Traditional Customs in Vietnamese Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year, also known as Tet Nguyen Dan, is the traditional holiday of the Vietnamese people. Despite the ups and downs of history, the customs and traditions of Tet have been preserved and passed down from generation to generation.

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Are you excited for the upcoming Lunar New Year? Tet is a time for family gatherings, feasting, visiting relatives, going to the temple, and exchanging wishes for a peaceful, lucky, and prosperous new year. Here are some traditional customs observed by the Vietnamese people during Tet.

1 Worshiping the Kitchen God

Worshiping the Kitchen GodWorshiping the Kitchen God

On the 23rd day of the last lunar month, which is known as the Kitchen God Day, Vietnamese families clean their kitchen, buy a golden fish, clothes, and gold to offer to the Kitchen God. The Kitchen God will return to heaven and report everything that has happened in the household to the Jade Emperor. After the offering, the golden fish is released into a river or a stream as an act of releasing and making merit.

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2 Making Sticky Rice Cakes

“Cay neu, trang phao, banh chung xanh” (green sticky rice cake) is an essential part of Tet. Each family makes their own sticky rice cakes, starting as early as the 23rd day of the last lunar month and sometimes continuing until the 27th, 28th, or 29th day of Tet. These sticky rice cakes are given as gifts to relatives and friends.

In the northern region, people make square sticky rice cakes (banh chung), while in the southern region, they make cylindrical sticky rice cakes (banh tet). The tradition of making sticky rice cakes brings warmth and meaning to Tet.

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Making Sticky Rice CakesMaking Sticky Rice Cakes

3 Decorating with Flowers

The cherry blossom in the north and the apricot blossom in the south are the typical flowers associated with Tet. Families also decorate their homes with kumquat trees, which are considered symbols of luck, happiness, and prosperity, as well as with chrysanthemums and daffodils to bring joy and good fortune into their homes.

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Decorating with FlowersDecorating with Flowers

4 Five-Fruit Tray

Five-Fruit TrayFive-Fruit Tray

The five-fruits tray is an indispensable part of Tet. Different regions have different fruit selections for the tray. It is a way to show respect to heaven and earth and to ancestors, as well as to wish for a year full of luck, wealth, and prosperity.

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5 Spring Cleaning

Before Tet, Vietnamese families have a tradition of thoroughly cleaning their homes to remove any bad luck from the previous year and to welcome the new year with good luck and fortune.

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Spring CleaningSpring Cleaning

6 Ancestor Worship

Ancestor WorshipAncestor Worship

Before Tet, as a sign of respect and filial duty, descendants often visit their ancestors’ gravesites to clean and pay their respects.

7 New Year’s Eve Worship

The New Year’s Eve feast is usually held on the evening of the 30th day of the last lunar month. Every Vietnamese family prepares a feast to worship their ancestors, and then they gather around the table to share a meal, talk, and bond. It marks the end of the old year and welcomes the new year with new and more auspicious things to come.

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New Year's Eve WorshipNew Year’s Eve Worship

8 Welcoming the New Year

Welcoming the New YearWelcoming the New Year

Giao Thua (New Year’s Eve) is the moment of transition from the old year to the new year. Depending on their customs, families either worship the fruit tray or the steamed sticky rice with chicken. The worship takes place outdoors at the last minute of the old year, symbolizing the expulsion of bad luck and the welcoming of a new year filled with good fortune.

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9 Seeking Fortune

A beautiful custom during Tet is seeking fortune, which is done on New Year’s Eve or early in the morning of the first day of the lunar new year. The act of seeking fortune is meant to bring luck and prosperity into the home for the new year to come.

Seeking FortuneSeeking Fortune

10 First Visit to Someone’s Home

After the first day of Tet, it is customary to pay visits to relatives and friends to exchange New Year greetings. People offer their best wishes and often give lucky money in red envelopes.

11 Temple Visits

Visiting temples during the new year is a spiritual practice among Vietnamese people. It is a way to show respect to the Buddha, ancestors, and to pray for a year full of luck, wealth, and peace for the family.

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Temple Visits

12 New Year Wishes and Birthday Celebrations

New Year Wishes and Birthday CelebrationsNew Year Wishes and Birthday Celebrations

During Tet, people visit their relatives and friends to exchange New Year greetings and wish them well. They wish each other good luck and often give lucky money in red envelopes.

13 Going on Excursions

After the first day of Tet, many families go on excursions to seek good luck and fortune, especially in their work, business, and studies.

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Going on ExcursionsGoing on Excursions

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Above are the traditional customs observed by the Vietnamese people during Tet. These customs are simple yet meaningful and bring families together. Wishing everyone good health and prosperity in the new year.

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Frequently asked questions

There are many unique traditions and practices associated with the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, known as Tết Nguyên Đán. These include thoroughly cleaning the house, paying respect to ancestors, displaying yellow mai flowers and red đào blossoms, preparing special foods such as bánh chưng (sticky rice cake) and sending good wishes for luck, happiness, and prosperity in the coming year.

Bánh chưng, a delicious sticky rice cake, is an iconic food during Tết. The preparation and cooking process is a family affair, often taking hours. The cake is made with sticky rice, mung bean paste, and pork, wrapped in phrynium leaves and carefully tied with bamboo strings. It symbolizes the earth (rice), metal (bamboo), water (pork), wood (leaves), and fire (cooking), representing the five elements of life according to Eastern philosophy.

The Five Fruits offering, often placed on an ancestral altar or displayed during Tết, represents a wish for prosperity and luck in the coming year. The five types of fruits are carefully chosen to represent the five elements: earth, wood, water, fire, and metal. It is believed that the offering brings good luck and blessings to the family.

During Tết, Vietnamese homes are decorated with a variety of symbolic items. One of the most prominent decorations is the ‘New Year Tree,’ which can be a peach blossom tree or a kumquat tree. The pink or red blossoms represent good luck, happiness, and prosperity. People also display ô mai, a type of apricot, and đào, a type of cherry blossom, as they symbolize the arrival of spring and new beginnings.

During Tết, people exchange warm greetings and wishes. Common phrases include ‘Chúc mừng năm mới,’ which means ‘Happy New Year.’ People also wish each other luck, happiness, and prosperity. Some common phrases are ‘Cung chúc tân xuân,’ meaning ‘Greet the new spring,’ and ‘Vạn sự như ý,’ which translates to ‘May all your wishes come true.’

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