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Tết

Vietnamese New Year celebration

  • 14 min read
  • 8 chapters

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Tết Nguyên Đán is not to be confused with Tết Trung Thu (Mid–Autumn Festival). "Tết" itself only means "festival", but it would generally refer to the Lunar New Year in Vietnamese, as it is often seen as the most important festival amongst the Vietnamese and the Vietnamese diaspora, with Tết Trung Thu regarded as the second-most important.

Vietnamese people celebrate Tết annually, which is based on a lunisolar calendar that calculates both the motions of Earth around the Sun and of the Moon around Earth. Tết is generally celebrated on the same day as Chinese New Year (also called Spring Festival), with a one-hour time difference between Vietnam and China resulting in the new moon occurring on different days. The dates of the Vietnamese and Chinese Lunar New Year occasionally differ, such as in 1985, when Vietnam celebrated Lunar New Year a month before China. It takes place from the first day of the first month of the Vietnamese lunar calendar (around late January or early February) until at least the third day.

Tết is also an occasion for pilgrimages and family reunions. Celebrants set aside the trouble of the past year and hope for a better and happier upcoming new year. This festival can also be referred to as Hội xuân in vernacular Vietnamese, (from lễ hội, "festival", and mùa xuân, "spring").

The reason why the celebration is celebrated is told in a legend which is recorded by Dat Le Que Thoi. Long ago, a couple was so destitute that they were forced to separate. Later, the wife remarried a wealthy man. One day, while she was burning ritual paper offerings in the courtyard, her former husband—who had come to beg for food—happened to appear; recognizing him and moved by compassion, she brought out rice and money for him. When her current husband discovered what had happened, the wife threw herself into the blazing pile of offerings and perished in the flames. Touched by this, the former husband leapt into the fire and died alongside her. Overcome with grief, the second husband also jumped in. All three burned to death. The Jade Emperor, recognizing their devotion and righteousness, appointed them as the Kitchen Gods.

History

The Lunar New Year holiday was originally brought to Vietnam by the Chinese, who had formally conquered Vietnam into their Han Dynasty empire in 111 BC and mostly ruled it for over 1000 years until the collapse of the Tang Dynasty in the 10th century. That historic period of Chinese rule significantly influenced Vietnamese culture, language, and administration, as Chinese governors had attempted complete Sinicization. Today, Vietnamese Lunar New Year still follows the lunar calendar and retains original Chinese customs, such as gifts of lucky money in red envelopes. However, Vietnam also evolved its own distinct traditions, including customary Tết dishes, that reflect Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese zodiac has the Buffalo, Cat, and Goat instead of the Ox, Rabbit, and Sheep in the Chinese zodiac.

Controversies

Tết's origins have been a subject of scholarly research for many generations. Most information sources state that Tết originated from the period of Chinese domination. However according to the official online newspaper of the Vietnamese government, some historical materials suggest otherwise.

According to researcher Toan Anh, Tết Nguyên Đán is considered the first festival of the new year, beginning at midnight with the Trừ tịch ceremony. The ceremony usually takes place between the hour of the Pig on the 30th day or, if it is a short month, on the 29th day of the 12th lunar month, and the hour of the Rat on the 1st day of the first lunar month.

Researcher Phan Cẩm Thượng, in his book Customs of Human Life, explains that the Vietnamese use the agricultural calendar or lunar calendar, which is based on the moon's rotation around the earth but also accounts for the 24 solar terms of the earth with the sun, including the four key points of the spring equinox, autumnal equinox, winter solstice, and summer solstice. Tết begins on the first day of lunar January, marking the start of a new year and a new farming cycle.

Historian Trần Văn Giáp asserts that there are many ways to divide time into months and years. From the beginning, each ethnic group had its own way of dividing months and years. According to Trần's research, Tết Nguyên Đán in Vietnam dates back to the first century AD.(While during this period, northern Vietnam was under Han administration, and the imperial Chinese calendar system was in use.）The origin and meaning of Tết Nguyên Đán have been prevalent since then.

According to the legend of Bánh chưng Bánh giầy, the Vietnamese have celebrated Tết since before the time of the Hùng kings. The legend of Lang Lieu and Bánh chưng also suggests that Tết existed over a thousand years before the period of Chinese domination. (To date, no substantial archaeological evidence has been established to support this claim.)

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