Ancient Vietnamese Tet through Western records

January is the month for partying…

In 1886, Camille Paris - the discoverer of My Son sanctuary - came to Van Hoi (Dieu Tri town, Tuy Phuoc district, Binh Dinh province) on the days before Tet. In his work Voyage d'exploration de Hue en Cochinchine par la Route mandarine (Travel diary of Central Vietnam along the mandarin route) , he said that on this occasion, "people whitewashed their houses, repainted their ancestral altars, replaced all charms, amulets, parallel sentences, and gold-paper allegories hung or pasted in their houses and in front of their doors from the previous year's Tet". Doctor Baurac, when observing Tet in Saigon in 1894, said in his work La Cochinchine et ses habitants Provinces de l'Ouest (South Vietnam and its inhabitants: The Western provinces) , "at the time of the New Year (Tet), the graves were cleaned, and people burned firecrackers and paper charms there".

A scholar selling Tet parallel sentences, around 1920 - 1929

Photo: Quai Branly Museum

According to the book Tour d'Asie: Cochinchine - Annam - Tonkin (Around Asia: Cochinchina - Central - North) by traveler Marcel Monnier, Tet is also an occasion to visit the shops in Cho Lon (South Vietnam), which has not yet been Westernized and where "there are close together outdoor restaurants, colorful silk and cotton stalls, countless colored lanterns, meter-long parallel sentences on red background with golden words meaning Happiness and Longevity. And from the villages, people flock to shop. There are ox carts, handcarts, people walking with their backs bent under heavy baskets, there are four-seat malabars [glass carts] for the whole family to sit on, pulled by a thin horse. After buying things, people spread out to all the roads, the narrow paths between the rice fields, singing and chatting all afternoon long".

According to Camille Paris, on the occasion of Tet, the restaurants are very lively: people drink tea, drink wine, eat beans, rice, snow-white rice grains decorated with pieces of pork jelly or fish sauce. "It is really fun and interesting, the children wear beautiful clothes, wear wide-brimmed hats to protect themselves from the sun. From children to the elderly, everyone dresses differently from usual." A French tourist named Pierre Barrelon who came to Saigon in the early 1890s commented: "Children's clothing is something that is of special interest because it is always one of the most abundant things. Every child is made up and groomed to be as funny as possible."

Monnier writes that "houses are decorated; men and women change their dark clothes for bright ones, cherry-colored belts or green scarves", "from sunset to dawn, fireworks and firecrackers both commemorate the dead and welcome the new year".

While observing Tet in Hue in 1886, Dr. Hocquard wrote in Une campagne au Tonkin (A campaign in Tonkin) : "There is no trade, no farm work, no forced labor; adults and children will wear beautiful clothes" and "the offices in the royal palace are closed; starting from the twenty-fifth of December, the court stops working, no documents are signed and stamped until the eleventh of January of the following year".

According to Michel Duc Chaigneau, in his work Souvenirs de Hué (Memoirs of Hue) published in Paris in 1867, the New Year festival in Hue lasts about 10 days, all work is stopped before the last 6-8 days of the lunar year so that people can rest and have fun, the flag-raising/seal-stamping and flag-lowering/seal-opening ceremonies are indispensable periodic activities.

Pierre Barrelon had the opportunity to observe the first days of the New Year of the natives and according to him, during the 3 days of the festival, "the natives participate in the craziest parties. Commercial activities "stagnate", there is no way to earn a tube of rice".

During the three days of Tet, "all work and all business activities are suspended; people do not hold markets," said Dr. Baurac. "In Saigon as well as inland stations, Europeans must prepare and stock up before Tet because during these three days of the holiday, everywhere is closed."

Earn money for Tet

According to Camille Paris, the days before Tet were very bustling, "people worked day and night because they had no time to do anything else. From poor people wanting to change their furniture, merchants selling off their goods, street vendors selling firecrackers, incense, Buddha images, bamboo effigies wrapped in colorful paper... What else? People butchered pigs, piled up areca nuts, and rich people bought fabric to make scarves and hats. They needed money and something new, otherwise they would have to sell all their old things."

Peach blossoms on the street during Tet, Hanoi, February 2, 1929

Photo: Quai Branly Museum

According to Monnier's observation, the shopping needs of Vietnamese people in Saigon are "Tet Nguyen Dan must be celebrated solemnly, people clean their houses, decorate their ancestral altars with flowers and colored paper, buy lots of fireworks and firecrackers. And all the family's savings are poured into it". Doctor Hocquard wrote that "the miserable people will sell all their belongings and borrow enough money to celebrate Tet".

Pierre Barrelon wrote: "Everyone tries to earn a large sum of money by selling or pawning whatever is cumbersome, because at all costs they must have money to enjoy these festive days." British female tourist Gabrielle M. Vassal, in her work Mes trois ans d'Annam (Three Years in Annam) published in 1912, shared her experience of Tet in Nha Trang: "Some people go to collect debts, others look for something to sell for money."

