Definition

1. Noun:
   • Incense table: A specific type of table, typically made of wood, placed directly in front of an altar. It is used to hold essential ritual items for worship, most commonly incense burners and vases for holding incense sticks.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Trên hương án có đặt một bát hương lớn. (A large incense burner is placed on the incense table.)
  • Hương án trong đình làng được chạm khắc rất tinh xảo. (The incense table in the village communal house is very intricately carved.)
  • Lau dọn bàn thờ và hương án là công việc quan trọng trước ngày giỗ. (Cleaning the altar and the incense table is important work before an anniversary ceremony.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "hương án" is used almost exclusively in the context of traditional Vietnamese ancestor worship, religious rituals, or spiritual practices within temples, pagodas, and family homes. It denotes a piece of furniture with a solemn, sacred function.

Variants and Related Words

• Bàn thờ (n): Altar. This is the larger structure or platform. The "hương án" is a table placed before it.
• Án thư (n): A classical term for a desk or table for scholars. While structurally similar, its function (study) is completely different from the ritual function of a "hương án".

Synonyms

• Bàn hương án: A fuller, more descriptive term with the same meaning.
• Bàn thờ phụ: Auxiliary altar table (though this can sometimes refer to a smaller secondary altar).

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "Kính cẩn đặt lễ vật lên hương án": (To reverently place offerings on the incense table.) This phrase describes a respectful ritual action.
• "Hương án nghi ngút khói hương": (The incense table is wreathed in rising incense smoke.) A poetic description of an active worship scene.

1. Incense-table (placed in front of the altar)