Vietnamese Tet (Lunar New Year) and the story of "Vietnamese people being ignorant about Vietnamese culture"

Because they are always obsessed with the idea that Vietnam is influenced by Chinese culture, they assume that everything is imported from China. Few dare to consider that Chinese customs were influenced by Vietnamese customs.

In the West, most people call the Lunar New Year (the transitional period between the old and new years) the Chinese New Year, because they believe the Lunar Calendar was created by the Chinese and that the festivals and customs of the New Year also originated in China. That's normal; even many Vietnamese people think this way, let alone Europeans and Americans. However, it's a misunderstanding, and it's the Vietnamese themselves who are making that misunderstanding even worse.

"Mừng tuổi" is a common Vietnamese term referring to a custom during Tet (Lunar New Year): giving relatives a symbolic "gift" or "money," or sometimes just a greeting to "celebrate another year older." (Illustrative image)

Let's do a test: type the word "Lì Xì" into the Google search engine. The results returned from the open encyclopedia Wikipedia explain it as follows: "Lì xì" originates from the Chinese word 利市 (lì shì). This word is transliterated in pinyin as lì shì.

Next, we type "Mừng Tuổi" (Giving Lucky Money) into Google, and the Wikipedia link about Lucky Money appears first. Many Vietnamese people click on it to read and believe it. This is so perfect that many people conclude: "Lucky Money, or Giving Lucky Money, is a New Year's custom originating from China."

Let me explain the difference between "Lì Xì" and "Mừng Tuổi". "Mừng Tuổi" is a common Vietnamese term referring to a custom during Tet (Lunar New Year): giving relatives a symbolic "gift" or "money" or sometimes just a wish to "celebrate another year older".

"Lì Xì" is a term commonly used in Southern Vietnam. This term was introduced from China when Chinese immigrants came to Vietnam. It refers to giving someone (on any day, not just Tet) a red envelope containing a symbolic amount of money as a wish for "good luck and prosperity."

Putting that aside, what's the important point here? It's that most of us "learn about our nation's culture and history through Google." If you want to know the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival, you Google it, and Google says it's from China. If you want to know the origin of the Kitchen God, you Google it, and Google answers "from China." Even if you want to know where Kinh Duong Vuong came from, you Google it, and it says he's descended from a deity in China.

"Lì xì" refers to the act of giving someone (on any day, not just Tet) a red envelope containing a symbolic amount of money as a wish for "good luck and prosperity" (Illustrative image).

"Our people must know our history. If we don't know something, we can Google it," a joke, but sadly, it's proving true. It's not Google's fault; it's just a search engine based on pre-existing content. Nor is it fate's fault. Perhaps it's the superficiality in our approach to our national culture and history, or perhaps it's the "cultural slave mentality" of those who create content on the internet.

Why is it called "cultural slavery mindset"? Because their common formula is as follows: To find out the origin of a custom in Vietnam => Look for similar customs in China => If there are, conclude "That custom originated in China." Because they are always obsessed with the idea that Vietnam is influenced by Chinese culture, they assume everything is imported from China. Few dare to consider that Chinese customs are influenced by Vietnamese customs, or that some customs of the two countries are independent and unrelated.

They draw conclusions with such a "slave" mindset without actually conducting serious research, not even bothering to find out when Vietnamese customs originated to make a chronological comparison, which is the most basic step in studying cultural influence. None of the Vietnamese academic historical documents (archaeological, anthropological, ancient texts, etc.) that I've read make such vague conclusions.

Genuine historians, who have posed historical questions for decades, only dare to offer hypotheses as "provisional answers," not to mention that their hypotheses are built upon massive research projects, delving into every nook and cranny, excavating every piece of land, reading every word in ancient texts, and cherishing every bone sample and artifact.

Our nation has endured countless ups and downs, resulting in many ambiguities and gaps in the flow of history, leaving behind numerous mysteries that are difficult to unravel. However, we cannot, because of these difficulties, hastily assume and explain everything based on the cultural influence of a nation that is the very culprit behind the earth-shattering impact on our nation's journey.

In this article, I will not present arguments or evidence to conclude that the Vietnamese people have their own unique Tet holiday, unaffected by foreign influences. I want you, like me, to seek out official documents (perhaps even rereading the story of Banh Chung and Banh Giay right now), serious scientific research on the history and culture of our nation, and then draw your own conclusions. You can use Google, but use it wisely; it's a tool, not your master.

The Vietnamese tradition of making banh chung and banh day (traditional rice cakes) dates back a very long time (Illustrative image).

