Tết – The Celebration of New Beginnings
Vietnamese Lunar New Year, or the Tết holiday, short for Tết Nguyên Đán holiday, is the biggest annual celebration of Vietnam. Following the Vietnamese zodiac, Tết 2023 is the year of the Cat. Tết usually comes around in the coldest month of the year with the drizzling rain and layered puffer jackets. But just like a fantasy, Tết is also the taste of happiness, the smell of delicious traditional food, the sight of abundance, and the touch of jiggling faces, where we reunite and celebrate.
The week before Tết is usually the busiest time when everyone spends days cleaning the house, shopping, and preparing Mâm ngũ quả (five-fruit trays). Every Lunar New Year, on the family altar of every Vietnamese family, there is a five-fruit tray as an offering to the ancestors. The five–fruit trays represent the five elements metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Depending on the customs of each region, different fruits are chosen based on their specific meanings, usually blessings for the new year. The fruit trays must traditionally have five fruits of five different colours. When spring comes, we respectfully offer these fruits to their ancestors.
We also prepare a bounty of food for the celebrations, such as the famous traditional dessert – Bánh chưng or the Chung cake, chả nem (spring rolls), and hành muối (pickled onions), as most restaurants and shops are closed on the New Year. My favourite thing to do was secretly taste a bit of everything while preparing a tray full of fruits, jams, and sweets to offer guests when they visit on the day of the new year.
One of the most distinctive features of the Tết holiday is the busy scene of flower markets with three popular plants in Northern Vietnam: Hoa Ðào (peach blossom flower), hoa mai (ochna integerrima or yello Mai flower) and cây quất (marumi kumquat). A branch of the plants is a must for the holidays, symbolizing strong vitality and prosperity; therefore, everyone would spend hours carefully handpicking until they can find a good one. As a kid, I always pouted at my mom whenever she asked me to join her in picking a plant.
On New Year’s Eve, all family members gather for a big feast and watch the Táo Quân show, which summarizes all the events over the past year. We would take some time after dinner to worship at the family altar. Many also like to go out to see the fireworks, while some choose to stay home with family. When I was 5 or 6, I remember insisting my mom wake me up before midnight for the show. I was extremely excited to see the fireworks but could not resist falling asleep. I love hearing the sound of the fireworks as it is the anticipation of something new and beautiful about to happen. After the fireworks, I always went to sleep full of joy and smiling when the night was over.
In contrast with the week before, the first day of Tết is quiet and reserved for family. We have a tradition called xông nhà đầu năm, where we invite a person we perceive would bring luck to our house to step in first thing the next morning. We believe what you do on the first day of the year affects your whole year. We get dressed in those beautiful traditional Áo dài and go to pagodas to pray for a wonderful year ahead. We greet each other with wishes, visit family and relatives and give kids lucky money (Lì xì). “Who received the most lucky money” is always the first topic we discuss when we return to school.
Tết always reminds me of my childhood nostalgia which fills my heart with joy and happiness. Each region in my country has its ways of celebrating Tết. Together, we all want to hold on and maintain our tradition and welcome a new year with gratitude.
Wish you all a Happy New Year.
