Vietnamese ‘Tet’ holiday 2015 is coming in the air! If you once had a chance to visit Vietnam in Tet before, you must have seen a lot of exciting, and even strange things that people often do in this occasion. So what’s the difference between Tet - the Lunar New Year and the Western New Year?
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| Can you feel the atmosphere of Tet? |
Maybe it lies mostly somewhere in the ways people celebrate. On Tet, there are a lot of DO and DON’t, and most people are obligated to these rules to keep their luck for the whole year round. Let check this list and see if you know Vietnam well enough to experience any of them:
DOs
1. Buy ornamental flowers
This is the most popular thing that every family does on Tet. In the North, they often buy pink and red cherry blossom branches with the hope to ‘expel evil’. In the South, people prefer yellow and white apricot blossom. Another famous tree appears in this occasion is kumquat. The kumquat tree that has flowers, fruits and the green shoots is considered to bring good luck to the family.
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| Kumquat, apricot blossom and cherry blossom |
2. Buy salt on the first days of the new year
The salty taste of pure salt is believed to help strengthen the bond between members in the family throughout the year.
3. Give red things to each other
Red symbolizes happiness, luckiness, and wealth, thus people often buy red things or their family and gift for others such as watermelon, lucky money in red envelope for the children etc... They even wear red clothes and decorate their house with red color.
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| A girl in very beautiful traditional Vietnamese 'ao dai' |
4. Return all things borrowed and pay debts before Tet
Everybody doesn’t want either to keep other’s belongings, or to collect the debts in the very first day of the new year. That will be considered taking something from someone and will not bring luck.
DON’Ts
1. Visit someone’s house in the 1st day of the New Year
Vietnamese people consider anyone come to their house on the 1st’s morning will define the luck of their whole family for the rest of the year. That’s why they often choose someone they believe to bring good luck, such as a person with good health, good personality, and wealthy or successful. Thus, you'd better avoid visiting someone’s house if you don’t have their invitation.
2. Light fire for others
Because fire - among those ‘red things’ - is considered good luck so Vietnamese people normally believed that if they give someone else, they will loose their luck.
3. Say or do bad things, and break things
In this special occasion, people try their best to avoid saying or doing bad thing because they believe it will bring bad luck. Break something like a bowl or a dish, a cup can be considered as a bad luck.
4. Sweep the house or empty the recycle bin
Just to make sure luck and benefits can’t go with rubbish out of the house.
Have you heard about these rules and experienced one or few of them? Tell us your story and share your opinion with us.
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