Doan Ngo Tet Festival: Origin, meaning and special dishes in Vietnam

Every year on May 5 (lunar calendar), our people organize to celebrate the Lunar New Year. So, where does the Lunar New Year come from and what does it mean?

Doan Ngo Tet festival or also called Doan Duong Tet is held on the 5th of the lunar month every year, this is a traditional New Year in China as well as some East Asian countries like Korea and Vietnam.

In Vietnam, Doan Ngo Tet festival is also called by a villager by the name of "the killing of insects", this is the second important Tet after the Lunar New Year. According to the conception of the ancients, on this day, everyone together started to catch insects, kill less insects that cause harm to plants around the place where they live.

Doan Ngo Lunar New Year is the beginning of noon (Doan: open, Ngo: midday) and positive is the sun, is positive, Yang Yang means starting at the time when the positive air is prospering.

1. About the origin of Doan Ngo Tet festival in Vietnam

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On the day after the crop, farmers celebrated the harvest, but the insects lasted for a long time, losing the fruit and the harvested food. People with headache do not know how to solve this bug, suddenly there is an old man coming to claim himself as the Double.

He showed the people each house to set up a herd of offerings including simple ashes, fruit, then went to the front of his house to exercise. The people followed after only a moment, and the floodworm fell down. He also added: Every year on this day is very aggressive, every year on this day just follow what we have told you to cure them.

The people who were grateful for their gratitude had gone somewhere. To commemorate this, the people who set for this day were the "New Year of the Pest", some called it "New Year of the Horse" because of the usual time in the midday of the Horse.

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2. About the meaning of Doan Ngo New Year

Like other holidays in the year in Vietnam, every holiday has its own meaning, as well as a rustic name. For Doan Ngo Lunar New Year is no exception. This day was "Vietnamized" on the day of the New Year to kill insects and worship ancestors.

Doan Ngo Tet festival takes place on 5/5 lunar calendar, at this time, the weather begins to change seasons. This is a favorable condition for easy-to-arise pests that damage crops and human health. So on this day, people have devised ways to prevent disease, destroy these pests.

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According to the concept of the ancients, after the Lunar New Year, perhaps "the killing of insects" is the Tet holiday where all members of the family have a warm reunion together. Therefore, the children who go to work far from home have always arranged work to return home to gather with their families.

In addition, on the day of the Ngoan Ngo day people worshiped to mark a new weather, celebrating the clarity and clarity, and at the same time praying for peace.

After the ceremony, there are the custom of killing insects. The whole family gathered to eat sour fruits, sticky wine, ash cake . to eradicate "insects", ward off all diseases .

3. The indispensable dishes in the tray of Doan Ngo Tet festival

During the "Insect killing Tet" everyone together prepared familiar and typical dishes this season to offer to ancestors and grandparents with the desire to be bumper crops. Besides, people also think that on the 5th of this lunar month, these parasites often rise up, people can eat food, fruit sour, acrid and especially sticky wine, can be kind leave them.

  1. Sticky rice : On the days of Tet Doan Ngo we find out in the market or grandparents preparing to cook sticky rice to make rice and wine on this day. This is a popular dish on the Day of Doan Ngo in most localities. According to folk beliefs, to kill insects effectively, we should eat rice wine early in the morning on 5/5 when we just woke up. Because the rice wine has the pungent taste of sticky wine, it will cause the insects to be destroyed.

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  1. Ash cake : Besides rice wine, ash cake is also an indispensable dish of people in South Central and South Vietnam and some parts of the North. The tiny, oblong or triangular cake (depending on the package), the cake has all kinds of sweet or salty or no filling. Many people also believe that eating ash cake, fruit as well as rice wine on this day will help the illness in people dissipate. And this is also a very suitable dish in hot weather.

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  1. Fruits : Each season has a characteristic fruit, and in May, we will have some fruits such as plum, litchi, peach, . These types have fresh and sour taste. , fragrant will be very suitable for Doan Ngo Tet.

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  1. Duck meat : People are only familiar with names such as ash cake, sticky rice rice, plum, peach . but few people know that on the day of killing insects in many areas of Central Vietnam, people eat duck meat. . According to the concept of the ancients, on the 5th of the fifth lunar month, the day when the air was hot and high temperature, people used cool, complementary duck meat to keep the heat - welding between Heaven and Man.

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Wish you have a happy day of Doan Ngo Tet family!

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