Ways and Customs - Some habbits during Tet in Vietnam

Tet - the Vietnamese New Year - is the most important holiday of the year. In Vietnam, New Year's Day usually comes somewhere between January 20 and February 20 in the current solar calendar.

Traditionally, Vietnamese all over the country, rich or poor, greet the Lunar New Year as well as the coming of Spring almost in the same way and make whole-hearted preparations for this significant event.

The true meaning of Tet in Vietnam

From the day of its foundation, the basis of Vietnamese society has been based on families. So Tet is an occasion for grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, friends to tighten the bonds of relationships, to show mutual respect, and especially for the living to commemorate those who passed away.

Broadly speaking, from the spiritual, material viewpoints as well as social and cultural aspects, Tet is a special opportunity for the Vietnamese to pay homage to their ancestors and grandparents, to visit their graves, pray for well-being, good luck and for prosperity.

In addition, Tet is more than a New Year holiday. It is a vacation when people entirely stop working and enjoy merrymaking and festivities in compensation for days of hard work during the year.

The early herald of Tet

Vietnamese legends have it that on the evening of the 23rd day of the Lunar calendar's 12th month, a send-off ceremony is given to the Kitchen Gods (in Vietnamese, Tao Quan) who will report to the Jade Emperor about the good and bad deeds along with the moral conduct of household members.

The Kitchen Gods - a legendary Triad made up of one female and two males - are household guardians protecting the family and watching its members' activities throughout the year so as to make an annual report to the Heaven.

Celebrating the transition from the Old to the New Year (in Vietnamese, Giao Thua)

The Vietnamese calendar, is divided into lunar cycles of 60 years (one Ky), and periods of 12 years (one Giap), each year involving 12 months, each month 29 or 30 days of 12 hoours.

At midnight when the old lunar year ends, comes the sacred moment when the two years meet. Household members are earnest in waiting for this moment when a fresh change is brought forth to the universe. They come out in the open air, gathering in front of a candle-lit table full of offerings devoted to the Gods: xoi (glutinous cooked rice), che (green bean sweetened porridge), fruits and flowers - and solemnly celebrate the event. Household members take turns to celebrate the passing of the year, welcome the new one and also pray for the welfare and good fortune for the family. The ceremony is, undoubtedly, the most important popular manifestation of the year.

Paying homage to the ancestors.

On the last day of the dying years, very home is made ready for Tet. This means people are ready to start the ceremony to invite their ancestors and their deceased parents to come over for a reunion and enjoy Tet with them. The ancestor altar is brightly lit and decorated with flowers and fruits. The most significant among the offerings are Earth Cakes (Banh Chung – square sticky rice cake). The origin of banh chung dates back to the Hung Vuong Dynasty, when people thought the square-shaped rice fields were an image of Earth.

When everything is ready, household members take turns prostrating themselves before the altar paying homage to their deceased parents and ancestors, and also praying for well-being and prosperity throughout the year. On the third day of Tet, people prepare another ceremony intended to say goodbye to the dead who stayed with them during the three Tet days. In towns, this ceremony means to put an end to Tet festivities and enjoyment. In the countryside, the Baamboo pole (in Vietnamese, Cay Neu) is only removed on the 7th day when all duties towards God and the dead are completed.

Visiting ancestor’s graves.

People usually pay their first homage to Buddha in pagodas or temple, and make their first gifts to Buddhist monks and nuns. They offer aromatic incenses to good spirits and ask them for luck. On this occasion, some people would have their fortune told by fortuneteller and palmists, eager to know in advance the events that may happen to them in the course of the coming new year.

Their activities on Tet days also include a visit to the tombs of their dead parents in the countryside or in the mountains.

The important of the First-Footing visitor.

“First-Footing” is a custom of waiting for the first person to enter a house in the New Year before celebrations can begin. Every householder nervously wonders who is to be his or her First-Footing Visitor this year.

In the old days, the Vietnamese attached great important to the First-Footing Visitor from outside on the first day of Tet. This visitor was believed to be the one who brought good luck or bad luck to his/her family during the rest of the year. If a rich person visited first, people believed that their families’ fortune and prosperity would increase.

Some people were so superstitious that they try to arrange in advance by asking a good-humored and smiling friend to be their first visitor.

Other habits about Tet.

Tet is an important for everyone to relax and enjoy good drinks and good foods. All over the country, everybody is on vacation, there are absolutely no business activities. Market places are closed, people have to store foods and other things for at least three days.

Everybody is in the mood to welcome relatives and friends and exchanges best wishes good health, good luck and prosperity. All their finest clothes and jewels. The most remarkable thing that can be noticed is that during Tet days people, young or old, always try not to have any rough manners or utter any abusive language.

In the countryside, people take part in different exciting contest: wrestling, boat races, cock fights, games of chess with living chessman clad in colorful combat uniforms.

(By Phong Dao, from The Saigon Time Weeky, 1999)

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Sequence of the Tet Celebration

Preparation.

During the week before Tet, some families visit the graves of parents and grandparents. Fresh earth is placed on top, weeds removed from around it and incense is burnt to invoke the souls of the dead from the other world to return to visit the family home.

The Kitchen God (Ong Tao or Mandarin Tao) is also called the Hearth God, the Stove God or the Household God. This god who was privy to the family’s most private business and intimate secrets for the ending year, returns to Heaven to make his report to the Jade Emperor. This report includes the year’s activities of the household in which he has lived. On the 23rd day of the 12th month, a farewell and thank you dinner is given to the Kitchen God by the household. The Kitchen God will need a week for his mission to Heaven.

Folklore has made the spirit of the hearth into a picturesque character, a buffoon who is the butt of crude jokes. Although he is a messenger of the Jade Emperor in Heaven, he is depicted as so poor as to be unable to afford much clothing. He wears an important mandarin hat but goes about with bare legs because he has scorched his pants in the hearth fire. Another version tells that he was in such a rush to get back to Heaven that he forgot his pants and ascended in only his underwear. Efforts must be made to put him in a proper mood to secure a favorable report to the Jade Emperor of the family’s activities. Offerings are made to him. These gifts certainly aim at influencing the outcome of the report. But no one considers such gifts to be crass bribery. Such pleasantries merely sweeten the god’s way, as perhaps cookies placed by the fireplace will please Santa Claus, who might be tired from delivering so many gifts on Christmas night.

