Tet Festival

The Tet Nguyen Dan( Festival of the First Day) announces the Lunar New Year and is the most important date in the Vietnamese festival calendar.Commonly knows as Tet, it is much more than your average Gregorian New Year's celebration;It's a time when family reunite in the hope of good fortune for the coming year, and ancestral spirits are welcome back into the family home. and Tet is everybody's birthday; on this day everyone become one year older.The festival falls sometimes between 19 January and 20 february on the Western calendar, the same time as Chinese New Year. The exact dates vary from year to year due to differences between the lunar and solar calendars. New Year's Day will fall on the following dates:9 February 2005, 29 January 2006 and 18 February 2007.The first three days after New Year's Day are the official holidays but many people take the whole week off, particularly in the south.Tet rites begin seven days before New Year's Day. This is when the Tao Quan- the three spirits of the Hearth, found in the kitchen of every home- ascend to the heavens to report on the past year's events to the Jade Emperor. Often these kitchen gods are described as a single person and may be called Ong Tao, Ong Lo or Ong Vua Bep.The tao Quan ride fish on their journey to heaven, so on this day people all over Viet Nam release live carp into rivers and lakes. Altars, laden with offerings of foo, fresh water, flowers, betel and live carp for celestial transport, are assembled in preparation for the god's departure, all in the hope of receiving a favourable report and ensuring good luck for the family in the coming year.Other rituals performed during the week before Tet include visiting cemesteries and inviting the spirits of dead relatives home for celebrations. Absent family members start to make their way home so that the whole family can celebrate Tet under the same roof. All loose ens are tied up so that the new year can be started with a clean slate; debts are paid and evrything is cleaned, including ancestors'graves.( Nick Ray)
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  • Dear Anjana.
    Thanks for your reading. On the first days of new year. We often say " chúc mừng năm mới"( happy new year) or "vạn sự như ý" ( everything comes true), "chuc mua may bán đắt" "tấn tài tấn lộc tấn bình an"(good business, good health); with the old people we say " chuc ông bà mạnh khỏe, sống lâu trăm tuổi"( wish you a good health, a long life 100 years ..)hihihi
    wishing you 1 tear of happiness, 12 months of fun, 52 weeks of glaness, 365 days of success, 8760 hours of gud health and 525600 minutes of gud luck.
    Take care,

    God Bless.
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