In December, the northeast monsoon winds continuously blew. The cold wind penetrated every fiber of the flesh. In the village fields, a few farmers put on raincoats to cover their bodies, trying to plow and hoe to prepare for planting crops. Tet was approaching, but they could not rest, because January and February were very long. The harvest season in March still haunted the farmers in my hometown.
Although the farm work is still very busy, they are already thinking about Tet. There are so many things to worry about. Tet is coming, the children need new clothes. There must be a tray of five fruits on the ancestral altar. Then there are banh chung, pickled onions, parallel sentences... also need a large amount of money. All year round, they save up pigs and chickens, saving the best sticky rice for Tet. But they have to sell some to get money for shopping. Country people do not need many flowers and flashing lights to celebrate Tet. What they need most is a fat pig, a few live castrated chickens and a dozen kilos of fragrant sticky rice.
I still remember the simple Tet in my hometown, but full of village love and neighborly affection. A whole month before Tet, my father had taken the trouble to ferment the wine enough for several days to celebrate Tet and receive guests. A very beautiful cultural feature is that during Tet, villagers spend time visiting each other's houses with warm feelings. Whenever a guest comes to wish Tet, the host will prepare a tray of food with all the flavors of Tet to invite the guests. The wishes of a full new year, big pig, lots of rice, good health for the host, a peaceful and warm life. Just a piece of banh chung, a cup of strong wine to bring good luck for the new year, and everyone is happy.
The happiest and most exciting time of Tet in the countryside is when the family has a fat pig to slaughter. The entrails will be processed into dishes and cannot lack blood pudding and pork sausage. The first sumptuous meal of Tet always contains many emotions. The plate of pig entrails and fragrant boiled meat gives us children a satisfying meal, making up for the stinginess of the whole year. Neighbors and neighbors often come to help slaughter the pig. And the joyful feast spreads full of affection. The aftertaste of Tet in the village spreads through the neighborhoods. The fragrant aroma of sticky rice from pots of banh chung sticks in the minds of the villagers.
In my family, my mother usually wraps banh chung on the eve of Tet. The family has many children, but few workers, so we are not well-off. We are always hungry. Therefore, my mother is afraid that if we wrap the banh chung early, we will run out of banh chung before the 3rd day of Tet. Even though we have to wait, we are very eager to help my mother wrap the banh chung. The basket of white rice and the green beans have been cleaned of their shells. My mother carefully folds each leaf, measures each bowl of rice, and packs all the hard work into each banh chung. On the eve of Tet, my father often prepares a basin to mix lime water and paint it on the tree roots around the house. In front of the gate, my father uses lime powder to draw crossbows, swords and knives to ward off evil spirits...
Unlike the bustling, colorful lights and flowers in the city, Tet in the village has its own unique flavor, warm and intimate. During Tet, every house sets up a pole in front of the house and hangs symbols of prosperity and happiness on the pole. These symbols are made from red cloth or colored paper, making the image of Tet in the countryside more impressive. During Tet, the village often organizes many fun and healthy folk games.
Villagers often choose a flat and spacious dry field in the center to make a soccer field and set up a shuttlecock. On the morning of the first day of Tet, we children, dressed in new clothes, ran around the village and gathered to play traditional games such as: playing shuttlecock, playing marbles, playing tops, and playing mock battles. Young men and women played cockfighting, tug of war, walking on stilts, and throwing shuttlecocks. The elderly gathered around the fire, sipping wine, chatting about village and country stories, business stories, farming stories, etc.
Tet is different in each place, but Tet in the village still retains many traditional features of the Vietnamese people. No matter where we go, we still remember the Tet of our homeland, warm with human love and love of the countryside.
According to Tuyen Quang Weekend Newspaper
Source: https://baophutho.vn/tet-que-226493.htm
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