Preserving Tet tradition
VOV.VN - To preserve Vietnam’s Tet traditions, the Viet Communal House and the Viet Hung Ward’s Youth Association have organized a “Tet Viet 2019” program in Le Mat village, Long Bien district, Hanoi, recreating traditional rituals such as worshipping the Three Kitchen Gods, releasing carps, erecting a Neu Tree, and making Chung cakes.
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| In recent years, the Tet Viet program has been a familiar event that recreates and preserves Vietnam’s traditional Lunar New Year. |
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| The program includes activities that have begun to be forgotten in modern life: erecting a Neu Tree, cooking Chung cakes, and organizing rural markets and folk art performances, which draw crowds of domestic and foreign tourists. |
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| Rituals and festivals are carried out in their original order. |
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| First come rituals worshipping the village genie, ancestors, and the Three Kitchen Gods. |
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| The ritual of releasing carps is believed that the carps carry the Three Kitchen Gods to heaven to report to the Heaven King about what has been going on in the family over the past year. |
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| After releasing the carps, a Neu Tree is erected to expel evil spirits and prepare for a new year. |
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| Items including a carp-shaped clay bell, a traditional lantern, and a red cloth are hung on the Neu Tree to wish for good luck. A calligrapher writes a sentence in Nom script that means “Happy New Year”. |
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| The meaning of the items hung on the Neu Tree are explained to visitors. |
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| The ceremony of erecting the Neu Tree is attended by many people. |
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| At the foot of the Neu Tree, a bow and arrow are drawn using lime powder, with the arrowhead pointing toward the door to ward off evil spirits. |
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| Then the festival begins. |
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| The elders make a toast celebrating the ritual to pray for a good new year. |
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| The festival includes music performances of Ca Tru singing, Cheo, and Xoan singing of Phu Tho. |
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| Mr. Hoang Ngoc Dau, a 90 year-old Le Mat villager, performs a folk dance. |
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| Accompanying the performances are other activities such as calligraphic writing and a Tet market. |
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| Children are introduced to Kim Hoang folk painting. |
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| A corner of traditional dishes at the Tet market. |
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| A young Xoan singer performs in a communal house yard. |
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| Foreign visitors get their pictures taken with Mr. Hoang Ngoc Dau. |
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| Foreign visitors and children try their hand at making Chung cakes. |
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| Wearing a traditional Vietnamese ao dai, Erik from the US learns how to make a Chung cake. |
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| Boiling Chung cakes throughout the night. |
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| Families erect tents to shelter themselves during the long night of cooking Chung cakes. |
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| Artists recite poems and perform Xam singing. |
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| The “Tet Viet 2019” program teach people, particularly young people, to appreciate and help preserve Vietnam’s Tet traditions. |
