For most Vietnamese, Tet (Lunar New Year) festival has actually begun with the “Ong Cong - Ong Tao” (or Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) ceremony on the 23rd of the last month of the lunar year, which falls on January 25 this year.
On this day, every family is busy staging a farewell ceremony for the Land Genie and the Kitchen Gods on their yearly visit of Heaven.
As the legend goes, the Land Genie and the Kitchen Gods will ride carps to Heaven on the day to deliver an annual report on the household’s activities to the God of Heaven.
Special offerings are made for the Land Genie and Kitchen Gods ceremony. Among other things, feasts and golden carps are indispensable.
The Kitchen Gods, the guardian spirit of the kitchen, are believed to comprise two male gods and one female, who bless the household and keep up the kitchen fire, making every member of the family happy and well-off.
As the gods make their journey on the back of fish, it is traditional to release live carps into lakes or rivers, which is considered a kindhearted deed to pray for good luck.
The fire in the kitchen is the symbol of not only warm family union, but also a bumper harvest and agricultural development of Vietnamese people. The custom of worshipping the Kitchen Gods reflects Vietnamese’s respect of family happiness./.
