{"id":47033,"date":"2024-02-20T12:12:41","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T20:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sweet-pascal.52-27-215-206.plesk.page\/in-an-age-of-social-detachment-significance-of-tet-lost-on-young-vietnamese\/"},"modified":"2024-02-20T12:12:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T20:12:41","slug":"in-an-age-of-social-detachment-significance-of-tet-lost-on-young-vietnamese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vietvalley.com\/in-an-age-of-social-detachment-significance-of-tet-lost-on-young-vietnamese\/","title":{"rendered":"In an age of social detachment, significance of Tet lost on young Vietnamese"},"content":{"rendered":"
When he was young, Duc believed that celebrating Tet \u2014 the Vietnamese Lunar New Year \u2014 was just about exchanging lucky red envelopes filled with money.<\/span><\/p>\n But as he grew older, the recent university graduate who works as an instructor at a gym in Hanoi, began to appreciate the onset of spring associated with the holiday. He began to relish dishes such as <\/span>bamboo-shoot soup, fried spring rolls and glutinous rice cakes \u2013 which <\/span>are only eaten during Tet \u2013 and make time to extend well wishes to family and friends.<\/span><\/p>\n Celebrating Tet is a long-standing tradition of the Vietnamese, but older generations must explain its significance so that young people can appreciate its meaning and preserve its customs, said Duc, who asked to be identified under a pseudonym so as to not attract the attention of authorities in the one-party communist state or jeopardize his family\u2019s safety.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLunar New Year is celebrated so grandly that I feel that even if I don\u2019t want to participate, I still enjoy activities such as delivering New Year\u2019s wishes, and then enjoying Tet dishes,\u201d said Duc, who <\/span>lives with his mother and grandparents in Hanoi\u2019s Ba Dinh district. <\/span>\u201cHaving many people to do it with me makes me feel happier.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The most important celebration in Vietnamese culture, Tet marks the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar, and this year fell on Feb. 10. The official holiday includes the day before New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Eve and New Year\u2019s Day, though the festivities can last up to a week.<\/span><\/p>\n During Tet, people also offer rice to the spirits of their ancestors to come and celebrate with their children and grandchildren, and they end their last meal by burning fake notes known as \u201cheaven\u2019s money\u201d to say farewell to their ancestors until next year. Everyone then returns to their jobs or to their farms.<\/span><\/p>\n Holiday bonus<\/p>\n This was the first year that Duc, 23, received a holiday bonus and gift basket from his employer, and he gave part of his money and the basket to his mother. He also helped clear their house to \u201cwelcome his ancestors\u201d to celebrate Tet.<\/span><\/p>\n Ancestor-worship activities, displaying flowers and visiting Buddhist temples are good practices to observe Tet and help slow down the otherwise hectic pace of life, Duc said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI like the spiritual aspect [of Tet],\u201d he said. \u201cMissing those activities in society would make me sad.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n A man checks kumquat trees for sale on a street in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 5, 2024. (Nhac Nguyen\/AFP)<\/small><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even though Duc is busy with his new job, he still took time out to give his family a peach blossom tree so they could use its flowers to decorate their home in their nearly 1,000-year-old village.<\/span><\/p>\n Vietnamese adorn their homes and offices with flowers from peach blossom and kumquat trees during Tet as symbols of prosperity and happiness for the year ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n But many young people in Vietnam still do not appreciate the true meaning of the holiday, and some feel compelled to work during its three official days off to make additional money, instead of enjoying Tet themselves, Duc said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor young people to appreciate Tet, they need to have a positive experience about Tet,\u201d he told Radio Free Asia. \u201cThe older generation must show the younger generation what important values Tet carries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat must be coupled with explanations \u2013 not just implementing our customs,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are too many superficial activities. There needs to be some means of more effective communication between generations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018Most joyful period\u2019<\/p>\n Nguyen Minh Anh, 20, a second-year law student at a university in Hanoi, said she was always excited as a child when she had a long school break during Tet. She watched as others in her house made <\/span>banh chung<\/span>, a traditional Vietnamese cake made of rice, mung beans and pork wrapped in green leaves.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTet in my childhood memories is always the busiest and most joyful period,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n
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