TL;DR: The Ông Công Ông Táo ceremony takes place on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, sending off the three Táo quân, kitchen gods who oversee household affairs, to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on the family's good and bad deeds during the year. The custom has roots in Daoist texts according to Phan Kế Bính (1915), tied to the tale of "two ông and one bà" and the practice of releasing cá chép as a vehicle to carry the Táo quân to heaven. Many families also hold a ceremony to send off ông Vải, meaning the ancestors, in order to clean the altar before truly preparing for Tết.
Title: Tết ông Công ông Táo (23rd of the twelfth lunar month): Sending the Táo quân back to heaven
What is Tết ông Công ông Táo?
The ceremony honouring ông Công ông Táo, also known as Tết Táo quân, takes place on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month every year. It is one of the most important rituals and opens the sequence of preparations for Tết Nguyên Đán (the lunar new year) among Vietnamese people. According to folk belief, this is the day when the Táo quân, the deities who watch over the kitchen and all household affairs, ride carp up to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on the good and bad deeds the household has committed over the past year.
Phan Kế Bính (1915) records that the custom originates in Daoist texts: those books say that on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month the Táo quân goes to court in heaven to report on the good and evil deeds of the human world. He also records a different version of the origin of the three Táo deities, telling of a poor husband and wife who separated, the wife later marrying a rich man, and then one day the former husband came begging; the wife was moved to pity and brought out rice, food and money for him. The later husband grew suspicious, the wife in her shame threw herself into the fire and died, and the former husband, out of gratitude and old affection, threw himself into the fire and died with her. This version differs from the familiar "two men and one woman" story told in the section below.
A comparison of the custom of honouring ông Công ông Táo in the three regions, following the article.
| Region | Offerings | Manner |
|---|---|---|
| The North | live carp | live carp are offered and then released |
| The Central region | a paper horse with a full saddle and bridle | |
| The South | symbolic paper hats and robes | the ceremony is simpler |
What is the legend of the two men and one woman, the Táo quân?
The origin of the cult of the Táo quân is bound up with a moving folk legend about three kitchen deities, usually called "two men and one woman". The story goes that Thị Nhi was married to Trọng Cao, but because they were childless the couple quarrelled often. In a moment of anger, Trọng Cao beat his wife and drove her away. Thị Nhi wandered to another land and met Phạm Lang, and the two became husband and wife. Later, Trọng Cao regretted what he had done and set out to find his former wife. While begging for alms, Trọng Cao happened to be recognised by Thị Nhi herself (now Phạm Lang's wife), who gave him food and drink. Afraid that her new husband would come home and misunderstand, Thị Nhi hid Trọng Cao in a haystack behind the garden. Unfortunately, Phạm Lang came home and set fire to the hay to get ash for his fields, accidentally burning Trọng Cao to death. Thị Nhi, in her grief, threw herself into the fire and died with him. Seeing this, Phạm Lang also jumped into the fire and died with his wife out of love and loyalty. Moved by the depth of love and the sense of duty of all three, the Jade Emperor conferred on them all the title of Táo quân and gave them charge of the kitchen and of recording the good and evil deeds of every household in the mortal world.
What is the meaning of the ceremony sending the Táo quân back to heaven?
In folk understanding, the Táo quân is not only the kitchen deity but also the most intimate of the gods, witnessing all the joys and sorrows, the good and the bad, in the daily life of each family throughout the year. The ceremony sending the Táo quân back to heaven on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month therefore means a chance for the family to take stock of the old year, and at the same time to pray that the Táo quân will "report" good things, helping the family receive blessings and good fortune from the Jade Emperor in the new year. This is also the moment that marks the "gateway" into the atmosphere of Tết Nguyên Đán, reminding families to begin cleaning the house and the altar to welcome the new year.
Why is there a custom of releasing carp on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month?
