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Tet Nguyen Dan (VietnameseNew Year) |
Tet Trung Thu (Moon Festival) | Hai Ba Trung (Trung
Sisters) Thanh Minh (Day of the Dead |
Provincial Spring Festival
Tet Doan Ngo (Hungry Ghost Festival) |
Phong Sinh (Buddha's Birthday)
Vietnamese is Tet Nguyen Dan. Tet Nguyen Dan means the beginning
of a fresh new year, the change in nature, the change between winter and spring.
On Tet, Vietnamese celebrate their love and respect for their homeland. Vietnamese
celebrate their roots, their history, especially the love for who we are. Tet
is also a reunion of family members in the family to show faith and respect
to ancestors and older people, to express love and care for friends and relatives,
to show forgiveness to one
another and most of all, Tet is a time to relax and enjoy after a year of hard
work.
In planning for Tet, there are four important items which can be seen in and
around every household; cay neu, canh mai, banh chung and trang pha
o.
Neu, the most representative of Tet, is a stake of bamboo placed in the ground,
in front of the house for 7 days. Hoa mai is a small, yello flower with five
to eight petals. A bush of hoa mai is essential to the celebration of Tet.
While hoa mai is preferred in the south, rosy peach is more commonly used
for this ceremony in the
north. Banh chung is a kind of rice cake made of leap rice, peas and pork-is
covered by three or four layers of banana leaves and cooked for at least twelve
hours. This cake is highly symbolic of the strong and intimate relationship
between Vietnamese people and their environment. The most exciting element
in the celebration of Tet is the lighting of trang phao (firecrackers). Firecrackers
symbolize the joyful transition moment and welcome the New Year. These explosions
are believed to drive off ghosts and evil spirits and leave good luck in their
place. Two more item for the proper enjoyment of Tet are kumquat bush and
watermelon. Miniature kumquat bushes about two or three feet tall are carefully
selected and prominently display. The bushes have been precisely pruned to
display rip deep orange fruits with smooth clear skin like little suns, other
fruits must still be green to ripen later. This represents the wish that wealth
will come to you now and in the future. New Year is the harvest time of watermelon.
People buy watermelons, and glue a red, diamond-shape "Phuoc" sign on it in
Chinese. They put the watermelons on tables, altar, and eat it after three
days of Tet.
Tet is
usually celebrated near the end of January
or early February. In the past, Tet festivities lasted more than a week, but
today the festival is officially celebrate for only three days. ItÕs said
that Tet Nguyen Dan begins on December 23rd of the lunar year. This is the
day the Vietnamese see Ong Tao off to heavens. In Vietnamese superstition
Ong Tao is an angel sent down by the creator to act as king of the kitchen
in every Vietnamese home. On this day, he returns to heaven to report to the
creator the current situation of the family. As means of transportation to
heaven, people offered ca chep (carp-like fish). 
The enti greets each other Happy New Year (Chuc Mung Nam Moi, or Cung Chuc Tan Xuan). The children express their happinre house should be cleaned before New YearÕs Day. On New YearÕs Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters, dustpans and other cleaning equipment are hidden away. Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New YearÕs Day and the next two days for fear that good fortune will be swept away. New YearÕs Eve, Giao Thua, is the transition moment between the old year and the New Year. It is one of the most important moments during Tet holidays. First day of Tet is very important because whatever happns on this day will affect the rest of the year. Everybody puts on new clothes and joyfullyess on adding one more year to the longevity their grand parents and parents. In return, they will be given new money notes wrapped in red envelop (Li Xi), meaning of good luck. e
Most people will visit the most important persons on the first day, the less important ones on the second day and third days. There are lots of activities at pagodas, churches, and in the family. RelativesÕ graves are visited. Licorn Dance (Mua Lan) is a joyful entertainment at Tet festivals. The Licorn is a symbol of powerfulness and prosperity. Gambling is also a favorite during Tet and beyond, Vietnamese gather to play traditional card games such as Bau Cua Ca Cop, a pictorial animal game, to test their new yearÕs luck. For three days, one takes extra care not to show anger and not to be rude to people. They are kept because most families realize that these very traditions, whether believed or not, provide a continuity with the past and support the family with a strong bondage and unique identity.
Mid-Autumn
Festival (Tet Trung Thu) This holiday which is celebrated on the 15th day
of the eighth month of the
lunar calendar. The festival is also called the Harvest Moon Festival or Moon
Festival because the full moon
is largest and brightest at this time of yr. It is one of the 2 most popular
Vietnamese festivals. This festival is also celebrated in other parts of Asia
in slightly different styles. Children celebrate Tet Trung Thu by making rice
paper lanterns, which are hung on a long bamboo poles. Some lanterns are
shaped like stars or fish,
and others are covered with fancy designs. After dark, the candles inside
are lit, and the children march in a colorful parade.
On this
day, people eats moon-cakes, a special delight made out of wheat or rice flour
with a sweet 
sesame,
bean paste filling, some moon-cakes have a golden egg yolk in the center wh
ich
looks like a bright moon. ThereÕs also a story about how the Moon Lady ascended
to the moon. A man name Chu Cuoi found a lucky tree that ahs special healing
powers. Because this tree was sacred, people were forbidden to urinate at
the foot of this tree. Unfortunately, Chu CuoiÕs wife, Chi Hang forgot the
rule and urinated on the tree. On day, while she was sitting on the treeÕs
branch, the tree started to grow and grow. Eventually, it reached the moon.
Since then, Chi Hang lived on the moon for the rest of her life as a punishment
for desecrating the sacred tree.
Vietnamese
peo
ple
celeTrung were the two-hero
women who over threw the Chinese rulers in A.D 39. In 111 BC the Chinese annexed
Vietnam. They sent officials to Vietnam to take over the Vietnamese land.
Th Chinese official Chiao Chi was frightened to take over the Vietnamese landlords
of Vietnam, and the husband of Trung Trac was one of them. Trung Nhi
and her sister, Trung Trac built up the military to fight the mutineer. They
won the war, but the Chinese came back to attack and retake the Vietnam under
General Ma-Vien. The Trung Sisters captured and drown the invader in the Hat
Giang River. People voted for Hai Ba Trung to be the 1st Queens in Vietnam.
Hai Ba Trung was in the history of Vietnam thereafter. This holiday reminds
the people of the important contribution women have made in VietnamÕs history.
Tet Doan Ngo (Hungry Ghost Festival,
Wandering Souls Day)
The 5th day of the 5th lunar
month marks the longest day of the year- summer solstice, which is the day this
holiday is celebrated. Unlike Western midsummer, Vietnamese regard this as an
unhealthy time of the year. Towards off sickness and bad luck, they burn paper
effigies as offerings to the god of death to appease him and prevent the spread
of diseases. They also buy emulates from the temple for protection against evil
spirits. The people of Nha Trang bathe in the sea on this day in belief that
this will kill the worms in the body
This
festival commemorates Buddha's birthday, enlightenment, and death. Birds and
fish in captivity are set free by Buddhist to honor the occasion. In some northern
parts of Vietnam, trained doves are released in teams of 10, and a contest is
held to judge their aerobatics skills