'Five blessings entering the home'

When I was a child, every Tet holiday, my teacher would go to the homes of the scholars and mandarins in the village to ask for calligraphy. Usually, it was Chinese characters on a pink piece of paper, with the four characters "Ngũ phúc lâm môn" (Five blessings enter the house), which he would bring home and paste to pray for blessings for his family.

A calligrapher writes auspicious characters at Hang Kenh communal house. Photo: Vu Dung.

Growing up, I finally understood the meaning of those four words. "Five blessings entering the home" refers to five blessings: happiness, wealth, longevity, health, and peace. According to East Asian beliefs, happiness, wealth, and longevity are the three most auspicious stars in the sky. Happiness is "five blessings entering the home," wealth is "high official position and abundant wealth," and longevity is "a long life of a hundred years." These are auspicious stars, symbolizing the wish for peace , happiness, wealth, prosperity, and a long life. Han Fei Zi summarized the meaning of happiness in six words: "Complete longevity, wealth, and happiness."

Both Eastern and Western cultures place the concept of "blessing" (福) at the forefront. Blessing refers to good fortune and good luck, such as virtue and benevolence. Wealth (祿) is a gift from heaven. Longevity (壽) is a long life. Ancient people divided old age into three categories: upper longevity (over 100 years), middle longevity (80 years), and lower longevity (over 60 years). Longevity is so significant that the saying "Blessings as vast as the East Sea, longevity as enduring as the South Mountain" exists. During the feudal era, emperors sought to prolong their lives, hence the search for elixirs of immortality.

"Khang" means healthy. Health means being free from illness and disease. Plato said: "Health is the first wealth, beauty is second, and wealth is third."

Peace means tranquility, serenity, freedom from worries and anxieties.

At the Global Conference on Primary Healthcare held in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan's largest city, in September 1978, with the participation of 134 countries including Vietnam, the Alma-Ata Declaration was announced. It affirmed: “Health, a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease, is a fundamental human right to achieve the best possible state of health, the most important social goal worldwide requiring action from many economic and social sectors, not just the health sector.” The Alma-Ata Declaration comprises 10 points on primary healthcare and calls upon governments of all countries, healthcare professionals and communities worldwide to protect and promote health for all.

The importance of health is also the reason why everyone wishes for blessings, good fortune, and prosperity for themselves and their families. This is reflected in the four characters "Ngũ phúc lâm môn" (Five Blessings Entering the Door), a wish often conveyed through calligraphic paintings hung in homes during the Spring Festival. The words in each painting symbolize auspicious wishes such as "New Year of Abundant Happiness" and "New Year of Great Fortune." This is a timeless principle, from ancient times to the present and into the future.

NGUYEN HUU PHACH

Source: https://baohaiphong.vn/ngu-phuc-lam-mon-532920.html