Overview of Vietnamese Ancestor Worship
Ancestor worship is an inseparable part of every Vietnamese family, regardless of wealth or social standing. It originated in the agricultural economy of the old patriarchal society, and Confucianism later added a philosophical foundation through the concept of filial piety. In the 15th century, the Le dynasty institutionalized ancestor worship: the Hong Duc Code required descendants to worship ancestors for five generations (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents), and stipulated that ancestral rice fields and incense fields could not be mortgaged or sold even if descendants were poor. Under the Nguyen dynasty, ancestor worship rites were recorded in detail in the book Tho mai gia le.
In the South, ancestor worship also stems from the same sense of national identity, but it manifests with diverse nuances shaped by different historical and cultural coordinates. All sources emphasize one common point: the centripetal force is gratitude to one's roots and the bonding of the clan.
Northern Vietnamese Family Altars
Northern Vietnamese Family Altars
According to the widely cited description from the Government Electronic Newspaper, the traditional Vietnamese house usually has three or five bays, with the central bay being the most solemn place, the heart of the home, so the altar is usually set up in the middle of this bay. For poor families, the altar might be just a bamboo mat panel between the two inner columns of the central bay, with a small incense bowl inside. For middle-class families and above, the altar is properly built, with some homeowners using the top of a cabinet as an altar or building a shelf mounted on the wall. Whatever the design, the altar must always be in a solemn position with appropriate height so that when worshiping, everyone can show reverent respect for ancestors.
The structure of the Northern altar, as described, includes: a shrine niche, throne, or spirit tablet, carved quite elaborately and carefully lacquered and gilded. In front of the spirit tablet is a very tall incense table. On the incense table, in the center is the incense bowl for inserting incense during worship; the incense bowl is carefully tended and must not be moved. Behind the incense bowl is a small stand, on which are three covered cups with knobs on the lids, holding three small cups of wine during worship. Daily, the cups are covered to avoid dust, and only opened on holidays, Tet, the fifteenth, and the first of the month.
On either side of the incense bowl are two lamps (two oil lamps) or two candles; today in urban areas people light two electric lamps. Near both sides of the incense bowl, besides the two lamps, there may also be two cranes flanking. On the outer side of the two lamps, near the two ends of the incense table, are two incense tubes for holding incense. There is also a vase or a pair of vases displayed on the altar for flowers on death anniversaries and Tet. A horizontal plaque hangs high across the front of the altar, bearing large Chinese characters, though many families use Nom characters (usually three or four characters); this is the hoanh phi. On either side of the columns or walls hang parallel couplets.
Regarding the number of generations worshiped, the Hong Duc Code required descendants to worship ancestors for five generations. The Government Electronic Newspaper cites this regulation when discussing the legal and moral foundation of ancestor worship in the North.
Regarding offerings, each ceremony depends on whether the family is poor or rich and on the occasion; offerings may include wine, fruit, incense, sticky rice and sweet soup, cakes, savory dishes, sometimes votive paper items. In necessary cases, offerings can be just a cup of rainwater and a stick of incense lit on the altar. During ceremonies, lamps or candles must be lit. Incense on the altar is always lit in odd numbers (one or three sticks) and the sticks must be inserted straight. When the incense stubs in the bowl are full, the homeowner lights incense to ask ancestors' permission to remove the stubs, burns them to ash, and pours the ash into a pond or lake.
On Tet, decorating the altar depends on each family's circumstances, but every family must display a five-fruit tray. Usually the five fruits are five types of different colors such as green bananas, yellow pomelo, red persimmon, white pear, orange mandarin, symbolizing five wishes: wealth, honor, longevity, health, and peace. The Government Electronic Newspaper notes that Northerners lean more toward symbolic meaning: Buddha's hand fruit or a banana bunch as the Buddha's hand protecting everyone; pomelo and watermelon representing fullness, completeness, and vitality; the bright colors of mandarin and persimmon symbolizing luck, prosperity, and auspiciousness.
Southern Vietnamese Family Altars
Southern Vietnamese Family Altars
According to Dai Doan Ket, in the South every Vietnamese family, poor or rich, establishes a place of ancestor worship. Poor families set up a simple worship place, better-off families have a separate worship room, and wealthy families may build a separate ancestral house. This source cites Son Nam in the book Thuan phong my tuc Viet Nam: in the past in the South, the ancestral altar was called a worship bed, which was the bed the parents usually slept on, used for worship right in the middle of the house. In front of the worship bed was a worship cabinet. The worship bed, due to the need to narrow down, was gradually replaced by a low table placed against the wall, used to display food during death anniversaries. In front of the worship bed was a fairly tall worship cabinet or altar that obscured it. In the late 19th century, altars had four legs and were taller than the worship bed.
