Every year, from around the 20th to the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, most families on Phú Quý Island go to clean and visit the graves to show their respect and filial piety toward their deceased ancestors.

Every year, starting from about the 20th day of the lunar month, descendants of families on Phú Quý Island gather to clean their grandparents’ graves. Some visit the graves, some pile up the earth, clear weeds, cut down trees around the graves, and clean and beautify the resting places of their ancestors and relatives.

During these days, cemeteries become crowded and bustling. Adults pray at the graves, while children accompany their parents or grandparents to learn about their ancestral graves and to cultivate respect for their ancestors through the tradition of grave visiting. People who work far away often return during this time to clean their ancestors’ graves and reunite with their families.

Fresh flowers, cakes, and fruits are indispensable offerings for the year-end grave cleaning ritual. After that, descendants light incense, burn paper offerings, and invite the deceased to celebrate the New Year with their living family members.

Grave cleaning is a deeply humane and beautiful custom passed down for generations by the island’s people. They believe that when descendants prepare and decorate their homes, they also want to take care of and clean their ancestors’ graves to make them more spacious and beautiful. This act expresses filial piety to the deceased ancestors and reflects the Vietnamese tradition of “remembering one’s origins.”

Bích Dung

phuquy.binhthuan.gov.vn