Vietnam Travel: Tet Vietnam Lunar New Year

Tet is the most important and popular holiday and festival in Vietnam which is around late January or early February, depends on each year. It is also an occasion for family reunions and forgetting about the troubles of the past year and hoping for a better upcoming year. This custom has become sacred and secular and, therefore, no matter where they are or whatever the circumstances, family members find ways to come back to meet their loved ones.

Vietnamese consider Tet is the national holiday that lasts for three days. However, in practice it can be longer and divided into three periods, before New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve, and the New Year. All of these phases consist of activities and customs are celebrated in Vietnam.

Before New Year's Eve is a period begins one or two weeks before the actual celebration. There are many things to do such as clean and decorate the houses, try to pay all debts or everything borrowed before Tet, buy new clothes and presents for our relatives...

 The general atmosphere leading up to Tet is in the bustle of shopping, decorating the house, cooking traditional Tet food and waiting for relatives to return home. In these days, the streets and markets are full of people because a lot of commercial activity will cease during the celebrations; the color Red, symbolizing good luck and happiness is seen everywhere.

To decorate the house, Vietnamese people often display Ochna integerrima, peach flower, kumquat tree…in the living room depending on locality. However, some people also decorate their homes with bonsai and flower plants such as chrysanthemum, marigold symbolizing longevity, in Southern Vietnam and paper white flower, lavender, in Northern Vietnam.

 Food preparation plays a major role in Tet celebration. Each family cooks special holiday foods showing the importance of food in its celebration. Some of the food is also eaten year-round, while other dishes are only eaten during Tet. Also, some of the food is vegetarian since it is believed to be good luck to eat vegetarian on Tet. Some traditional foods on Tet are sticky rice (Banh chung), watermelon seeds (Hat dua), pickled onion and pickled cabbage (Dua Hanh), jam… Preparations for these foods are quite extensive.

A host of worship rituals also occur in this period. As the legend goes, each year on December 23 of the lunar calendar, the Kitchen God takes a ride on a carp to the Heavenly Palace to make a report on the affairs of the household on earth and then returns on December 30 to welcome the New Spring. So Vietnamese people often prepare an altar consist of incense, flowers, fruits, and foods to say farewell the Kitchen God. Sticky rice and salt are also offered in the streets to any hungry ghosts who might be wandering in the neighborhood.

These Tet preparations often finish before New Year's Eve. It is the comfortable and interesting time for everyone when finishing Tet preparation, paying all debts or everything borrowed before Tet. It is also the time all members in family gather to enjoy atmosphere of family reunion including deceased ancestors. Vietnamese believe that their deceased ancestors will visit the family for the holiday through worship of inviting the Ancestors. So they prepare a sumptuous meal to welcome back the ancestors with a worship altar consist of flowers, fruits, candles, incense sticks and foods. Towards the end of the ritual, they will dutifully burn beautifully decorated paper tunics and clothes and even symbolic paper money - items which our ancestors will need in Heaven.

In the New Year’s Eve, Vietnamese people often prepare the closely family dinner, celebrate New Year’s Eve worship (Cung giao thua) and wait for the sacred moment of the passage from the old to the New Year by viewing sparkling firework.

The beginning of Tet starts on the first day of the lunar month. Traditionally, in the early morning of the first day, Buddhists go to their favorite pagoda; the Catholics go to a pre-midnight mass to pray for happiness, prosperity for their family in the New Year. There is also a tradition called “mung tuoi” (happy new year) in the north and “li xi” in the south. Usually, children wear their new clothes and give their elders the traditional Tet greetings before receiving a red envelope.

Vietnamese people believe that the first person comes to their houses on the New Year Day, who is called the first-foot is very important. They will bring good luck or bad luck for the New Year, so people usually choose who will be their first – foot.

In these days, people try to avoid arguments, or saying any bad things. Sweeping is taboo, since it symbolizes sweeping the luck away. It is also taboo for anyone who experienced a recent loss of a family member to visit anyone else during Tết.

During subsequent days, people visit relatives and friends. Traditionally but not strictly, the second day of Tet is usually reserved for friends, while the third day is for teachers, who command respect in Vietnam.

Vietnamese Tet has quite a few original practices with customs and entertainment that have distinct Vietnamese cultural characteristics. Even though being anywhere in the world, Vietnamese people always remember and keep these customs on Tet holiday. In the framework of this article, a few customs and practices are presented so that readers can better understand the traditional Tet of Vietnam.