Keep the beauty of the first writing of the year

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ty in village 16, Kim Phu commune ( Tuyen Quang city) has turned 86 this year, but she is still very clear-headed and has the habit of teaching her grandchildren in her family how to write. So every New Year, in addition to introducing her children and grandchildren to the origin of our ancestors' custom of writing the first letter of the new year, she also tells her children and grandchildren to pay attention to their letters, to write cleanly and beautifully so that others will enjoy reading them. She said that handwriting reflects a person's character, so it should not be written carelessly or roughly, each stroke of the letter seems to express the writer's thoughts with many wishes or messages...

"The teacher" writes calligraphy at the beginning of the year.

According to historical records, the custom of writing the first letter of the spring began to appear around the 13th century, associated with the image of teacher Chu Van An who went to Chi Linh ( Hai Duong ) to open a class. The custom of writing the first letter of the spring is not a mandatory ritual during Tet, but for a long time, it has been maintained as a beautiful traditional cultural feature of the Vietnamese people. In the past, people often saw scholars, scholars... performing the elaborate writing ceremony.

After the New Year's Eve ceremony, they will burn incense at the writing desk and pick up a pen to write beautiful parallel sentences and meaningful words on red paper or fairy paper. However, nowadays, life is becoming more and more hectic, the custom of writing the first words of spring has also changed a lot and is no longer as strong as before. However, for many families, especially students, writers, poets, ... this custom is still preserved. Because in addition to the values of Truth - Goodness - Beauty, writing the first words of spring also has a profound humanistic meaning. It not only symbolizes the beginning of a career, study but also conveys many thoughts and wishes for a smooth, happy and successful new year.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hai in Hoang Khai commune (Yen Son) said that the custom of writing the first stroke of the pen at the beginning of spring is a beautiful custom at the beginning of the year, so everyone in his family is very supportive. Before writing, his father always explains in detail to his children and grandchildren the profound meaning of the custom of writing the first stroke of the pen. Mr. Hai added that at the beginning of the new year, officials open their seals, merchants open their shops, farmers open their fields, and scholars open their pens. The first stroke of the pen for a year often carries with it the wish for peace and luck.

According to research on documents related to the Vietnamese custom of writing the first letter of spring, it is believed that writing the first letter is to open the mind, open the mind, open the profession, open the career... In many famous "learning lands" of our country such as: Thai Binh, Hai Phong , Nam Dinh, Nghe An... the writing opening ceremony is often held at the beginning of the new spring and has had a great effect in reminding the younger generation to promote the tradition of studiousness, thanks to which many people have strived to practice and study and become talented people.

The beauty of opening the pen and seal at the beginning of spring in some places has become a festival that attracts many tourists from all over the world to participate. In Tuyen Quang, the opening of the pen and asking for the first words of the year are also held at famous temples or spring market areas. Those who give the words are usually those who know Chinese characters and are highly educated and knowledgeable.

Painter Mai Hung, former Chairman of the Provincial Literature and Arts Association, said that the custom of writing the first lines of spring is a beautiful cultural feature of the Vietnamese people that has existed for a long time. Through the first lines of spring, people often send their wishes for a new year full of health, luck and happiness.

Through each stroke of writing at the beginning of the year full of vitality of family members will show the effort and solidarity to complete the plans in the new year. Therefore, the custom of writing the first stroke of the spring is a beautiful cultural feature in the new spring that needs to be preserved and promoted to educate today's young generation about the importance of studying to strive to conquer new knowledge of humanity.

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