Vietnam Lunar New Year Celebration & beautifully traditional customs to be experienced during Tet Holiday

Tet Nguyen Dan, commonly known as with its shortened name Tet, is the most important holiday of Vietnamese marking the arrival of spring. Derived from the Han script, “Nguyen” means the beginning and “Dan” means the early morning. Therefore, the Feast of the First Morning is the meaning of the name Tet Nguyen Dan.For Vietnamese,Tet has many profoundly cultural values that they have been preserving for long and you can read for the details on this blog…..

Tet (Lunnar New Year Celerbration) – Vietnamese’s biggest holiday.

Vietnamese Lunar New Year or Tet is the biggest holiday of Vietnam and few other countries that are influenced by Chinese culture. The origin of this occasion started more than 1000 years ago carrying the whole rich historical and cultural values.
Tet Nguyen Dan, normally called Tet, means the feast of the first morning of the first day in Lunar Calendar, which usually falls around the end of January or in the middle of February of solar calendar and last for 5 to 6 days. This was used for celebration during the break before starting the next crop rotation.

The sacred meaning of Tet is that it is an opportunity for Vietnamese to remember their ancestors & a chance for the family reunion. Tet brings a new beginning, shakes off the bad things happened in the past year so everyone can be happy and generous with each other, ignores the old hatred. Everyone’s hearts are full of ambition for happiness and prosperity for the new year.

Below are our local shares of Vietnamese beautiful customs that Vietnamese people will do during Tet Holiday, it could be a good reference for your coming trips to Vietnam in Vietnamese Lunar New Year time

Family Reunion in Tet holiday

Kitchen God Day (Ong Cong Ong Tao)

The Kitchen God Day is celebrated on 23rd of December (in Lunar calendar). According to a legend, the Kitchen God Day is a day that the trio of Deities (2 men and a woman) would come back to heaven to report Jade Emperor what happened in the Earth; then they would travel to the Earth on the New Year’s Eve to continue their duties till the next 23rd of December.

There is a Vietnamese tale about the origin of this day. There was a woman named Thi Nhi. Her husband was Trong Cao. Although they loved each other very much and got married for a long time, but they still couldn’t have a child. Therefore, arguments happened a lot.

One day, because of a small incident, Cao beat Thi Nhi and chased her away. Nhi left home, wandered to another region and later met Pham Lang. Felt in love with each other, they got married.

About Trong Cao, after calming his anger, he regreted for what he had done, but his wife had left. Missing her so much, Trong Cao packed his things and went to search for his wife. Day after day, Cao started running out of money and food, so he became a beggar. Coincidentally, he accidentally entered Thi Nhi’s home, while Pham Lang was not at home at that time. Nhi soon realized that the beggar was her ex-husband. She invited him into her house and fed Cao. Suddenly, Pham Lang returned home from the farm. Nhi was afraid that her husband was getting jealous, so she hid Cao in a dried straw stack at the backyard.

In need of the ashes to fertilize the fields, Pham Lang suddenly set fire to burn rice straw. With her love to Trong Cao,Nhi jumped into the fire. Seeing that situation, Pham Lang followed his wife, and all three people died because of the fire.

Moving story among the characters

The Jade Emperor in the heaven knew and was moved by their story. He wanted the three to be together forever so he titled them as the kitchen gods (Tao Quan), who dwell in the three heart stones around the cooking fire. It is their duty to take care of all household affairs. Not only determine the luck, risk, the blessing of the homeowners, the Taos also prevent the invasion of the devils into the residence, keep the peace of everyone in the house.

The Vietnamese have celebrated this festival by preparing a tray of food (including a lot of Vietnamese traditional dishes, such as spring roll, steamed sticky rice, plain porridge) and fruits. People also prepare 3 sets of votive paper, including paper caps, boots and clothes: the yellow one in the middle for Mrs. Tao and two black ones for 2 Mr. Taos.

Besides, Vietnamese people set free carps into rivers and lakes. The meaning of this custom is to show human’s respect and gratitude towards animal worlds, and wishing for the good fortune of the upcoming year.

The offering feast to Kitchen Gods

The Kitchen God Day ( 23th of Lunar December) is known as the starting day of Lunar New Year in Vietnam. After the trio of Deities leaves the Earth, people will burn votive paper as well as clean up the altar, the house and decorate to prepare for Tet.

The custom of erecting a Neu tree.

During Tet holiday, the Vietnamese have a custom of erecting a bamboo pole, known as Neu tree, in front of their house. Nowadays, people living in urban areas seldom remain this custom, but people living in rural areas still keep this beautiful custom during Vietnamese Lunar New Year.

