Still in memory

On Tet holiday, everyone is busy preparing to return to their hometown to celebrate Tet, to light incense sticks on the family altar. ( Photo illustration from Internet).

Tet is the happiest day of the year because it begins a new journey of 365 days with countless emotions. During the three days of Tet, everyone, no matter where they are or what they do, is busy preparing to return to their hometowns to celebrate Tet, to reunite with their families, to light incense sticks on the family altar, to visit relatives, and to enjoy village festivals with the "traditional customs" that are imbued with the identity of each region and each family.

My hometown is a coastal plain. Including the width of Lam River and the East Sea, the distance is about 2 km. Nature has endowed the countryside with poetic and romantic scenery. The gentle, poetic Lam River has been written into beautiful poems, flowing gently and elegantly through my village, suddenly slowing down. The Den and Che wharves... on Tet holidays, boats from Giang Dinh and Cua Hoi markets arrive, from Mai Trang (Nghi Loc) markets are bustling and bustling to Dang market. I still remember the Tet market in the past, crowded with people, bustling, and the variety of goods is not inferior to the Huyen market (Giang Dinh market). The market is held along the river and spills out onto the main road:

“...Boat up Giang Dinh down Cua Hoi

Pho Hai, Dan Truong... gather here

Sticky corn, molded, wrapped with fragrant smoky aroma

Who drinks strong wine with red cheeks?

(Dang Market - extracted from the poetry collection "Sand" - THS)

Still in memory

Swinging is one of the folk games held in spring festivals in many villages in the past. (In the photo: Swinging in Xuan Linh commune - Nghi Xuan). Photo: Hoai Nam

In addition to buying and selling, people also organize spring games such as swinging, cycling and setting off firecrackers, throwing duck necklaces... Everyone is radiant and dressed up in beautiful new clothes, especially the girls in their youth. The girls in my coastal area are famous for being beautiful, healthy and can be said to have the distinct features of the coastal countryside. Many coastal girls have dark skin, wavy hair, long, firm thighs, and swinging, cycling and setting off firecrackers are no less fun than boys. Their movements and gestures are quick, decisive but also very graceful.

The best game was tug of war. The men's team tugged against the women's team. The men's team was the boys from Quyet Tien hamlet by the river; the women's team was the girls from Dong Tien hamlet by the sea; the two teams had the same number of players. People often say: "Better a coward than a fierce cow"! Yet the men's team of Quyet Tien lost! They were pulled down by the girls from the coastal village and dragged for a few meters. Then the two teams hugged each other amidst the girls' hearty, carefree laughter.

The most memorable moment was the sacred moment of welcoming the New Year. On the 30th night, the whole family stayed up to welcome the New Year, no one wanted to go to sleep. My father wore his best clothes, a dark black shirt with two pockets that stretched past his knees, solemn like a shaman. The Tale of Kieu was placed on the table respectfully. My mother prepared the sticky rice and chicken offering for the New Year's Eve. Incense smoke billowed, drifting in the quiet space, in the sacred moment of the universe's transition.

Still in memory

The joy of receiving lucky money at the beginning of the year (Photo: Tuoi Tre online ).

My father sat in the middle, my mother sat to the left, and the eight of us sat in two rows on either side. Everyone was nervously waiting for the most magical moment. My father offered incense on the family altar, and then everyone else offered incense in turn... My father bowed to his ancestors, mumbled a prayer, and turned a page of Kieu. He read slowly, with tears in his eyes, the first four sentences of the page, then put the book down and explained the meaning of the sentence he had just read to the whole family. Each of us followed our father's lead, each one nervous and confused, but when we finished, everyone was excited and happy because we were welcoming the new gods of the new year.

Then my father gave lucky money to all the family members. Each person received a round, shiny 5-cent coin from my father along with warm, affectionate, and loving wishes. My brothers and I respectfully and politely wished our parents a happy new year and gathered around the New Year's Eve table. My father sipped a glass of wine and loudly recited the poems he had written. Then the whole family followed my father to pick the first spring buds. The journey lasted until the end of the night, in a feeling filled with joy and happiness.

Still in memory

My hometown has changed dramatically. (In the photo: The boat "Giang Dinh Co Do" - author: Dau Ha).

My hometown has changed dramatically. Over the past few decades, through the ups and downs of life, the countryside scenery and traditional customs have also changed a lot. On the morning of the first day of Tet, I went to the commune hall to raise the flag and offer incense at the martyrs' cemetery. My district is the first district in the province to meet the new rural standards with the modern beauty of the age of science and technology. Next to the ancient tiled houses are tall buildings standing tall on the Lam River; the boat "Giang Dinh Co Do" takes tourists on a spring tour to experience the two banks of the river with beautiful scenery. In the distance is Con Moc Binh Sa, which looks like an alarm clock waking Nghi Xuan to new heights.

Every New Year's Eve, I offer incense to the family altar and tell fortunes in the joy of my children and grandchildren. The lucky money with its noble beauty is given to the children's hands with good wishes. The layers of sediment blend into the modern beauty of the three days of Tet. Then the whole family goes on a spring outing to pick the best of the spring and enjoy the changing countryside that is reaching for tomorrow.

Tran Hanh Son

Source