The meaning of the five-fruit tray on Tet holiday
The five-fruit tray is an indispensable offering on Vietnamese altars during Tet. Researcher Pham Dinh Hai said there are many different concepts and explanations about the origin of "five fruits".
According to Buddhist beliefs, the five fruits are five types of fruit that monks must cook or peel before eating. The five types of fruit are offered in the Vu Lan Bon ceremony, to Buddha, and have gradually become popular in Vietnamese ceremonies.
Another theory considers the five fruits to represent the five elements. Five different colored fruits symbolize Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.
But in general, the five-fruit tray shows sincerity and respect for Buddha, ancestors and wishes for a new year of luck, fortune and prosperity.
Nowadays, families spend from several hundred thousand to millions of dong to buy fruits to display and offer to their ancestors. Many people display more than 5 types of fruit on the five-fruit tray. Depending on the local fruits and the season, the fruit tray in each family is different.
Northerners always display a tray of five fruits with green bananas, grapefruit, pomelos, Buddha’s hand, peaches, persimmons, oranges, and tangerines. The bunch of bananas will be placed at the bottom to support the other fruits. In the middle of the bunch of bananas is a grapefruit interspersed with persimmons, oranges, and tangerines.
People in the Central region often display watermelon, oranges, persimmons, papaya, and grapefruit on the five-fruit tray. People in the South cannot lack mango, orange, pineapple, papaya, figs, custard apple, and watermelon.
The meaning of the names of these fruits is associated with the desire for a full life: Cau (soursop), just (coconut), du (papaya), sung (prosperity), and xieu (mango).
To display a beautiful fruit tray, certain things need to be kept in mind. Below is a way to display a beautiful fruit tray, easy to apply, according to the suggestion of Ms. Ha Le (in Hanoi ):
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How to display a beautiful, simple, and easy-to-make Tet At Ty fruit tray (Source: Flower Arranger).
Prepare:
- Traditional fruit trays often include bananas, Buddha's hand, grapefruit, dragon fruit, papaya...
- You should choose fresh, colorful fruits such as green, yellow, red, orange...
- Floral foam and skewers. Foam and skewers hold fruit well, simple and easy to find.
- Prepare some flowers of your choice such as roses, daisies, lilies...
- Wash the fruits and let them dry.
How to display the fruit tray:
- Put bananas - a fruit that symbolizes family reunion, togetherness, and warmth - at the bottom.
- You can graft 2 bunches of bananas to create a sturdy support for other fruits.
- Use foam to fill one corner of the tray, fix with a skewer.
- Arrange the fruits in order on the banana bunch, alternating with each other with the idea: Buddha's hand - "Buddha's hand" - symbolizes luck, happiness and long life; dragon fruit - symbolizes the flying dragon, wealth and prosperity; mango, papaya, fig, orange, tangerine...
- Place grapefruit - a fruit symbolizing fullness and prosperity in the center with a solid support on the foam.
- Use skewers to fix the foam to support the fruit in a straight line, preventing it from shifting.
- Use skewers to fix the fruits in place, avoid using hot glue as it can cause the fruits to spoil quickly.
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