The paper carps, horses and clothing (hats, robes and boots) will be burned by the family and thus transformed into a spiritual essence usable by Ong Tao in the world beyond. Like Santa Claus, the Kitchen God is loved and respected. Both have the capacity to bring fortune and happiness into the home depending on the previous year’s behavior. Although beliefs about the Kitchen God have changed over the years, he remains an important figure in the rich texture of Vietnamese New Year. The Kitchen God travels on the back of a brightly colored and powerful paper horse or sometimes a grand bird with great wings, such as a crane. Or he might ride on a carp with golden scales. Paper images of these vehicles are purchased at Tet or a living specimen of fish is bought and later set free. The day of his departure is marked by the calls of fishmongers from the countryside carrying baskets of fish hanging from their shoulder poles and calling "Fish for sale, fine mounts for the Household Gods to make their ride!" Live fish held in tanks of water and plastic bags are released into ponds, lakes, rivers and streams to impress the god with the kindness of the household. In Hanoi, the Sword Lake is a favorite spot for releasing Ong Tao’s fish-vehicle. In some cases, three fish are released to account for the possibility that one must please all three Hearth Gods.

Most frequently we hear of only the Kitchen God, but many legends support the trinity of Kitchen Gods. Ong Tao represents the blending of all three.

In the old days, and still in some countryside homes, cooking occurs over clay tripods. Three stones were all that was needed to hold up the pot over the fire. Few people spend time thinking about the nature of the Kitchen Gods or the specific meaning of the items that are associated with them. The three Hearth Gods are represented at Tet by three hats and shops sell sets of three miniature paper hats: two men’s hats and one woman’s. These are burned as offerings to Ong Tao. The God will also need a new pair of boots to wear as he travels to Heaven. Two favorite gifts for the triad of household deities are gold and wine.

In the central part of Vietnam, cooking tripods or blocks that make up the family hearth, even if they are still usable, are ritually discarded when the God leaves. One week later, new blocks will greet his return or the arrival of his replacement assigned by the Jade Emperor.

After the Kitchen God has left, preparations for the New Year festivities begin in earnest. The week before New Year’s Eve is a period of Tat Nien. Tat Nien (literally meaning the end or ‘to extinguish the year’) is the celebration of the last session of a period, such as the last class of school, the last bus home, the last day in the office, even the last bath, all with parties and great ceremony. There is a festive holiday atmosphere before New Year’s Eve with dragon dances.

Some families set up a Tet tree in the week before New Year’s Eve. The Tet tree called cay neu, is a bamboo pole stripped of most of its leaves except for a bunch at the very top. The Tet tree has Taoist origins and holds talismanic objects that clang in the breeze to attract good spirits and repel evil ones. On the very top, they frequently place a paper symbol of yin and yang, the two principal forces of the universe. Sometimes a colorful paper carp flag will fly from the top. The carp (or sometimes a horse) is the vehicle on which the Hearth God travels to make his report. This tree is more common in the countryside now than in the city. It is ceremonially removed after the seventh day of Tet.

Sweeping and scrubbing is done in advance as tradition discourages cleaning during the holiday itself. During this time, shops and restaurants close while the cleaning spree proceeds in earnest. On hands and knees, the floors will be scrubbed; bronze will be polished to a brand new finish. Closets will be ransacked for old clothes to be tossed out. Shoppers swarm the streets at temporary Tet stalls that have sprung up, lit with tiny gaily-flashing lights. Everything needed for the celebration from food to decorations is at hand and in abundance at these Tet markets.

Two items required for the proper enjoyment of Tet are flowering branches and the kumquat bush. For the sale of these and other flowers and plants, a lively flower market is held in the center of the ancient quarter of Hanoi on Hang Luoc Street. A massive flower market was organized on Nguyen Hue Street in Ho Chi Minh City and attracts crowds who walk up and down the street admiring the flowers, meeting old friends and making new ones. However, this was moved out of the center in 1996. Throughout the country on bicycles of roving vendors, flowers create great splashes of color. In the south, the bright golden yellow branches of the mai apricot are seen everywhere. In the north, the soft rose-colored dao peach flowers decorate homes and offices. A truck driver will adorn his truck with a dao branch to cheer him on a long-distance run.

Miniature kumquat bushes about two or three feet tall are carefully selected and prominently displayed. To carefully choose a kumquat bush, the buyer must pay attention to the symmetrical shape, to the leaves and to the color and shape of the fruit. The bushes have been precisely pruned to display ripe deep orange fruits with smooth clear thin skin shining like little suns or gold coins on the first day. Other fruits must still be green to ripen later. This represents the wish that wealth will come to you now and in the future. The leaves must be thick and dark green with some light green sprouts. The fruits represent the grandparents, the flowers represent parents, the buds represent children and the light green leaves represent grandchildren. The tree thus symbolizes many generations. Guests will caress the light green leaves about to sprout and compliment the discerning host who chose so carefully. The Sino-Viet pronunciation of the word for orange sounds like the word for wealth and the tangerines signify good luck.

Crowds of shoppers at the markets become thicker and more frantic each night, holding up traffic as they jostle each other to reach the counters with the best buys. Prices are a bit higher, but then thriftiness is not considered a virtue at Tet. Everyone is wishing each other Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

One must purchase the sugared fruits, banh chung and the colorful decorations before the afternoon of Tet.

While shoppers roam the streets, banh chung patties wrapped in leaves are steaming in giant vats. The outside has taken on a lovely light green tinge after being boiled inside a wrapper of leaves. Banh chung in the north is a square patty measuring seven inches and two inches thick, filled with shreds of fatty pork surrounded by a dense mixture of sticky rice and mashed ground green beans. In the south, a similar dish is cylindrical. It is given as a gift at this time of year and has a similar long life and social significance as the western Christmas fruitcake. These are frequently called sticky rice cakes, but are unlike sweet cakes in the western sense. There is however, a sweet version made without meat but with sugar added called banh ngot (sweet rice patty).

Suddenly, as if by command of some magic wand, the spree of activity, the light, the noise, all vanishes. By early evening, markets and shops are abandoned. Shops, stalls and restaurants are locked leaving a notice hung on the door announcing the date of reopening. Special dishes must be completed that are expected to serve the family and its guests for the first three days of the new year. People desert the outer world and disappear on the requisite trip to their home villages and inside their homes for intimate family celebrations.

