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Some
TET in
Tet Thuong Nguyen
(Nguyen Tieu)
According to Buddhist sutras, the first and the fifteenth days (Tet Nguyen Tieu) of every lunar
month are Buddha's Days, when acts of worship are performed in Buddhist shrines
and before family altars. Joss-sticks are lit and trays of fruit and other
offerings are laid out. Celebrations related to the lunar New Year are over,
but the festive Tet atmosphere still remains. The
weather is mild despite an occasional drizzle, pagodas and temples are crowded
with old people telling their beads, young people praying for happiness in love
and luck in business, parents wishing for health and prosperity to their
children... Fruit and delicacies offered to Buddha are taken back home to be distributed
to all members of the family as "gifts" from the deities.
In traditional astrology the fate of each person is influenced by one
particular star. On the 15th day, an act of worship is performed to the star
before a three-level altar. On the top level, offerings of incense and food are
made to Heaven and Buddha; on the middle level they are made to the tutelary
star; on the lowest level are various foods, including rice gruel, which are
offered to the "wandering souls".
The origins of the sacred character of this particular date are unclear. One
version has it that on the occasion of the first full moon of the year, the
emperor of
Indeed in the eyes of men of letters, the moon is at the height of its beauty
on that night. Unable to reproduce such moonlight as described by the writer
through the lens of camera, we would like to present our readers a few pictures
of pilgrims at the Quan Su pagoda in
Tet Khai Ha
Khai Ha is organized on the seventh day of the first lunar month on
which the owner offer their ancestors paper money and clothes and says farewell
to them. The neu bamboo pole is lowered and a new yearis welcomed. According to Vietnamese thinking, if the weather is warm and the sun is shining on Khai Ha, man will be healthy and fortunate all the year
round.
Tet Doan Ngo
Held on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, Tet Doan
Ngo is also called Parasite-Killing Festival.
This is a mid-year festival to enhance the prevention of evils and illnesses,
and the memory of the ancestors.
Tet Trung
Nguyen
Also called
"All Souls Day", is on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. On this
day, people always come to the pagodas to make lavish offerings to the
wandering souls.
Tet Trung Cuu
Or the Double
Nine Fete (on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month) comes from
Tet Trung Thap
Or the Double Ten Festivies
(on the 10th day of the 10th lunar month) is in fact the harvest festival. As
for physicians and traditional herbalists, it is the day when the medicinal
herbs can absorb both the positive and the negative of the universe.
Tet Tao Quan
The Vietnamese have a custom of seeing off Ong Conga
(the Land Genie) and Ong Tao (the Kitchen God) on the
23rd day of lunar December. Both go to Heaven to brief Ngoc
Hoang (the Jade Emperor) on the life of the owner of the house where they stay,
and pray for luck, prosperity and happiness. On New Year's Eve, both Gods will
come back to earth and continue their routine duty of looking after the kitchen
of the house.
The custom of worshipping Ong Conga and Ong Tao originated from a myth that dates from ancient
time. There was a couple, so poor that they had to go far away to earn their
living. They lost each other. After a long time of unsuccessfully looking for
her husband, the wife married another man. One day, her
old husband unintentionally called at her house to beg for food. The old couple
recognized each other. Feeling sad and embarrassed at the situation and
unfaithful to the old husband, the wife jumped into the fire and burned to
death. The old husband, sorry for the wife, also jumped into the fire, as did
the new husband. Hearing about their faithful love, the jade Emperor permitted
the three of them to live together as the Kitchen God to enjoy the blessings.
On the Ong Cong and Ong
Tao festival day, people usually prepare steamed sticky rice with sugar
porridge, truncated cone-shaped cookies made of sticky rice, incense joss
sticks and flowers for a worshipping ceremony. They also prepare a basin of
water in which they put one big live carp or three small ones. After the
ceremony, the carp are released into the pond or the river. This custom has two
meanings. First, as popular thinking goes, the carp can swim well and it will
pass Vu Moon (Heaven's gate) to become a dragon. Thus, Ong
Cong and Ong Tao ride a carp, i.e. a dragon, to
heaven. Second, the custom of releasing the carps refers to a custom of
releasing animals, such as birds into the air and the beasts into the forest , which is considered a kindhearted deed to pray for
good luck.
