Cultural Practices: Commemorating Lu Ten
Just celebrated Chinese New Years with the family last weekend and felt inspired to write this.
In “Tales of Ba Sing Se” (Book 2, Episode 15), the Iroh tale ends with him mourning his son’s death by lighting joss stick incense and presenting some fruit and fire flakes before a portrait of Lu Ten. This ritual of offering incense and food before an altar is known as jìngxiāng (敬香), meaning “respectfully offering incense”. The act can be performed to honor the dead, as well as to show reverence for a deity. It is practiced in Chinese folk religion, as well as by adherents of Taoism, Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism. Similar rituals are also performed in many East and Southeast Asian countries, due to China’s cultural influence in the region and large diaspora.
Many East and Southeast Asian households have altars for deceased family members. These altars will, at minimum, have a photo or portrait of the deceased, followed by offerings of food and incense/candles.
It seems to me that these altars probably have their origin in Chinese ancestor worship, with the practice spilling over to neighboring countries. In Buddhist households, you’ll see these portraits of deceased family displayed near statues of Buddha and other Bodhisattvas on the altar. I’ve also noticed a lot of East and Southeast Asian cultures have a holiday where food offerings are presented to those that have passed, either at a home altar or a temple/shrine (Jesa, Obon, Ghost Festival, Pchum Ben, Sat Thai, etc.)
In short, Iroh’s commemoration of his son’s death hits really hard for me. Not being able to set up an altar in his new Ba Sing Se home must have been difficult for Iroh, as doing so would have put Zuko and him at immense risk of being exposed. He can’t even mourn his son at any sort of temple or shrine, for the same reason. I know some fans headcanon that the tree he cries under is where Lu Ten is buried, but I honestly think he chose that spot because it was on the outskirts of town and away from prying eyes. If Lu Ten’s body was ever recovered, it was likely sent back to the Fire Nation to be cremated.
Growing up Khmer-Chinese, I was around home altars all the time. It actually used to make me uncomfortable as a child to have a thing so sacred-feeling close by where I could potentially knock something over. As an adult who has to mentally prepare for the eventual loss of my elders, I think having a home altar where I could look at their photo and share a meal with them sounds kind of comforting.
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