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 New Year, Vietnamese style By Monique Bos While parts of the world gear up to celebrate the New Year, many people in Asian countries don’t observe the calendar change until February, when the lunar-based Chinese year turns. Phong Nguyen, a SCAD interactive design and game development student from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, talked about Chinese New Year observance in his home country. While specific traditions vary by country, Nguyen said the year originally revolved around the growth cycle of rice, with the old year ending with the harvest. “You celebrate and start the new season,” he said. Foods served in Vietnam during the three-day celebration are made of rice, with square cakes symbolizing the earth and round cakes representing the sun. The cakes are stuffed with meat, vegetables and other food. Watermelon also is a popular New Year treat. “It’s only grown for New Year’s,” Nguyen said. “We don’t eat it throughout the year like [they do] in the United States.” He explained that the watermelon’s red color resonates with the traditional Vietnamese New Year décor. “You use decorations with bright colors,” Nguyen said. “You might have a red banner that says ‘Happy New Year’ hanging on the door.” People adorn their homes with yellow hoa mai flowers, which symbolize luck, and set out candies and fruit. Families create altars to honor deceased ancestors, burn incense and play cassettes or CDs of New Year songs. The night before the celebration always falls on a new moon -- the second after the winter solstice -- when the sky is dark. “We have a saying, ‘As dark as the 31st,’” Nguyen said. At midnight, fireworks are launched. “It’s really brilliant,” he said. In Vietnam, people usually stay home that night, a tradition that developed from superstition, Nguyen explained. “It’s believed that when you go out to somebody else’s house and the zodiac doesn’t match the owner of the house, you have bad luck for a year.” The first day of the New Year also is reserved for family. “It is pretty much like Christmas in the United States,” Nguyen said. “Families gather together.” Grandparents and extended family members pay visits. Children and teenagers offer respect and accolades to older relatives, wishing them long lives and a lucky year. The observance is formal, with young people standing and bowing before their elders. Older family members -- those above high-school age -- then present their young relatives with “lucky money,” which is usually clean, new paper money in an envelope but may also consist of larger items, such as cars and electronics, Nguyen said. “In the old days, you didn’t use it because it symbolizes luck, but today you go ahead and use it,” he explained. The second day is for “teachers, people who help you during the year, and you want to show your appreciation,” he said. “In Asia, they really appreciate teachers.” On the third day, people may visit friends, coworkers and bosses. During all these visits, lucky money is given by older people to younger ones. Nguyen said the amount is usually small, though the tradition has become corrupted and has evolved into bribery, in some cases. For example, “workers [might] give more money to the children of their boss,” he said. Another New Year tradition Nguyen discussed involves the kitchen god, who lives with the family for a year. He records all their good and bad actions to determine whether they receive good or bad luck in the next year. On the 30th, he returns to heaven, and the family creates a small altar in his absence. A kitchen god returns on the first day of the New Year, although not the same one -- Nguyen explained that there is a kitchen god for each of the 12 years of the zodiac. In 2005, the Chinese New Year begins Feb. 9, ushering in the Year of the Rooster. |
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