VI
EN
According to Eastern beliefs, the God of Wealth is the deity responsible for overseeing finances and bringing good fortune to the household. This deity helps ensure that the homeowner's business ventures proceed smoothly and with minimal obstacles.
The custom of worshipping the God of Wealth originated in China and was introduced to Vietnam around the beginning of the 20th century. People choose the God of Wealth's Day to offer sacrifices to the God of Wealth in order to receive blessings, guidance, and success as desired.
The custom of worshipping the God of Wealth originated in China and was introduced to Vietnam around the beginning of the 20th century.
Legend has it that the God of Wealth, while drunk, accidentally fell to earth and lost his memory, forgetting who he was. He wandered the land, begging for food to survive. Fortunately, he met a kind shop owner who invited him into his shop. As soon as the old beggar entered, the shop became bustling with customers. Noticing this, the shop owner kept the old man there to ensure his business prospered. After some time, the old beggar began to remember everything and returned to heaven on the 10th day of the first lunar month.
From then on, in his memory, people set up altars to worship him and chose this day as the day of the God of Wealth. Every year on the 10th day of the first lunar month, people prepare offerings to worship the God of Wealth, buy gold, and purchase feng shui items... with the wish for wealth, luck, and prosperity for the whole year.
Every year on the 10th day of the first lunar month, people prepare offerings to worship the God of Wealth, buying gold, feng shui items, etc., hoping to pray for wealth, good fortune, and prosperity for the whole year.
Cleaning the altar of the God of Wealth
Early on the 10th day of the first lunar month, you should open all the doors in your house, especially the main door, to welcome good fortune into your home. Specifically, after burning incense, the salt and rice are usually put away, and water is splashed from outside into your house. This symbolizes that wealth only enters the house and does not leave, helping to retain it.
Above all, before offering sacrifices to the God of Wealth, you should meticulously and carefully clean the altar. You can purify it with pomelo leaf water or use a clean basin specifically used for bathing and purification. You should pour clean water and mix in a little white wine to bathe both the God of Wealth and the Earth God. Then, clean and tidy the altars of both gods, ensuring they are clean and airy.
Before making offerings to the God of Wealth, you should meticulously and carefully clean the altar.
Offering to the God of Wealth
To ensure prosperous business and good fortune throughout the year, the offerings to the God of Wealth need to be carefully prepared, varying according to local customs. On ordinary days, depending on the family's circumstances, offerings can be vegetarian or non-vegetarian. However, on the day of the God of Wealth's festival, you should prepare non-vegetarian offerings.
According to folklore, the God of Wealth particularly enjoys crab, roasted pork, and ripe yellow bananas. In some localities, people also buy grilled snakehead fish or roasted pork. In the South, people also include a plate of "tam sen" (boiled pork, boiled eggs, and boiled shrimp) in their offerings.
To ensure prosperous business and good fortune throughout the year, the offerings to the God of Wealth need to be carefully prepared, varying according to local customs.
In recent years, many families have also chosen lucky cakes to offer on the day of the God of Wealth, such as steamed buns, cream cakes, or pineapple cakes shaped like peaches, gold bars, gold jars, money bags, jade sets, and rice cakes.
For offerings to the God of Wealth, you should not use artificial flowers or plastic fruits. You should offer fresh, delicious fruits such as apples, pears, bananas, oranges, and tangerines. In addition, you should prepare a tray of gold leaf, two small lamps to place on either side of the incense burner, and a tray of water containing two cups of wine and three cups of water.
In particular, in recent years, many families have chosen lucky cakes to offer as sacrifices on the day of the God of Wealth.
Buy gold and feng shui items.
Traditionally, buying gold is especially important on the day of the God of Wealth. In the spiritual life of Vietnamese people, spending money to buy gold on the 10th day of the first lunar month is believed to bring prosperity, good fortune, smooth work, abundant wealth, and plenty of money throughout the year, as gold symbolizes richness and prosperity. Besides that, buying gold at the beginning of the year is also considered a form of saving for Vietnamese people. There are many types of gold to consider when buying on this occasion, such as gold rings, gold jewelry, gold threads, gold bars, etc.
Besides buying gold on the day of the God of Wealth, many families choose to buy additional feng shui items such as feng shui stones, money-holding toads, or meaningful jewelry... with the hope of a prosperous year and more good fortune.
According to long-standing tradition, buying gold is especially important on the day of the God of Wealth.