Neu tree is a small bamboo tree which is high 2,5 – 3 meters planted in front of the house before New Year’s Eve. Normally, it’s planted as soon as people finish Kitchen God Day on 23rd December in Lunar calendar. There are a lot of small bags containing betel and areca, flutes and metal pieces on the top. Whenever the wind blows, they touch each other making sound.

According to the Vietnamese concept, the Neu tree is a holy tree, and this custom is to mark the border of their house, inform the evil spirit that the house has its owner.

In the evening, people hang some lanterns on the Neu tree to lead their ancestors a way back to their home to enjoy Tet with family. Vietnamese people also burn firecrackers on New Year’s Eve to vanish evil as well as bad luck. The Neu tree is ceremonially removed after the seventh day of Tet. It means that Tet holiday ends.

The “Broke Ground” custom in Lunar New Year (Xông Đất)

For the Vietnamese, the first day of Tet is the most important day that could affect the whole year, so the first visitor who comes to someone’s house has a huge impact. This custom is regarded as the most important one of Vietnamese customs.

People tend to invite someone who is generous, cheerful or choose someone who has zodiac being good for the house owner.

Even though Vietnamese love to choose the first guest who visits their house in the first day of New Year, there are some unexpected visitors. That’s why, most Vietnamese houses often close until their first visitor comes.

Normally, the chosen guest won’t stay for long. The visitor just comes for greeting and wishing for a happy new year instead. That’s the joy for both the first visitor and the house owner.

In the past, there were 2 ways to choose that person. Mostly, it based on that person’s zodiac which would suit the owner of the house or that person’s personality: a strong, kind or rich person.

The Five-Fruit Tray of Tet Holiday

The five-fruit tray is indispensable on the altar in every Vietnamese family during Tet. It represents people’s wishes for a happy upcoming year.
Among 5 kinds of fruit, banana and grapefruit or Buddha’s hand fruit are essential fruits. Depending on different regions, 3 kinds of fruits remaining can be different. In general, the five-fruit tray contains 5 fruits which are rich nutrients and good for health.

According to the concept of the Vietnamese, the “five fruits” indicate the full concentration of 5 elements creating the world according to feng shui, showing sustainable and strong development. Therefore, the five fruits tray on Tet holiday expresses the desire of yin and yang harmony, proliferation and development.

Fruits tray of people in the North.

In the North, most people display the five-fruits tray according to the theory of the Five Elements in Oriental culture which represents the harmony between sky and earth. Therefore, the five fruits often have to organize with 5 colors: white, green, black, red and yellow, which are popularly chosen with the following fruits : banana, grapefruit, apple, persimmon and tangerine. Red chilies, kumquats, figs are sometimes added to make the tray more colorful.

Fruit tray to decorate the altar in the northern Vietnam

Trays of people in the Central region

The Central region was originally a poor, barren land with harsh climate and did not receive the favor of nature at all. Fruits are difficult to plant. Therefore, on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, people use any types of fruit as long as they are clean and fresh to serve their ancestors to express their respectful heart. The fruits, you commonly see, are dragon fruit, bananas, watermelon, custard apple, pineapple …

Different fruits on the tray of Vietnamese in central area

Fruits tray of people in the South

The people of the South display their tray of fruits with the expectation that they are praying for good living condition to enter the new year. Therefore, in the five fruits of the Southern New Year usually corresponds to five fruits: soursop, fig, coconut, papaya and mango. The reason why they choose these types of fruit bases on the homonymous phenomenon to set meaning.

Soursop (Mãng Cầu) – “Cầu” means wish
Fig (Sung) – “Sung” means well-to-do
Coconut (Dừa) – “Dừa” sound similar to “Vừa” which means average
Papaya (Đu Đủ) – “Đủ” means enough
Mango (Xoài) – “Xoài” sound similar to “Xài” which means spend

All of those words combined creating the phrase “Cầu sung vừa đủ xài” means wishing to earn enough (or more than enough) to live and to spend.

Whereas, five fruits tray of Tet holiday in the North can worship bananas or pears. The Southern people avoid using some fruits that have names with bad meanings such as bananas (“Chuối” sound like Chúi in “Chúi nhủi” – unsuccessful business; oranges (Cam) and tangerines (“Quýt” that in a Vietnamese phrase “Quýt làm cam chịu” with the meaning of being drag into someone’s problems, pears (“Lê” in “lê lết” – drag, broken, failed).