Giao Thua. As midnight approaches, all eyes maintain a close look on clocks and watches. The Giao Thua ritual occurs at that most sacred moment in time. At midnight on the last day of the year, every Vietnamese family whispers similar fervent prayers. Bells ring and drums beat in temples. The old year gives over its mandate to the New Year. The words Giao Thua (Giao means to give and Thua means to receive) mean a passing on or a receiving and handing down of life, and the recognition of that gift by the present generation. It marks the magical transition time from one year to another. Those who practice Buddhism will pray in the pagoda.

In the Gia Tien (family ancestor) ritual or calling of the ancestors, invitations are extended to the deceased relatives to visit for a few days in the world of the living family. They are lured home and kept happy until they leave. The head of the household lights incense and folds hands at heart level in the position of prayer. The prayer may proceed as follows: "In the year of…. And the date of…. Make these offerings and invite all of our ancestors to join in eating Tet with us."

The past generations are invited to share the family’s joys and concerns to enjoy a meal with the living, to catch up on the family news and to lavish riches and honors on their descendants.
"I pray to the Heavenly King, the Jade Emperor, to his assistants and to the Earth God and the guardian spirit and to any other spirits present. On behalf of the …family, we offer you incense, gold and silver, fruit and flowers, alcohol and fixings for the betel quid. We are all here to make these offerings so that the next year will be free of disasters and harmful occurrences and that the family will prosper. Please bless us all, young and old, with happiness, prosperity and long life. (Here he might mention some events of the past year such as the birth of a child, someone’s new employment or the successful entrance of a child into a good school). Please forgive us any transgressions we may have unknowingly committed against you or others."

Bowing motions, called Le, are performed at least three times and the ceremony ends when all have prostrated themselves (or in more modern families, folded hands and prayed) before the altar. After the "money for the dead" and other paper gifts are burnt in the courtyard, the family watches the ashes dance away on warm currents of air, a sign that the dead have received their gifts. The spiritual presence of the ancestors will be palpable during the days of Tet.

In recent times, a new tradition has evolved to celebrate the important evening of the new year. Those who are not at home praying at this momentous time may be socializing with friends. In the cities, there will be community fireworks displays that will draw the young from their homes into the square or park. Although firecrackers are now illegal in Vietnam, some kind of loud noises will be made. It can be the banging of cans, the use of electronic popping firecrackers or human voices whooping it up. People will break off branches and twigs that contain newly sprouted leaves to bring a sense of freshness and vitality into their home. This follows a Buddhist tradition of bringing fresh new leaves and "fortune bearing buds" into the home from the pagoda.

First Morning or Head Day is reserved for the nuclear family, that is, the husband’s household. Immediate family members get together and celebrate with the husband’s parents. A younger brother, if the parents are not alive, will visit his older sibling. Faraway sons and daughters journey to be with their parents on this day. Children anticipate a ritual called Mung Tuoi, or the well wishing on the achievement of one more year to one’s life. With both arms folded in front of their chest in respect, they thank their grandparents for their birth and upbringing.

Reciprocally, the grandparents will impart words of advice or wisdom to their grandchildren, encouraging them to study seriously, to live in harmony with others. The promises made by the children are similar to New Year’s resolutions made during the western New Year. Adults will make silent promises to themselves to improve their lives, habits and relationships in the coming year. The children accept small gifts, usually crisp bills. Ideally, part of the gifts will be saved for future "investment," and part spent for Tet amusements. The words on the little red envelope in which the bill may be tucked read: Respectful wishes for the New Year. When there was a king ruling Vietnam, the mandarins of the royal court formally wished the King and Queen, "Happiness as vast as the southern sea; longevity as lasting as the southern mountains." Each trade and professional guild in Vietnam has a founder or guardian spirit and on this or one of the next several days, the craft workers will make offerings to their guild ancestor.

The family displays the offerings of food on the altar table for the first meal for the ancestors since they have returned to the world of the living. The head of the family, dressed in fresh clothes, steps respectfully in front of the family altar and presents the offerings of food, liquor, cigarettes, betel fixings, flowers and paper gold and silver. He lights three sticks of incense, kneels, joins hands in front of his chest, bows his head and prays. The names of the deceased of the family up to the fifth generation are whispered as they are invited to participate in the feast prepared for them.

The core of the "ancestor calling" is the eating of a shared meal together—a form of communion. The same ceremony will be repeated for the morning and evening meals of the three days. Traditionally, the items considered necessary for a traditional Tet are included in this popular saying: Fatty pork meat, pickled onions, brightly decorated bamboo Tet poles, firecrackers, red parallel sentences, and green banh chung.

After the ceremony, the entire family sits down to enjoy the meal typically consisting of steamed chicken, bamboo shoot soup, banh chung and fresh fruits. They reminisce with their ancestors.

The Vietnamese do not say "celebrate" when speaking of Tet; the words "to eat" are used as in the expression, "Will you eat Tet with your family?" or "Where will you eat Tet this year?" It does not refer to the filling of one’s stomach, although in the old days, when hunger was a constant problem, Tet time was a time of plenty during which one could eat one’s full. "To eat" here means more to be nourished by, or to partake in the mutual communion with others, a spiritual eating or being nourished.

There is a Vietnamese saying related to ancestor worship: "Trees have roots; water has a source; when drinking from the spring, one must remember the source." Thanks are offered to those ancestors who labored long ago to dig irrigation channels and remove mountains for this generation to have an easier life. The present is only one link in the cycle of coming back to the past as one looks to the future.

The second day of Tet is for visiting the wife’s family and close friends. Some shops have opened and a few lottery stands are busy selling chances to people who feel lucky. Everyone is out on the street parading around in their new clothes.

On the third day of Tet, the circle of connections becomes larger and is extended to the broader community outside the family by visits to teachers, bosses or a helpful physician. The Vietnamese visit teachers and physicians although long out of school and long cured of their illness. This may be the time to have one’s fortune told to see what the coming year will bring. These days in Vietnam, there are fortunetellers using computer software. People are also especially interested in the significance of their first dream of the new year.

The evening of the third day marks the departure of the ancestors by burning votive objects such as gold and silver, for them to take with them on their journey back to Heaven.

Now the connections to the world beyond the family can take place. The non-family member who will be the first visitor is carefully chosen. The "first footer" is an auspicious guest who is considered to be good luck for the family. The first non-family visitor to the house brings in the year’s luck. This figure’s karma will charm the household for the entire year and determine the luck of the family. It is customary to invite a respected person to visit at that time, so that this turn of luck is not left to fate. This person, whose aura is believed capable of promoting the fortune of the household in the following year, is usually someone healthy, successful and prosperous. Some Vietnamese lock their doors to all chance visitors until after the visit of the chosen "first footer."

