Tet Then and Now: How Vietnamese New Year Customs Have Changed

From preparing for Tet to welcoming and celebrating it, the customs of Tet past and Tet present have changed enormously as life becomes ever more modern.

In Vietnamese tradition, the arrival of Tet and the coming of spring have always been tied to the image of families gathering together. Modern life, however, has swept people up in new ways of doing things. So how do the Tet customs of old differ from those of today?

Old vs. New Tet Customs: Feasting and Welcoming the New Year

In the old days, our grandparents spoke of "eating Tet", because the holiday stretched from the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month to the end of the first days of the first month, and in some places people kept celebrating right up to Tet Thuong Nguyen, the full moon of the first lunar month.  During this time everyone set their work aside to enjoy themselves, eat and drink together, just as Tet is meant to be.

Preparing for Tet, then and now. Photo: Tran Qui Thanh.

Today, however, people simply speak of "welcoming Tet". With life ever more modern and living standards higher, people want to eat well and dress well. Most use these days mainly as a time to rest or to travel.

Cleaning the house for Tet has changed too. Photo: Zing.vn.

As the year draws to a close, cleaning and decorating the house for Tet is one of the most cheerful family chores. Family members usually help one another and pitch in to tidy up. These days, though, many families simply pay for a cleaning service by the hour, booked with a single phone call.

Tet shopping, then and now. Photo: Zing.vn.

What's more, Tet shopping is shrinking as work pressures grow, and many people now choose to shop online. Instead of joining the bustling crowds at the Tet market, they just tap on their phones and the goods are delivered to the door.

In the past, a branch of peach blossom, a sprig of yellow apricot blossom or a small kumquat tree was all a home needed to dress up for Tet. Today, all sorts of unusual plants and fruits and "lucky" displays, such as gold-ingot-shaped pomelos, mangoes printed with words and square watermelons,… are chosen to decorate the house.

How the Tet Market Has Changed

Tet markets are the year-end markets, livelier and busier than at any other time. Everyone hurries about getting ready to decorate the house and make offerings to their ancestors. The Tet market is not just for shopping, but also for meeting people and soaking up the excited atmosphere before Tet arrives.

The Tet Market of Old

Alongside banh chung, fatty pork, pickled shallots and red couplets, memories of the Tet market are a nostalgia that is hard to forget. In the old days, people had to save up all year to prepare for Tet.

Going to the Tet market, a cherished part of Vietnamese Tet culture. Photo: Phu nu.

Tet markets ran from the 23rd to the 30th of the twelfth lunar month. By then mothers had started cleaning the ancestral altar and buying household goods, while children usually tagged along with their fathers to buy peach blossoms and kumquat trees to display for Tet.

The Tet Market Today

Today's Tet markets are just as lively as those of the past. With modern life, however, they are far more varied, convenient and orderly than before. They cater to every need: things to enjoy and admire, gifts to give, and special fruits.

Today, a trip to the supermarket gets you everything for Tet. Photo: Reatimes.

These markets also wind down before New Year's Eve. In the final days, Tet markets stay open all night to meet shoppers' demand and to bring in good profits. As a result, today's Tet markets are mostly about business.

The Custom of Wrapping Banh Chung

Wrapping banh chung is a custom dating back to the reign of the sixth Hung King. On the anniversary of the ancestors, the king summoned his sons and declared that whichever son found the most fitting offering would inherit the throne. Prince Lang Lieu then used the produce of the fields to make banh chung and banh day, and the king passed the throne to him.

Banh chung has been handed down through the Tet customs of the Vietnamese people, both past and present.

Tet in the past: the whole family gathered to wrap banh chung

The whole family sitting together wrapping banh chung. Photo: Petrotimes.

In the old days, Tet markets sold everything people needed to find the best ingredients for banh chung. Then the whole family would gather to wrap the cakes and sit together watching over the pot of banh chung, to be offered to their ancestors. It was one of the loveliest traditions, faithfully kept by earlier generations.

Tet today: more and more people buy ready-made banh chung

The ever faster pace of life has made us forget the tradition of wrapping banh chung for Tet. The scene of a family gathered around the pot, chatting about everything under the sun as the banh chung simmers, is no longer so common.

These days, banh chung is usually bought ready-made. Photo: itourvn.com.

People tend to go to shops and supermarkets to buy ready-made cakes, which has unintentionally taken away a beautiful part of our national Tet tradition.

With creativity and skill in their design, today's banh chung come in countless shapes and ingredients instead of the square cake of Tet past, such as five-colour banh chung, green rice flake banh chung or banh chung filled with salmon,…

Tet Treats and Gifts

Among all the fruit and imported sweets, a Vietnamese Tet would not be complete without trays of mut (candied fruit) and o mai (salted dried fruit). On the family altar at Tet, the box of candied fruit is laid out neatly and respectfully, showing that the descendants always remember their roots and traditional values.

How Tet gifts have changed. Photo: Zing.vn.

In the past, Tet gifts were very simple and homely. Everything was wrapped in plain paperboard and folded neatly at the corners. Banh chung were also a much-loved gift.

Today, Tet gifts have to be beautiful and luxurious to show the giver's standing. Bottles of imported liquor and fruit carved into unique shapes or printed with words make quite an impression. On top of that, imported sweets are a must whenever guests come to visit at Tet.

Welcoming the New Year's Eve

Besides fatty pork, pickled shallots and red couplets, there had to be strings of firecrackers and green banh chung to make the beauty of the Vietnamese Tet tradition complete. In the past, strings of paper firecrackers were hung in front of the house and set off to welcome the New Year, while today it is mostly fireworks.

Welcoming the New Year the old-fashioned way. Photo: DanViet.

Fireworks are usually set off at big public venues, so people eagerly head out to watch them. When the New Year arrives, every household listens to the firecrackers together and goes out to pick lucky buds for the start of the year, bringing good fortune to the family in the year ahead.

Today, with mobile networks booming, people can just sit at home and watch the fireworks live online. What's more, after midnight come New Year greetings sent via Facebook, Zalo,… instead of going out together to wish people a happy New Year and pick lucky buds.

Welcoming the New Year today mostly means heading out to watch fireworks. Photo: DulichToday.

In the past, families gathered together on New Year's Eve to welcome the new year, talking about the year gone by and their plans for the next. Today, however, only the elderly stay at home, while young people usually head out to celebrate at the big gathering spots where they live.

So we have explored together the differences between the Tet customs of the past and those of today. We hope young people will always keep the beautiful cultural traditions of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year alive so they never fade away.