Remember Tet, polishing the bronze incense burner with my grandmother

When I told my children the story of how we crowded around him to polish the bronze incense burner to celebrate Tet, they asked: "Why did you work so hard, Dad?". I replied: "Now, even if you wanted to work so hard, you can't! It's all just a memory...".

My maternal grandparents’ house had a very solemn ancestral altar. It was a lim wood altar cabinet inlaid with shiny mother-of-pearl. On top of the cabinet was a bronze incense burner placed on a pedestal about 8 feet high.

The top of the incense burner set has a lid with a very majestic unicorn cast on it. On each side of the incense burner are two delicately crafted areca nuts that can be removed. Along with the incense burner set are two pairs of bronze lampstands of the same height... My maternal grandparents' house has gone through many changes but still kept that incense burner set.

The author's wedding ceremony, behind him is a bronze incense burner on the family altar in 1985

Before the day of sending the Kitchen Gods to heaven (December 23) every year, my grandfather arranged to polish the incense burner set. He said: The incense burner set represents gratitude to ancestors and family, so we must be very careful when touching it. My uncle took care of the incense burner set, that is, the pedestal, the body and the lid. I was the eldest grandchild, so I was assigned the pair of lamps. My younger brother took care of the cleaning, the other picked lemons, spread out the mats...

My grandfather respectfully lit three incense sticks to inform his ancestors and asked for permission to move the incense burner from its place. After the incense sticks burned out, my grandfather respectfully moved each part of the altar down and placed it on the mat in the middle of the house. He removed the lid of the incense burner with the unicorn statue, followed by the two areca nuts on the side of the incense burner. Because the body of the incense burner was cast from a single block of bronze and was very heavy, he used both hands to lift it up and pass it to my uncle. Finally, there was the pedestal to place the incense burner on.

As for me, he gave two lampstands.

The work began. One by one, my brother placed each item in a basin of water nearby to clean off the dust that had accumulated over the year of worship.

My grandfather poured the polishing oil into a bowl. The oil was contained in a small aluminum container with a picture of a unicorn and a bronze censer painted on the outside. The liquid was gray, thin, and had a very unpleasant pungent smell. I did as my grandfather told me: To polish a bronze censer, you must use your bare hands. Because only with your bare hands can you polish a bronze censer most effectively.

First, I wrapped a piece of cloth around my fingertip, dipped it in the oil, and applied it evenly. At this point, I saw only a dark gray covering each part. He said the darker the color, the shinier it would be later because the chemicals had removed the tarnish from the copper layer. It took about thirty minutes to complete the oil application process. My three nephews and I waited for the oil to dry before we began the main work.

The lamp body has no sharp edges, so all we need is a clean cloth, and with great force, we rotate it from top to bottom many times in the opposite direction until the shiny gold color of the copper appears. It sounds easy, but when we polish it, we only rub it for a few minutes and our hands get tired. He looked carefully and pointed out the spots where the friction force was low, and he reminded us to do it again because those places would not shine, and the effort was for nothing.

When he got there, as if he knew his children were tired, he reminded my grandmother to bring out some cakes, jam, and drinks as a little break. I took the jam and put it in my mouth. The sweetness of the sugar and the aroma of the jam could not overpower the pungent smell of the varnish that soaked into my hands. I was still happy.

My brother took each item out to dry in the sun. He said it was done when the sunlight reflected off it and shone brightly. If it wasn't bright enough, I had to cut some lemons from the garden, apply the juice evenly, let them dry, and then wipe them hard again to achieve the desired shine.

As for the areca nut and the unicorn, these two items look small but are actually very difficult to polish because the artisans create them with many angles; claws, fangs... The areca nut has both a stem and two leaves, so if you are not careful, your hand will bleed immediately.

My grandfather examined it carefully and then personally arranged it on the altar. He lit incense again as if to inform his ancestors that the work was done. Now it was my grandmother's turn to arrange the flowers and fruits to complete the set. He said that we should not cover the incense burner and lampstand with plastic bags all year round just because we are afraid of dust. We should not hire someone to do it because these are worship items, and hiring someone to do it will not be as respectful as family. The bright incense burner shows the love of children and grandchildren for their grandparents.

The wedding ceremony is more solemn with a pair of burning candles on a bronze incense burner.

After my grandparents passed away , the gathering of children and grandchildren to polish the incense burner on the altar before Tet no longer happened because children and grandchildren were afraid of chemicals that would harm their skin and only spent a few hundred thousand to have a shiny incense burner. There were years when the incense burner was polished close to Tet.

Personally, I could not help but feel sad because I knew that the moment of gathering together to welcome the New Year had been lost forever. When I told my children the story of how we gathered around him to polish the bronze incense burner to welcome the New Year, they asked: "Why did you work so hard, Dad?". I replied: "Now, even if you wanted to work so hard, you can't! It's all become a memory...".

Somewhere after the incense stick welcoming the New Year, I see the image of my grandfather enjoying spring with his children and grandchildren.

LE HUU NHAN

Address: Ward 2, Sa Dec City, Dong Thap

Email: nhnhan1961@gmail.com

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nho-tet-den-danh-bong-lu-dong-cung-ngoai-post722304.html