On the fourth day, banks and shops reopen. Transactions, although slower, will be conducted more cheerfully than usual. Offices open and work resumes. Careful attention is paid to the resumption of activities. The first outing is the first time in the New Year that a family leaves their home. A propitious time is chosen in advance for this outing and one sometimes asks the advice of fortunetellers.

Formerly, scholars initiated their new brushes and paper with a small ceremony with the wearing of new clothes. This also requires an auspicious hour. The theme of the proverb or poem is considered carefully and newly purchased high-grade paper was used. Today’s students are less formal in their initiation rites, but most enjoy a new pen and a fresh notebook for the New Year. Everyone determines to do what he or she can to help fate along to make the next year most successful.

In the countryside, there are rituals to enliven the land out of its winter’s rest. The Rites of Dong Tho activate the soil to bring it alive from its sacred rest. When there was a king in Vietnam, he symbolically initiated the harrowing of the first furrow of the planting season in a royal rite.

A hundred years ago, on Hang Buom Street, a ceremony was performed right after Tet called the Beating of the Spring Ox. This ceremony initiated the breaking open of the agricultural land and chased away the winter cold. A ceramic image of the ox was beaten with sticks until it broke into pieces. Everyone scramble to grab and take home a piece of the sacred ox.

On the fifteenth day of Tet (called Ram Thang Gieng), the first full moon, there are ceremonies in Buddhist temples. This is considered the most auspicious day of the Buddhist year. "Paying homage to Buddha all year long is not as effective as praying on the 15th day of the first lunar month." The devout flock into pagodas, their eyes stinging with the blue haze of incense. After prayers, shared blessed offerings from the temple keeper are stuffed into bags carried with them for that purpose. Over the years, this Buddhist sacred day has transformed into a holiday of other cults.

It is also called Tet Trang Nguyen or the feast of the first laureate. There is a legend associated with its beginnings: the emperor once staged a banquet on the full moon to which the most prominent scholars of the kingdom were invited. They drank exquisite liquor and each man composed a formal poem on a theme chosen by the emperor. On that day, many families celebrate Tet all over again by eating banh chung.

This is also called the Little New Year or full moon New Year and celebrated by farmers following an indigenous practice of welcoming Spring at the first full moon. Later, it became infused with Buddhist meanings.

The Vietnamese traditionally celebrated Tet from the fifteenth day of the twelfth month to the fifteenth day of the first month.


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What Is Tet?

There are many Tet festivals in Vietnam, but by far, the one that is most celebrated is Tet Nguyen Dan, or simply, TET. Tet marks the New Year on the Lunar Calendar.

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 New Year has not been generally accepted in Vietnam, in the countryside in particular. Our people pay it a courteous homage but reserve their heart and soul 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 the flow of seasons it is a pause during which both the field and the tiller enjoy some rest after twelve months of labor. In this period of universal renewal the Vietnamese man feels surging within himself a fountain of youth. That feeling explains many fine customs: in the New Year all action should be pure and beautiful for it may be an omen foretelling events in the twelve months that follow.

For three days, one takes extra care not to show anger and not to be rude to people. The most nagging mother-in-law will make peace with her 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 will resume their activities in a new spirit following so-called opening rituals in which the ploughman will open the first furrow, the official applies his seal to the first document, the scholar trace the first character with his pen brush, the trader receives his first customer.

As a rule, all members of the extended family try to spend the holiday (the idiom used is to "eat Tet") together under the same roof. Children vow to be well-behaved and are often given gifts of cash wrapped in red paper. Several times a day, joss-sticks are lit on the family altar and offerings made of food, fresh water, flowers and betel. Family graves are visited, generally, before the end of the 'outgoing' year; fences are mended and the burial mounds tidied up.

The Vietnamese Tet is an occasion for an entire people to share a common ideal of peace, concord and mutual love. I know of no communal celebration with more humanistic character.
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Dưa Hấu (Watermelon)

Watermelons are of a large size, contain much juice and have a sweet taste. This plant originated in the hot and dry parts of Africa and is cultivated around the Mediterranean. It was known as a red melon in Vietnam about 2,300 years ago.

A watermelon has a round or oval shape, and weighs 1.5-30kg. The fruit’s skin is hard, smooth and has stripes and spots; or it is black, dark green, light green or yellow. The flesh is red or yellow, and contains dozens to hundreds of seeds.

Vietnam grows many strains of watermelons, such as the Sugarbaby (red flesh, 3-7kg), the red flesh An Tiem (7-9kg), and the yellow flesh An Tiem (2-3kg). The An Tiem strains are gradually replacing the Sugababy. An Tiem watermelons are linked with a Vietnamese legend about the red melon.

An Tiem, an adopted son of King Hung XVIII, was an intelligent and resourceful young man, so the king gave him much love and support. Some mandarins in the court were jealous and spoke ill of him. The king exiled An Tiem’s private family to an island.

On the island, An Tiem built a hut. The family sought food by hunting and fishing. One day, he saw birds drop black seeds on the ground. He brought them home to sow. They grew into long creepers, then blossomed and produced fruit. He picked an old fruit with a thick cover, broke it and saw pink red flesh spotted with black seeds. He tried eating it and discovered a sweet and fragrant flavor. From that time, he cultivated the plant and sold the fruit to merchant boat.

An Tiem improved his family’s life by growing watermelons. But he always remembered life in the mainland. One day, he knew that a ship was going to the mainland so he chose beautiful melons to send to the king as gifts.

When the king knew that An Tiem remained alive and had become rich, he sent a fleet of boats to bring his family back. He extolled An Tiem, considering him a good example of labor for the young people.

In Vietnam, watermelons are an indispensable fruit for Tet holidays. On the altar of ancestors a pair of big melons are placed. Vietnamese believe the red flesh of the melons will bring them good luck throughout the year.

(from The Saigon Times Weekly, January 24, 2004)

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Cầu Vừa Đủ Xài (Wishing to earn enough for living)

By Tran Tan My

Most Vietnamese families have an alter at their home to worship their ancestors. Around Tet holidays, every household offers their ancestors cakes, jam and fruit by putting them on the alter which stands in the central front of the house. The plate of fruit usually contains fruits whose combined names express the family’s wish. Each family wishes to have enough food and clothing and for money for other demands in the new year. For them, it’s a great happiness to gain enough.

