Cultural elements in Tet gifts

Gifts of remembrance, gifts of affection

Ms. Minh Trang, 40 years old, clearly felt the warm smile of her former teacher, who is over 70, when she came to wish her a Happy New Year. The simple gift basket she and her classmates chose contained nutritional supplements and a new book that won the National Book Award. "Since she's from Hanoi , we chose the book ' Who Else Sings About Hanoi' by Hanoi scholar Nguyen Truong Quy. She was very happy after reading it and asked us to remember to give her more books about Hanoi next time," Ms. Minh Trang said.

According to experts, giving gifts is giving culture.

Giving books as gifts, though still sporadic and not widespread, has become a popular gift-giving trend. However, this trend has led many publishing houses to regularly release books for Tet (Lunar New Year) in recent years. Among them, Dong A Publishing Company often collaborates with the Literature Publishing House to release Tet books before the Lunar New Year. This year, the Tet Book of the Year of the Dragon 2024 , an anthology of literature, poetry, music, and art on the themes of spring and Tet, is compiled by these two publishers and features content selected by writer Ho Anh Thai.

Gift designers have also been creating spring-themed designs for many years. These designs often relate to the zodiac animals. For products already familiar to the market, the owners sometimes change the packaging to suit the occasion. Meanwhile, some companies with good products and packaging designs that have stood the test of time continue to maintain their unique cultural elements in their products.

Designer Le Huy (Lam Phong brand) this year presents a gift set called "The Story of the Dragon ," featuring an egg and a dragon hatching from it. According to designer Le Huy, the dragon egg is made of fragrant wood and traditional lacquer. The eggshell features stylized cloud and fire patterns inspired by the designs on the stone steps of the Kinh Thien Palace, a national treasure. The swirling clouds also evoke the image of a dragon, as if the dragon meets the clouds and the clouds transform into a dragon. "It's a wish for favorable weather, a bountiful harvest, good fortune, and prosperity," the designer stated.

As in previous years, designer Le Huy's gifts continue to come in many versions with different materials. This year, the small dragon is made from two materials: brass and solid silver, entirely handcrafted. When placed on top, the dragon appears to be soaring from the egg in the "Thang Long" pose, or when placed on the base to admire the giant egg, it can be positioned at any angle. On the egg, shimmering gold veins flow, a golden mark of a thousand years of tradition.

A gift version of the Buddha statue was made based on the original statue at Phat Tich Temple.

Hai Gom, a ceramic artist, has designs related to dragons, such as ceramic dragon boats and ceramic dragon mascots. This artist and designer was recently honored by the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports for his contributions to the 2023 Creative Design Week. Hai Gom's products feature traditional glazes but with an open-minded spirit. With dragons, he creates innovative designs that give the mythical creature a stronger folk character.

Meanwhile, the Be Ca restaurant, with its focus on family-style cuisine, continues to offer Tet gift baskets and traditional Tet feasts. This year, Ms. Thu Huong, the owner, has expanded to include Southern and Central Vietnamese dishes, but Hanoi-style feasts remain the main offerings. She maintains the tradition of packaging Tet gift baskets in brightly colored red and pink woven bamboo boxes.

The cultural stream never runs dry.

Ms. Thu Huong said that in recent years, the design of gifts has received much more attention. Therefore, Tet gift baskets have taken on more cultural significance. Gift baskets containing food are often packaged with small ceramic figurines, or accompanied by elaborate bamboo or lacquer boxes. However, even with this gift trend, there are specific considerations such as cost and the reusability of the packaged items.

The Lunar New Year book has been produced regularly for the past 6 years.

Dragon Story Design

"If a few banh chung (Vietnamese rice cakes) are packaged in boxes adorned with overly elaborate dragon designs, it will significantly increase the product's price. This is something manufacturers often have to consider. Or, an overly ornate box might not suit the recipient's interior design. When choosing packaging methods, I prefer using bamboo and rattan boxes because they can be reused for other items, and the cost is reasonable," said Ms. Thu Huong. Following this trend, another brand, Quay & Nuong Ki Lo, puts vacuum-sealed bags of roasted meat into a bamboo basket. This basket can then be reused as a fashionable handbag.

Mr. Nguyen Nguyen, Director of the Publishing, Printing and Distribution Department (Ministry of Information and Communications), said that this year, after the National Book Awards, many businesses and agencies contacted him for advice on the award-winning books. "They want to include the award-winning books in Tet gift baskets. That's a positive sign, and we immediately provided advice," Mr. Nguyen Nguyen shared. According to Mr. Nguyen, such signals indicate opportunities for developing a reading culture. He also noted that leaders are increasingly using books as gifts.

Associate Professor Bui Hoai Son, Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education , believes that recently, there has been a clear trend towards gifts, especially during holidays and festivals, becoming much more diverse, attractive, polite, and elegant.

"This shows that gift-givers want to 'package culture' into their gifts more. It shows that people are more conscious of carefully selecting gifts to express gratitude and respect to the recipient. It also shows the diversity of gift products in terms of style, friendly trends, and competition in the gift business. This will certainly encourage creativity and improve product quality," said Associate Professor Bui Hoai Son.

According to Associate Professor Bui Hoai Son, the diversity in gift choices fosters creativity and innovation in the gift manufacturing industry, creating new business opportunities and promoting the development of enterprises. However, the most important thing is showing respect for cultural items when giving gifts, which will help raise cultural awareness and promote the cultural industry.

Most importantly, showing respect for cultural artifacts when giving them as gifts will help raise cultural awareness and promote the cultural industry.

Associate Professor Bui Hoai Son, Standing Member of the National Assembly's Committee on Culture and Education.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/goi-van-hoa-trong-qua-tet-185240128003445378.htm