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Tet Nguyen Dan is a major festival for the people of Vietnam, a time for family reunions after a long year. Vietnam, with its rich ethnic heritage, has diverse Tet customs. In this article, Mytour will compile 16 prominent traditional Tet customs of the Vietnamese people, so let's explore together!
Explore Traditional Tet
Origin of Traditional Tet
In Vietnam, Traditional Tet goes by various names like 'Tet Nguyen Dan,' 'Lunar New Year,' or simply 'Our Tet' because it follows the lunar calendar. Tet marks the transition from the old year to the new one. Traditional Tet in Vietnam is heavily influenced by Chinese culture, leading many to believe that Vietnamese Tet originated from there. Although its exact origins are unclear, Tet is considered the country's biggest festival, with many unique cultural customs shared with other Asian nations celebrating the Lunar New Year.
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Vietnamese Tet features many unique cultural customs shared with other Asian nations celebrating the Lunar New Year (Source: Internet)Calculating the Time for Traditional Tet
Vietnam's Tet Nguyen Dan and some neighboring Asian countries, which are calculated based on the lunar calendar, often fall 1 to 2 months later than the Western New Year due to the lunar cycle. Tet Nguyen Dan lasts for 14 days, divided into two phases: 7 days belonging to the old year (around the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month to New Year's Eve) and 7 days belonging to the new year.
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Tet in 2023 (Source: Internet)Meaning of Vietnamese Tet
Tet is the grand festival of the year, a time for family members to gather. Tet creates the bond between people, fostering the spiritual and cultural values of the Vietnamese people.
Tet reminds us of the elaborate feasts prepared by parents; it brings back memories of trays of sweet candies to enjoy while chatting and sharing; it's the exciting moment of putting on new clothes and visiting relatives to wish them a happy Tet.
Tet marks the convergence of earth and sky, a new year with many new changes, plants budding, and a bountiful harvest season.
Tet is also an opportunity to engage in meaningful activities for the community, participate in volunteer trips, and personally deliver gifts to those in need to help them have a fuller Tet. It is through Tet that we learn to appreciate every moment of life, love our families and society even more.
No matter how far one travels, Tet must always return home (Source: Internet)16 customs of Tet in the three regions of Vietnam
Despite geographical differences, the cultural traditions of Tet in the three regions of Vietnam do not vary significantly.
The customs of Tet among the Vietnamese are very diverse (Source: Internet)Worshipping Ong Cong, Ong Tao
Offering worship to Ong Cong and Ong Tao is a long-standing tradition. Ong Cong is the guardian deity of the land, while Ong Tao oversees household affairs. According to legend, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Ong Tao rides a carp to heaven to report the situation of the human world to the Jade Emperor. Therefore, on this day, every family prepares a small (or large) feast to bid farewell to Ong Tao. In addition to the feast, some families also prepare another carp to release, symbolizing the sending off of Ong Cong, Ong Tao.
Feast to send Ong Tao back to the heavens (Source: Internet)Tidying ancestors' graves
Grave tidying, also known as chạp mã, involves clearing weeds around ancestral graves, cleaning, and tidying up the burial sites of loved ones in the days leading up to Tet. After the cleanup, families gather to light incense, offer flowers, and sit down to share their thoughts. Grave tidying is a way to express respect and gratitude to the deceased, hoping for their protection in the coming year.
Visiting ancestral graves (Source: Internet)Cleaning the house
“A clean house is cool, and a clean bowl makes the rice taste better”. Cleaning the house to welcome Tet is a task that every family needs to do before officially celebrating Tet. Washing and scrubbing long-dusty items, discarding old unused items will make the house tidy and ready to welcome the new year with excitement.
Cleaning the house for Tet (Source: Internet)Tet tradition of wrapping Chung cakes and Tet cakes
Wrapping Chung cakes and Tet cakes on Tet day is a tradition that dates back to the time of the Hung Kings and is still preserved to this day. These Chung cakes and Tet cakes are carefully wrapped in dong leaves (for Northern people) or banana leaves (according to Southern people), containing countless dedication and stories of the cake makers. Offering Chung cakes and Tet cakes to the ancestors expresses gratitude and appreciation for the beautiful cultural values that our grandparents have left behind.