“Cau vua du xai” is a phrase that is constituted by the names of four kinds of fruit: mang cau (soursop), dua (coconut), du du (papaya) and xoai (mango). As many farmers in the Mekong Delta mispronounce words, they cannot clearly distinguish between “mang cau” and “man cau”, “dua” and “vua” and “xoai” and “xai”.

“Man cau” means having enough as expected, which is expressed by the soursop. “Vua” means having neither a lack nor a surplus, expressed by the coconut. “Du” means not being deficient, expressed by the papaya. “Xai” is expressed by the mango.

For this reason, it is not surprising to see small green or brown-yellow coconuts, young soursops, and green or yellowish mangoes sold at markets during days before Tet.

Mang cau xiem (Annana muricata)

The Vietnamese add “xiem” to distinguish the soursop with a bigger size from the “mang cau ta” (custard apple or sweetsop). Its skin is green and has many soft thorns; its white flesh has brown-black and smooth seeds. The former has a sour and sweet taste while the latter is sweet. The soursop suits the taste of those who do not like a fruit to be too sweet.

The soursop needs a hot climate, so it is cultivated mainly in the South. This fruit can also be processed into a refreshment: remove seeds from the flesh and squeeze the flesh with sugar, milk and ice cubes. The juice is fragrant and tasty.

Besides being eaten raw, squeezed for juice and made into jam, the soursop can be processed into a boxed juice of good quality and high nutrition. Its flesh is steamed with sugar cubes to make a good medicine for the heart.

Dua uong nuoc (coconut for juice)

Coconuts are common, but not everyone knows how to choose a good coconut for its juice. Refreshment shops usually sell fresh coconuts whose covering has been removed. The following are some tips for getting a good coconut:

- Choose a coconut whose covering has bright fibers. That’s a newly-pared coconut.
- Use one hand to hold the coconut tight. A young coconut has a soft shell, sourish juice and thin transparent flesh.
- Do not choose a coconut whose shell is very hard and black at its top. Its juice is not sweet and its thick flesh does not have a good flavor.
- Choose a coconut with a shell which is not very hard because it has sweet juice and tasty flesh.

Du du (Papaya)

The papaya is very popular in Vietnam. Ripe papaya fruit is rich in vitamin A and other nutritious substances. Papain, a protein-digesting enzyme from the unripe fruit of the papaya, is used as a meat tenderizer and in medicine as a digestive aid.

The unripe fruit of the papaya is very useful in making dishes, especially with Vietnamese salads.

Unripe papaya fruit can be used to make pickles which are served with banh chung (sticky rice cake), a popular dish during Tet.

In Vietnam, there are two kinds of papaya fruit: yellow and red papaya. Vietnamese seem to choose the yellow one.

Papaya can be served in deserts in French way by adding pressed lemon juice.

Xoai (Mango)

Many know that mango, a popular fruit in Vietnam and Asia, is rich in vitamins A and C. when unripe, the vitamin C content in a mango is higher than that of vitamin A, and vice versa.

In Vietnam, ripe mango can be eaten, made into juice or cocktail, or canned. Ripe mangoes have different colors – green, red or yellow.

Hoa Loc mango in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang is a delicious fruit anyone should taste.

(from The Saigon Time Weekly, January 24, 2004)

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Vietnamese Lunar New Year

Tet Nguyen Dan, more commonly known by its shortened name Tet, is the most important holday in Vietnam. It is the Vietnamese New Year which is based on the Chinese calendar, a lunisolar. Tet is the most popular festival in Vietnam. It originated from China and it has been celebrated since the 500 B.C.

Tet is celebrated on the same day as Chinese New Year though exceptions arise due to the 1 hour time difference between Hanoi and Beijing. Tet share many of the same customs of its Chinese counterpart. It is celebrated from the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar (around late January or early February) until at least the third day. Many Vietnamese visit their families and temples, forget about the troubles of the past year and hope for a better upcoming year. Tet traditionally marks the coming of Spring, so Spring is sometimes used interchangeably with Tet in Vietnamese. Nowadays, the term “Tet” in English otn refers to the bloody Tet Offensive, which occurred during Tet in 1968.

Customs

Vietnamese people usually return to their families during Tet. Some return to worship at the family altar or visit the graves of their ancestors. Others return to where they grew up. Although Tet is a universal holiday among all Vietnamese, each region and religion has its own customs.

Tet in the three Vietnamese regions can divided into three periods, known as Tat Nien, Giao Thua and Tan Nien, representing the preparation before Tet, the eve of Tet, and the days of and following Tet, respectively.

Tat Nien

Preparations for Tet start months before the actual celebrations. People try to pay off their debts in advance so that they can be debt-free on Tet. Parents buy new clothes for their children so that the children can wear them when Tet arrives. Because a lot of commercial activity will cease during the celebrations, people try to stock up on supplies as much as possible.

In the days leading up to Tet, the streets and markets are full of people. Everyone is busy buying food, clothes, and decorations for their house. If someone lives far away from home, they will try to go home to celebrate it with family.

Ceremonies

Vietnamese families usually have a family altar, to pay respect to their ancestors. During Tet the altar is thoroughly cleaned and new offerings are placed there.

Traditionally, the three kitchen guardians for each house (Ong Tao), return to heaven on the 23rd day of the last month of the Chinese calendar. They were to report to the Jade Emperor about the events in that house over the past year. Their departure is marked by a modest ceremony where the family offers sacrifices for them to use on their journey. Often, Vietnamese families smear honey over the mouth of the image of Ong Tao, to allow him to say only sweet things of the family

In the days leading up to Tet, each family traditionally cooks special holiday foods such as banh chung, banh day. Preparations for thee foods are quite extensive, and cooking them can take several days. Family members often take turns to keep watch on the fire over night, telling each other stories about Tet of past years.

Giao Thua (New Year’s Eve)

Each home is thoroughly swept and decorated with flowers and offerings for ancestors by the night before Tet. At midnight, many families traditionally light firecrackers to welcome the New Year, though this practice was banned since January 1, 1995 due to safety reasons. In the morning, actual Tet celebrations begin.

