How do Vietnamese people celebrate the New Year?

According to Vietnamese custom, the Lunar New Year is celebrated from December 23 of the lunar calendar when Zaojun is sent to heaven, and the atmosphere of the New Year continues throughout the first month of the lunar year, which in Vietnamese folklore is the month of "eating, drinking and having fun".

According to Vietnamese folklore, on the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year, all gods on earth go back to heaven to report on the year's situation, and Mr. Zao, who is in charge of a family's life, goes up to heaven to report on the year's situation. Once Master Zaowang is gone, there is no god left to watch over the family, so this is the time to clean up and remodel some of the places in the house that are afraid to be moved in order to prepare for the New Year. This day is also known as the Day of the New Year. This is apparently the same origin as the Chinese folklore about Lord Zao. In order to send Master Zao on his way properly, so that he will have a high hand when he reports back, people go and release carp - Master Zao's mount.

After entering the New Year's Eve it was time to prepare the New Year's goods. Housewives are busy making a variety of traditional national New Year's dishes, such as fish stew, pickled onions, and square glutinous rice dumplings as thick as bricks. In the village, families hang "spring bamboo" in front of their doors, put bows and arrows on the ground to ward off evil spirits, and put two pictures of tigers on their doorsteps to pray for peace, a good harvest, and good fortune for the year. The content of traditional New Year's goods can be seen in the folk song "Fat meat pickled buckwheat red couplets, tomato sticks cannonballs green New Year's dumplings". Nowadays, life is better, fat meat is not necessarily necessary, but buy a lot of meat to prepare for the New Year is still necessary. No matter how good life is, the pickled buckwheat is still on people's tables and has become a traditional symbol of the New Year. Although couplets are still bought, they are not as popular because the Chinese characters no longer have the status of an official script. The tomato pole is something that can't be missing as it absolves one of the calamities. As for setting off firecrackers, in 1995, the Vietnamese government abolished this traditional way of celebrating the New Year with a decree. In order to preserve the New Year's Eve atmosphere, the Vietnamese government organizes fireworks in the central squares of large and medium-sized cities every New Year's Eve. Nian Dumplings, on the other hand, are used to offer sacrifices to ancestors. Vietnamese rice dumplings are square, with one having about 1 kilogram, taking the meaning of the circle of heaven and earth.

In Vietnamese (Kinh) homes, three decorations are indispensable during the Lunar New Year: peach blossoms, kumquat bonsai and a "five-fruit bowl".

In the Vietnamese mind, peach blossom is a protection from evil and a symbol of luck. Kumquat is taken to mean good luck. South of central Vietnam, there are no peach blossoms due to the climate, and yellow plum blossoms are usually substituted. As a decoration, it is not only found at home and in stores, but even placed in all organizations and units. At the same time, all organizations hang banners to welcome the New Year at the entrance, and temples and other places are no exception, as temples are the main place for Vietnamese people to celebrate the New Year. Literary units also organize performances on the streets on the evening of New Year's Eve to create a New Year's Eve atmosphere. As a legal holiday, Vietnamese Lunar New Year is celebrated with a 3-day vacation. Families place national flags in their homes, and building occupants place them outside their windows, creating a unique landscape.

The "Five Fruit Pots" are used to make offerings to ancestors. There are five kinds of fen lychee, coconut, banyan fruit, mango, etc. In Vietnamese, fen lychee sounds the same as "seek", coconut is the same as "Yu", banyan fruit is the same as "fill", mango is the same as "make", which is the same as "make", which is the same as "make", which is the same as "make". In the Chinese language, fen lychee sounds the same as "seek", coconut is the same as "yu", water banyan fruit is the same as "full" and mango is the same as "make", which means that we wish to have more money in every year, to be well-fed, and to have money to make endless.

Vietnamese people travel thousands of kilometers to their homes for the New Year's Eve dinner and the New Year's Eve celebration, where the whole family sits together. When the old year is about to end and the new year is approaching, incense is set up to welcome the new year, which is called "Nien Phat". On New Year's Eve, Vietnamese people also have the custom of "asking for money". There are two kinds of custom: one is called "Cai Loc", usually when returning from the temple to pay homage to their ancestors, they pick a branch with green leaves to take home, which means to collect the blessings given by the gods of heaven and earth. The branch is then placed in front of the shrine at home until the leaves are withered. Another is to bring back some fruits, also called "Lu", can be distributed to friends and relatives, as in the dissemination of blessings.