Tet memories of veteran female artists

People's Artist Bach Tuyet : The house is still full of pots of braised pork in coconut water, banh chung and banh tet...

For People's Artist Bach Tuyet, Tet is often about the joy of many people rather than for herself: "During Tet, I often rely on the joy of others when they are happy after a long year of running around. I sew new clothes for those who take care of my meals and sleep, give them some gold coins, or new money. Seeing them happy, I am happy. Then I also go around buying red cockscombs, yellow apricots, and raspberry chrysanthemums. A few years later, when I moved to live in the suburbs, I also had the pleasure of going to the neighbor's garden, where a few months ago, people grew marigolds to sell to earn money for Tet. I "begged" to buy and told them not to give them away, but to buy them to put along the hallway, outside the gate. "You opened the shop too expensively, this Tet our family will have a big Tet", with those words of the flower seller, I felt Tet came earlier, warmer and happier".

People's Artist Bach Tuyet

As a woman from the West, born in An Giang, her life is associated with reformed opera , with performances, so in the memory of People's Artist Bach Tuyet, she often welcomes New Year's Eve... on the car: "In the past, I often welcomed New Year's Eve on the car, after the performance serving the people. I felt like on the way home, each star in the sky was the eyes of my mother, the eyes of my teacher, the eyes of many people who raised, taught, loved and even... forgave me. I just went home without knowing it. I remember the last time I sang New Year's Eve was in Hau Giang, just because of the love of the people of Nga Bay Phung Hiep - the name that has gone down in the history of reformed opera music with Tinh anh ban chieu by composer Vien Chau, with the first famous singer Ut Tra On; and also the love of Mr. Sau Tuan (Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan - Director of Hau Giang Television Station at that time). I stood in the middle of a crowd, listening to the echoes of the people's singing in a few lines of modern music. I wish everyone all their wishes/The country is glorious "Light in the peaceful sunshine"…

People's Artist Bach Tuyet also shared that as she gets older, she rarely accepts invitations to sing on New Year's Eve. Social networks allow connections everywhere, so the female artist often "sends close friends" New Year's greetings, words of love, and words of thanks before saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new year. As for her children and grandchildren who live far away, on the night of the 30th, the female artist sends her greetings by phone. She said she still maintains the traditional New Year's family tradition with traditional dishes and wishes: "The house still has enough pots of braised pork in coconut water, bitter melon soup stuffed with meat, banh chung and banh tet, pickled vegetables, and pickled onions. Sometimes it's cooked by neighbors or audiences and given as gifts. The three days of Tet pass peacefully. I only wish for peace and prosperity for the country; for everyone to be healthy, have a successful business, and have a happy life."

People's Artist Tra Giang : TET REUNION AFTER 30 YEARS IN QUANG NGAI

Traveling with her family to many regions from Phan Thiet, to Nha Trang, Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai and then living in Hanoi for nearly 35 years, in the following years, People's Artist Tra Giang chose Ho Chi Minh City to retire. The artist 's childhood was during the 9-year war of resistance, her father was constantly on business trips, transferred from one region to another, taking the whole family with him so Tet was not complete.

People's Artist Tra Giang

At the age of over 80, when talking about Tet, she always remembers the reunion after 30 years in Quang Ngai, when she and her father returned to her paternal hometown to visit her grandmother, aunts and grandchildren. "After liberation, I remember that was the first Tet my father took me to Quang Ngai to meet my grandmother and aunts. During the 3 days of Tet there, my second aunt made me banh thuan for me to eat, later I learned that it was a cake that people in the Central region often make during Tet. Then there was candy, lung sugar, malt candy... But my greatest joy was meeting my grandmother again after more than 30 years. After that Tet, I had to return to Hanoi to continue filming Saint's Day, but the distant memories of that Tet became a source of love and longing for many years after," she said.

After more than 35 years living in the North, according to People's Artist Tra Giang, Northerners are very meticulous in their Tet offerings, they must have all the rituals; while people in the Central region are simpler. "When my parents were still alive, I often went to visit my grandparents on Tet, then bought flowers, bought a tray of five fruits to put on the altar. My parents are from the Central region, Tet is very simple as I saw in Quang Ngai , as long as the family is happy, the children are all there, it is spring. My mother cooks very well, she often soaks bamboo shoots to cook a pot of braised pork with bamboo shoots in advance. During the Tet holidays, if she is too lazy to cook anything, she will heat the pot of bamboo shoots and roll it in rice paper to eat. There were Tet holidays when my wife, I and my daughter often visited the families of People's Artist Thanh An and People's Artist Thanh Huyen, then People's Artist Minh Duc. They showed me how to arrange the offerings, how to arrange the chicken dish beautifully, how to peel the banh chung and cut it with bamboo strips so it doesn't break into pieces, how to arrange a plate of pickles and a plate of ham, which is also quite elaborate, in the Northern style", she recalled.