One of the most characteristic and symbolic customs of this day is the releasing of carp. According to folk belief, the carp is the only means that can carry the Táo quân up to heaven, stemming from the familiar "carp turning into a dragon" tale in East Asian culture, a symbol of the effort to overcome hardship and rise. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, after the ceremony at home, families usually buy live carp (often three, representing the three Táo quân), and after the ceremony take the fish to a nearby river, lake or pond to release them, in the belief that the fish will turn into a dragon and carry the Táo quân to court in heaven. The custom of releasing carp also carries a further humane meaning of compassion and release in Buddhist culture and Vietnamese folk belief.
Bùi Xuân Mỹ (2001) records that the offerings to the Táo quân are a tray of savoury food; when the ceremony is over the votive paper is burned, including the set of hats from the previous year, while the carp bought in advance and kept in a basin of water are taken and released, in the belief that the fish will carry the Táo back to heaven. Also according to Bùi Xuân Mỹ (2001), the live carp, once the ceremony is over, is taken by the head of the household to a river or lake and released. That is how the book records the custom, not advice on where one should release them.
In each region, the offering tray and the manner of performing the ceremony differ to some extent. The North usually offers live carp for release; the Central region has the custom of offering a paper horse with a full saddle and bridle; the South usually holds a simpler ceremony with symbolic paper hats and robes instead of carp or a paper horse, though it keeps the core meaning of the day. Bùi Xuân Mỹ (2001) also notes this difference: in the Central region the Táo rides a paper horse with a full saddle and bridle, while in the South the Táo is offered a pair of paper boots. The books mentioned above mainly describe the customs of the Kinh people of the North, so they should not be extended to every region or to other ethnic groups.
What offerings does the offering tray for ông Công ông Táo include?
The offering tray for ông Công ông Táo is usually prepared carefully, with incense, flowers, lamps and candles, betel and areca, paper hats and robes, and paper boots for the three Táo quân, along with savoury or vegetarian dishes depending on each family's circumstances, such as glutinous rice, boiled chicken, pork roll and bamboo shoot soup. The ceremony is usually performed in the morning or before the hour of Ngọ (12 noon) on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, because in folk understanding, after the hour of Ngọ the Táo quân has already gone to court in heaven, and a late ceremony would no longer be timely.
Bùi Xuân Mỹ (2001) holds that the hats of the Thổ công are either three in number (two men's hats and one woman's hat), or only a single man's hat; the difference is that the men's hat has two wings sweeping upward, while the woman's hat has none. Each hat is placed on a paper base, with a robe and a pair of boots, and beneath the hat a hundred bars of gold are usually laid. The hats, robes and boots take a different colour each year according to the element of that year: in a Metal year the hats are yellow, in a Wood year white, in a Water year green, in a Fire year red, and in an Earth year black. Toan Ánh (2001) also records this five-element colour scheme, and notes that the old set of hats is burned on the day of Tết Táo quân and replaced with a new set, which is then worshipped until the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month of the following year.
What is the lễ tiễn ông Vải, and how does it relate to Tết ông Công ông Táo?
The lễ tiễn ông Vải is the ceremony sending off the ancestors (collectively called ông Vải), so that their descendants can clean up, replace the incense sticks and rearrange the altar before welcoming the new year; in many households the real work of preparing for Tết only begins after the ceremony for ông Công. According to Bùi Xuân Mỹ (2001), some families only truly begin their Tết preparations after the ceremony for ông Công, because sending ông Vải off too early would be hard to justify before the ancestors; the old understanding was that at the end of the year ông Vải too wishes to wander and enjoy himself for a few days so that the descendants have time to clean, arrange and redecorate the altar afresh, and that when the ancestors return to their seat everything will go more smoothly. When cleaning the altar for the new year, the old incense sticks are usually taken out to replace the incense bowl, then burned in a clean place or released into a river or lake, ashes and all.
Tết ông Công ông Táo in modern life
Although modern society has changed in many ways, the ceremony for ông Công ông Táo is still maintained by a great many Vietnamese families as an indispensable ritual at the end of each year. Beyond its spiritual meaning, this day also has the value of reminding each person to look back on what they have and have not achieved over the past year, and at the same time sets in motion the bustling atmosphere of preparation for a warm Tết Nguyên Đán shared with family.
