Tet Nguyen Dan: The Vietnamese New Year

Tet Nguyen Dan, is the lunar New Year Festival and it is the most important Vietnamese holiday. It falls somewhere between mid-January and mid-February in the Western calendar. Tet is the celebration of the beginning of spring as well as a new year. It is the time for family reunions, exchanging gifs, and best wishes for the new year.

In the weeks before Tet, the streets are in a frenzy as people buy food, presents, and the peach blossom and mandarin trees – without which no family Tet would be complete.

Literally, “Tet Nguyen Dan” means the first morning of the first day of the new period. Officially, it marks the beginning of a new year in the lunar calendar. In reality, it is a friendly, festive, family holiday. Painstaking care is given to starting out the year right, since it is believed the first day and the first week of the new year will determine the fortunes or misfortunes for the rest of the year. In order to start the new year right and set the best precedent, Vietnamese houses are painted and cleaned. New clothes are purchased for the first day of Tet, old debts are paid, and great care is taken to avoid arguments. Families exchange visits. The first visitor to the house on the first morning of Tet is very important. Particular care is taken to arrange in advance to have the visitor be rich, happy, and prestigious.

The holiday is also observed by a family visit to the church or pagoda to pray for good fortune and happiness. A sprig of the yellow blossomed Hoa Mai, is used to decorate the home. Tet officially lasts for seven days.  

The transition hour between the old year and the new year is one of the most important times during the Tet holidays. It occurs at the midnight hour on New Year's Eve. This is the time when a family ushers out the spirits of the old year, a ritual. It is especially important to give a warm welcome to the Spirit of the Hearth, who has been to visit the Jade Emperor. Drums, gongs and firecrackers announce the hour of the New Year.

The weeks after Tet are a popular time for ceremonies outside the home; and people gather at local temples or travel to religious sites. Everyone has their fortune told, which are written on paper in Chinese, and burnt with incense sticks.