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1. The significance of the tradition of avoiding house cleaning on Tet
During each Tet season, people often remind each other of taboos at the beginning of the year in hopes of a peaceful and lucky new year, avoiding unfortunate occurrences. Especially the custom of refraining from sweeping the house on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd days of Tet.
According to folk belief, sweeping and dumping rubbish in the first days of the new year is like sweeping away money, fortune, and luck from the house. Consequently, the family will face financial difficulties, poverty, and loss of fortune. Therefore, on the 30th of Tet, regardless of how busy everyone is, they must clean up the house and not litter.
In the Southern region, after cleaning, people usually put away all brooms because if a broom is lost on Tet day, it signifies that thieves will come and steal all possessions of the house.
2. Origin of the tradition of abstaining from sweeping and dumping rubbish on Tet days according to Chinese historical records
The tradition of refraining from sweeping the house and dumping trash during Tet originated from a Chinese legend recorded in 'Sưu thần ký'. According to the tale, a merchant named Au Minh was given a servant named Nhu Nguyet by the water deity when he passed by Thanh Thao Lake. After Nhu Nguyet had been with Au Minh for several years, Au Minh began to prosper and his household became very wealthy.
One day, on the first day of Tet, for reasons unknown, Au Minh beat Nhu Nguyet, who was so frightened that she hid in a pile of rubbish in the corner of the house. Au Minh's wife, unaware of Nhu Nguyet's presence, unintentionally swept the house and also threw away the pile of rubbish containing Nhu Nguyet. From then on, Au Minh's household became impoverished. It is said that Nhu Nguyet was actually a deity and establishing an altar to worship her. (Perhaps that's why altars to deities are often placed in corners of houses). This led to the custom of refraining from sweeping rubbish for the first three days of the new year, as people feared sweeping away hidden deities within the rubbish, which would result in business endeavors not flourishing and the entire year being unlucky.
3. The Vietnamese Legend of the Broom
According to legend, there was a woman in the sky who was skilled at cooking, so the Jade Emperor assigned her to take care of cooking duties. However, she had a habit of eating voraciously and greedily. She fell in love with an old horse herder for the heavenly court and many times stole wine and meat to hide and give to him. Not only that, she often led the old man to sneak into the wine cellar, letting him indulge as much as he pleased. The rules of heaven dictated that all servants had their own food, and it was forbidden to touch the food of the gods, even if it was surplus from the Jade Emperor's table.
One day, while the Jade Emperor was hosting a feast for the heavenly court, the woman heard the old horse herder singing from afar. Knowing that he was looking for her, she hurriedly went out to meet him and hid him in a corner of the house. In the darkness, there were many delicious smells emanating from the banquet table nearby. Being already hungry, the old man eagerly reached out to grab some food. When the servants inadvertently brought out the heavenly dishes, each bowl seemed to have been tasted before.
The Jade Emperor could not contain his anger upon witnessing this. Subsequently, the woman responsible for cooking bowed her head in guilt and was banished to the mortal realm, forced to become a broom to work tirelessly without rest and scavenge for food amidst the filthy rubbish of the earthly world.
Long ago, realizing that prisoners expressed that they must suffer day in and day out without rest, the Jade Emperor took pity and ordered three days off each year. Those three days are precisely the three days of Tet Lunar New Year. Therefore, in later generations, during Tet Lunar New Year, it is customary to refrain from sweeping the house to allow the broom to rest.
The above article has shared about the tradition of abstaining from sweeping the house and dumping rubbish for 3 days during Tet Lunar New Year. Nowadays, many families only refrain from sweeping the house and dumping rubbish on the 1st day to keep their homes clean. However, this is still a characteristic traditional custom of our ancestors. Thank you for taking the time to read the article!
Source: Collected
