Vietnam’s New Year, also known as Tet, is the largest and most festive traditional holiday in Vietnam. It is a sacred time for family members to reunite, bid farewell to the old year, and welcome the new one.
1. The 23rd Day of the Twelfth Lunar Month: Sending Off the Kitchen God
According to Vietnamese folklore, on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, all deities return to the heavens to report on the year’s events. The Kitchen God, who oversees the family’s well-being, must also ascend to deliver his report. Thus, every year on this day, Vietnamese families prepare meals, offerings, and live carp for the “sending off of the Kitchen God” ceremony. This unique cultural tradition holds great significance for the Vietnamese people.
2. Cleaning and Decorating the Home
In preparation for the New Year, every household cleans and tidies up, decorating their spaces beautifully. This tradition symbolizes a fresh start, welcoming a New Year filled with good fortune and prosperity.
3. Flower Decorations
In the hearts of the Vietnamese people, peach blossoms from the north and yellow apricot flowers from the south are symbols of protection against evil and represent a family’s luck, happiness, and prosperity. Additionally, Vietnamese people enjoy buying various beautiful flowers, such as orchids, lilies, daisies, and daffodils, to celebrate the New Year.
4. Decorative Offerings
During the Lunar New Year, every Vietnamese household displays a colorful five-fruit tray on their offering table. Like green sticky rice cakes and red couplets, the five-fruit tray is an essential item during Tet celebrations. It consists of five kinds of fruits, symbolizing the homeowner’s wishes for peace, good fortune, happiness, health, and wealth.
The kumquat tree symbolizes good luck and prosperity, and Vietnamese people often display kumquat bonsai on their tables as a wish for a prosperous New Year.
5. New Year’s Eve Rituals
On the afternoon of the last day of the year, once all preparations for welcoming the New Year are complete, families cook meals to honor their ancestors and deities in a ceremony known as “New Year’s Eve offerings”.
6. Seeking Blessings
On New Year’s Eve, Vietnamese people also observe the tradition of “seeking blessings”.
One practice, known as “collecting blessings”, involves picking a branch with green leaves from a temple or ancestral altar when returning home. This symbolizes gathering the good fortune bestowed by the gods. The branch is then placed in front of the family altar and kept there until the leaves wither.
Another custom involves bringing home fruits, also referred to as “blessings”, which are shared with friends and relatives as a way of spreading good fortune.
7. Reunion Dinner and Sticky Rice Cakes
On New Year’s Eve, families rush home to enjoy a reunion dinner, wishing for abundant wealth and good fortune in the coming year. A must-have dish at this dinner is sticky rice cakes, or “bánh chưng”, which are square-shaped and can weigh over one kilogram. Wrapped in special leaves, these cakes are primarily made of glutinous rice and filled with pork, fat, and mung bean paste. They are boiled for seven to eight hours, resulting in a fragrant and delicious dish with a unique flavor.
8. Honoring Ancestors and Tomb Sweeping
Family members of all ages gather to visit ancestral tombs, clearing away wildflowers and weeds. They set up altars to pay their respects and honor their ancestors, hoping to invite the spirits back home for a reunion with their descendants. This practice is a way to show filial piety and to pray for the ancestors’ protection and good fortune in the coming year.
9. First Visitor Tradition
According to Vietnamese custom, the first person to visit a household on the first day of the Lunar New Year is called “Chúc Tết” or the “first visitor”. This person holds great significance, and many families will ask a kind-hearted and fortunate individual to be the first to enter their home, hoping to ensure a prosperous and smooth New Year filled with good luck and success.
10. New Year Greetings and Lucky Money Giving
Exchanging greetings and giving lucky money is a cherished tradition during the Lunar New Year, symbolizing blessings and good luck. On the first three days of the New Year, people visit friends and relatives to wish each other well. Typically, on the first day, younger family members greet their elders, wishing them longevity and good health. In return, the elders give red envelopes filled with lucky money to the younger ones, wishing them health and success in their studies.
