Tet Nguyen Dan is the most important holiday in Vietnam, on this occasion there are many traditional customs with deep meanings of Vietnamese people taking place to pray for a new year of peace, luck, health and prosperity. During Tet, no matter where they are, family members will return to reunite, visit relatives, give lucky money, go to the temple to pray for luck,…
Below are 11 beautiful traditional customs of Vietnamese people during Tet.
- Worshiping Ong Cong, Ong Tao
According to tradition, on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, Ong Cong, Ong Tao go to heaven to report everything in the homeowner’s house to the Jade Emperor. Therefore, on this day, Vietnamese families will clean the kitchen, buy goldfish to worship and send Ong Cong, Ong Tao to heaven.
- Banh Chung Wrapping
Banh Chung is a traditional dish from the time of King Hung (the King honored as the ancestor of the Vietnamese people) and is indispensable during the Vietnamese New Year until today. Families often gather to wrap Banh Chung from the 27th, 28th, and 29th of Tet, which is also a meaningful gift for relatives and friends on this occasion.
3. Playing with flowers during Tet
Peach blossoms in the North, apricot blossoms in the South, and kumquat trees are some of the trees symbolizing luck, happiness, and prosperity for the family. Currently, in Vietnam, there are many other beautiful flowers that people love to buy to decorate their homes to welcome the New Year, such as orchids, lilies, chrysanthemums, daffodils, etc.
4. Five-fruit tray
The five-fruit tray placed on the ancestral altar is an indispensable custom during the Vietnamese New Year to pray for a new year of peace, luck, happiness, health, and prosperity. The five-fruit tray is a tray of five different types of fruit, but this cultural tradition in the North, Central and South of Vietnam has different characteristics. The two types of fruit that are definitely on the five-fruit tray are yellow grapefruit and green banana. The other three types of fruit usually depend on each family. Nowadays, Vietnamese people are not limited to the five-fruit tray, the number of fruits on the tray can be more than five types of fruit.
5. Cleaning the house
To prepare for Tet, families in Vietnam clean and sanitize their houses and objects in the last days of the year with the meaning of rearranging things that are not comfortable, removing bad things of the old year to prepare to welcome the new year with lots of fortune and luck.
6. Visiting ancestors’ graves
Children in the family will visit and clean the resting place of their ancestors and relatives together. This is a popular custom of Vietnamese people, showing filial piety and respect for parents and deceased ancestors.
7. Year-end worship
Families in Vietnam often prepare a tray of food and burn incense to invite gods and ancestors to celebrate Tet with their family on the afternoon of the 30th of Tet, at the same time to end the old year and prepare to welcome the new year.
8. Welcoming New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is the transition between the new year and the old year, an important time when heaven and earth are in harmony. The New Year’s Eve worship ceremony, also known as the New Year’s Eve ceremony, takes place at the last minute of the year with the meaning of removing all the bad things of the old year to welcome the good things of the new year. The New Year’s Eve worship ceremony is performed outdoors.
9. Picking lucky branches
Picking lucky branches in early spring is a beautiful traditional feature of the Vietnamese New Year. Lucky branches are often picked on New Year’s Eve or early morning of the first day of Tet to pray for luck and bring fortune into the house.
10. Xong dat
After the New Year’s Eve, the first person to enter the house with New Year’s greetings is the first person to enter the house. According to Vietnamese beliefs, the first person to enter the house in the New Year is very important, so Vietnamese families today often choose people who are compatible in age, gentle, have a happy family, do business well, and have a cheerful personality to enter their house.
11. New Year’s greetings and lucky money
Vietnamese people have the custom of visiting relatives and friends to wish them a happy New Year during Tet. Usually on the morning of the first day of Tet, children and grandchildren will come to wish their grandparents and parents longevity and lucky money. After that, the children and grandchildren receive new money in red envelopes from their grandparents and parents for good luck, along with wishes for their children and grandchildren to grow up quickly, study well, and be happy and joyful in the new year. Lucky money is not important in terms of the amount but in terms of its meaning.
