Giving New Year's lucky money (also known as "li xi") has become a beautiful cultural tradition in Vietnam. Brand-new banknotes placed in red envelopes symbolize good fortune and peace for both the elderly and children. I will never forget the memories of Tet (Vietnamese New Year) of the past. Right after the firecrackers crackled by the glowing embers, my grandfather would call his grandchildren together, smile, and give each of us a red envelope, patting each of us on the head and offering a meaningful blessing. Afterwards, my parents and uncles would respectfully give New Year's lucky money back to my grandparents, wishing them happiness and good health… During Tet, when guests came to visit, the adults would take out red envelopes and give them to the children. I was always excited about the red envelopes the adults gave me at the beginning of the year. My mother would put the money inside into my piggy bank. Sometimes it was used to buy books and school supplies, sometimes to buy new clothes, and sometimes to donate to those in need…
As I grew older, and Tet holidays passed one after another, it was my turn to give lucky money to the children. My old belief remained: the amount of money wasn't important; what mattered was the affection and love I gave them. Therefore, the value of the lucky money envelopes was kept at a moderate level. However, an incident left me in a difficult situation. Last year, when I went back to my hometown for Tet, on the first day of the year, quite a few children from the neighborhood came to visit – about 15 of them. I went into the room and put a crisp 20,000 dong note in each red envelope, saying, "Auntie is giving you lucky money." The children cheered upon receiving the envelopes: "We love it! Thank you, Auntie!" But immediately after tearing open the envelopes and pulling out the 20,000 dong notes, one child threw the envelope to the ground, shoved the money into the hand of the accompanying adult, and looked disappointed. The adults hurriedly led their children home, and even after leaving the gate, I could still hear them whispering, "City people only give 20,000 dong as New Year's gifts. Not worth it." I was stunned. That whole Tet holiday, I didn't dare go anywhere because I was afraid of the "curse" of giving New Year's gifts. If you gave too much, you didn't have enough money; if you gave too little, you'd hear sarcastic remarks...
And that same Tet holiday, as usual, after the New Year's Eve ceremony, I gave out red envelopes of money to the children in the family. Each child received 200,000 dong, while the parents and grandparents each received 500,000 dong. Then it was my sister-in-law's turn. Without needing an envelope, she immediately pulled out a stack of 500,000 dong bills, still in their original serial numbers, and gave each child two bills, and the adults present four bills each. The children exclaimed excitedly, chanting, "Auntie, five times more than Uncle!" I just smiled, but my husband clearly showed his displeasure.
Nowadays, giving lucky money is no longer just a New Year's tradition; it has been distorted for various other purposes. It's an opportunity to repay favors to those who have helped them; a chance to bribe superiors; a place to show off status, flaunt wealth, and prove one is "rich." And inadvertently, lucky money, once a childish gift, has become a "debt" for adults…
A beautiful custom, a cultural tradition of the Lunar New Year, has been distorted by the misguided views of adults, causing children to not understand the meaning of New Year's money and only care about the denomination of the money they receive, showing joy or disappointment each time they open the envelope. Therefore, I always try to teach my child about the meaning of the New Year's gift-giving custom, to appreciate the red envelopes given by adults, not to open them in public, not to compare the amount, and not to care about who gave them more or less money... So, even though she is 6 years old and in first grade, she is very excited whenever she receives a red envelope, and she only accepts New Year's money from adults when it is placed in an envelope. Those envelopes are carefully stored in a pretty paper box, and only on the last day of the Tet holiday are they taken out to count how many red envelopes she has received, not how much money she has received during Tet. Many people say my daughter is "naive," but I think differently. I just want her to retain her innocence and purity, and I only hope that giving lucky money – a beautiful custom – will not become a harmful tradition.
Article by: Tue Anh
Illustrative image: Archival material
