In preparation for the lunar New Year (Tet) festival, Vietnamese people decorate their homes with flowers. In fact, flowers have long been the typical beauty of Tet. Each type of flower helps home owners decorate the house with its own brilliant beauty and meaning. In addition to flowers typical of Tet such as peach blossoms in the North, yellow apricot in the South, daisy, orchid, rose, and lily also bring the new-year atmosphere and aspirations to everyone.
Apart from flowers, some ornamental plants are also commonly seen during Tet, including the kumquat tree with lush, green leaves and yellow fruits. Those leaves and fruits symbolize growth, development and prosperity. Freshwater mangrove (barringtonia acutangula), whose leaves fall at the end of the year to start the year with strong, young shoots on its rough, dark, brown trunks, is also popular.
Cleaning and decorating the house and arranging the altar is another important ritual of Tet. People may repaint and repair their houses or buy new tools and appliances. Those who cannot afford much also try to make their home look as decent as possible. What can be delayed in the normal day, must be completed in preparation for Tet in the best way with the hope that new, lucky and good things will come in the new year.
The year-end offerings ritual conducted on the New Year’s Eve is an indispensable tradition of Tet. The offerings vary from household to household depending on their economic conditions. However, everyone wants to give their most sincere gratitude to deities for giving their families a peaceful year or just simply offer their thanks for having a chance to welcome the new year.
The altar is cleaned and a five-fruit tray is arranged neatly showing hopes for a fruitful new year. Incense is then offered solemnly in praying for a year of fortune to the whole family and nation. This is the spiritual time when families remember their loved ones who have passed away. This is also the time for family reunion and those who live and work far from home try their best to return and welcome the new year at home.
The New Year’s Eve is when almost everyone stays awake to wait for the transition moment between the old and the new year. In that sacred moment, people believe that it ends the old year with what has not been done and good to welcome a new and better year.
The morning of the first day of the lunar New Year starts with purity in the air and in people’s mind. All shops are closed and the streets are quiet without usual daily bustling atmosphere. In their smart and neat clothes, people go to pagodas and churches to offer incense and pray for peace and happiness in the new year. The first day of the year is the day to pay respects to deities, grandparents and parents.
One of the traditions that have been preserved for generations is offering new-year greetings during new-year visits. Children often visit their grandparents’ and parents’ homes; friends and colleagues visit each other; students visit their teachers. During the visits, they send each other new-year greetings with best wishes. Young children are given lucky money in red envelopes with wishes for good learning records. The elderly are wished good health, longevity and a happy life and presented with lucky money respectfully put in red envelopes.
Hopes for better things to come are what people all over the world aspire to and expressed in the new-year greetings and wishes. For us, Vietnamese people, that aspiration is strong. Tet customs are beautiful cultural features and help us live better and live for the humanity. They need to be handed down from generation to generation and preserved so that wherever we are, we are always proud of ourselves, the Vietnamese people with a long-standing and unique culture.
Translated by Huu Duong