How to decorate the altar on Tet

For every Vietnamese family, the decoration and cleaning of the altar on Tet holiday show the respect of children and grandchildren to their ancestors and wish for a peaceful, lucky, and rich new year.
Before the new year, families often have a very important ritual that is the layout of the altar. This is an opportunity for homeowners to clean, prepare gifts, prepare for Tet.

Feng shui researcher Nguyen Xuan Cuong shares some notes when setting up the altar that families can refer to. Do not move the incense bowl to the wrong position At the end of the year, all families clean the altar to celebrate Tet. According to feng shui, should not arbitrarily move the incense bowl. If the bowl of incense is moved in a bad direction, it can even cause bad luck for the homeowner. The days bordering on the Lunar New Year are the occasion when people clean the altar and prepare to welcome the new year. Photo: Pham Thang. It should be noted, after taking out the incense, we should not hold the incense bowl to pour out the ashes. Because according to the concept of the ancients, this approach is very easy to spread talent and gossip. We should use a small spoon, scoop each spoonful of the incense to spill out. When cleaning, families should use a new towel, wipe from high to low. Wiping water is alcohol with crushed ginger branch. Fruit tray presentation The tray is an indispensable thing on the altar in every family during Tet. Around December 28 and 29, after cleaning the ancestral worship place, families began to set up a beautifully decorated five-fruit tray to place on the altar. Depending on the region, you will choose different fruits, the North usually includes bananas, oranges, Buddhas, grapefruit, peaches, persimmons, peppers … Each type represents a wish of the owner, ensuring the white color, Blue, yellow, black, pink. For the Northern people, the green banana bunch placed at the bottom represents the descendants who gather, gather, surround and protect each other. However, this type of fruit never appeared in the Southern fruit tray. They believe that bananas are associated with business failure. The conception comes from the pronunciation of the banana in the southern voice as “chewing”, which is close to “chewing”, just doing business is difficult. Many families choose to display the five-fruit tray according to feng shui with the concept of welcoming more fortune in the new year. Photo: Viet Linh. Southerners often prepare 5 kinds of fruits, namely custard apple, fig, coconut, papaya, and mango with the concept of “demand for fig, just enough to use”. Oranges and tangerines are associated with the concept of “tangerine do resignation”, which means a lot of work and hardship, so they are not displayed on Tet. Meanwhile, the Central people have an important respect to their ancestors and have almost no taboo on any kind of fruit, even in terms of flavor, color and name in the five-fruit tray. The fruit tray usually includes dragon fruit, watermelon, mango, grapefruit, grape, pineapple, apple, orange, pear, custard apple … The layout is simple, not too fussy, thereby showing some personality. the sincerity of the people here. Do not put fake flowers and fruit on the altar Many families often have the habit of displaying fake flowers on the altar because they both save money and do not have to change water. However, expert Nguyen Xuan Cuong said that plastic flowers or flashing electric lights should not be displayed on the altar. When descendants display real fruit, they will show their respect and respect to their ancestors. Fresh flowers and fruits should be used to display on the altar during Tet. Photo: Viet Linh. In addition, we should use fresh flowers to display on the altar, choose types with beautiful names, pleasant aroma. Fresh flowers should be used such as lily, yellow chrysanthemum, apricot blossom, peach blossom that is both beautiful, long-lasting, bringing the Tet atmosphere. According to traditional beliefs, some types of flowers should not be placed on the altar of Tet, such as lilies, orchids, and lilies. Also according to Professor Nguyen Xuan Cuong, in order to show respect to ancestors, homeowners are not allowed to bring wild flowers growing along the road to display on the altar.