The Tet tradition in Vietnam

tHanH Xuan

Vietnamese New Year, or ‘Tet’ is the most important and longest festival in Vietnam and is a time for family reunion and best wishes

Tet takes place from the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar (around late January or early February) until at least the fifth day. Many Vietnamese prepare for Tet by cooking special dishes and cleaning their house. Some traditional customs during Tet include visiting relatives’ houses on the first days of the new year, ancestral worship, sending New Year’s greetings, and giving ‘lucky money’ to children and elderly people.

Tet is also an occasion for family reunions. During Tet, Vietnamese people usually return to their families. Some return to worship at the family altar or visit the graves of their ancestors in their homeland. Like other Asian countries, Vietnamese believe that the colours of red and yellow will bring good fortune and these colours can be seen everywhere at Lunar New Year. In the two weeks leading up to Tet, the atmosphere is bustling. Streets and markets are full of people. everyone is busy buying food, clothes, and decorations for their houses. each family cooks special traditional foods such as

Banh chung, a special cake at Tet, made from sticky green beans, and pork

Kumquat trees are popular during Tet, symbolising the fertility and fruitfulness

Tet is a time for family reunion

banh chung (a special cake made from sticky rice, green beans, and pork).

Vietnamese families buy peach blossom trees, kumquat trees, and orange trees to decorate their homes. These symbolise the fertility and fruitfulness that the family hopes for in the coming year. People also buy flowers to decorate their homes such as chrysanthemums or orchids.

The first day of Tet is reserved for visiting family and relatives. Children wear their new clothes and give their elders the traditional Tet greetings before receiving lucky money (li xi) from them in exchange. The second day is set aside for special guests and close friends to visit, and the third day is for teachers and business associates.

Since the Vietnamese believe that the very first visitor a family receives in the year determines their fortune for the entire year, a person of good temper, morality and success is a lucky sign for the host family and will be invited first into the house. This special activity is called xong dat, which is one of the most important rituals during Tet. According to Vietnamese tradition, if good things come to the family on the first day of the lunar New Year, the entire following year will also be full of blessings.

Sweeping during Tet is a taboo since it symbolises sweeping away luck. It is also taboo for anyone who experienced a recent loss of a family member to visit anyone else during Tet.

Vietnamese Lunar New Year is an indispensable part of the life of all Vietnamese people. During Tet, many traditional festivals take place across the country.

Peach blossoms signal Vietnam’s Tet

The traditional greeting in Vietnam at Tet is “Chuc mung Nam Moi” (Happy New Year). People also wish each other prosperity and luck. Common wishes for Tet include: • An khang thinh vuong (Security, good health, and prosperity) • Van su nhu y (May myriad things go according to your will) • Suc khoe doi dao (Plenty of health)