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Expert’s Opinion: ‘2024 Lunar New Year Eve without Ceremonial Offerings’ Captures 5 Million Views – What Does the Specialist Say?

Recently, there has been a widely circulated video on social media with the content "Absolutely no New Year's Eve ceremonies in 2024". Let's delve deeper into this.

Administrator

11 February, 2024

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Tết is an extremely important transitional moment from the old year to the new year. This marks the end of the old year according to the lunar calendar, starting at the moment 0 hours: 0 minutes: 0 seconds.

New Year’s Eve is also known as the Exclusion Night, which starts at 11 pm on the 30th and lasts until 1 am on the first day of the new year. The belief is that this is the moment when heaven and earth meet, yin and yang harmonize, and new hope emerges with strong vitality.

During this time, families gather to offer incense and pay homage to their ancestors, grandparents, and family members, bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new year. They wish for health, good luck, peace, and prosperity for all family members.

According to the perpetual calendar, New Year’s Eve in 2024 (which is the 30th lunar New Year) falls on Friday, February 9, 2024 in the Gregorian calendar.

Shouldn’t we offer incense on New Year’s Eve 2024?

Tết Nguyên đán 2024 (Lunar New Year 2024) is approaching, making many people excitedly await the arrival of the new year. However, recently on social media, there have been many conflicting opinions leading to debates. One of the most discussed opinions is the video clip sharing the statement “Shouldn’t offer incense on New Year’s Eve 2024”.

According to the TikToker who shared the clip, the reason for not offering incense on New Year’s Eve 2024 is that the new year’s time is the Lập Xuân period. However, this year, the Lập Xuân period arrives earlier than usual, specifically on February 4th of the Gregorian calendar (corresponding to the 25th day of the lunar month of Chạp). Therefore, the transition to the new year on February 9th of the Gregorian calendar is not the true New Year’s Eve.

“This year’s New Year’s Eve falls on the 24th day of the lunar month of Chạp, which is February 3, 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. However, people should not offer incense on this day as it is considered a bad day with negative energy. Offering incense on this day will bring bad energy into the house, causing the family to encounter difficulties and misfortune… As for the 30th day of Tết and the first day of the new year, it is not the last day of the old year and the first day of the new year; therefore, offering incense on these days will not have any effect,” the TikToker shared their viewpoint.

Following the TikToker’s video, other Tiktok accounts also posted similar content stating that incense should not be offered on New Year’s Eve 2024. This has attracted a lot of attention from the online community, especially since Vietnam has a tradition of offering incense before the beginning of the new year. Currently, these video clips have received millions of views and thousands of comments.

What do experts say about offering incense on New Year’s Eve 2024?

The tradition of offering incense during New Year’s Eve has long been a familiar cultural and ceremonial practice of the Vietnamese people for generations. Even now, the ritual of offering incense still receives a lot of responses from young people who believe that it is one of the essential customs to demonstrate the good traditions of the Vietnamese people. Offering incense on New Year’s Eve is based on the lunar calendar and not on the solar terms, so whether Lập Xuân comes early or late, it does not affect the celebration of the new year.

Professor Dương Hoàng Lộc, Director of the Center for Religious and Ethical Studies at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Ho Chi Minh City), as answered by TNO, believes that the perspective of not offering incense on the New Year’s Eve of the Year of the Snakes (Tết Giáp Thìn) is baseless.

According to Professor Dương Hoàng Lộc, the New Year’s Eve ceremony, also known as the Trừ Tịch ceremony, takes place at the exact moment when the old year ends and the new year begins. The ceremony of offering incense is performed both indoors and outdoors.

The reason why Vietnamese people have the tradition of offering incense is that our ancestors believed that each year has a deified Ruler who oversees human affairs. At the end of the year, the Ruler of the old year hands over the duties to the Ruler of the new year, so every family prepared an offering table outdoors to bid farewell to the year and welcome the new year.

“Offering incense on New Year’s Eve is a cultural tradition of the Vietnamese people on the 30th or 29th day of Chạp, or a leap month. This is the moment of transition from the old year to the new year. It is impossible to offer incense on the 25th or the 27th of Chạp,” said Professor Dương Hoàng Lộc.

Similarly, Mr. Hoàng Triệu Hải, the Director of the Center for East Asian Geographical Architecture Research, affirmed in Thanh Niên that New Year’s Eve, also known as Trừ Tịch Night, is a significant and sacred part of the Vietnamese people’s traditional Tet rituals. Preparing an incense altar on New Year’s Eve, along with the reunion dinner, is a deeply meaningful and sacred act for Vietnamese people.

According to Mr. Hải, performing the traditional ceremony of offering incense, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, is not related to the transition from the 8th to the 9th lunar year. “The misunderstanding between traditional customs and the system of energy transport in geomancy are two completely different aspects. Even if you don’t offer incense, the energy will still move according to its laws, and we will still welcome the new year,” Mr. Hải analyzed.

Also according to the Director of the Center for East Asian Geographical Architecture Research, even if the first day of the new year is considered good or bad, Vietnamese people still have the habit of visiting and exchanging New Year’s greetings with their families, relatives, and friends with good wishes for the new year.

Mr. Nguyễn Mạnh Linh, World Feng Shui Institute, confirmed on VTC News that the information spread by TikTokers (offering incense this year will absorb bad energy) has no scientific basis.

On the other hand, offering incense is a traditional ritual through which we express our sincerity to our ancestors, deities, and heaven and earth. New Year’s Eve is determined by the last moment of the old year according to the lunar calendar, regardless of the solar terms.

Sharing the same view, Feng Shui expert Bùi Quang Minh said: “It is wrong, unscientific, and contrary to the customs and traditions of Vietnam to say that we should not offer incense this year. Lập Xuân is only a matter of weather. Whether this year or any other year, families will still offer incense on New Year’s Eve according to the lunar calendar as usual.”

Mr. Quang Minh also dismissed the threats made by TikTokers about this year being an “unfortunate year,” saying that this is completely unfounded, and people do not need to worry about it. Offering incense on New Year’s Eve is always a sacred ritual that cannot be omitted in each Vietnamese family.