Tan Nien

The first day of Tet is reserved for the nuclear family. In big cities, the streets are usually empty as most people stay at home or leave the city to visit their close relatives in the countryside. Children receive “lucky money” (li xi) from their elders. Usually, children don their new clthes and give their elders the traditional Tet greetings before receiving the money. Since the Vietnamese believe that the first visitor a family receives in the year sets their fortunes for the entire year, people never enter any house on the first day without being invited first. The act of being the first person to enter a house on Tet is called “xong dat” or “dap dat”. Usually, people with happy demeanor or who had experienced luck during the previous year is invited first into the house. In some instances, any person with names such as, Phuc (Happy), Tai (Wealth), Loc (Luck), will be invited to perform this act of xong dat. However, just to be safe, the ownerof the house will leave the house a few minutes before midnight and come back just as the clock strikes midnight just to prevent anyone else who will potentially bring any unfortunate events in the new year for the household.

Sweeping during Tet is taboo or xui (unlucky), since it symbolizes sweeping the luck away. It is also a taboo for anyone who experiences a recent loss of a family member to refrain from visiting anyone else during Tet.

Decorations

Each family displays a New Year Tree called cay neu, consisting of a bamboo stick 5 to 6m long. The top end is usually decorated with many objects, depending on the locality, including good luck charms origami fish, cactus branches, etc.

A kumquat tree is a popular decoration for the living room during Tet. Its many fruits symbolize the fertility and fruitfulness that the family hopes will come in the coming year.

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Banh Chung Banh Day - A Vietnamese New Year Story for Tet

Retold by Robyn Cox

This story for Vietnamese New Year (Tet) from the Chao Ban Newsletter for Vietnam Adoption shares the legend of the celebrated Vietnamese rice cakes.

Long, long ago in Vietnam there lived an ancient King, his name was King Hung Vuong. He was a wise and thoughtful king who always tried to please his people and consider new ideas and because of this he was loved by his people. Eventually King Vuong grew old and he knew that soon it would be time to pass his kingdom on to his successor, the only trouble was the King Vuong had three healthy sons and he did not know who would be the best choice to be King. King Vuong being a wise and caring King thought very hard about this problem and in due course came upon a solution.

He called his three sons together and he rose up to his feet and declared; "Sons you are all wise and strong but only one of you can rule our precious Vietnam. So, I have devised a plan to determine which of you shall rule after my passing." All of the members of the court and his three sons listening attentively because King Vuong was known to be the wisest ruler in the whole of Asia.

King Vuong continued; "I would like each of you to provide for me a dish of food, you must search for the ingredients and make the dish and serve it to me on the last day of this Lunar Month, and on the basis of this dish I will decide who is to be the ruler of our Kingdom."

Immediately the words had left this King's mouth, the attendants at the court began to talk in hushed whispers. They knew that this was a very wise pronouncement of their King because Vietnam with its large population and small land area must always give attention to food production to make sure that each person is well fed and healthy.

The three brothers stared in disbelief; "How could our father suggest such a method of deciding, why does he not test our strength?" said the first brother. "Why does he not he test our computational skills?" said the second brother. The third and youngest brother just looked at the court and his father and made no comment.

Within days the two elder brothers had organized their servants and horses and carriages and were racing all over Vietnam and even to other parts of South East Asia to find the most delectable and delicious ingredients for the dish. One brother took a boat out into the South China Sea to fish for the finest tasting fish, the other brother went into the Khmer Mountains to find the most tender boar meat. Yet, Prince Tiet Lieu stayed at home and sat on his front step and pondered his father's request.

By the end of the Lunar Month each of the brothers had prepared their dishes and came before the whole of the Vietnamese royal court and their wise father King Vuong to present it. The first brother came to the father and presented a fine porcelain dish of flying fish dressed in a sweet Chili sauce and accompanied by costly lotus seeds. A hush came over the court as the father viewed the dish and placed it on the table. The second brother came forward and he opened a large copper cauldron and presented a joint of boar dressed with wild mushrooms and a rare wild fern sauce. Again all the court watched the father place the cauldron on the table. Then Prince Tiet Lieu came forward and opened his basket and displayed a large flat rice cake. The court and his brothers gasped, no-one would dare offer such simple fare to the royal King Vuong.

King Vuong said, "Prince Tiet Lieu, tell me why you have chosen to present me with such a simple rice cake."

Prince Tiet Lieu said, "Rice is the most precious and valuable of all food found in this Kingdom, yet it is also the most abundant. I have prepared a dish that represents my love for you and our beautiful Vietnam. I have cooked it thoroughly then molded it into a round rice cake, and called it Banh Day as it symbolizes the sky we live under. I have cooked a square rice cake, stuffed it with cooked bean paste and ground meat in the middle and called it Banh Chung. This will symbolize the earth we live on."

As Prince Tiet Lieu spoke his two elder brothers tried to mask the grandness of their dishes as they now understood the wisdom of their younger brother in using ingredients that all the people of Vietnam could have access to. Immediately they fell to their knees in front of their father and younger brother and bowed at the same time the whole court bowed to the father and son as everyone knew that Prince Tiet Lieu would make the finest King to rule after his wise father King Vuong. After that, King Hung Vuong ordered that this recipe be passed out to all people in his kingdom.

As the result, the Vietnamese custom is that every year during the New Year celebration, the Vietnamese people cook Banh Chung and Banh Day and use them as special offerings to their ancestors as well as special gifts to relatives and friends during the Tet celebrations. The Banh Chung is very nutritious, has an original tasty flavor and may be kept for a long time. All of its ingredients and materials, from the green wrapping leaves to sticky rice and pork, green peas and pepper inside, are all medicines (according to Oriental Medicine) that act to keep harmony between the positive and the negative, thus helping the blood circulate well and preventing diseases.
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Celebrating Tet

For centuries, Vietnamese people have celebrated Tet, the lunar new year. As they welcome the coming year and bid farewell to the past, they draw on traditional customs to mark this special day.

Erecting the Tet pole

As the spotted dove chirps three times announcing Tet
Let us erect the Tet pole and eat bean cakes

Whether a farmer in the countryside or worker in the city, everybody in Vietnam is stirred by this folk song. The image of a Tet pole raised in front of a village house (where it is thought to bring good luck and protection from evil spirits to the family within) inspires sweet memories of family gatherings and past celebrations. While it varies from region to region, the pole is usually made from a bamboo trunk that has been stripped of its lower branches, leaving only a few young leaves at the top. Attached is a bamboo basket containing betel and areca nuts and votive paper money.

Tet poles are also raised in pagodas where they join baked clay musical instruments, votive paper and festive banners. Lime powder is sprinkled around the entrance of the pagoda to chase away ghosts.