Wrapping Chung cakes and Tet cakes (Source: Internet)
Square green Chung cake symbolizing Earth (Source: Internet)Displaying flowers on Tet day
Displaying flowers on Tet for the Vietnamese is not only to decorate the house more beautifully and colorfully but also carries the meaning of wishing for a new year full of desires, success, peace, and prosperity. There are many different types of flowers that can be used for display, such as apricot blossoms, peach blossoms, longevity flowers (symbolizing longevity), coins (symbolizing wealth),…
Displaying flowers on Tet (Source: Internet)Erecting the Neu tree
Nêu, essentially a 6-meter bamboo pole, is erected around the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month and taken down on the 7th day of Tet every year. For the Vietnamese, raising the Neu tree on Tet day signifies the warding off of evil spirits, preventing them from disturbing the family in the first days of the new year. Erecting the Neu tree on Tet is also an expression of people's hope for a new year with favorable weather, abundant harvests, and prosperity.
Raising the Neu tree on Tet (Source: Internet)Tet Eve Ceremony
Tet Eve Ceremony is one of the significant rituals before Tet, usually held on New Year's Eve or a few days before. It marks the end of the old year and the readiness to welcome the new spring. On this day, after the family offers prayers and reads Tet Eve rites, they gather together to eat, tidy up the house, and await the moment of New Year's Eve.
Tet Eve Ceremony (Source: Internet)Tet Market Gathering
In the days leading up to Tet, families gather to go Tet shopping, turning the markets into bustling and lively places. Tet Market Gathering is a Tet market session typically held from around the 25th to the 29th or 30th of the twelfth lunar month. The market opens to meet the shopping needs and preparations for Tet. Tet markets in each region may have differences, but overall, it remains an exciting activity and a beautiful tradition for people everywhere, from the plains to the mountains.
Tet Market (Source: Internet)Displaying the Tray of Five Fruits
The Tray of Five Fruits is created from familiar fruits placed on the ancestral altar. The five types of fruits on the tray represent the colors of the five elements, varying in each region and religion. However, they share a common meaning of bringing prosperity, abundance, luck, wealth, and prosperity to the household for the upcoming year.
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Tray of Five Fruits on Tet day (Source: Internet)Conducting Ancestral Worship Rituals
Ancestral worship is an essential ritual in every region across Vietnam. Carefully prepared offerings are presented to the ancestors as a gesture of gratitude to those who have passed away and to the spiritual entities that silently protect and ensure the peace of the entire family.
Ancestor worship offering tray (Source: Internet)Eagerly Awaiting New Year's Eve
The entire family gathers around the fireplace, dispelling the lingering cold of the early spring. The image of the whole family waiting for the stroke of midnight, enjoying Chung cake soup, has been a boundless source of creative inspiration for poets, musicians, and the creators of touching verses or songs.
Waiting for midnight soup (Source: Internet)Harvesting Luck at the Beginning of the Year
Harvesting Luck involves plucking a branch or leaf from a tree (usually from older trees like banyan, banyan fig, or strangler fig) to bring home, hoping for a fortunate and auspicious new year. Additionally, it is believed that the trees selected for 'harvesting luck' will thrive and flourish throughout the new year.
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Harvesting luck at the beginning of the year (Source: Internet)New Year's Tradition of Earth Entry
The first person to step into our house after the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve is known as the person who enters the earth (also called soil stepping). If this person has a compatible age with the homeowner, the entire family is believed to have good luck and prosperity throughout the year. The person coming to enter the earth may be someone arranged by the homeowner beforehand to bring New Year's greetings, bringing luck and fortune to the family.
Entering the earth on Tet day (Source: Internet)Ceremony of leaving home at the beginning of the year
According to beliefs, before setting out on a journey, one must choose the direction and time that are suitable for their age to bring the most luck for the new year. What we do on the first day of the year will inevitably influence the entire year. Therefore, determining the auspicious direction and time to set out on the journey will help the traveler avoid unnecessary misfortunes.
