifth lunar month (on the 17th day of the third lunar month). According to the custom in the traditional Qingming days, when remembering the roots, many families organize grave digging and making vegetarian cakes.
In the past, our grandparents chose Tiet Thanh Minh as the day to cut grass on the grave and cover the grave with soil . Because the weather is getting warmer on this day, it rains more, the vegetation is better covering the grave, which can cause the grave to collapse, so it is necessary to cut the grass and cover the grave with more soil.
On the occasion of going to Thanh Minh to dig graves, to remember ancestors and dead relatives, people can walk around and admire the lush greenery, so it is also called Dap Thanh. Nguyen Du has a sentence:
Thanh Minh in the March period
Mass grave was the springboard algae bar
Tiet Qingming originated in China . It is said that, during the Spring and Autumn period, King Tan Van Cong, of the Tan state, encountered a riot, had to leave the country in exile, now reside in the state of Qi, and live in the country of Chu tomorrow. At that time, there was a sage named Gioi Tu Thoi who followed the king to help his scheme. One day, on the way to refuge, food ran out, Gioi Tu Thoi had to secretly cut a piece of his thigh meat and cook it to the king. When the king finished eating, he found out, and was extremely grateful.
Gioi Tu Thoi followed Tan Van Cong for nineteen years, experiencing many hardships and dangers together. Later, Tan Van Cong regained the throne and returned to be the king of Tan, bestowed rewards for those with meritorious services, but forgot about the merits of Gioi Tu Thoi. Gioi Tu Thoi did not hold any grudges, thinking that he could do anything, it was also his duty, but there was no merit worth mentioning. So he went home and took his mother to Dien Son mountain to hide.
Tan Van Cong later remembered, sent someone to find. Gioi Tu Thoi refused to leave Dien Son to receive the reward, Tan Van Cong ordered to burn the forest, wanting to force Gioi Tu Thoi to come out, but he refused to obey, and in the end both his mother and son died in the fire.
The king had mercy, built a shrine and ordered the folk to abstain from burning fire for three days, only eating cold food prepared to commemorate (from the 3rd to the 5th of the third lunar month every year). Since then, the 3rd day of the third lunar month every year is considered the real Korean New Year, to commemorate the merits of raising the deceased.
Since the Ly Dynasty, our people have accepted the real Korean New Year, but the meaning of this New Year has changed and brought bold traditional colors, suitable for the psychology as well as the daily life of the Vietnamese people. On the real Korean New Year, Vietnamese people do not abstain from fire, all cooking is still done, only Vietnamese people use floating cakes – vegetarian cakes for the real Korean New Year with the symbolic meaning of cold and authentic foods. . Therefore, Vietnamese people also call the real Korean New Year by another name, Tet cake drift – vegetarian cake.
Tiet Thanh Minh is associated with morality, with the duty of the Vietnamese people – the duty of descendants to remember the merits of their ancestors and those who went before them.
This is the common anniversary of the ancestors’ death anniversary so that everyone has the opportunity to repay the filial piety, call it a partial return for the birth and creation of the ancestors.
Descendants who work far away all year round often return on this occasion to remember their ancestors and reunite with their families. Usually, on this occasion, the living will organize a gathering of relatives, perform a grave cleaning ceremony, visit and clean the graves of their ancestors.
The main job is to remove weeds covering the grave and fill the grave with more fullness because spring drizzle easily makes wild plants grow well.
Especially check to see if the grave has been attacked by termites or chiseled by small animals, if so, it should be solved immediately because this is a grave case, quite dangerous for feng shui yin.
At the same time, they make offerings to invite the deceased to come home to have dinner with their children and grandchildren. Children and grandchildren remember and reminisce about the good things about their fathers with all respect.
When doing the Thanh Minh worshiping ceremony, you should consult carefully because in addition to being sincere, you must know the need to prepare the necessary offerings and most importantly, know how to prepare the Thanh Minh ceremony properly.
Offering at home and worshiping at the grave have different ways of preparing offerings and vows, homeowners need to pay attention to not be confused. For detailed instructions, please refer to the article Van professing graves of Tiet Thanh Minh and Van voing Thanh Minh at home.
Thanh Minh is actually one of the 24 annual qi periods. The Qingming Festival starts from April 4 or 5 of the solar calendar to April 20 or 21 of the solar calendar. Thanh Minh means that Thanh is clear, Minh is bright, Tiet Thanh Minh is a time when the air is clear and pure, the sky is clear and new.
