Lunar New Year Festival often falls between late January and early February; it is among the most important holidays in Vietnam. Officially, the festival includes the 1st, 2nd and 3rd day of January in Lunar Calendar; however, Vietnamese people often spend about nearly a month to celebrate this special event.
Since Tet occupies an important role in Vietnamese’s religious beliefs, Vietnamese will begin their preparations well in advance of the upcoming New Year. In an effort to get rid of the bad luck of the old year, people will spend a few days cleaning their homes, polishing every utensil, or even repaint and decorate the house with kumquat tree, branches of peach blossom, and many other colorful flowers. The ancestral altar is especially taken care of, with careful decoration of five kinds of fruits and votive papers, along with many religious rituals. Everybody, especially children, buy new clothes and shoes to wear on the first days of New Year. People also try to pay all their pending debts and resolve all the arguments among colleagues, friends or members of family.
Vietnamese believe that the color of red and yellow will bring good fortune, which may explain why these colors can be seen everywhere in Lunar New Year. People consider what they do on the dawn of Tet will determine their fate for the whole year, hence people always smile and behave as nice as they can in the hope for a better year. Besides, gifts are exchanged between family members and friends and relatives, while children receive lucky money kept in red envelope. No matter where Tet is celebrated, it must be clarified from the beginning that Tet is not a day, but several days of celebration.
1. When is Lunar New Year celebrated officially?
2. How long do people often spend to celebrate it?
3. What kind of plants do people use to decorate the house during this festival?
4. Who usually wear new clothes and shoes on the first days of New Year?
5. What color will bring good fortune according to Vietnamese’s belief?
6. What do children often receive at Tet?
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Sinh Học lớp 12
