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Vietnam, like other East Asian countries,holds a ceremony on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to bid farewell to the Kitchen Gods.
This year, the ritual observed the Kitchen Gods which falls on Feb. 11 and following Vietnamese custom, live red carps are released on the day to serve as a "transport means" for the Kitchen Gods on their journey to heaven for their annual visit to report on the family.
The Kitchen Gods are known as the guardians of the kitchen in each household. In Vietnam, Kitchen Gods are believed to comprise two male gods and one female, who bless the household and maintain the kitchen fire, making every member of the family happy and prosperous.
According to legend, on this special day the Kitchen Gods will ride carps to heaven to report on the family's affairs during the year to the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor, who is the emperor of the heaven, will decide to either reward or punish a family based on the Kitchen Gods' report.
Traditionally, in Vietnam, after a time-honored ritual, the carps will be released into a pond or river.
In northern Vietnam, there is a village dedicated to raising red carps to meet market demand. At Thuy Tram village in the Tuy Loc commune in Phu Tho province, there are some 500 households raising red carps. Among the 60 hectares for aquaculture in Tuy Loc, around 30 hectares are used for raising red carps, while two thirds of that are in Thuy Tram.
Baby carps are usually placed in the pond six months before the festive event. After red carps are harvested, the farmers will breed other kinds of fish. According to a senior representative of the fish farmers in Thuy Tram village, raising red carps brings an income of 5 million to 10 million Vietnamese dong (between 234 and 468 U.S. dollars) for each family. "Raising red carps helped our villagers to escape poverty," said Bui Dinh Tru, chief of fish farmers in Thuy Tram, in an interview with VNA, Vietnam's state-run news agency on Wednesday.
After the Kitchen Gods go to heaven, Vietnamese households begin cleaning and decorating their houses to welcome the lunar New Year. According to local legend, on New Year's Eve, the Kitchen Gods will return and resume their care-taking duties in the kitchen of the house. On New Year's Eve, most families, therefore, offer an open-air ritual to welcome them back to their kitchen.
Along with releasing red carps, Vietnamese people also observe the ritual of sending Kitchen Gods to heaven with paper clothing, hats, robes, boots and even paper carps intended for use by the genies on the trip.
Nguyen Thi Hien, a middle-aged Vietnamese woman in Hanoi, said the ritual held on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is to express gratitude to the Kitchen Gods for taking care of each family's kitchen for the year.
Together with the lunar New Year festival, the annual ceremony to bid farewell to the Kitchen Gods remains significant in Vietnamese culture as families' collective wishes for happiness and prosperity.
