Tet
Tet marks the Vietnamese New Year, considered the most important holiday and festival of the Vietnamese lunar calendar. Falling between 19 January and 20 February, the festival is celebrated during the first week of the first month of the lunar calendar. The first night of the new moon is considered the most important. Vietnamese view the holiday as a time of renewal and integration that solidifies the family. Tet is essential to Vietnamese cultural identity. During a week of leisure and celebration, people engage in such activities as various as painting and decorating homes, feasting, buying new clothes, visiting pagodas with the family, setting off fireworks, and making offerings and paying reverence to deceased family members. The playing of drums, bells, and gongs marks Tet festivities. Tet is celebrated by Vietnamese around the world.
Further Reading
Hu'u Ngoc. (1997) Tet: The Vietnamese Lunar New Year. Hanoi, Vietnam: The Gio'i Publishers.
This is the complete article, containing 148 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
