Tet and its customs were born thousands of years ago, originating from an agricultural society. Along with the movement and development of society, the lifestyle and needs of each individual and family have also changed a lot. Therefore, the way to preserve and spread the value of Tet is to find adaptation and harmony so that the traditional cultural beauty can be extended and continue to be promoted in modern society.
Tet is not only an occasion to celebrate the new spring but also an occasion for reunion, wishing everyone to be full of happiness. (Photo: THANH DAT)
Since ancient times, Tet Nguyen Dan has been known as "Tet ca", the most important Tet of Vietnamese people. According to many people, Tet is also an occasion to close the bad luck of the old year, and start a new journey, with new expectations, new motivation, clearly shown through the Tet wishes people give each other, as well as the plans and goals that each person sets for themselves when entering the new spring. Tet is also an occasion for families to gather, strengthen connections with relatives, neighbors, and revive traditional customs and practices... However, if in the past, our people often welcomed Tet Nguyen Dan with an eager, expectant mindset, recently many people have begun to feel pressured every time Tet comes. The psychology of "fear" of Tet, even boredom, or "hiding" from Tet is quite common. Like the image of a Tet meal tray that is familiar to everyone, but in recent years, this image has raised "fear" for many people. Observing recent years, it can be seen that almost every year there are statements that create a trend showing a lack of enthusiasm for Tet. The "fear" of Tet leads to many different reactions, in which a fairly common action for many people, especially in urban areas, is to "escape" Tet through tours. Many people even depart on the evening of the 30th without celebrating New Year's Eve at home - although this is a custom of great significance to Vietnamese people. The beginning of this trend is young people, but now, "escape" Tet through travel has spread to middle-aged people. The need to travel for Tet is increasing, especially in the past five years.
It must be admitted that there is a good reason to be "afraid" of Tet. Life today is much more stressful than before. The amount of work and information that people have to receive and process every day is huge. The most obvious manifestation is that stress is gradually becoming common to many people - something that was relatively unfamiliar a few decades ago.
When Tet comes, people have to face a mountain of work: decorating the house; shopping for decorations, food, candy; calculating dishes; going here and there to give gifts to relatives, family, relatives... Even those with abundant economic conditions hesitate before this "mountain of work". For employees, salaried workers, and freelancers, this is also a financial pressure, especially those who have to work far away to go home for Tet. In the days before Tet, many people have to run around "hard" to buy enough for Tet. From the 15th of the 12th lunar month to the 30th of Tet, many roads in big cities, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, are seriously congested because the need to travel, shop, and work increases dramatically.
After the time-consuming and laborious preparation process, the next problem is the procedures during Tet. Such as visiting relatives and neighbors to wish them a happy new year, if not thoughtful, it is very likely that they will be blamed. Or the arrangement of the trays of food for the three days of Tet is quite messy. At the same time, eating and drinking during Tet is also a problem that makes many people feel uneasy. Tet holiday is the longest holiday of the year, but after celebrating Tet, most people, especially housewives, always feel exhausted. In essence, many people are not "afraid" of Tet, but afraid of the procedures during Tet. Therefore, some people choose to travel to avoid these procedures, while spending more time with their families and enjoying the rare long holiday of the year in a meaningful way.
Tet is a product of a wet rice agricultural society, the starting point of a new time cycle, along with the cycle of labor and production. In the past, economic life was difficult, eating and drinking were very important. The catchphrase of most Vietnamese people for a long time is "eat Tet", must be "full for three days of Tet". Although spring travel is also an important part of Tet, "eating Tet" is still number one. In terms of social context, in addition to the customs of an agricultural society, Tet was born and then developed with the Confucian social ethics foundation, where each individual is forced to integrate into the community. Tet is also an occasion to strengthen relationships, especially family and clan relationships. People give gifts, visit, and wish their relatives a happy new year. However, today's society has entered the era of industrialization, especially the 4.0 industrial revolution that has penetrated every corner of life. Both the production foundation and the social context today have changed a lot compared to a few decades ago. That inevitably leads to changes in concepts, lifestyles, and customs. In modern society, individual awareness is increasingly emphasized, and each individual's preferences are more respected. Regarding family relationships, in the past, small-scale agricultural production made people rely on each other, so in addition to the nuclear family, clans, neighbors, and neighbors were more important. Nowadays, many people pay attention to small families, including grandparents, parents, and children. When looking at it in such a profound way, we will realize that changes in concepts and ways of celebrating Tet are an inevitable part of history. In particular, we cannot force individuals into a certain mold in celebrating Tet like in the past. Instead, we need to find the core values of Tet, distilling the most quintessential things, the soul of national culture.
After a year of hard work, most people need to rest and recharge for a new cycle. Therefore, each person will have to adjust their Tet celebration to suit traditional culture, while meeting the wishes of themselves and their families. The image of a long line of people going to wish each other a happy New Year like in the old days should only be kept as beautiful memories, avoiding creating pressure in modern life. Tet is an occasion to reconnect family and clan relationships. However, we have many ways and means to strengthen those relationships. For example, grandparents and parents can educate and explain to their children about family and clan relationships in daily life, so that the young generation understands and appreciates those relationships instead of forcing their children to follow the rules rigidly. When they understand and appreciate, young people will immediately have appropriate behavior.
Regarding feasts and meals - the "burden" has long been placed mainly on women's shoulders. In modern life, women need to be freed from household chores to have time to beautify themselves, rest, have fun, and visit instead of having to spend the whole Tet holiday in the kitchen preparing food and feasts. Besides, in addition to some traditional dishes, it must be admitted that, in today's era, the family's meals are gradually becoming "internationalized". People can choose to prepare bamboo shoot soup, meatball soup, fried spring rolls... in the way Hanoians celebrate Tet or elaborate "specialties" of different regions if that is their preference; but they also need to be open-minded if someone chooses a variety of dishes that suit the preferences of family members on the first day of the new year. For each individual and each nuclear family, instead of putting pressure on themselves to do this or that, such as decorating the house to welcome Tet, they should also consider it an opportunity to clean up, to "renew" their living space to make it cleaner and more beautiful. Releasing ourselves and helping each other to relieve pressure will help us feel more relaxed and comfortable when Tet comes.
There should not be a general formula for celebrating the traditional New Year for every family, instead, each individual and each house will have different ways. As life becomes more and more dynamic and changing, we also need to find adaptation based on the balance between modernity and tradition, between concepts from the past and changes in the new lifestyle, to both preserve traditional cultural values and promote and create those values to suit today's life. The rituals and customs set by people on Tet are not immutable. In the depths of Vietnamese consciousness, Tet is an occasion for people to show gratitude to their roots and connect with ancient culture. Tet is an occasion for family members to bond more closely together. Tet is the beginning of a cycle in which we wish ourselves and everyone a good start, a happy and fulfilling new year - that means people no longer only think about themselves, but open their hearts, think more broadly, wishing everyone, first of all family, relatives, then friends, colleagues, good things through New Year's wishes. Rituals and customs are actually just the "shell". The most important part is still the heart of each person. That is formed through years of education in the family, in school, to form personality, behavior with family, relatives, then community, homeland, country, not things that are forced to be done during Tet. If we do that well, it will help us overcome the "formalism" that makes many people "fear" Tet. At that time, people themselves will have "pilgrimages" back to their roots from within their hearts.
According to Nhan Dan Newspaper
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