I just want to say two things:

1. You haven't properly understood the true significance of our nation's original culture.

Do you think the Rice Civilization is just about rice? No, it also encompasses the techniques of making agricultural tools (archaeology shows that from ancient times we had plowshares made of bronze and many other types of agricultural tools, and even more advanced techniques of bronze casting), the techniques of domesticating livestock (buffaloes, cows), the techniques of water management (the legend of Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh), the cuisine, cultural festivals, and methods of calculating agricultural timing...

Bronze Age civilization, which developed very early and flourished in Vietnam, besides the Bronze Drums, if you were to see images of ancient artifacts (whose age has been determined by spectroscopy) from the Hung King era, you would surely exclaim "how exquisite!" and you would have no doubt about the remarkable development of our ancestors at that time. What did the ancient Vietnamese do with bronze axes? They built houses. What did they do with bronze arrowheads? They had feasts with wild game. What did they do with bronze swords? They built an army. And thousands of other artifacts can show you the prosperous and rich life of the inhabitants of Van Lang.

What would you think if I said that back then, Vietnamese people only wore loincloths and lived in caves and wore animal skins? You should be skeptical, because research from ancient Dong Ho paintings and bronze statues (belonging to the Dong Son culture) has shown that the clothing of Vietnamese people at that time was not much different from the clothing of women in Northern Vietnam about 100 years ago.

Furthermore, the discovery of bronze drums with similar patterns but of a more recent age in neighboring countries proves that there was extensive trade. The re-engraved boats are evidence of the ancient origins of fishing. When we fish, grow rice, etc., we have meals without having to go into the forest, while others have to toil on horseback hoping for a naive deer to fall at sunset. Who is the real barbarian?

I'm not sure where the lunar calendar originated, but I know that I can tell the time by the length of my shadow and the degree of waxing or waning of the moon. How much more so could our ancestors, the creators of a brilliant rice-based civilization, have done the same?

If there is any nation that needs a calendar (a way of dividing time in its cyclical nature), it is the Vietnamese, because no profession needs it more than agriculture. The Vietnamese may not have invented the lunar calendar, but certainly, even before the lunar calendar existed or arrived in Vietnam, they used another type of calendar, perhaps a formalized one, or one based on experience, oral tradition, or symbolic drawings. They certainly knew how often the cold winter weather would repeat, and how many full moons occurred during that period.

The patterns on the Dong Son bronze drums reflect, to some extent, the life of ancient Vietnamese people (Illustrative image).

2. You don't fully understand Vietnamese people (you don't understand yourself either).

Most ancient texts from the North (including those by Confucius), aside from the places where they refer to the people of the South as barbarians, share a common point: "the people of the South are gentle and kind, they like to dye their teeth, get tattoos, and enjoy singing and dancing." This is certainly true; people who spend their days working in the fields and by the rivers are naturally gentle, kind, straightforward, and simple-minded.

That also explains why we were easily invaded and colonized for a thousand years, but a strong cultural heritage explains why, after a thousand years of colonization, we not only did not forget our origins but also accumulated a spirit of defending our territory and the survival of our race more intensely than any other nation.

Studies of the patterns on the Bronze Drums suggest that these images reflect the activities of the people throughout the year, according to the seasons. Festivals (praying for rain, fertility, etc.) were held between harvest seasons (when farmers are idle), and of course, our Tet (Lunar New Year) is no exception; you can see that after the Lunar New Year today, a new harvest season begins.

When you think of bronze drums, you might imagine an ancient artifact, but back then they were musical instruments—not just instruments, but instruments used in community life. Gongs, bells, drums, clappers... were all communal musical instruments and had existed since the time of the Hung Kings. What did people do with such instruments? Of course, they danced. Some bronze drums even had handles on their surfaces, possibly for attaching ropes and carrying them around during processions.

Vietnamese people have a particular love for music (not only musical instruments but also genres like folk songs, chants, and courtship songs) and festivals. And it is these traditional festivals that shape Vietnamese culture.

In conclusion:

Our culture may have been heavily influenced by Chinese culture, but let's be proud that our ancestors created a foundation strong enough for Vietnamese culture to thrive without borrowing. I often say that when you grow up eating rice, sticky rice, banh chung (rice cakes), vermicelli, pho, banh uot (steamed rice rolls), banh beo (steamed rice cakes), banh xeo (Vietnamese savory pancakes), banh khot (miniature savory pancakes)... (dishes made from rice), you were nurtured by a rice-based civilization. It's all around you, everywhere; feel it. When you see yourself living within it, you are Vietnamese, and even if you watch Japanese movies, listen to Korean music, wear Chinese-style makeup, or dress Western-style, you don't lose yourself. We have everything we need to build national pride.

According to Infonet