Meritorious Artist T THANH Q UY: CHILDHOOD TET IN YEN T HAI VILLAGE

Sharing about her Tet memories, Meritorious Artist Thanh Quy recalled some folk songs: "The wind blows the bamboo branches swaying/The sound of Tran Vu bells and Tho Xuong chicken calls/The misty smoke spreads over thousands of mists/The rhythm of Yen Thai pestle, the mirror of West Lake", reminding her of Tet in Yen Thai village (Hanoi): "For me, the Tet of my childhood is the most beautiful. I am a Hanoian, but I did not live in the city but was born and raised in Yen Thai village, an ancient paper-making village. Yen Thai has Buoi market, which opens four times a month, and it is even more crowded during Tet, people from all over come to buy and sell dong leaves, or on the dikes near the market, people hang Dong Ho paintings for sale. There are paintings like Baby hugging carp, Carp watching the moon, Mouse wedding, which are very beautiful, with shimmering colors all over the dike. I often go there with my sister to admire them".

Meritorious Artist Thanh Quy

In the childhood memories of Tet as a "poor child", Meritorious Artist Thanh Quy clearly remembers the rose-patterned shirt that her mother made for her to wear when she was 8 or 9 years old. It was a short-sleeved shirt because there was not enough fabric. In the cold weather of Tet in the North, the female artist took a bath and put on a new shirt on the afternoon of the 30th, the shirt still smelled of starch because she did not dare to wash it, standing outside the small alley just to show off the new shirt. "One year, my mother said: "You two should work hard to collect duckweed and vegetables that people throw away to feed the pigs. I will buy you a shirt for Tet." But that year, my mother paid off all her debts so she couldn't buy a new shirt, so I cried. My family was poor and had many siblings, so my mother prepared for Tet during the year. Sometimes, when she came home from somewhere, she would have some dried bamboo shoots to hang in the kitchen, some mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms... On Tet, there was always a pot of vermicelli, a pot of bamboo shoot soup, a pot of banh chung, and buy some dong leaves... The whole family washed dong leaves, soaked rice that the State sold per capita, and then wrapped the cakes. There wasn't much firewood, and some years there wasn't enough firewood, so the pot of banh chung wasn't very good. During the subsidy period, the State sold each family a bag of Tet goods, including a package of tea, a box of jam, candy, and cakes...", she recalled.

"Back then, in my village, there was an old lady who, after the New Year's Eve, would carry water to each house with New Year's greetings, as if to bring prosperity and happiness to each family. My mother would prepare a full New Year's Eve offering tray from the evening. The offering tray was in the house and in the yard. On time, she would wear a beautiful velvet ao dai. The children had to bathe in clean coriander leaves and then stand behind her, watch her light incense, pray to heaven and earth, and ancestors, then pray along," Meritorious Artist Thanh Quy added about the New Year's traditions that are deeply imprinted in her memory.

Later, when she had her own family and lived with her daughter in Hanoi, Meritorious Artist Thanh Quy still kept the habit of wrapping banh chung for Tet, because she craved the smell of kitchen smoke and the aroma of banh chung and also wanted her children and neighbors to sit and boil the pot of banh chung to recall the feeling of Tet in the past. "Later, on the 30th night, I still worship New Year's Eve, but simply, only vegetarian because my house is short of people. On the 30th night, I also have an outdoor offering tray, then burn incense inside the house with a plate of sticky rice with gac fruit, banh chung, and an oil lamp (kerosene, red light bulb). I like the smell of the oil lamp, the red light like on my mother's offering tray in the past, instead of using candles. Every New Year's Eve, after burning incense, I go up to the terrace, looking at the sky and earth around me. In the North, there is drizzle, every spring, the mist is light, not making me wet. So I just cry, tears flow, right at the moment of uncertainty, this side and that side... both missing and regretting the passing of time. Now that I'm old, crying on New Year's Day is not good, so I gave up that habit, just watching Tao Quan, drinking a cup of tea, then mother and child wish each other a happy new year," she shared.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mien-ky-uc-tet-cua-nhung-nu-nghe-si-gao-coi-185250106174252318.htm