Thần Tài and Ông Địa

No early record

We found no early written record of Thần Tài and Ông Địa as an altar pair, and no date for when families began to keep them together. Our sources describe the custom as it is today.

A pair on the altar

Our sources describe the God of Wealth and the Earth God kept together on one altar, as a pair. The God of Wealth’s story is said to have reached Vietnam from Chinese folk belief. His own day, the tenth day of the first lunar month, is kept each year.

To verify: Which of these two sources says the God of Wealth’s story came from Chinese folk belief; The date of the God of Wealth’s day: we have it from the title of the trade magazine’s article and have not checked the article itself; Where the altar stands in homes and shops, and what is offered there; our files do not say

Gold on the God of Wealth’s day

Our sources describe buying gold on the God of Wealth’s day as a modern habit. The figures themselves are devotional images, so we draw the altar, not the gods. We do not sell them as toys or ornaments, and we promise nothing about trade.

To verify: Which source calls buying gold on the day a modern habit