Lunar New Year is the traditional Tet holiday of Vietnamese people. This is also the occasion for families to gather and reunite together after hard working days. For Vietnamese people, Lunar New Year is the biggest holiday of the year.
Through many changes of history, the traditional customs of the Vietnamese still retain the national identity.
Lunar New Year
TET market
Tet market is not the same as the regular day market. Tet market is always more crowded, more fun, more atmosphere. People go to Tet market not only for shopping but also for meeting, to enjoy the atmosphere of excitement when Tet comes. Shopping to prepare for the three days of Tet is often not just to “have food” but to be a habit, to rise to the festive day atmosphere. Tet market is arranged in large areas of land, maybe the market is established right at the market where there is still a sale. But in Tet market, nearly all “strange things” are sold. Tet atmosphere is truly absorbed these days because the buyers are heavy with baskets.
Market
The New Year tree
The tree is a bamboo tree about 5 – 6 meters high. At the top often hangs many things (depending on the locality) such as votive gold, wine gourd braided with straw, paper carp image (for apples to use as a means of heaven), sometimes people still hang the ones In small terracotta, when the wind blows, the land hits each other to make jingle sounds very happy … The old people believe that things hang on the tree, plus the noise of the earth, is to signal to the devil that this place is the owner, not to harass …
The New Year tree
In the evening, many houses hang a lantern in the tree to let the ancestors know the way home to eat Tet with their descendants. On the night of the President’s death, the fireworks in the trees were also burned to celebrate the coming new year, to ward off evil spirits or unfortunate things. The tree mentioned is usually erected on December 23, the day when the army returned to heaven until the end of the seventh day, the tree was lowered.
Parallel sentences
To decorate the house and to reward Spring, previously from the Confucian school to the ordinary people “still existed”, it is still important to hang “red sentence” on the occasion of Tet. These sentences are written in Chinese (black or yellow) on red or peach paper, so they are often referred to as red sentences.
Parallel sentences
Tet flowers
The North often chooses red peach branches to plug in altars or peach trees in the house, because according to the Chinese concept, digging has power except ghosts and all evil, red contains strong vitality, red peach color. Sweethearts are lucky colors, like prayers and blessings early spring.
Peach blossom
The central and southern regions often use yellow apricot branches or yellow apricot trees, yellow symbolizes noble noble glory, yellow also symbolizes kings (feudal times). The yellow color belongs to the Tho in the Five Elements, in view of the Vietnamese and Tho people located in the central position and the yellow color symbolizes the development of the race.
Apricot blossom
In addition to the two types of flowers typical for Tet, peach and apricot blossom, almost every house has a variety of flowers for worship and decorative flowers. Worship flowers can be like marigold flowers, daisies, gladiolus, tuberose …; flowers to decorate, like colors like roses, daffodils, dahlia flowers, violets, … And kumquat trees are often decorated in the living room, kumquat trees with green buds, speckled white flowers, Golden ripe fruits hatched, plump, sumptuous symbolize fertility, prosperity, fullness, fullness of results.
Color of Tet holiday
The main color of the New Year is still red, according to the concept of red is the color of fortune and luck. Vietnamese New Year is full of red: red sentences, red envelopes, red watermelon bowls, red melon seeds, red calendar. Vietnamese people also like the kind of red light flowers such as pink, chrysanthemum pink, cherry blossoms, etc.
Color of Tet holiday
Previously when the firecrackers were allowed to burn, the roads were flooded in the red of firecrackers exploding unceasingly since the new year until dawn on the New Year, and then exploded sporadically until the end of the “new one”! Even the choice of red clothes to wear is also a very popular custom on Tet holiday.
The custom of worshiping the Kitchen God
Every year, on December 23, Vietnamese people continue to worship the Kitchen God. The Kitchen God, also known as the Kitchen God, is responsible for monitoring everything that happens in the family and then informing God. Every year, every day on December 23, every house will clean up the house, the kitchen will be clean and the ceremony will be held for him to go to heaven, asking him to report good things to a peaceful and lucky new year. .
According to the custom, the ceremony of worshiping the Kitchen God was placed in the kitchen and there must be carp because it was said that the Kitchen God took a carp to the sky.
Worship the ancestors
Is a ceremony to invite grandparents to eat Tet with their children and grandchildren. On the afternoon of December 30, on the altar of the ancestor, a tray of fruit and food were displayed. The patriarch incited incense to the altar, asked the ancestors to witness and bless the family with many blessings in the new year. After that, everyone in the family joined hands to respect the grandparents’ spirit to eat Tet.
To first foot
Lunar means the first morning of the year, when everything is started, fresh and fresh. Therefore, after the New Year’s Eve at 12 o’clock at the end of the year, the first visitor to the homeowner in the year is the one who “storms the land” and is the messenger due to the luck brought. According to folk beliefs, groundbreakers have an important influence on the aftermath of the whole family in the new year.
Therefore, people have considered carefully the dignity, position, wealth, as well as the character, the limit when hoping to come to the house on the first day of the year is the most important. Because of thinking about the impact of groundbreaking on business for the whole year, seniors are very cautious for the first person on the Day of the Lunar New Year to solemnly bring them goodness throughout the new year.
Visit relatives – Exchange New year’s wishes
On the morning of a New Year, it is called the Lunar New Year, the descendants gather at the patriarch’s house to celebrate the Ancestor’s Festival and wish their grandparents and parents. According to the concept, every new year, each person adds one year, so the first day of the New Year is the day when the children “bless the grandparents” and the elderly (in the old days, they often do not remember the date of birth). Only know New Year is 1 year older.
Exchange New year’s wishes
Red envelope (Lucky money)
Red envelope early of the year is a good cultural custom of Vietnamese and many countries in the region, wishing for the best and getting lucky from the early days of the new year. Money lucky money is not limited to the first day of the Lunar New Year, but it can be lucky during the first three days of the year, even if it lasts for the last days of the Lunar New Year such as the 9th and the 10th days. think nice. Envelopes symbolize discreetness – do not want to have comparisons leading to friction, unhappy in Tet holiday.
Red envelope
Red envelopes are often red, with red Asians being one of the most colorful colors in festivals. Moreover, the envelopes of red envelopes also symbolize fortune – people receive or give away more and more lucky money, the more people believe that they have distributed fortune …
Please have the word for spring
According to the custom of Vietnamese people, from the second day of the Lunar New Year onwards, everyone went to pray for good luck for a happy new year. Letter-goers include young people, adults, students. The characters are as flexible as phoenix flying dragons, expressing the aesthetic appeal of the person asking for letters and the ability to write beautiful words for people for words.
Please have the word for spring
The application of the word for a long time is now available and it is becoming more and more popular, it is becoming a beautiful custom of Vietnamese people every spring coming to Tet. In Hanoi, this takes place in many places: in some private teachers’ houses, there is a good language or writing, on the street where there is a wide summer area and many people pass by. The most impressive place is in front of Mieu Van yard, around the street of Ba Trieu street, the intersection with Tran Hung Dao street … Please be a cultural beauty to promote. Only a word hanging in front of you that has the meaning of morality and life for specific people will be much more valuable than clichés.
