Saigon family reveres God of Wealth

No heads to the market at 5 a.m. to buy offerings for the God of Wealth Day (Caishen Day or Than Tai in Vietnamese).
She explains that because she works as a wholesale vegetable seller at Ba Queo Market, she would first go to a nearby stall to buy flowers and fruits after delivering the goods. She buys gerbera daisies (hoa dong tien, meaning money flower in Vietnamese), hoping it would bring her good fortune on this special day.
The God of Wealth, worshipped by families on the tenth day of the lunar year (Feb. 10 this year), is believed to bring good fortune to their business and family through the year.

The 58-year-old purchases a votive paper set worth VND30,000 ($1.32) to offer the deity.

After selecting votive paper, flowers, and fruits, she also buys snakehead fish, an essential offering for many Saigon residents on this day, on a street in Tan Phu Disitrct famed for grilling fish.
“You must offer a whole fish without scraping off the scales or removing the tail,” she elaborated. “The fish here is beautifully grilled and tastes better than in many other places.”

On her way back, she also stopped at a familiar shop on Truong Chinh Street to buy roasted pork.
Roasted pork is amongthe three “must-have” offerings for southern families, which includes pieces of pork, shrimp (or crab), and duck eggs.

At 6 a.m., she heads back to her home in District 12 to prepare the offerings.

She “washes” the stautes of Than Tai (God of Wealth) and Ong Dia (The Spirit of Earth) with white wine before setting up the offering tray. “I clean the altar frequently, hoping they would bless me even more,” she explained.

Aside from purchasing ritual offerings, many people like No also buy gold on this day. She frequently purchases gold a few days before the God of Fortune Day.
Buying gold on this day used to be a tradition only among businesspeople, especially ethnic Chinese, but in the last few years it has been embraced by the wider population in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

In the south, people usually make offerings of fruit, flowers, votive paper, incense, grilled meat and, unfailingly, grilled snakehead fish.

She sends her prayers at around 7 a.m. The ritual is straightforward, taking less than five minutes before 9 a.m.
Worshippers frequently pray for a year of good business and great fortune.

No heads to the front of her house after the incense has faded to burn votive papers, the final stage of ceremony.
“Last year, the outbreak was so severe that I wished for nothing more than to be healthy. Since I am a businesswoman, this year I wish for plenty of money and a prosperous life,” she revealed.