Myth of the household geniuses

Version vietnamienne

Version française

The myth of the household geniuses is based on the tragic story of a woodcutter and his wife. It has its roots in Taoism. This modest couple lived happily together until the day they discovered they couldn’t have children. The unfortunate husband began to drink and abuse his wife. Unable to bear it any longer, she left him and married a hunter from a neighboring village. But one day, overcome with loneliness and remorse, the woodcutter decided to visit his wife to apologize.

Meanwhile, the hunter returned home. To avoid any misunderstanding, the young woman hid her first husband in a thatched stable near the kitchen where the hunter was smoking his game. By misfortune, an ember escaped from the fireplace and set fire to the barn.

Panic-stricken, the young woman ran to the burning barn to save her ex-husband. The hunter followed to rescue her, and all three perished in the inferno. The Jade Emperor (Ngọc hoàng), deeply moved by this sad fate, divinized the three unfortunates from his celestial throne and entrusted them with looking after the welfare of the Vietnamese people in the advantageous location of the kitchen. From then on, they became the geniuses of the home.

During the week when the genies are in heaven, the Vietnamese fear that their homes will be unprotected. To prevent any incursion of evil spirits into their homes, they erect a tall bamboo pole (cây nêu) in front of their homes, on which clay plates (or khánh in Vietnamese) vibrate sonorously in the wind to ward off the spirits. At the top of the pole floats a piece of yellow cloth bearing the Buddhist emblem.

Vietnamese kitchen

This custom has its origins in a Buddhist legend entitled “The Woodcutter’s Tết”, according to which the Vietnamese have to confront evil spirits.

It’s always on the twenty-third day of the last lunar month that each Vietnamese organizes a ceremony to send the genie of the household to heaven. Not only are fruits, delicacies and flowers placed on his altar, but also appropriate travel equipment (3 pairs of boots, 3 hats, clothes, votive papers) and three carp placed in a small bowl. At the end of the ceremony, the votive papers are burned and the carp released into a pond or river for the genie to use to fly to heaven. The genie must report everything he has seen on earth to the Jade Emperor, particularly in the home of every Vietnamese. His stay in heaven lasts six days. He must return home on New Year’s Eve until the start of the New Year.

(*) cây nêu: This is a cosmic tree linking the earth to the sky, due to the beliefs of ancient sun-worshipping peoples, including the Proto-Vietnamese, but it is also used to demarcate their territory.