Traditional Vietnamese New Year

By: ISOSU

Posted: 1/22/08

Many people might have heard of the Vietnamese Tet (Traditional New Year), but not many people actually know about it.

The Vietnamese New Year is based on the Vietnamese Luna calendar. It runs from Feb. 7-10 this year. Nevertheless, we start to celebrate this special event on Feb. 1.

For many centuries Vietnamese have celebrated "Ong Tao Day" (one week before the Tet holiday) with their families. It is thought that there are three angels named Ong Tao who live with us in our kitchens. On Ong Tao Day, these angels ride "Koi" and fly to the sky, reporting family issues with the god. Families have a farewell party with plenty of food, fruits and alcohol to say goodbye to them.

Two things that cannot be missed at this party re Ong Tao's hats and Koi, which are made from colored paper. After burning incense, we burn the paper hats and Koi so that Ong Tao can use them to fly to the sky. Of course, after that, we enjoy the good food.

On New Year's Eve we prepare another family party to invite our ancestors and dead people to return for Tet celebration. We put a set of five types of fruits - banana, grapefruit, orange, papaya and pineapple - on the spirit table at home along with Banh Trung (Vietnamese sticky rice cake), Thit Ga (boiled male chicken), Gio Lua (Vietnamese pork ham), deep fried spring rolls (Vietnamese egg rolls), Mien (Grass noodle in soup), sticky rice and wine.

Banh Trung was created by the first Vietnamese king four centuries ago to thank farmers who worked hard planting rice. This square cake was the symbol of the earth in those days. Chicken and pork meat were the precious foods of the culture.

In the house, instead of Christmas trees, we have peach and tangerine trees. The peach flower blooms in January and February in Vietnam, so it has become a symbol of spring in our country.

Before Tet, we buy peach trees from markets or nurseries with the hope that its flowers will bloom during Tet. If the weather is warm and the peach flower blooms before Tet, nursery workers cry because nobody wants to buy a dried-out peach tree for their house. We believe the fresher looking the peach tree is, the happier its owners will be.

Aside from peach flowers, we also decorate with tangerine trees. The more fruits there are on the tangerine tree, the more expensive its cost, because it is thought that more fruits bring more money to the family that buys the tree.

This thought leads many farmers to stick extra fruits from ugly tangerine trees to a bigger tangerine tree. Ugly tangerines cannot be sold anyway, but they still can be used to decorate other trees!

On New Year's Eve we hold a party outside of the house, then burn incense to pray and call our ancestors home. After midnight, we burn imitation money with the thought that our ancestors will receive it for the new year. This thought comes from the custom that children give money to their parents and grandparents to thank them. Although these ancestors have passed away, they are still alive in our minds. This attitude also educates young children to remember and be thankful of our parents and grandparents.

On the first day of the new year, parents give children a small amount of money (varying from $1 to $100) in a red envelope with the wish that the money will create good fortune and health for the children.

I used to keep this money very carefully; if I used it, I was afraid it would not create health or fortune for me.

When children grow up and are able to work, they give lots more money to their parents to pray for their health and success.

New Year's Day is the family day. We stay home and have meals together. We try not to use bad language or argue because it thought that the first day of the year brings the fortune for the whole year.

For the second day of the new year, we visit our relatives and best friends, and the third day is for visiting teachers. When we visit any family, the adult gives a small amount of money in a little red envelope to young children of that family. When I was a little child, I used to wish that many people would visit my family.

A very important thing to remember about Tet is "Xong Nha," the first visitor of the year custom. It is thought that the first visitor of the year brings luck to the family for the whole year. We would like to have a happy person visit us so they could bring good luck to us. But if your age does not match with the household owner's age, you should not be the first visitor to the family. If so, the family would blame you if they found unhappiness that year.

Because of these customs, we try to avoid visiting each other's houses during the first two days. Many people will check with the household owner to see if they would like to be visited by the first visitor.

Highly respected people don't have to worry about this. This custom is also applied to companies and organizations.

Normally we have four days for Tet celebration, but most of the time, people don't work during the following week. They come to the office and go away for New Year's parties. Although it is not right, it is understandable. If you have some business that needs to be done during this period, forget it. Two weeks before Tet and two weeks after Tet are inappropriate times to discuss new projects in Vietnam.

People like to visit pagodas and temples to pray for a happy and successful new year. You cannot find a pagoda or temple without a huge crowd of people. When greeting each other, people always give best wishes to each other or invite each other to visit their house.

When you visit someone's house, don't be surprised if they pour wine to invite you. You are supposed to eat something they offer, or they will think you are not honest to them. This custom showed Vietnamese hospitality in old days, but also makes many foreigners feel uncomfortable. The Vietnamese like to persuade guests to eat something to celebrate the new year with their family. Understand the Vietnamese spirit, and you will enjoy your work or stay in Vietnam.

My last tip for you is that when you are invited to drink or smoke at a Vietnamese house, just politely refuse it if you don't want to, with the reason that your toleration for it is low. It is acceptable if you are a foreigner because the Vietnamese always respect your choice.

It has been one year and four months since I arrived in Corvallis. Growing up from this culture, I feel that my year has still not ended yet, unless I go back Vietnam and celebrate our traditional New Year there.

Phuong Nguyen is a graduate student in business and a part of ISOSU. The opinions expressed in ISOSU's column, which appears every Tuesday, do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Barometer staff. Nguyen can be reached at forum@dailybarometer.com.