Vietnamese New Year Wishes and Lucky Money “Lì xì”

For the Vietnamese, Tet is an occasion for family to gather and reunite. This is the best time of the year for family members to show their respect, love and wish together for a year full of happiness and good luck.Parents receive a lot of wishes for health, good luck and prosperity from their children after finishing the ancestral ceremony. Then, to reciprocate, they give their children Lì Xì (lucky money is put inside a colorful envelop). The value of the money inside the envelops is not important. It represents for the wish of luck and success.

Overall, the Vietnamese customs during Tet holiday is a cultural specificity full of love and morality.

Lucky money ( Lì Xì)

Guidelines for Tourists When Visiting Vietnam in Tet Holiday

Vietnamese Lunar New Year usually falls around the end of January or in the middle of February of solar calendar and lasts for 5 to 6 days. Here are some useful tips for tourists if they want to visit Vietnam on Tet Holiday.

• Make sure your travel plans and arrangement in advance because these days most of the transportation means do not work especially train, bus and renting services of motorbike or car, etc. However, Vietnamese do not travel much in Tet Holiday, as a result, there is no worry about booking a hotel or restaurant.
• As for sightseeing, tourists can not visit some attractions like museums, mausoleums, indoors exhibition places, and art houses since they usually open after at least the first 4 days of the Tet Holiday.
• Fortunately, at that time, in some big cities like Hanoi, Saigon, the first 3 days of Tet are very quiet without transportation means because of a large number of people returning to hometown to visit their family already. Therefore, this is a good chance of enjoying the peaceful landscapes.
• Most of the stores will be closed in Tet. Otherwise, few big markets like Dong Xuan Market and Ben Thanh Market still open. Moreover, sellers will not raise the price because based on idealist conception, they want to their business be fluent in the early of the year.

Playing around on Tet Holiday

Do’s & Dont’s on Vietnamese New Year (Tet)

What Should be Done on Tet Holiday?

Paying all the Debts before Tet.

The Vietnamese people believe that it is bad luck if you are still keeping the debts and borrowed things of the old year. It can also mean they can be stuck in debts in the New Year as they did in the old year. Thus, pay all debts and give things back to the owners before Tet, even the tiny ones!

Cleaning & Decorating the house.

On the last few days of the old year, the Vietnamese will clean their houses, gardens, and altars. They also decorate their house with colorful stuff like peach trees, balloons or couplets. Not only does it bring a bright appearance to the house but it is also considered as a successful brand new start to the family members.

Tet decoration inside the home

Beauty Makeover.

Though people can dress up every single day, Tet is still a special occasion to wear new and beautiful outfits. According to the conception of getting more luck in the New Year, the Vietnamese often choose bright colorful clothes such as red, yellow and blue, which are some common colors symbolizing good luck and prosperity. Besides, traditional costumes like colorful “ao dai” are dominantly chosen, which are easily seen overwhelmingly all over this S-shaped country.

Smiles.

A smile could be a magical tool to put anyone in a relaxed mood since it brings joy and enhances relationships among people. When visiting Vietnam during Tet, you’ll rarely see someone not smiling. During Tet, people refrain from getting angry or depressed and put an instant smile on their faces to hope for a happy new year.

What Should not be Done on Tet Holiday?

Saying Bad Words or Negative Topics

The Vietnamese people do not say bad things and avoid debating to others during Tet holiday because it can bring them an inharmonic and stormy year. When there are any conflicts, remember to keep calm and solve it peacefully.

Sweeping the House.

Sweeping house or emptying the trash bin in Tet holiday, especially on the first day of the new year, is considered to give away all luck and money out of the house. Therefore, when visiting the Vietnamese house in Tet, you should avoid throwing trashes onto the floor. If necessary, ask the homeowner first to avoid unwanted problems.

Wearing Black or White clothes

Black and white are mainly used in Vietnamese funeral, thus it is an unlucky sign if you wear these color clothes in Tet holiday. However, if you really want to wear your favorite white shirt, just add some colorful accessories, such as a pair of red shoes or a yellow handbag.

Breaking Glassware.

It is obvious that no one wants to have a “broken” year with a chaotic relationship or terrible study and work, right? Therefore, besides being extremely careful, you should also prepare plastic plates or cups to make sure everything is intact.

So, a trip to Vietnam in the lunar new year, why not? if you want to have a meaning vacation in Vietnam during Vietnamese Lunar New Year, we specially offer to you Vietnam Holiday Packages, which make your day in Vietnam more delightful. Contact us if you have any questions about Tet vacation packages. 

Have a good vacation on Tet Holiday !

Golden Holiday Travel Team