The last afternoon of the year - the last moments of preparation for the new year, many families still have the habit of boiling "medicinal" water to bathe. Not from those luxuries, they are all simple, rustic leaves such as: soapberry, old coriander, grapefruit peel, grapefruit leaves, lemongrass leaves... Bathing in herbal water at the end of the year is a popular custom, also a beautiful cultural feature that many families preserve and maintain to this day.
Going through the old years, people tend to reminisce about the coming of Tet, especially in today's modern life when everything is abundant. Some people remember the smell of Tet, the smell of dong leaves, sticky rice, peach blossoms, kumquat trees... For me, among all the things to remember about Tet, there is also an additional smell, the aroma of soapberry, of leaves mixed with many other things in a pot of steaming bath water by the fire on the last afternoon of the year, placed next to the pot of banh chung.
Ms. Dung and her children prepare leaves to boil water.
Every late autumn, when the soapberry is in harvest season, carrying a basket to the local market, the women and mothers in the countryside all choose to buy bunches of fresh soapberry to store, put the soapberry in the kitchen, dry it to prevent termites, and can be stored for use all year round. My mother said that soapberry is used to fumigate the house, to wash hair, and I don't know since when, in places like Lam Thao district, my hometown, many families still have the custom of boiling bath water at the end of the year from soapberry, coriander and many other types of leaves.
My village is located on the banks of the Red River, where there are alluvial flats that are built up after each flood season. There, people often "break the ground" to grow vegetables during the dry season, especially around Tet. Small plots of land are still used to keep the coriander bushes blooming and old, waiting until the late afternoon of the year when each family cuts a bunch to bring home, wash and boil water for bathing.
Maintaining this habit for many years, Ms. Nguyen Kim Dung, Xuan Huy commune, Lam Thao district shared: "Although life is becoming more and more modern, shower gel and shampoo are skin and hair care products used daily instead of natural leaves, but I still personally cook a pot of mixed water from leaves for the whole family to use because I want to preserve the old things, so that my children can understand and love the traditional culture of the family in particular and the village in general."
Coriander is used to boil bath water when it has flowers and dark stems.
Because soapberry has cleansing properties, it has foam similar to natural soap. Therefore, when there was no soap like today, people in the past often used soapberry to boil water to wash their hair. As for coriander, in addition to being a familiar spice in daily meals, old coriander is also known for its many benefits for health and soul, helping to ward off bad luck, bringing luck and purity to the family in the new year.
The coriander chosen to make bath water must be the old coriander that has bloomed, the stem has changed from green to purple-brown and when boiled, it gives off a fragrant, spicy, very unique scent. Perhaps that is why these leaves when mixed together leave a long-lasting fragrance. Not only is it an old custom, bathing with these leaves also has very good effects on health and blood circulation.
Soapberry, coriander, grapefruit peel, and lemongrass leaves are indispensable ingredients in the pot of water for bathing at the end of the year.
The elders in the village always tell their children and grandchildren that soapberry and old smell will dispel the bad luck of the old year and welcome a new year. Each person, bathing in a pot of herbal water with a strong, warm fragrance on the last day of the old year, feels like seeing unsatisfied, incomplete things or lingering sadness in the heart being released, so that they are ready to welcome the joy of the new year.
Soapberry, coriander leaves... with the characteristic flavor of the homeland also remind each person of their origin, of their roots, no matter where they go, what they do, they still remember to return home after a year of wandering, busy with food, clothes, rice, money to welcome a complete Tet, reunited with loved ones.
Vy An
Source: https://baophutho.vn/thom-huong-bo-ket-226908.htm
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