The maintenance of the customs of our forefathers has always been respected and consciously preserved by many people. Therefore, the date of the year 2022 is a question of many people in this new year. In fact, Tet Thanh Minh has absolutely no fixed date. Therefore, determining the time is somewhat difficult.
According to the calculation of the lunar calendar, the Qingming period will usually fall on the 4th or 5th day of April (after the end of the spring equinox) and end around the 20th or 21st of April according to the solar calendar every year. .
In 2023, Thanh Minh New Year falls on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 (February 15, 2023 is the Year of the Snake, the month of the Rabbit, the Year of the Rabbit).
Tiet Thanh Minh is a humane, humanitarian and mainly memorial holiday. Therefore, it is not necessary to pay attention to the full tray of food, even more should not offer a lot of gold coins, burn a lot of votive paper, this is not only wasteful, polluting the environment but also has no spiritual meaning. Consoling the living and remembering the dead is in the mind, heart and sincerity.
For Vietnamese people, Tiet Thanh Minh is an opportunity for descendants to turn to their ancestors and roots. No matter where anyone goes, anywhere until the 3rd day of the third lunar month every year, they try to return to their family to visit the grave and reunite with the family tray of rice. The graves are cleaned by family members, and new land is cultivated, which are the virtues of the living towards the deceased.
For Vietnamese people, Tiet Thanh Minh is an opportunity for descendants to turn to their ancestors and roots.
The main job of the grave digger is to clean the ancestral graves. On the occasion of Thanh Minh Day, people bring shovels and hoes to fill the grave, remove all weeds and wild plants that cover the grave as well as prevent wild animals such as snakes and rats from digging. caves and nests that, in their opinion, can harm the souls of the deceased. Then, grave diggers light a few incense sticks, burn votive papers or put more bouquets of flowers for the souls of the deceased.
During the Qingming day, the cemetery became crowded and bustling. The old people are worried about worshiping their ancestors at the grave. Children are also allowed to follow their parents or grandparents to dig graves, first to know the graves of their ancestors, then to train them to respect their ancestors through the custom of visiting graves. People who work far away all year round often return on this occasion (maybe a day or two earlier for various reasons) to visit their ancestors’ graves and reunite with their families.
Besides the graves that are looked after and carefully taken care of, there are also derelict and unvisited graves. Those who visit the grave often also put a stick of incense for these graves.
In addition to the above custom, the Vietnamese also have the custom of making floating cakes, burning incense, then the whole family gathers together to enjoy the rich flavor of this cake.
Tiet Thanh Minh is also the time when the weather starts to cool down, the trees grow strongly, many flowers bloom, it is a suitable time to have a picnic and enjoy the scenery.
For the matter of worshiping Thanh Minh, there are two parts: worshiping ancestors at home and worshiping outside the grave. Therefore, when preparing to buy the most complete Thanh Minh New Year worshiping ceremony, it is necessary to remember that there are two types. In particular, the Thanh Minh New Year worshiping ceremony, in addition to the grave, also includes the worshiping ceremony of the small land.
Usually, the purchase of the Thanh Minh festival will need to be prepared 1-2 days in advance, there is a custom of going to the grave, worshiping outside the grave from early in the morning. In particular, when shopping for the Thanh Minh sacrifice ceremony, it is necessary to prepare the following ceremony:
A set of three births: The three births used to sacrifice in the great festivals of the past were three animals: cows, pigs, and goats. However, at present, depending on the local customs and habits where: Cao Bang or Thanh Minh Tet of the Tay, Nung, Kinh, Chinese, Vietnamese… and family circumstances, one can prepare for this ceremony or not.
These offerings are neatly arranged with plates and placed on the ground with mats or mats on a flat place before performing the ceremony. Note that there must be an offering ceremony dedicated to the local deities at the burial place with offerings: incense, betel nut wine, gold coins, paper clothes…
What to offer at the Thanh Minh New Year at home will depend on the family’s conditions, which can be a savory offering or fresh fruit… Besides the indispensable offerings are gold incense, betel nut, water. clean.
Depending on each family, it is possible to make a tray of offerings for Thanh Minh New Year with full of sticky rice, boiled chicken, or spring rolls, bamboo shoot soup, vermicelli, extra stir-fried plate… Or the Thanh Minh New Year offerings are just normal incense with fresh fruit, Chinese tea, cigarettes… to inform the deceased ancestors of the Qingming day, to remember and be grateful.