The custom of worshipping Ong Cong and Ong Tao as the Land Genie and Kitchen God has a humanist
value, reflecting the family happiness. The fire in the kitchen manifests not
only the cozy family union, but also the bumper harvest and agricultural
development.
Tet Thanh Minh
The
Vietnamese, and Chinese, calendar is usually referred to as lunar but it is
really a combination of lunar and solar. The days and months are based on the
phases of the moon, with the full moon in the middle of each month. The
calendar is also divided into twenty- four climatic periods, based on the
apparent movement of the sun through the zodiac. Thanh
Minh is the name of one of these periods. In most
years it begins in the third month of the Vietnamese lunar calendar. This year
it starts on the 17th day of the second month because last year was a leap year
with one extra month.
Thanh Minh literally means
clear and bright, indicating that the weather custom of grave visiting during Thanh Minh, and the first days of
the period are called Tet Thanh
Minh - the Thanh Minh festival. In feudal times the rites of Thanh Minh were listed as one of
the main ceremonies of the royal court and were solemnly presided over by the
king himself, it was recorded in a book of royal rituals (Kham
Dinh Dai Ban Hoi Dien Su
Le) that every year, on the beginning day of the Thanh
Minh period, the king, came to the royal temple to
conduct the ceremony dedicated to his ancestors.
The Ministry of Rites was responsible for all arrangements. In the rural
villages, peasant families did not adhere strictly to the calendar, and it
became a convention that the fist three days of the third month would be the
time of the annual festival. In the past, graves were scattered through the
paddy fields or on the low hills. During the time of the Thanh
Mirlh festival the people weeded and refurbished the
graves of their ancestors and relatives. A ceremony was field in the clan
temple or in the house of the head of the clan to commemorate the ancestors.
This was also an opportunity for the members of the clan to meet and strengthen
their ties. In recent years, most of the graves have been moved to official
cemeteries. and many of them are paved with brick or
concrete. Little effort is needed for weeding the graves, but the people still
visit those of their ancestors to burn incense, not only during Thanh Minh but also during the new year holiday. Grave visiting and the veneration of
ancestors is a feature of the spiritual life of the people.
Tet Trung Thu
For a long time,
About half a month before the event, various kinds of colourful items, mostly cakes, candies and toys, are
displayed for sale along the streets, in the shops and at the markets . Everyone, both domestic and foreign, is eager to
go either shopping or sight-seeing. On the festive day, some families cook
outstanding food to offer their ancestors during the daytime. In the evening,
the mid-autumn festive party is prepared with cakes, candies and fruits. Cakes
are various, but a "must" is the banh deo (glutinous-rice dumplings) and banh nuong (cakes) in the shape
of the moon and fish. Fruit , including longans, simmons, bananas,
grapefruits, etc., are also abundant and diverse.
The Festival is exceptionally interesting for the children who play happily
with the bright new toys. The toys are made from various different forms: the
lion lead, the animal in folk tales and stories. The lanterns are colourful and of various kinds, such as the rabbit, the
carp, etc. Besides traditional carton paper toys, plastic and bamboo plates,
ships, tanks, etc. made of plastics with batteries and having remote controls
are also on sale. This is understandable due to the economic improvements of
the people. Whether organized in the city or countryside, the
preserved tradition of the Mid-Autumn Festival is reflected in the way the
children play games such as seek-and-hide, lion dancing, lantern marching, etc.
The welcome-the-moon party in the evening is a good opportunity for the
children not only to enjoy the food, but also to
learn more from their grandparents and parents. They are told how to prepare
the party in the most attractive way. To decorate the party, there is always a
"doctor" made of paper or dough, which reminds the children of the
high achievements to be obtained in their studies. The time to start enjoying
the party is solemnly shared by the whole family and becomes the most sacred
moment of the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the bright moonlight, clear sky and fresh
environment, everybody is relaxed with a pure and detached joy.