Bustling day of the Kitchen God's return to heaven

(Baonghean.vn) -According to folk beliefs, carp is the vehicle for the Kitchen God to go to heaven to report on the householder's actions in the past year. Therefore, on the morning of December 23, markets in Vinh City and the streets are bustling with the buying and selling of Kitchen God items to burn as votive paper and live carp to release.

According to Mr. Thanh - a merchant selling votive offerings in Hung Dung market, the custom of worshipping the Kitchen God originated from the legend that every month the Kitchen God ascends to heaven to report to heaven about each household's affairs. Thanks to that, heaven knows everything about the earthly world, from business to daily life of each household, from good to bad things. Later, the custom of sending the Kitchen God to heaven instead of once a month has been reduced to only on the 23rd of December every year.

The set of votive offerings to the Kitchen God includes two male and one female Tao hat, three paper shirts, and a carp.



The Tao Quan worship ceremony is prepared by many people from early morning.



Live carp sold on this day is also very popular.

The story of Ong Tao in Vietnam is associated with the legend of three gods Tho Cong (who looks after the kitchen), Tho Dia (who looks after the house), and Tho Ky (who looks after the market). People highly respect these three gods because they believe that these three gods bring them wealth and luck in the year. That is why, on this day, from early morning, every house has a ceremony to send off Ong Tao. In addition to incense, flowers, votive paper money and clothes, live carp are the items that many housewives buy to worship and release. And because of the popularity of this day, the "supply" of offerings to Ong Tao is very busy in the market. Many stalls that are not selling votive paper also take the opportunity to sell some Ong Tao items. Many street vendors like Ms. Thanh from Thanh Hoa who specializes in selling plastic goods also take advantage of the 23rd to prepare live carp to sell along the streets.

People usually buy two Apple hats.GrandfatherThere are two dragonfly wings and a hat for the Kitchen God, three paper shirts and a carp to serve as a vehicle for the "Kitchen King" to ascend to heaven.

After setting up the ceremony, burning incense and praying, wait for the incense to burn out, light another round of incense, make a thanksgiving offering, burn votive paper and release the carp into ponds, lakes, rivers, streams... to carry the Kitchen Gods to Heaven.

Thu Huyen