From the 1930s, worship cabinets appeared, designed compactly, modeled after French cabinets from the time of King Louis XVI. Many families used worship cabinets instead of worship beds and altars. The famous line of worship cabinets made by Go Cong (My Tho) craftsmen in Ong Non hamlet had a front sealed with a large curved mango-shaped panel, carved with two rows of tightly linked chains, symbolizing two doors. Inside the worship cabinet were ritual items such as incense and lamps, flowers and fruit, cups and teapots, precious wine bottles, administrative papers, household registers, land records, and genealogies. Wealthy families bought large glass cabinets as worship cabinets, later sideboards, on which they placed portraits of grandparents and parents.
In spacious houses, the altar has two levels: inside is a low rice table for offerings and for keeping mementos of the deceased such as betel, trays, canes, hats; outside is the worship cabinet or worship chair for ritual vessels such as censers, tripods, candlesticks, plates, fruit trays, flower vases, tea cups, and water bowls (according to Truong Ngoc Tuong, Nguyen Ngoc Phan, Huong Thu Huong, Q&A on Belief Customs and Rituals Through the Life Cycle Past and Present).
Usually the family altar in a home, viewed from outside in: worship cabinet, on which is placed an incense bowl, a set of bronze vessels (one incense burner, two candlesticks), with wealthy families having large bronze sets and candlesticks; flower vase (right), fruit tray (left) following the rule east vase west fruit, three cups of water for worship. The worship table holds spirit tablets, portraits of the deceased, and is where the rice tray is placed during worship. A partition panel is optional. In the past, poor rural families might have only a panel on the altar, even made of a light board, with portraits and incense bowls placed on the board.
In houses with three bays: the center worships Buddha, deities, or the Cao Dai altar; the left worships the Nine Generations and Seven Ancestors; the right worships deceased grandparents and parents. In the central bay, worship the Nine Generations and Seven Ancestors, and on the left worship deceased grandparents and parents. Families with a tradition of being ritual masters worship the High Mysterious Ancestor (or High Mysterious Seven Ancestors). Otherwise, ordinary families worship the Nine Generations and Seven Ancestors. Some families worship the Nine Generations and Seven Ancestors at the top, with clan hierarchy below. Altars for Buddha, Quan Yin, and Quan Cong are placed lower, on the right. Or in old houses, there may be an altar for Quan Cong high up, on the left of the family altar.
Regarding the number of generations worshiped, Dai Doan Ket notes that in ancient ancestor worship there was also the custom of the five-generation burial of spirit tablets: the householder worshiped four generations or more (father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather); when the fifth generation came up, the tablet of the first generation would be buried or burned. In the South, family altars usually worship only two to three generations.
On traditional altars, there are often landscape paintings or ink wash paintings, painted on wood, glass, or directly on the wall. In the center is a glass painting with characters such as Phuc, Loc, Tho. The content of these paintings is rural scenery, houses, rivers, clouds and mountains, boats, with parallel couplets on both sides expressing descendants' wishes for the deceased to have a prosperous and warm life in the afterlife. Above and in front of the altar is a horizontal plaque with phrases such as Virtue Leaves Fragrance, Glorifying Family Blessings, Orchid and Cassia Blooming, Descendants Prosper, Doing Good Is Supreme Joy, Great Principle. On either side of the plaque hang parallel couplets praising ancestors' merits or expressing descendants' gratitude.
Regarding how portraits are worshiped, previously the family altar often worshiped the deceased with spirit tablets written in Chinese characters, later with black-and-white portrait paintings, then color paintings, cushion paintings, glass paintings, and when cameras appeared, black-and-white photos, then color photos.
