The Story Of Tet: The Traditions and Activities During Tet

This is the last post of The Story of Tet series. Tet is coming on Sunday, January 22nd. Every Vietnamese family in Vietnam is very exciting to celebrate Tet. This is the national holiday. Before, Vietnamese people only celebrated Tet for three days, excluding Giao Thua. But nowadays, Vietnamese people will celebrate Tet from seven to nine days. With Vietnamese people in foreign countries, they don't have Tet because it is not a holiday. But in everywhere, Vietnamese people still love traditions and honor them. So even though they are busy with work, they still spend a little time celebrating Tet with family.

In this final post post of The Story of Tet series, I will tell you more about the traditions and activities during Tet.

Oh, before I get into the post, I have something need to tell you which is really important. I have a few American friends and they are very interested in Tet. But there was a time they asked me how we, Vietnamese people, celebrate the Chinese New Year. That made me feel a little uncomfortable. But I was not angry. I got it. Actually, for a long time ago, Vietnam was under control and being invaded by China for 1,000 years so there must be some cultural impacts on us until today. But Vietnamese didn't adapt 100% the Chinese cultures. We have our own unique cultures. We didn't celebrate the Lunar New Year like the Chinese. We called it Tet and I would be appreciate if every foreign friend say Tet instead of the Chinese New Year because it is Vietnamese culture and needed to be appreciated. Tet is for Vietnamese.

Source: Internet

Getting into someone's house on the first day of Tet.

Our ancestors always believed that the first person who got into our house on the first day of Tet would affect your family for the rest of the year. If that person has a good Chinese zodiac that is fit with the owner of the house or they have a good star (I will explain to you later), the family will be lucky and happy for the rest of the year. If that person has a bad Chinese zodiac or a bad star, the family will be in a lot of trouble. That notion continues until today especially to people who believe in it. And I am one of them. I began to care about who will the first people come to my house on the first day of Tet in 2013 after 2012 was a bad year for my family. I noticed the person got into my house on the 2012 Tet had a Chinese zodiac that conflicted my mom's zodiac so that year we met many bad lucks. Since then, two weeks before Tet, I often do research on this topic. I sometimes ask for reference from elderly because they understand this more than me. Then, I begin to look for people who can come to my family on the first day of Tet. From my family members to my friends. I can always find the right person because I am blessed to have them in my life. If I say they come on the first day of Tet, you will get that it is the morning after Giao Thua. But it is not like that. Of course they can do it. To me, that person has to come at night which means 30 minutes or one hour after we finished the ceremony of Giao Thua, then they can come. When that person comes, they usually brings a branch of cherry blossom or apricot blossom for luck. It is in Vietnam. In America, before the chosen one comes, they have to go the temple first to pray and come to my house later. We think that when going to temple, that person will be blessed with luck. The house owner will greet them at the door and let them wish the family a happy new year. Then, they will come in and drink a glass of wine and stay for while. Here is another important thing. Don't rush them! Let them stay until they want to leave because we believe they bring the luck for the New Year so it is essential to let the luck stay in our house.

Visiting our relatives.

On the first morning of Tet, we will burn incense to worship Gods and our ancestors before we do something for the rest of the Tet holiday. I think it is a way of saying happy new year to the passed ones and asked for blessing. Then, we will wear new clothes. In Vietnam, our clothes will be suits, dresses, or casual. With our young generation, we will wear whatever we want as long as the clothes are new and suitable for Tet. In America or foreign countries, Vietnamese people usually wear ao dai. From adults to children. Since in America, we only celebrate Tet on the first day so wearing ao dai is a way to honor the tradition and make us more pretty. I started to wear ao dai in the recent years after I felt like it is interesting to wear it. After we finished everything in our house, my family would visit my relatives. We always came to our grandparents' house first. All of my uncles, aunts, and cousins would be there. It was like a family reunion. We wished our grandparents and everyone else to have a good health, be prosperity, be lucky, and be happy. In America, we don't usually do it. Instead, we will go to temples first and go to the relatives later in the evening. Now, here is the best part. I think many of you have heard the term "lucky money" aka li xi. The money will be put inside a red envelope and be handed to the young generation from adults. Adults also gives their parents or the elderly the lucky money. The meaning of lucky money (li xi) is giving the luck for the New Year and the hope of year with full of money.

Going to the temple.

Back in the day in Vietnam, we didn't go to temple until the fifth day of Tet. But in America, we go on the first day for the rest of the day. Temples in America are very limited so when we had a chance to go, we will go. As you know, we go to temples to pray and to ask for "guide". I mentioned above about the stars. I am not an expert on this topic. I'll explain to you briefly. In the Asian culture, there are twelve stars and each of them represents a person in a year. As the stars move, each year, a person will meet a different star. There are bad stars and good stars. So if that year a person meets a bad star, they have to do a ceremony to help them to stay away from bad lucks and for the rest of the year, they should go to temple regularly to pray. Of course, this is in Buddhism. I don't know if other religions believe in the same thing. I strongly believe in my faith. When I go to the temples with my family, we usually take so many picture because temples always decorate the best as they can. Going to temple is a spark of beauty in Vietnamese culture during Tet.

Asking for a prophecy.

When we are in temple, besides praying, we will ask for a prophecy for the New Year. How can we do it? Well, there are two ways. One is going to an Asian psychic. Second is casting coin. Going to an Asian psychic is such a big phony because they never get it right and charge us way to expensive. Casting coin, on the other hand, will give us a prophecy for free and some of the prophecies may be true. After we're done with praying, we will cast coin. By shaking a bamboo tube with many wooden sticks inside with number on each of them, we will ask the God to give us one stick to know what will happen to us in a year. After a stick is dropped out of that bamboo tube, you will see a number on it and get to a table to get your prophecy according to the right number. You read it and whatever it says will be your prophecy for a year. How cool it is!

Firework.

If you're living near the Vietnamese community, you may hear the sound of firework cracking all night when Tet is coming. In Vietnam, there is no more ground firework. Only the one that shoots on the sky. The reason for banning ground firework because of the safety. Not many people can acknowledge the danger of ground firework which injured so many people. In America, we are free to use ground firework. The red color represents for lucky. The sound of firework cracking represents for farewelling the old year and welcoming the new year with a new hope. It also means to scare the bad spirits away. They say when hearing the sound of firework, Tet is finally coming.

Gamble.

One fun activity that we always do is gambling. I don't encourage this activity and only 21 year-old can gamble. Whatever we do during Tet is for luck and prosperity. We often play cards, bingo, or bầu cua cá cọp. Playing cards is too familiar with everyone. Vietnamese bingo is different from the Western bingo. We call it lô tô. It is the same like the western bingo in calling numbers and look for them on your paper. But we don't speak out numbers. Instead we sing. It is fun though. We will sing a random song and at the end of a lyrics we will call out the number that rhymes. We usually play for money. Before playing, we put in our bet. About bầu cua cá cọp is a different kind of roulette. You will put your bet on each object on the table. After that, the dealer will roll three dices. If three dices appear what objects, they will win.

Conclusion.

Tet is coming to us. I hope with all the posts I shared will help you to understand more about Tet. I think each year I will continue to share with you more stories around Tet holiday about traditions. To end this series, I'd like to wish you a happy lunar new year, more prosperity, more happy, more lucky, and more fortune. Happy New Year!!!!