THE SOUND AND THE COLORS OF VIETNAMESE TET
People today often think of pink firecrackers, red couplets, green banh chung, as traditional Vietnamese Tet symbols for cherished happiness...
PEOPLE TODAY OFTEN THINK OF PINK FIRECRACKERS, RED COUPLETS, GREEN BANH CHUNG, DONG HO PAINTINGS, SOUTHERN YELLOW APRICOT BLOSSOMS AND NORTHERN PEACH BLOSSOMS AS TRADITIONAL VIETNAMESE TET SYMBOLS FOR CHERISHED HAPPINESS. BUT ACCORDING TO HISTORICAL EVIDENCEE, ANCIENT VIETNAMESE TET ALSO INCLUDED DEEPER MEANING, RICH IMAGES OF SYMBOLISM AS WELL AS HEROIC EMOTIONS. IN THE EARLY DAYS OF 2020, TRAVELLIVE PROUDLY PRESENTS HISTORIAN LE VAN LAN ON THE MEANING OF THE TET THROUGHOUT THE LONG HISTORY OF VIETNAM.
First of all, there are love songs and chants, which originated in the Hùng King period, from the millennia BC, and collected and developed up to recent times into folk music of quan ho, hat xoan, xec bua (xuc xac xuc xe) in the spring and hat dum, hat vi, hat trong quan in the autumn. According to ancient history, Vietnamese people used the lunar calendar, relying on the tropical monsoon climate and the monoculture to start the New Year and celebrate Tet in the autumn.
The historical images on ancient bronze drums clearly depict the celebration of Tet in the autumn during ancient times in Vietnam. The main content of the images are scenes of men and women mating, so that both Man and Rice will flourish. The music and lyrics open and create a charming color in those ancient days of Tet.
It was not until the early days of BC, thanks to the increase of one rice crop each year and the influences of China, that Tet started to be celebrated in the spring. And it has become a tradition: Spring Tet is the time to start doing meaningful things. And the most meaningful thing at that time was the salvation of our nation from Chinese domination!
For that reason, the uprising of Ba Trung, Ba Trieu and Ly Nam De all happened on the first day of spring in the year 40, 248 and 541 to raise the flag and beat the drum. Therefore, the drumming sounds have become the vigorous and glorious sound of Spring Tet since the early years of our nation.
After that period, there was the Tet of everyday life. Without spear and sword, the drum became the festival drum, the background rhythm for the chanting in ancient times, creating more and more colors of the Spring Tet from then on.
From ancient times to medieval times and modern times, along with the natural evolution, people’s perceptions and minds gradually became enlightened to think about the deep meanings and values of the freezing cold winters changing to the passionately warm spring; of the trees changing leaves, the birds changing their feathers in the changing seasons.
From all of these, they create the melodies of
Innovation and Joy in the Spring
Tet.
From ancient times to medieval times and modern times, the development of civilization and technology also made it possible to express and practice the Innovation and Joy of Spring Tet in more vivid and brilliant ways.
Vietnamese “banh” - not only for survival but also for the joy from ancient times - is usually associated with traditional culture and fertility beliefs and has a simple cylindrical shape, symbolizing the phallus (called “banh tay” in the mountainous areas and “banh tet” in the South). Since the 15th century, “banh” has been assigned a new meaning and spiritual value: the symbol of the earth, once known as a square: “Heaven is round and the earth is square”. So “banh” becomes banh trung (banh chung)!
Amidst the calm sea of traditional rural villages, not only drums were needed to spark a thrilling sensation, but also the sound of explosions. The explosions come from simple mud bangers and thanks to the invention of the explosive, so soon there came all kinds of firecrackers to celebrate Tet. The manifestations of Tet have increasingly grown sophisticated over time, adding to Tet more important purposes such as uniting society, and its main pillars: Nation, Village and especially Family. Eating is always the top priority: “Even if you are not rich, your stomach will still be full during the three
days of Tet”!
Congratulations and looking forward to the occasion of change and improvement, pushing back the hardships to the past, waiting for the bright tomorrow, all results from the traditional sayings: “Happy as Tet”, “Thirtieth Evening, debtors are calling, forcefully kicking the Poor demon out the door/first Morning, firecrackers are exploding, warmly welcoming the Spring god into the house”!
And so the witty couplet includes all the typical sounds and colors of traditional Vietnamese Tet in modern times:
“Fatty meat, pickled onions, red couplets
New Year tree, firecracker, green banh chung”! Perhaps we just need more peach blossoms in the North and yellow apricot blossoms in the South that turned into flower markets, flower streets, flower festivals, and the “spring pilgrimage”! Sightseeing and visiting each other is increasingly popular and trendy as well as the growing tourism and traveling abroad. That’s nearly enough for the typical sounds and colors of and for Vietnamese Tet, evolving from ancient times to modern times!
CONGRATULATIONS AND LOOKING FORWARD TO THE OCCASION OF CHANGE AND IMPROVEMENT, PUSHING BACK THE HARDSHIPS TO THE PAST, WAITING FOR THE BRIGHT TOMORROW, ALL RESULTS FROM THE TRADITIONAL SAYINGS: HAPPY AS TET.