Bài giảng New year celebration in VN

Tết Nguyên Đán New Year Celebration in Vietnam... Tết Nguyên Đán The Vietnamese New Year is called Tết Nguyên Đán, meaning Feast of the First Morning, or more commonly by the shorter na

Tết Nguyên Đán

New Year Celebration

in Vietnam

Tết Nguyên Đán

 The Vietnamese New Year is called Tết Nguyên

Đán, meaning Feast of the First Morning, or more commonly by the shorter name Tết

 It is the most popular holiday in Vietnam, and

represents the beginning of the new lunar year

 It also is a break or time of rest in the agricultural year, since it falls between the harvest of crops and the sowing of new crops

Date: February 17, 2007

 The holiday originated from China and is based on the Chinese lunar calendar, so it usually takes place

on the same day as the Chinese New Year

However, it is different in some years due to the time difference between Hanoi and Beijing

 2007 is one of those years where it falls on a

different day than the Chinese New Year; in 2007, the Vietnamese New Year is February 17

The new year holiday is a time to:

 Honor and remember ancestors

 Spend with family

 Mark the beginning of a new year

The holiday consists of 3 periods:

 Tất Niên - preparation for Tết

 Giao Thừa - eve of Tết

 Tân Niên - days of Tết (3 days)

Tất Niên - Preparation

 Preparations may begin weeks in advance

In preparation for the holiday, people often

try to pay off debts to be debt-free for Tết

 Families buy clothes for the children, food,

and decorations for the house and family

altar

 People who live far from home may travel to get home to celebrate the holiday with family

Tất Niên - Preparation cont’d

 Special foods are prepared, such as bánh dầy and bánh chưng (below):

Tất Niên – Kitchen Guardians’ Departure

 On the 23rd day of the last month of the Chinese

calendar, the three kitchen guardians for the house return to heaven to report on the events in the house

to the Jade Emperor For their departure, a family

offers sacrifices for their journey, such as a carp they can use for their travel, setting the carp free

afterwards Or the family may put honey on the

mouth of the image of Ông Táo (one of the

guardians) so he can say only sweet things about

the family

Giao Thừa (New Year's Eve)

 On the last day of the year, the home is cleaned and swept Sweeping or getting rid of trash during Tết is

taboo or xui (unlucky), since it symbolizes sweeping

the luck or good fortune of the new year away, so it must be done before the holiday and then not until after the three days of Tết are over

 During the middle of the day, an offering is placed on the family altar for the family ancestors, and incense

is burned This is done every day throughout the

Giao Thừa (New Year's Eve) cont’d

 A Mâm Ngũ Quả, or five fruit

tray, is placed on the altar,

symbolizing admiration and

gratitude of the family for the

ancestors and their

aspirations for a life of

plenty.

 Fireworks were lit (until

outlawed in Vietnam in

1995)

Tân Niên – 3 days of Tết

wear new clothes and give elders traditional Tết greetings

Elders may give children lì xì, a red envelope of money New

offerings and incense are placed at the family altar

relatives, in-laws, friends, and local Buddhist temples to pray

or get a fortune reading for the year

since the holiday may be an omen for the twelve months that follow For all three days, people are careful to not to show anger and not to be rude to people When the holiday ends,

First Visitor of the New Year

 The first person through the door in the new year will reflect the family's future luck and wealth in the new year So people

never enter a house on the first day without being invited The act of being the first person to enter a house on Tết is called

xông đất or đạp đất Usually, people with happy demeanor or

who had experienced luck during the previous year is invited first into the house In some instances, people with names such

as Phúc (happy), Tài (wealth), Lộc (luck) will be invited to

perform this act of xông đất However, just to be safe, the

owner of the house will leave the house a few minutes before midnight and come back just as the clock strikes midnight just

to prevent anyone else who would potentially bring any

unfortunate events in the new year for the household.

 A New Year tree or cây nêu can be

placed in the courtyard and decorated

at the top with bells, flowers, and red

streamers This tree will guard the

family from evil spirits while the kitchen

guardians are away A bamboo pole

often serves as the tree.

 The house is decorated with peach

flower branches or a kumquat tree,

symbolizing the fertility and fruitfulness

that the family hopes will come in the

 Bánh chưng and Bánh dầy are cakes of sticky rice with meat

or mung bean filling wrapped in banana leaves Bánh chưng are rectangular and Bánh dầy are circular in shape.

 Watermelon is popular since it is considered lucky due to the red color Roasted watermelon seeds, hạt dưa, are also

served, and they may be dyed red Other foods served

include chân giò ninh măng (pig trotters stewed with bamboo shoot), thịt gà luộc (boiled chicken), and Mứt tết, dried

candied fruits such as coconut

New Year’s Greetings

 Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!

 Cung Chúc Tân Xuân!