Lunar New Year with its unique traditions and customs is an important part and reflects the diverse aspects of Vietnamese culture.

British Vietnamese political and historical researcher Kyril Whittaker commented on Tet in Vietnam in a conversation with a Vietnam News Agency reporter in the area.

Having married a Vietnamese woman, Mr. Kyril has celebrated Tet in Vietnam many times and the Vietnamese New Year festival is always an interesting experience for him.

Vietnamese political and historical researcher Kyril Whittaker offers incense to commemorate President Ho Chi Minh at the Vietnamese Embassy in London (UK). (Photo: VNA)

When Tet comes, the joyful and excited atmosphere fills everywhere, from the city to the countryside with the bustling music of the song "Tet in my hometown."

People and families are busy shopping for Tet, buying new clothes, preparing food and drinks for the biggest holiday of the year. All over the country and abroad, people return to their hometowns to celebrate Tet, reunite with their families after a busy year of work.

Mr. Kyril pointed out that Tet represents the diversity of Vietnamese culture, from cuisine, music, art to social communication, through beautiful customs and practices such as ancestor worship, making banh chung, visiting first in the house, wishing a happy new year, giving lucky money, wearing traditional ao dai, performing traditional music and songs about Tet and Spring, folk games, etc.

According to him, Tet is an occasion to nurture relationships when all families open their doors to welcome guests from relatives, friends, to colleagues and neighbors.

The British scholar, a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, pointed out that Tet also has historical elements, with the custom of ancestor worship and gratitude to national heroes who contributed to building and defending the country.

Historical factors are also reflected in the way Vietnamese people celebrate Tet in different historical periods.

During the war, Vietnamese soldiers celebrated Tet simply by singing and enjoying the precious, meager food rations due to difficult conditions.

Nowadays, Vietnam is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with improved living standards, people can celebrate Tet with all the traditional customs and practices.

In particular, Tet reflects the ecological culture of the Vietnamese people, which is the relationship between people and the land and vice versa. Mr. Kyril cited typical Tet dishes such as melon seeds, pumpkin seeds, banh chung, pickled onions; five-fruit trays; flowers and ornamental plants for Tet decoration such as peach, apricot, kumquat...

Another beautiful custom of Tet that shows Vietnam's ecological culture is planting trees on New Year's Day, a movement initiated by Uncle Ho and maintained by generations of Vietnamese leaders to this day, Mr. Kyril pointed out that this is a tradition that preserves Vietnam's agricultural culture and biodiversity.

Parents giving lucky money to their children is a cultural feature during the traditional Vietnamese New Year. Giving lucky money to children is also a wish for a peaceful and well-behaved new year for children. (Photo: Thanh Tung/VNA)

According to British scholars, the ecological perspective is closely linked to Vietnamese culture, expressed through the words of Vietnamese leaders such as "Every good person, every good deed is a beautiful flower, our whole nation is a beautiful flower forest" or the perspective "Taking people as the root" and recently the policy of "Bamboo diplomacy" - integrating the ecological characteristics of bamboo with Vietnamese diplomacy.

British researchers concluded that Tet is a festival of Vietnamese culture and Tet itself is the embodiment of this unique culture.

Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought further consolidate this cultural richness and create the foundation for the continuous development of society for the good of all people.

According to Vietnamplus.vn

https://www.vietnamplus.vn/hoc-gia-anh-tet-phan-anh-cac-khia-canh-da-dang-cua-van-hoa-viet-nam-post927401.vnp