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What exactly is Tết Đoan Ngọ?
In some regions, Tết Đoan Ngọ is also known as Tết Đoan Dương, Pest Elimination Festival, Mid-Year Festival, or Summer Solstice Festival. 'Đoan' symbolizes the beginning, while 'Dương' refers to the sun, indicating the period from 11 AM to 1 PM when the sun is at its zenith. According to the lunar calendar prevalent in Eastern cultures, this festival is celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th month annually. For leap years with an extra fifth month, the festival is observed in the standard fifth month.
What is Tết Đoan Ngọ?On this day, people arrange ceremonial offerings and engage in traditional activities such as boat racing. However, these practices have been diminishing in recent years due to pandemics and the influence of modern lifestyles.
Alongside boat racing, the Tết Đoan Dương festival sees many families crafting fragrant pouches to hang around the house, a tradition deeply rooted in Chinese culture. These pouches, filled with realgar, sulfur, or sulfur-containing compounds, are blended with various scents to ward off snakes, centipedes, scorpions, and more. This custom is still upheld by many Chinese families and ethnic minorities today.
The Essence of Tết Đoan Ngọ
The mid-year festival symbolizes gratitude towards nature for the past harvest and prayers for abundance in the upcoming season. Folk beliefs suggest that neglecting to celebrate could lead to poor crops, diseases, and other misfortunes.
The core of Tết Đoan Ngọ is to pray for a fruitful harvest seasonDespite a decline in agriculture, the mid-year festival remains widely celebrated across families. Yet, many, especially younger households, are unaware of the festival's legends and origins. Still, the tradition of worship on this day is carried on through generations, aiming for peace and fortune in the latter half of the year.
The Origins of Tết Đoan Ngọ
The origin of this day among Vietnamese people ties back to the legend of Đôi Truân, also explaining the name 'Pest Extermination Festival.' The story narrates how ancient farmers celebrated their harvest until pests invaded, ruining the crops swiftly.
Then, a man named Đôi Truân advised the villagers to place rice cakes and fruits in front of their homes and exercise. Following his advice led to the pests' disappearance, establishing an annual tradition on the 5th day of the 5th month, named after the festival to eliminate pests.
The roots of the Tết Đoan Ngọ festival are intertwined with agriculture.Apart from Đôi Truân's tale, there's also the legend of Khuất Nguyên, a historical figure whose life and tragic end significantly contributed to the mid-year festival's origins.
Khuất Nguyên, a loyal minister exiled to Giang Nam for opposing the king's wrongdoing, chose to end his life in the Mi Châu River. His death mourned, the 5th day of the 5th month became a day of remembrance named Tết Đoan Ngọ, despite no direct link between him and the festival found.
Vietnam's Tết Đoan Ngọ festival offerings.
During the Tet festival, Vietnamese families often set up an altar for ancestor worship without knowing what to offer for Tết Đoan Ngọ. Typically, the offering includes:
- 9 red fortune flowers
- Vegetarian feast
- Vegetarian rice cakes
- Three cups of wine, often colored or altered to represent white, red, and yellow.
- Rice wine
- Paper money: For the 5th day of the 5th month, stores package a complete set of offerings. You can buy a set instead of individual items.
- Fruit platter representing five flavors: spicy, bitter, sour, salty, and sweet. Not all flavors are necessary; many families choose at random.
- Three cups of tea
- Several lotus branches
What to offer for Tết Đoan Ngọ?Frequently Asked Questions
When it comes to the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, many are unclear about the significance of this holiday as it's not as widely celebrated as others, and might even go unnoticed. However, there are those who seek to understand this day, often raising the following questions:What day is Tết Đoan Ngọ?
This year's Dragon Boat Festival falls on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, corresponding to June 22nd in the Gregorian calendar. It is celebrated in countries including Vietnam, China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and North Korea, despite some nations not following the Chinese lunar calendar still not marking this day.
What date is the Dragon Boat Festival?Dragon Boat Festival Foods
Traditional dishes for the mid-year festival typically include:
- Sticky rice cakes: Known regionally as banh tro, banh u, banh am, or banh gio, with fillings like mung beans, meat, longan, salted egg yolk, cashews,...
- Glutinous rice wine
- Rice wine cake: Fermented glutinous rice balls.
- Seed-based sweet soups: Primarily lotus seed and black bean soups, with variations like red bean or green bean in some locales.
- Duck dishes: Northern regions often consume blood pudding made from duck. Other duck preparations are also common for feasting and offerings.
Local variations may apply, and not all regions strictly adhere to these selections. For some, this festival day is treated as any other, without special meals or participation in local festivities.
Duck blood pudding often graces the Lunar New Year feasts in Northern Vietnam.The Dragon Boat Festival stands as the second most significant festival of the year in countries that follow the Chinese lunar calendar. Unlike the Lunar New Year, not every family celebrates this mid-year festival. For upcoming holidays in Vietnam, keep an eye on Mytour for updates.