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Setting out on the journey at the beginning of the year (Source: Internet)New Year Wishes for Family, Friends, and Lucky Money
Tet holiday is the time to gather with family, around the dinner table, to share the joyful and sorrowful stories of the past year. Friends, relatives, those who have been away all year have the opportunity to reunite and meet.
This is when you need to prepare New Year wishes or, even more special, Tet poems to wish each other a year of prosperity; exchanging meaningful Tet gifts. Celebrate the birthday of the little ones with red lucky money envelopes filled with love from family members.
Tet wishes for relatives (Source: Internet)Visit the pagoda for New Year blessings
In the early days of the year, it's not the restaurants or pubs on the streets that attract the most visitors, but the temples/shrines. Visiting the pagoda for New Year blessings has become a spiritual feast, a cultural beauty in the lives of many people of all ages. People gather at the temple to burn incense, seek tattoos, ask for divination in the hope of a warm, prosperous, healthy, successful, and happy new year.
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Temple visitation (Source: Internet)New Year's Writing Start
New Year's Writing Start is a tradition with noble educational values left by our ancestors. In the past, only Confucian scholars, scholars did this; but today, this custom has been widely used for many groups: students, pupils, poets, journalists, office workers, ... New Year's Writing Start expresses the desire for a new academic year to be smooth, successful, achieving satisfactory grades, and those in the writing profession will also have a luckier and more successful year.
New Year's Writing Start (Source: Internet)Seeking Calligraphy
If in the past, one had to bring betel leaves, gifts to the old man's house to ask for words, nowadays, people can seek calligraphy more easily and there are also many modern written words for you to choose comfortably. During the Tet days, the old man's neighborhood is filled with more red colors and more bustling as people come here to seek words for the new year. The carefully written Han-Viet calligraphy carries many meanings of luck, prosperity, peace, and happiness in the new year.
Seeking Calligraphy for the New Year (Source: Internet)Avoidances on Lunar New Year's Day
Folk wisdom says: 'Worship brings sacredness, avoidance brings goodness.' For this reason, in the early days of the new year, people will avoid doing the following things to ensure peace and prosperity throughout the year.
It's customary to avoid certain things on Tet to prevent disasters and bad luck (Source: Internet)Avoid Sweeping the House on the First Day of the Year
Sweeping the house to get rid of dirt and impurities is a common practice. However, for the Vietnamese, sweeping the house on Tet means 'chasing away the Kitchen Gods,' sweeping away the luck and prosperity of the new year. After the New Year's Eve, the entire family will put away the broom because leaving it out on the first day of the year is considered unlucky; the family may be prone to theft or property loss.
Avoiding Fire and Water at the Beginning of the Year
Fire and water in Feng Shui symbolize luck and prosperity. Therefore, in the early days of the new year, people refrain from dealing with fire and water, believing that doing so may lead to loss of luck and prosperity. It's also advised not to borrow fire or water from others to avoid taking away their luck.
Avoid Borrowing or Repaying Debts at the Beginning of the Year
Borrowing or repaying debts signifies money flowing out, and that's not a good sign. Taking loans at the beginning of the year may lead to financial stress and scarcity throughout the year. Similarly, repaying debts at the start of the year is akin to offering your possessions to someone else. If you have any debts, it's advisable to handle them before or after the Lunar New Year!
Avoid Breaking Things
Breaking objects symbolize rupture, separation, and discord. Therefore, handle glass items with care, especially those within reach of children, to prevent accidents and breakages.
Avoid Quarrels and Gossip
On Tet, people refrain from speaking harsh words, engaging in gossip, or quarreling. 'Words cost nothing to buy, choose words that please each other.' Even if there are disagreements on normal days, on Tet, try to overlook and reconcile with others to welcome a more peaceful new year together.
Those in mourning limit house-visiting
At the beginning of the year, everyone is in a joyful and enthusiastic mood, visiting relatives and friends. Therefore, sad and unlucky matters are avoided during these days. Especially, those in mourning should limit visiting others to prevent bringing in unfortunate events.
Sweeping the house is believed to sweep away good luck (Source: Internet)Through this article, Mytour hopes that you have gained valuable insights into the traditional Tet customs in Vietnam. If you find this article interesting and meaningful, don't forget to share and follow Mytour's Blog to receive the earliest notifications of new articles!
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