Vietnamese people, from ancient times, organized New Year's Eve worship ceremonies outdoors and indoors, where there is an ancestral altar.
However, according to the book "Traditional Vietnamese Worship" (World Publishing House), to be compact but still solemn and pure, families can arrange offering trays outdoors and at the ancestral altar, but when praying, the homeowner should perform the ceremony at the ancestral altar because the prayer text is fully presented to the councils at all levels.
New Year's Eve offering trays do not place much emphasis on formality or sophistication. Homeowners can use items prepared for Tet, more or less does not matter, the core is still sincerity and respect.
After a busy day preparing the year-end feast, cleaning, decorating the house, the sacred New Year's Eve moment should be prepared neatly, peacefully, in accordance with the modern rhythm of life and the spirit of humanity.
Outdoor New Year's Eve offering tray:
For outdoor offerings, homeowners can prepare as follows:
- Five fruits
- Fresh flowers
- Candles.
- In addition, to make the offering tray more solemn, you can also arrange: gac sticky rice, green bean sweet soup, royal beans or lotus seeds.
New Year's Eve offering tray in the house:
Depending on the conditions and customs of each region, the New Year's Eve worshiping ceremony in each family's house is also different. In which, many families prepare a separate tray of offerings including:
- Boiled chicken
- Gio cha
- Banh chung
- Fruits
- Candy
- Wine
- Clear water
- Betel and areca...
According to the custom of Vietnamese people in the North, the New Year's Eve tray (outside the sky or in the house) usually has boiled flower roosters, left whole. The image of roosters symbolizes the sound of dawn, gives yang energy and light, carrying the meaning of dispelling darkness, welcoming the new year.
Especially for Buddhist families, who worship Buddha and apply Buddhist teachings, the New Year's Eve worshiping ceremony can be simpler. Just a vase of fresh flowers and a coconut placed on an outdoor table. One coconut represents "one mind", while the coconut symbolizes purity, purity, implying washing out bad things, keeping good things in the new year.