Burning incense

Incense burning at Tet has a long history and continues today because the smell of burning incense is thought to create harmony between heaven and earth, man and spirit. There are many kinds of incense, such as frankin-cense, black incense, spiral incense, and musk incense, which can be burned not only in worship but also to rid a home of insects and bad odours. It is said that the smell of burning incense can lift a person's spirit. Perhaps that's why teachers used to burn it in their studies.

Freeing birds and fish

Releasing captured birds and fish is a Buddhist custom that is carried out at Tet because people consider it a good deed that will help them enter the New Year with luck. In the final day of the outgoing year, people flock to buy birds and fish, which they then release on the morning of the following day: the first day of the New Year.

Another way to enhance one's luck for the upcoming year is to walk away from the home, village or some other place at a time and in a direction that has been selected by a fortune teller.

Visiting the pagoda

According to belief, people often visit their neighbourhood pagoda or temple once they have completed Tet celebrations at home. Such a visit will bring blessing from Buddha and from the spirit world. Worshipers jostle to approach the pagoda's altar and, once thete, they pray for luck in the coming year.

Many will buy incense at the pagoda and carry it home, where they will burn it in offering to Buddha, the family's ancestors and protective spirits such as the Kitchen God, who will travel to heaven carrying news of each family members' good and bad deeds. Others, instead of buying incense, pick a branch from a tree within the pagoda's grounds (usually Banyan) and in the same way offer it as a gift to their ancestors by placing it on the family altar. Often, a family will ask the eldest woman amongst them to carry out this task. Families who pay particular attention to tradition will ensure that she visits the pagoda at a specific time and from a specific direction as foretold by a fortune teller. She must pluck a branch from the oldest tree in the pagoda grounds or from a Banyan near the village gate. Because of its long life, the Banyan represents longevity in people and is valued for that reason. Also, its name in Vietnamese, da, can have several meanings, one of which is 'much'. Thus the tree offers not only longevity but also plenty.

Buying good luck and selling foolishness

In days of yore, markets sprung up around Vietnam during the first few days of the New Year where people came to buy good luck and sell foolishness. Each item they sold would relieve them of the previous year's misfortune while each item they bought would bring good luck in the coming months. At these markets, goods changed hands rapidly and no one returned home empty handed. During those first few days of Tet, one could hear vendors cry: "Who will buy foolishness?" The goods they sold included rice, cakes, sweetmeats and toys, all of which were sold without profit.

First visitor

According to custom, the first person to visit a home in the New Year must be someone who will bring good luck and prosperity to the family. That person must be of good character and is usually a man. Only once that person has entered the home can children leave it to present Tet greetings to their elders.

If the visitor is not a family member, he should be invited in before enter-ing and will bring with him a firecracker, which he will light at the gate before entering the home and offering his greetings to the family inside. According to ancient beliefs, the firecracker will chase away ghosts while letting happiness in.

Tet greetings

Greetings made during the Tet period are special and are custom made for each recipient. To an old man or woman, younger people should offer longevity and happiness; to a farmer, the greeting should promise favourable wearher and a. bumper crop; to a trader, it should hope fora thriving business and to a government official, rapid promotion. Sometimes, these greetings are accompanied by lucky money offered inside a small red envelope.

While the annual exercise of Tet customs may morph with time, their essence remains unchanged. They are proof, if proof be needed, that Vietnam's cultural traditions are alive and well, travelling safely from generation to generation.
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Bánh chưng xanh - linh hồn Tết Việt

Có từ thời vua Hùng thứ 6, bánh chưng song hành cùng lịch sử dân tộc và trở thành linh hồn ngày Tết ở Bắc Bộ. Trong mâm cỗ đón xuân ngày nay, những chiếc bánh chưng xanh vuông vắn khiến ta nhớ đến sự tích bánh chưng, bánh dày tượng trưng cho quan niệm về vũ trụ của người Việt xưa.

Bánh chưng được làm từ các nguyên liệu gạo nếp, đậu xanh, thịt lợn và gói trong lá dong... Bánh được làm vào các dịp Tết cổ truyền của dân tộc Việt và vào ngày mùng 10 tháng 3 Âm lịch (ngày giỗ tổ Vua Hùng).

Những người từng trải qua Tết xưa (những năm 40-50 của thế kỷ trước) thường nhớ về Tết cổ truyền với những chiếc bánh chưng được chọn lựa cầu kỳ từ chiếc lá dong, hạt nếp cái hoa vàng, đỗ xanh cho tới lạt tre. Những năm kháng chiến chống Mỹ, để nuôi quân đánh giặc, người dân miền Bắc dành hết lương thực, thực phẩm vì tiền tuyến nên chiếc bánh chưng cũng đơn giản hơn nhưng lại giá trị hơn cả vì Tết chỉ có mỗi nồi bánh chưng xanh. Với những ai trải qua những cái Tết chiến tranh, và cả những năm còn trong thời kỳ bao cấp, nồi bánh chưng gợi lại cho họ kỷ niệm khó quên một thời khó khăn, thiếu thốn.

Ngày nay, đối với những bạn trẻ sinh vào nửa sau thập kỷ 80 của thế kỷ 20, tục nấu bánh chưng ngày Tết có vẻ như chỉ còn là một nghi thức. Thế hệ 9X sống tại các thành phố lớn dường như không có được cái cảm giác náo nức đêm giao thừa ấm cúng quây quần quanh nồi bánh chưng với gia đình. Giờ đây, bánh chưng cho ngày Tết được mua tại các siêu thị, cửa hàng hoặc qua hình thức cung ứng dịch vụ. Ở nông thôn, hương vị Tết còn cảm nhận được phần nào qua nồi bánh chưng Tết.

Không khí ngày Tết bây giờ không còn thấy cảnh các bà các chị tất bật những ngày giáp Tết, nào rửa lá dong, nào ngâm gạo hay đãi đỗ, cảnh trẻ con mặt mũi háo hức ngồi xem bố mẹ gói bánh, cảnh già trẻ lớn bé ngồi trông nồi bánh chưng qua đêm, ngoài trời sương lạnh, buốt giá không át được không khí ấm nồng quanh bếp lửa hồng.

