Where people abstain from giving lucky money on the first day of Tet

The Mong people can be said to be an ethnic group that still preserves many unique cultural identities, especially customs during Tet and Spring.

On the afternoon of the 30th of Tet, people cut out pieces of paper that they made themselves and stick them everywhere in the house, on tables, chairs, and on pillars to pray for good luck and a peaceful new year. At around 4 pm, everyone in the family gathers at the village stadium to hold a village worship ceremony.

The head of the family holds a chicken and leads the group around a large pile of cogon grass, in the middle of which is a tung xong tree (a type of softwood tree) to offer to send off the old year and invite the gods of the new year to celebrate Tet. Then everyone returns home to prepare the altar and kill a chicken to call in the new year.

Mong people prepare the altar to celebrate Tet. Photo: Dao Tho

According to Mr. Lau Xai Phia, residing in Nam Khien 2 village (Nam Can commune - Ky Son), in the past, most Mong people had a flintlock gun in their house, so they all fired it into the sky to signal the sacred moment of the year had come. When the gun was fired, it was also the time when children gathered to give lucky money to their parents.

Mong men and women happily throw pao during Tet. Photo: Archive

The Mong people's New Year's gift does not require money, as long as the child brings a bottle of wine, a chicken, or a plate of sticky rice to their parents to wish them good health and bless their children and grandchildren.

“In the past, there were guns, so every year, the lucky money ceremony took place exactly when the gun went off. Now, without the gun signal, this custom no longer takes place at the right time. Sometimes, children go out until the 3rd or 4th day of the New Year before returning to congratulate their parents,” said Mr. Xai Phia.

Panpipe dance to express love in Spring. Photo: Dao Tho

On the first morning of Tet, everyone in the village visits each other and brings their best wishes. The elderly sit around the fire, eat sticky rice cakes, drink corn wine, and chat about the old year and advise each other on how to do business in the new year; men and women dress up in their best traditional costumes and go out to the yard to play the flute and throw the pao to find a wife or husband.

The sounds of leaf and lip pipes echoed throughout the mountains and forests. And so the Tet holiday continued day after day.

For the Khmu ethnic community, their own New Year (ie Gơ Rơ) is celebrated at the end of November (lunar calendar), but during the common traditional New Year of the ethnic group, the Khmu people still retain their own unique features in the identity of their community.

Khmu people celebrate Tet with rice wine. Photo: Dao Tho

Mr. Moong Pho Hoan in Cha Ca village (Bao Thang commune - Ky Son) said that on the evening of the 30th of Tet, the Khmu people prepare a jar of rice wine to welcome the New Year. In the past, the Khmu people did not have clocks, so everyone took turns staying awake to hear the rooster crow to welcome the New Year.

When the rooster crows to signal the arrival of the new year, family members gather around the jar of rice wine to drink together, wishing each other good health and a good harvest. And more specially, from the moment of entering the first day until the end of the day, the Khmu people are not allowed to step out of their houses.

The sacred kitchen on Tet holiday. Photo: Dao Tho

“That’s why, on the first day of the new year, we don’t give lucky money to anyone and we can’t go to other people’s houses. Because if we give lucky money on that day, we will lose our luck for the whole year and if we go to other people’s houses, we are afraid that it will bring bad luck to them,” Mr. Pho Hoan added.

According to Mr. Hoan, after the first day of the new year, the Khmu people give lucky money to the elderly and children. Whoever has money or gifts, the amount of gift is not important, it depends on the heart.

Ancestor worshiping tray on Tet holiday of Khmu people. Photo: Dao Tho

Thus, it can be seen that the ethnic communities in Western Nghe An have their own characteristics during Tet. This is also what creates the richness in the cultural identity of the ethnic groups in the highlands.