5 taboos during Cold Food Festival (March 3rd lunar calendar)
(Baonghean.vn) - On the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month every year, in addition to the meaning of returning to one's roots, this is the Cold Food Festival, which in Vietnam is also considered a festival to honor the beauty of women. Vietnamese families often prepare plates of banh troi and banh chay to respectfully offer to the ancestral altar.
Although originating from China, the Vietnamese Cold Food Festival is not to commemorate Zitui but to mark the transition of all things, preparing to enter summer. Below are the taboos on this day:
1. Avoid fire:
In ancient times, on the Cold Food Festival, every household did not light a fire to cook hot food but prepared cold food. However, today, Vietnamese people still cook normally and use banh troi and banh chay with the symbolic meaning of cold food (cold food).
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| Vietnamese families often prepare plates of banh troi and banh chay to respectfully offer to their ancestors' altars on the Cold Food Festival. Illustration photo/Source: Internet |
2. Avoid salty foods:
During the first days of the third lunar month, families often abstain from meat and eat vegetarian food to avoid killing, so that the souls of deceased relatives can easily be liberated.
3. Avoid offering five-color sticky rice balls and vegetarian cakes.
According to Dr. Nguyen Anh Hong - a cultural expert, Vietnamese banh troi is also different from Chinese banh troi. Traditional banh troi is made from white, round, pure sticky rice flour, coated with sugar inside.
Since ancient times, this white cake has also appeared in the poems of poet Ho Xuan Huong, associated with the status and good qualities of Vietnamese women such as: diligence, purity, sacrifice, hard work... Therefore, in addition to the meaning of returning to the roots, the Cold Food Festival in Vietnam is also considered a festival to honor the beauty of women.
Nowadays, many families often "prefer" colorful vegetarian banh troi to burn incense and offer to their ancestors. However, according to Dr. Nguyen Anh Hong, this is not true to the origin and meaning of the Cold Food Festival.
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| Colorful banh troi do not match the origin and meaning of Han Thuc festival. Illustration photo/Internet source |
4. It is not necessary to offer lavish offerings:
Dr. Nguyen Anh Hong also said that on this holiday, families do not need to prepare "high trays, full dishes", or display expensive procedures, but only need to be sincere, offer banh troi and chay to the altar of grandparents and ancestors, and pray for good things and peace in life.
5. Avoid moving house:
Vietnamese people believe that “the earthly life is like the afterlife”, after relatives pass away, their souls still exist and follow their loved ones on earth, moving house will affect the “soul” of the deceased. Therefore, on the Cold Food Festival (related to the Qingming Festival), Vietnamese people avoid moving house.
