3. Vietnamese New Year, more
commonly known by its shortened
name Tết or "Tết Nguyên Đán", is
the most important and
popular holiday and festival
in Vietnam. It is the Vietnamese New
Year marking the arrival of spring
based on the Chinese calendar,
a lunisolar calendar. The
name Vietnamese New Year is Sino-
Vietnamese for Feast of the First
Morning.
4. Tết takes place from the first day of the first month of
the Lunar calendar (around late January or early
February) until at least the third day.
Many Vietnamese prepare for Tết by cooking special
holiday foods and cleaning the house. There are a lot
of customs practiced during Tết, such as visiting a
person's house on the first day of the New Year,
ancestral worshipping, wishing New Year's greetings,
giving lucky money to children and elderly people.
5. Vietnamese people usually return to their families
during Tết. Some return to worship at the family altar
or visit the graves of their ancestors in their homeland.
They also clean the grave of their family as a sign of
respect. Although Tết is a national holiday among all
Vietnamese, each region and religion has its own
customs.
Tết in the three Vietnamese regions can be divided
into three periods, known as Tất Niên (Before New
Year's Eve), Giao Thừa (New Year's Eve), and Tân
Niên (the New Year).
6. In the days leading up to Tết, the streets and markets are
full of people. As the shops will be closed during Tết,
everyone is busy buying food, clothes, and decorations for
their house.
Vietnamese families usually have a family altar, to pay
respect to their ancestors. Vietnamese families have a tray
of five different fruits on their altar called "Mâm Ngũ Quả"
(five fruits type). During Tết the altar is thoroughly cleaned
and new offerings are placed there.
7. The first day of Tết is reserved for
the nuclear family. Children
receive a red envelope containing
money from their elders. Usually,
children wear their new clothes
and give their elders the
traditional Tết greetings before
receiving the money.
Monetary gifts are usually
presented in red envelopes
during festive occasions, like
weddings, birthdays, and
the New Year. While their
main task is to bear gifts,
their second duty is to
shower the recipient with
luck, joy, and prosperity
8. Since the Vietnamese believe that the first visitor a family
receives in the year determines their fortune for the entire year,
people never enter any house on the first day without being
invited first. The act of being the first person to enter a house
on Tết is called xông đất, xông nhà, which is one of the most
important rituals during Tết. 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.
9. These celebrations can last from a
day up to the entire week, and the
New Year is filled with people in the
streets trying to make as much
noise as possible using firecrackers,
drums, bells, gongs, and anything
This parade will also they can think of to ward off evil
include different masks, spirits.
and dancers hidden under
the guise of what is
known as the Mua Lan or
Lion Dancing. The Lan is
an animal between a lion
and a dragon, and is the
symbol of strength in the
Vietnamese culture that is
used to scare away evil
spirits.
10. The traditional greetings are "chúc mừng năm mới" (Happy
New Year -新 年 快 乐) and "cung chúc tân xuân"
(gracious wishes of the new spring). People also wish each
other prosperity and luck.
Sống lâu trăm tuổi (Long life of 100 years).
An khang thịnh vượng (安康興旺, Security, good health, and
prosperity).
Vạn sự như ý (萬事如意, May myriad things go according to
your will).
Sức khỏe dồi dào (Plenty of health).
Cung hỉ phát tài, from the Cantonese Gung hy fat choy (恭喜
發財, Congratulations and be prosperous).
Tiền vô như nước (May money flow in like water).
11. In Vietnamese language, to celebrate Tết is to ăn Tết,
literally meaning "eat Tết", showing the importance of
food in its celebration. Some of the food is also eaten
year-round, while other dishes are only eaten during
Tết. Also, some of the food is vegetarian since it is
believed to be good luck to eat vegetarian on Tết. Some
traditional foods on Tết are:
12. Bánh chưng and bánh dầy: essentially
tightly packed sticky rice with meat or
bean fillings wrapped in Dong
(Phrynium placentarium) leaves. When
these leaves are unavailable banana
leaves can be used as a substitute.
Bánh chưng (rectangular to represent
Earth) and bánh dầy (circular to
represent Sky) are symbolically
connected with Tết and are essential
in any Tết celebration. Preparation is
time-consuming, and can take days to
cook.
13. Thịt Kho Nước Dừa Meaning
"Meat Stewed in Coconut Juice",
it is a traditional dish of fatty
pork stomach and medium
boiled eggs stewed in a broth-
like sauce made overnight of
young coconut juice and nuoc
mam. It is often eaten with
pickled bean sprouts and chives,
and white rice.