New Year's ritual

According to Dr. Baurac's records, at the beginning of the year, if the troupe was not invited to perform anywhere, they still had to perform a play to open the new year. At that time, "people would ask the gods to assign a play that suited them. They did this: a performance was randomly selected from the troupe's plays by a child who was incapable of judgment; then they asked the gods' opinion by tossing two coins high in the air (xin keo - NV ). If one coin landed heads and one coin landed tails, the result was favorable. If both coins landed heads or tails after being dropped, they would start over. This was called fortune-telling at the beginning of the year: finding out which play would open the new year by fortune-telling."

According to scholar Truong Vinh Ky, every year after Tet in Saigon, the Left Army Commander Le Van Duyet organized a military parade - with political and religious significance rather than superstitious. This ceremony was intended to show off power against all rebellion plots and destroy all evil seeds. The ceremony of sending off soldiers took place as follows: "Right before January 16, after fasting, the governor-general, wearing ceremonial attire, went to the ancestral temple to report, then after three cannon shots, he got on a palanquin led by soldiers and followed. The governor-general was escorted out of the citadel through Gia Dinh Mon or Phan Yen Mon; heading towards Cho Vai and up Mac-Mahon Street [now Nam Ky Khoi Nghia] to the gun emplacement. There, people fired cannons, soldiers were given exercises, and elephants were tested. The governor-general would go around the back of the citadel and to the shipyard, attend a naval exercise, and then return to the citadel. During the parade, people lit cannons to drive away evil spirits residing in their homes."

GAMING FOR LUCK

One of the customs that foreigners pay special attention to is gambling during Tet. Gambling is a popular activity among Vietnamese people, not only for entertainment but also to pray for luck in the new year. Dr. Baurac writes that Vietnamese people "both young and old, rich and poor, mainly participate in games on this last day [the 3rd]."

Michel Duc Chaigneau commented: "The people of Dang Trong are very fond of gambling for money, they indulge in gambling with each other during the holidays". In his travelogue, Monnier commented that "they [the Vietnamese] love gambling; but only occasionally on special occasions - New Year for example - do they freely bet their assets on the game of three quan [ie the game of shaking the dice or opening the bowl]. If they are unlucky, they leave with relief".

Casinos sprang up everywhere, people gathered in groups "inside houses, in alleys, even on the streets..." to gamble, which could last all night long. Whoever was unlucky enough to lose all their money would run around and borrow money to continue to pray for luck, according to Michel Duc Chaigneau.

Mrs. Vassal also recounted the popular gambling game in Nha Trang at that time that everyone liked to play: "three-card poker". "People even sold new clothes to continue gambling", "so the poor, skillful and intelligent craftsmen remained poor".

Monnier writes positively that "their fellow countrymen are always full of compassion and can lend easily. To these people, the village will take money from their own pockets or donations to help the gambler and provide him with food and clothing, provided he also pays back in the same way."

According to ancient customs, right from New Year's Eve (midnight starting from the first day of the new year), Vietnamese people practice ancestor worship rituals, on the morning of the first day they hold an offering ceremony, offering two meals a day until the morning of the fourth day they offer farewell to the God of the Cloth, some families offer until the seventh day.

In addition to the worship ceremony, there is the New Year's Eve ceremony, where young people bow to their elders twice and receive lucky money in return. The custom of entering the house with the concept of heavy and light spirits still exists today, causing many people to consider not rushing to other people's houses on the first day of the New Year for fear of being blamed. On New Year's Day, people also often erect poles and sprinkle lime powder, every house has banh chung to worship the New Year, missing banh chung is like missing the New Year...

In 1944, scholar Nguyen Van Vinh once passionately wrote in the Indochine weekly that "don't boycott Tet", but the ancients also said "the ceremony must be in line with the times", meaning that the ceremony must be in line with the times, which is the most important thing. Respecting the ceremony is the right thing, but reforming the rituals and customs is also an issue that is always raised, especially in the modern context, what to keep, what to abandon, what to simplify to innovate and progress.

Lunar New Year or the traditional Tet of the Vietnamese people is a great occasion, "it ends the long continuous chain of time and makes the life of people and all things become more rhythmic" (Jean Przyluski), it is an occasion for people to put aside their worries and daily concerns to send love and good wishes, share joy together, to remember their ancestors, rest, have fun and gather with family and friends, throw away the worries and difficulties of the old year and together welcome the good things to come...

It can be said that Western records of the traditional Vietnamese New Year not only bring new and rich perspectives on the holiday, but also show that under the influence of French culture, the traditional New Year still maintains its core values, reflecting the enduring vitality and resilience of a unique national culture.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tet-viet-xua-qua-ghi-chep-cua-nguoi-phuong-tay-185250106165404594.htm