Note: Fruit must be fresh, especially flowers should not choose colorful flowers and should be chosen according to the preferences of the deceased or the relationship with the deceased. When offering flowers to older people who do not know their preferences, they should choose yellow and white chrysanthemums. If you offer flowers to people of the same generation besides white and yellow daisies, you can choose lilies and carnations.
When going to the grave on Thanh Minh New Year, there are things you need to know to avoid bad luck such as:
When walking past other people’s graves , you should not step on them like kicking other people’s offerings, this will bring bad luck to you, especially children and young people.
For women who are menstruating, pregnant women or people with rheumatism, they should not go to the grave because of the cold air and bad energy here.
Because the grave is a time when the family gathers together, they often take commemorative photos. However, this is not recommended in the cemetery area, so photography is limited here.
When cleaning the grave, you should clean it up before and after as well as check the condition of the grave to avoid rats and snakes crawling inside.
Do not talk about pointing at other people’s graves to avoid bringing bad luck to you as well as showing respect to the deceased.
Shopping for the tomb of Tiet Thanh Minh usually includes: Incense lamps, betel nut, gold coins, wine and meat (pork leg, boiled chicken or a piece of lean pork), fruit.
I bow to the heavens of the nine directions, the buddhas of the ten directions, the buddhas of the ten directions
I respectfully bow to Huong Linh………….
Today is.………….
Personal details: …………………….
Creditor (them) I ……………………
Residing at: …………………….
We and all our families and children, thanks to the great merits, high virtues, building the inheritance of ………….. moved to think of the negative part in the desert, the faithful and children sincerely bought the ceremony. , betel nut, betel nut, the scent of camellia flowers, light incense sticks to offer in front of the grave, sincerely invite the true spirit…………..lai Lam to enjoy.
We ask for permission to repair the grave, make the chariot, restore the land, repair the post-demonic road to make it more solid. Thanks to the Buddha’s blessing, the god of heaven protects the earth, and thanks to the blessing of the gods, makes the word peace, yin super yang. Our children and grandchildren ask for the sake of the true spirit. . . . . . This is towards Tien To.
Praying for the sacred witness, enjoying the gifts, protecting the children and grandchildren, going back and forth to check the door of the house. Covering accidents, giving fortune, bringing good things, driving evil away. For the family to be happy and healthy, cinnamon is lush, children and grandchildren enjoy the blessings of heaven, young and old are imbued with the grace of the Holy Buddha.
We worship with sincerity, bow to witness.
After completing the vows, waiting for 2/3 of the week of incense, at this time people proceed to make sacrifices, turn gold, ask for fortune and return home to worship the gods and ancestors at home.
Depending on each family, it is possible to make a tray of rice offerings with full of sticky rice, boiled chicken, or spring rolls, bamboo shoot soup, vermicelli, add stir-fried plates, .. or just light incense normally with fresh fruits, Chinese tea, tobacco. … to inform the ancestors of the ancestors, his grandfather, … passed away on the day of Thanh Minh.
The householder fixes his clothes seriously, stands in front of the incense burner, burns incense, lights a lamp, then prays:
Namo Amitabha Buddha!
Namo Amitabha Buddha!
Namo Amitabha Buddha!
I bow to the nine heavens, to the buddhas of the ten directions, to the buddhas of the ten directions.
I bow to the ancestors, relatives on both sides of their families…
I bow to the ancestor, the strong man, the grandparent, the little Red girl, the Red boy at home
Today is the day…month…year…
Now, my name is…, age…, born in commune…, district…, province… with the whole family, bowing before the altar of the ancestors.
Welcome to the Duke of Tao Quan, you are welcome.
Paying respects to silver offerings: betel wine, water tea, gold incense, fruits and sincere offerings on the occasion of Thanh Minh festival, invite the souls of ancestors, cavalry, great-grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles , you witness and enjoy the ceremony.
I sincerely and respectfully bow to my ancestors, ancestors, aunts and uncles, grandparents… to bless and maintain, pay attention to fold, caress and protect my great family peace, prosperity, three months of summer The nine winter months are cool and fresh. The good things brought, the bad things brought to my family’s work are favorable, sad, and good luck.
We respectfully offer silver offerings, bowing to the ancestors to prove the sincerity of the whole family.
Namo Amitabha Buddha!
Namo Amitabha Buddha!
Namo Amitabha Buddha!