Regarding arrangement when there are multiple altars, Dai Doan Ket cites Truong Ngoc Tuong, Nguyen Ngoc Phan, Huong Thu Huong: if a house has two altars, one is for the husband's parents and one for the wife's parents; or one for parents and one for grandparents. If three altars, they include parents, grandparents, and ancestors. If only one altar, parents, grandparents, and ancestors are worshiped together. The arrangement follows the principle: parents are closest so their worship is more important than grandparents, so the parents' altar must be placed in the center of the house or in the important position on the left (the root side of the ridge beam); the grandparents' altar is placed on the right (the tip side of the ridge beam), viewed from inside the house out. Today, for simplicity, biological parents and wife's parents, paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents, and siblings are all placed on one altar. The male-female position of the deceased on the altar follows the rule male left female right (viewed from inside out), but sometimes some families, not understanding, arrange it messily; however, the hierarchy between generations must always be maintained.
Regarding the five-fruit tray, the Government Electronic Newspaper notes that Southerners have a way of reading altered sounds or monosyllabizing some words: custard apple is monosyllabized as Cau (to satisfy in prayer), Sung (prosperity, fullness), Vua (altered pronunciation of coconut), Du (monosyllabization of papaya) and Xai (altered pronunciation of mango).
Comparison Table of Main Differences
| Criterion | Northern Vietnamese Family Altar | Southern Vietnamese Family Altar |
|---|---|---|
| Position in the house | Central bay, the most solemn place in a three- or five-bay house | Poor families set up a simple worship place; better-off families have a separate worship room; wealthy families may build a separate ancestral house |
| Structure, main items | Tall incense table, shrine niche, throne, lacquered and gilded carved spirit tablet, small stand with three wine cups, two lamps or candles, two incense tubes, vase or pair of vases | Worship bed (old term), worship cabinet, four-legged altar, French-style worship cabinet from the 1930s, worship table for spirit tablets and portraits, bronze vessel set, east vase west fruit rule |
| Number of generations worshiped | Hong Duc Code required five generations | Usually only two to three generations; custom of five-generation burial of spirit tablets |
| Five-fruit tray selection | Leans toward symbolic meaning: Buddha's hand fruit, banana bunch, pomelo, watermelon, mandarin, persimmon | Altered sounds or monosyllabization of fruit names: Cau, Sung, Vua, Du, Xai |
| Portraits, spirit tablets | Spirit tablets, shrine niche, throne placed on the incense table | Chinese-character spirit tablets, later portrait paintings, glass paintings, black-and-white photos, then color photos |
Why Do Altars in the Two Regions Differ?
Sources offer several explanations. The Government Electronic Newspaper emphasizes historical context: ancestor worship originated in the agricultural economy of the old patriarchal society; when Confucianism was introduced, filial piety was emphasized; in the 15th century the Le dynasty institutionalized worship; under the Nguyen dynasty rites were recorded in Tho mai gia le. This source also notes that rural housing architecture changed little, so the traditional altar style remained effective, while modern urban homes with modern architecture and interiors have altered altar arrangement and ritual items to suit the overall home.
Dai Doan Ket explains differently: the Southern family altar is a product of a historical and cultural process in ancestor worship customs in the Southern land. It both inherits the nation's cultural traditions and shows creativity in religious practice in a new land, blending core values and integrating new elements suitable for reverent remembrance of roots. According to this source, the appearance of French-style worship cabinets from the 1930s and Go Cong worship cabinet lines is an example of that integration.
Points Where Sources Do Not Agree
It should be noted that available sources do not agree on some details. On the number of generations worshiped, the Government Electronic Newspaper cites the Hong Duc Code's five-generation rule for the North, while Dai Doan Ket says in the South family altars usually worship only two to three generations and there is the custom of five-generation burial of spirit tablets. The two sources do not directly contradict each other, but they do not provide direct comparative data between the two regions.
On altar structure, the Government Electronic Newspaper describes the Northern altar with incense table, shrine niche, throne, small stand, and three wine cups. Dai Doan Ket describes the Southern altar with worship bed, worship cabinet, worship table, and bronze vessel set. Neither source provides information about the details of the other region, so it cannot be concluded that a particular detail exists only in one region and not the other.
On the five-fruit tray, the Government Electronic Newspaper offers different explanations for the two regions, but does not clarify whether this difference is a fixed rule or just a general trend.
Conclusion
Family altars of Vietnamese people in the North and South both honor ancestors with gratitude to roots and clan bonding. Differences in structure, arrangement, number of generations worshiped, and five-fruit tray selection reflect each region's historical, cultural, and living conditions. Available sources describe the two regions at different levels of detail and do not agree on some points, so this article presents only what is supported and notes where information is incomplete.
