Tet – The Plum Seed

Tam Cúc

Redesigning the tam cúc card deck was a labor of love. I was home for the weekend and running errands with my mother. Our conversations during those car rides often turned to “remember when…” Perhaps we were talking about Tết traditions or games we used to play, when my mother said, “The tam cúc cards…

Tết Nguyên Đán

Folkway Posted by mut

Tết Nguyên Đán (“festival of the first dawn”) celebrates the beginning of the year based on a lunisolar calendar. It is so central to Viet culture that people refer to it simply as Tết.

Cây Nêu

Folkway Posted by mut

Cây nêu is made of a long bamboo stem with one leafy branch at its tip. Attached to the branch is a ring big enough to hold a number of charms against evil spirits – pandan leaves, cacti, chimes…

Ngũ Quả

Folkway, Food Posted by mut

The five fruits in Ngũ Quả represent blessings to wish for during Tết and other special occasions: Wealth (phú); stature (quý); longevity (thọ); health (khang); peace (ninh).

Fried Bánh Chưng

Food Posted by mut

Watermelon Seeds and Good Wishes

Folkway Posted by mut

As a designated treat for Tết , hạt dưa hấu – watermelon seeds, roasted and dyed red for luck – teach children the virtue of a labor-intensive low-yield undertaking.

Still Life No.1

Photography Posted by emci

Việt lore has it that bánh chưng was created by Lang Liêu, the 18th and poorest in a long line of princes in the 6th Hùng dynasty.