Với nhiều thế hệ, chiếc bánh chưng là niềm hân hoan của ngày Tết sum họp, đoàn tụ. Những chiếc bánh đẹp, dày dặn, vuông thành sắc cạnh được dành riêng để bày bàn thờ cúng ông bà tổ tiên, bánh nhỏ gói riêng cho trẻ con như món quà đầu năm... Truyền thống vẫn còn đó, nhưng dường như không còn mấy nguyên vẹn, công cụ để nấu chín chiếc bánh chưng ngày nay có nơi, có chỗ bị thay thế bằng nồi áp suất hoặc lửa ga. Dù sao thì Tết đến, xuân về, hình ảnh những chiếc bánh chưng vẫn nhắc nhở mỗi người chúng ta về giá trị dân tộc truyền thống.

Thời nay, những nguyên liệu làm bánh chưng vẫn vậy: vẫn gạo nếp, đậu xanh, nhân thịt, lá dong. Bánh muốn ngon thì phải chuẩn bị nguyên liệu thật chu đáo, gạo ngâm đãi thật kỹ, đậu xanh đồ vừa chín tới, thịt có cả nạc, bì, mỡ, ướp đủ gia vị, gói xong phải luộc ngay bánh mới xanh. Để chiếc bánh vuông đẹp, "chín rền" thì lúc gói phải “đỗ trong gạo, gạo trong lá”, gói chặt tay, không cần ép mà bánh vẫn để được lâu, miếng bánh sau khi cắt nhân đỗ, thịt nạc luôn cân đối ở tất cả các phần. Tết cổ truyền và hình ảnh những chiếc bánh chưng xanh là nét đẹp truyền thống văn hoá dân tộc Việt.

Qua hình dáng chiếc bánh chưng, bánh dày, không thể không liên tưởng đến ý nghĩa của hai chữ "vuông tròn" trong ngôn ngữ ta. Phát xuất từ quan niệm nguyên thuỷ về sự sinh thành, tổ tiên ta đã khéo lựa chọn hai thứ phẩm vật tượng trưng dùng trong việc cúng lễ trời đất, ông bà đã nhắc đến tư tưởng hòa hợp của hai hình thể: "rỗng" và "đặc", "vuông" và "tròn". Tuy tương khắc nhau như "trời" và "đất", "đàn ông" và "đàn bà", chúng có thể và phải kết hợp với nhau theo lẽ "trời đất phát dục vạn vật" như lời dạy của thần nhân cho Lang Liêu. "Lẽ vuông tròn" đó nói lên sự tốt đẹp trong tình nghĩa vợ chồng và trong mối quan hệ như câu thơ của Nguyễn Du:

"Khuôn thiêng biết có vuông tròn hay chăng?"

hay câu:

"Trăm năm tính cuộc vuông tròn,
Phải dò cho đến ngọn nguồn lạch sông".

Bánh chưng gợi nhớ đến Tết hay Tết gợi nhớ đến việc gói bánh chưng. Có lẽ, sự hoà quyện đó đã trở thành một biểu trưng văn hoá của dân tộc Việt - Bánh chưng biểu trưng cho Tết. Vì thế, công việc chuẩn bị gói bánh chưng mỗi khi Tết đến đã là một phong tục đẹp trong văn hoá Việt Nam.

(Theo VTV.vn)

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Futurist: Born in the Year of the Cat?

Most people are aware of their astrological signs, and know the characteristics associated with the twelve signs of the zodiac. European astrology is based on your month of birth.

Traditional Vietnamese astrology is different. It is based on your year of birth. There are 12 signs, too, but they are named after animals instead of constellations.

The Vietnamese New Year falls on a different date each year. Last year (1998), the “Year of the Tiger,” fell on January 28. This year, the “Year of the Cat,” falls on February 16, 1999.

The 12-year cycle begins with the year of the Rat, which this century fell in 1900, so it is easy to calculate in Vietnamese years.

The traditional calendar divides time into cycles of 10, 12, 30 and 60 units (among them, the 12-unit cycle is the most notable one).

The 10-unit cycle uses can signs (thien can, heavenly) called Giap (natural water), At (water for use), Binh (lighted fire), Dinh (latent fire), Mau (wood in general), Ky (lighted wood), Canh (metal in general), Tan (shaped metal), Nham (wasted land) and Quy (tilled land), in that order.

The 12-unit cycle uses chi signs (dia chi, earthly) called, Ty (rat), Suu (water buffalo), Dan (tiger), Mao (cat), Thin (dragon), Ti (snake), Ngo (horse), Mui (goat), Than (monkey), Dau (rooster), Tuat (dog) and Hoi (pig), in that order. The hours, days, months and years receive compound names, each made up of a can and a chi. A 60-year cycle begins with a Giap ty and ends with a Quy Hoi.

Of the animals above, one is mythical – the dragon; four are wild or semi-wild animals: the rat, tiger, snake, and monkey; and seven are domestic animals (the buffalo, cat, horse, goat, cock, dog and pig.)

Those who were born in the Year of the Cat fall on the following dates:

The sign Mao corresponds to the Cat. It is a yin sign and is in conflict with the Ty (rat) sign.

The period of time from 5 to 7 in the morning, when the cat will be on the prowl for mice, is the Mao hour.

A man born in a Mao year it thought of as being of the type with supple mind and a patient temperament, knows how to lie in wait for favorable opportunities and to act quickly when they arrive.

Albert Einstein, the prominent physicist who is the formulator of the Theory of Relativity, was born in a Mao year (1879). A Noble-prize winner in 1951, he died in 1955.

The famous Vietnamese writer Nguyen Cong Huan was born in a Quy Mao year (1903).

According to Vietnamese astrologists, the following are some good and bad sides of those who are born in the Year of the Cat.

Positive aspects:
cautious, clever, hospitable, sociable, friendly, sensitive, ambitious, careful

Negative aspects:
private, timid, thin-skinned, old-fashioned, hypochondriac, squeamish

The Year of the Cat in the Lunar Vietnamese Calendar

From: month/day/year (solar calendar)	To: month/day/year (solar calendar)	Name of the Lunar Year
Jan. 30, 1903	Feb. 16, 1904	Quy Mao
Feb. 15, 1915	Mar. 2, 1916	At Mao
Feb. 3, 1927	Jan. 23, 1928	Dinh Mao
Feb. 20, 1939	Feb. 8, 1940	Ky Mao
Feb. 7, 1951	Jan. 27, 1952	Tan Mao
Jan. 26, 1963	Feb. 13, 1964	Quy Mao
Feb. 11, 1975	Feb. 16, 1976	At Mao
Jan. 29, 1987	Feb. 16, 1988	Dinh Mao
Feb. 16, 1999	Feb. 4, 2000	Ky Mao

(from The Saigon Times Weekly, 1999)

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