On New Year’s Eve, many Chinese people in Saigon come to the Thiec market to buy sugar cane, cakes, etc. to make offerings.
On New Year’s Day (December 23), the Chinese community in Ho Chi Minh City is busy shopping for offerings at Thiec market, district 11. At the corner of Tran Quy – Pho Co Dieu street, for nearly a decade now, on this occasion, Mr. Le Thanh Tung has been busy shopping for offerings. (white shirt) imported sugarcane from Can Tho to sell. “Normally, I sell bread, but during Tet, it is more profitable to trade sugarcane. This year, I’m afraid that the epidemic will slow down, so I only imported 300 trees, but before all thousands of trees,” said Mr. Tung.
According to the Chinese concept, the sugarcane tree with many segments represents the stairs when Mr. Apple climbs to heaven. In addition, sugarcane is also used on the day of worshiping God (January 9).
On Tran Quy Street, Mrs. Tu My Thu (on the left) and her grandson carried 3 pairs of sugar cane home. “Every year, I buy this for the whole family. For the Chinese, it is indispensable to worship the Tao Quan without sugarcane,” she said.
The type to worship Mr. Tao is a Western sugarcane variety, priced at 20,000 VND per tree. Buyers often choose trees that are big and straight, with leaves and knots all the same, “so that Mr. Apple can quickly return to heaven”.
In Thiec market, they also sell a lot of votive papers, flowers and cakes to worship the Tao Quan and the Chinese New Year. “Here mainly selling ancestral cakes, fortune-telling, sweets, lotus bud-shaped sugar cubes or animals… the busiest on Tet holiday,” said Ms. Ton My Phung, while choosing goods for customers.
In addition to sweets like the offerings of the Southern people, the Chinese cannot lack the To cake (also known as Niao Gao). According to the concept, the cake made from glutinous rice is both soft and sweet, making Mr. Tao “stick to his mouth”, unable to report “bad things” to the Jade Emperor. The selling price is about 20,000 VND a piece.
Some shops in Thiec market also make carp-shaped To cakes, priced at 180,000 VND. “The Chinese do not offer carp to bring the Tao Quan to heaven, but recently my shop has made more fish-shaped cakes to show the cultural interference,” explained Ms. Tang Ngu Mui, the shop owner.
Mrs. Ly Thu Phung (blue shirt) bought a pair of lotus-shaped sugar cakes to display at the altar of worship. She said that she had to offer a lot of sweets to make Mr. Tao happy, only “sweet” things that were easy to hear with Ngoc Hoang.
At the stall selling votive paper, people choose to buy a set of gold and silver coins, especially there must be a kind of token called “stork flying horse running”. After the worship is finished, the incense has just burned out, people burn these papers to make a vow, hoping that the Tao Quan will quickly return to heaven to perform good things.
The kitchen corner of Mr. Trinh Du Cuong’s house (37 years old) on Phu Dong Thien Vuong Street (District 5) has finished displaying the worshiping space of the Tao Quan according to Chinese customs. He does the worshiping ceremony in the frame from 7am to 9am, because this is the “galloping” time, Mr. Tao will return to heaven the fastest during the day. “I thank Mr. Tao for taking care of my house for the past year and wish my family luck, health and money in the new year,” he said.
On the kitchen surface, the offering tray includes a pair of sugar cane, votive paper, sponge cake, To cake, fruit… According to Mr. Cuong, each family will have an extra plate of roasted pork.
After the incense burned through half of the tree, Mr. Cuong brought the votive paper to burn in front of his balcony.
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