What is the meaning of Tet, the biggest festival in Vietnam
What is the meaning of Tet, the biggest festival in ...
Dec 14, 2011 8:22:51 AM
To regard Tet simply as New Year's Day, as one would in the West, would display a poor knowledge of the people of Vietnam.
In spite of its impressive credentials, the Gregorian NewYear has not been generally accepted in Vietnam, in the countryside inparticular. Our people pay it a courteous homage but reserve their heart andsoul for the traditional Tet.
Tet falls sometime between the last ten days of January and the middle part of February.
For a nation of farmers attached to the land for millennia,it has always been a festival marking the communion of man with nature. In theflow of seasons it is a pause during which both the field and the tiller enjoysome rest after twelve months of labor. In this period of universal renewal theVietnamese man feels surging within himself a fountain of youth. That feelingexplains many fine customs: in the New Year all action should be pure andbeautiful for it may be an omen foretelling events in the twelve months thatfollow.
For three days, one takes extra care not to show anger andnot to be rude to people. The most nagging mother-in-law will make peace withher daughter-in-law; a quarreling couple will smile pleasantly at each other;the new world should be the best of worlds. When the holiday ends, people willresume their activities in a new spirit following so-called opening rituals inwhich the ploughman will open the first furrow, the official applies his sealto the first document, the scholar trace the first character with his penbrush, the trader receives his first customer.
As a rule, all members of the extended family try to spendthe holiday (the idiom used is to "eat Tet"
together under the sameroof. Children vow to
be well-behaved and are often given gifts of cash wrappedin red paper. Several times a day, joss-sticks are lit on the family altar andofferings made of food, fresh water, flowers and betel. Family
graves arevisited, generally, before the end of the 'outgoing' year; fences are mendedand the burial mounds tidied up.
The Vietnamese Tet is an occasion for an entire people toshare a common ideal of peace, concord and mutual love. I know of no communalcelebration with more humanistic character.
This article is written by Jane Nguyen from Vacation to Vietnam
For original article and more information about Vietnam Lunar New Year, please visit
http://vacationstovietnam.com/lastest-travel-news/what-is-the-meaning-of-tet-the-biggest-festival-in-vietnam.html
Vacation to Vietnam
Vietnam Family Vacation
Vietnam vacation
Travel agency in Vietnam
In spite of its impressive credentials, the Gregorian NewYear has not been generally accepted in Vietnam, in the countryside inparticular. Our people pay it a courteous homage but reserve their heart andsoul for the traditional Tet.
Tet falls sometime between the last ten days of January and the middle part of February.
For a nation of farmers attached to the land for millennia,it has always been a festival marking the communion of man with nature. In theflow of seasons it is a pause during which both the field and the tiller enjoysome rest after twelve months of labor. In this period of universal renewal theVietnamese man feels surging within himself a fountain of youth. That feelingexplains many fine customs: in the New Year all action should be pure andbeautiful for it may be an omen foretelling events in the twelve months thatfollow.
For three days, one takes extra care not to show anger andnot to be rude to people. The most nagging mother-in-law will make peace withher daughter-in-law; a quarreling couple will smile pleasantly at each other;the new world should be the best of worlds. When the holiday ends, people willresume their activities in a new spirit following so-called opening rituals inwhich the ploughman will open the first furrow, the official applies his sealto the first document, the scholar trace the first character with his penbrush, the trader receives his first customer.
As a rule, all members of the extended family try to spendthe holiday (the idiom used is to "eat Tet"
together under the sameroof. Children vow to
be well-behaved and are often given gifts of cash wrappedin red paper. Several times a day, joss-sticks are lit on the family altar andofferings made of food, fresh water, flowers and betel. Family
graves arevisited, generally, before the end of the 'outgoing' year; fences are mendedand the burial mounds tidied up.The Vietnamese Tet is an occasion for an entire people toshare a common ideal of peace, concord and mutual love. I know of no communalcelebration with more humanistic character.
This article is written by Jane Nguyen from Vacation to Vietnam
For original article and more information about Vietnam Lunar New Year, please visit
http://vacationstovietnam.com/lastest-travel-news/what-is-the-meaning-of-tet-the-biggest-festival-in-vietnam.html
Vacation to Vietnam
Vietnam Family Vacation
Vietnam vacation
Travel agency in Vietnam
