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THE LUNAR NEW YEAR IS A TIME FOR FAMILIES TO GATHER AND PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR FRESH STARTS.
As people gather in Hue’s Dieu De pagoda to celebrate the upcoming New Year, the city buzzes with excitement. Dieu De Pagoda is the place to worship the third Nguyen dynasty King, Thieu Tri. Although this ancient custom is gradually disappearing, most Vietnamese people still visit nearby pagodas and prepare for the arrival of the New Year with their families.
From poor countryside villages to rich, urban city-centers, homes across Vietnam will be preparing for the arrival of the New Year. Walls will be decorated, altars will be adorned with paper flowers, incense will be waiting to be burned, and rainwater will be collected as an offering to Buddha. Younger children will gather to help their mother clean while older siblings will be put in charge of the decorations. In the kitchen, the women will gather to prepare traditional tet dishes while the man work outside, pruning the yellow apricot trees and cutting while narcissus flowers for decorative arrangement.
The end of the year is also a time for Buddhist families to gather their offerings. Inside each home there will be a tray displaying five fruits, cakes, rice, and salt. All of these offerings will be placed on a small table, awaiting the New Year’s Eve time of whorship.
It is common to see the streets empty on the last night of the year. People out on the streets during this time are considered homeless or wanderers. On the evening of Lunar December 30th the streets become very empty. Everyone rushes to get home before sunset.
New Year’s Eve will find families gathered in their homes. They will be preparing for the exact moment that their year of struggle ends and their year of good fortune begins. The Lunar New Year is more than the end of one year and the beginning of another; it is the precise moment that distinguishes the old from the new. Family members will resolve conflicts with one another and make amends as they go into the New Year.
Visiting the tomb of the ancestors and going to the pagoda are important traditions on the first day of the Lunar New Year. People pray for a peaceful and happy year. As they return home, they will take flowers and greenery from the pagodas, accept gifts from celestial spirits and enter into the New Year filled with a sense of peace and good luck.
As people gather in Hue’s Dieu De pagoda to celebrate the upcoming New Year, the city buzzes with excitement. Dieu De Pagoda is the place to worship the third Nguyen dynasty King, Thieu Tri. Although this ancient custom is gradually disappearing, most Vietnamese people still visit nearby pagodas and prepare for the arrival of the New Year with their families.
From poor countryside villages to rich, urban city-centers, homes across Vietnam will be preparing for the arrival of the New Year. Walls will be decorated, altars will be adorned with paper flowers, incense will be waiting to be burned, and rainwater will be collected as an offering to Buddha. Younger children will gather to help their mother clean while older siblings will be put in charge of the decorations. In the kitchen, the women will gather to prepare traditional tet dishes while the man work outside, pruning the yellow apricot trees and cutting while narcissus flowers for decorative arrangement.
The end of the year is also a time for Buddhist families to gather their offerings. Inside each home there will be a tray displaying five fruits, cakes, rice, and salt. All of these offerings will be placed on a small table, awaiting the New Year’s Eve time of whorship.
It is common to see the streets empty on the last night of the year. People out on the streets during this time are considered homeless or wanderers. On the evening of Lunar December 30th the streets become very empty. Everyone rushes to get home before sunset.
New Year’s Eve will find families gathered in their homes. They will be preparing for the exact moment that their year of struggle ends and their year of good fortune begins. The Lunar New Year is more than the end of one year and the beginning of another; it is the precise moment that distinguishes the old from the new. Family members will resolve conflicts with one another and make amends as they go into the New Year.
Visiting the tomb of the ancestors and going to the pagoda are important traditions on the first day of the Lunar New Year. People pray for a peaceful and happy year. As they return home, they will take flowers and greenery from the pagodas, accept gifts from celestial spirits and enter into the New Year filled with a sense of peace and good luck.
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