The tradition of celebrating Tet for teachers dates back to ancient times, when parents sent their children to study with teachers, with a whole culture of behavior that valued moral education. In feudal times, the position of teachers was respected because Confucianism established the three pillars of "king, teacher, father" - the teacher was only in position after the king, and before the father. Therefore, we have "the first day of Tet for fathers" and "the third day of Tet for teachers".

In the book Vietnamese customs (Literature Publishing House, 2022, page 225), author Phan Ke Binh wrote: “When a student first enters school, it is called initiation. He must find a betel nut tree and bow twice to his teacher. On the occasion of Lunar New Year..., each season has its own food, or a pair of chickens, a basket of rice, or sugar, jam, cakes, or a few coins of money, depending on the situation, to offer to the teacher.”

"Tet Thay" nowadays is completely different from the past.

From envelope to transfer

Once “society has moved on” (quoted from Huy Can’s poem), especially in urban areas, the culture of celebrating teachers’ Tet has changed with the times, no longer “each season has its own food” as Mr. Phan Ke Binh mentioned above. There are also no longer a few kilos of rice, a few banh tet cakes, a package of banh bot loc, a few dozen corns… simply given to teachers during the difficult subsidy period in the 1980s.

The economy and life have changed, and the measures of spiritual values ​​have also changed. The way we celebrate "teacher's day" today also has its own unique ways.

ILLUSTRATION: NHAT THINH

"Tet teacher" envelopes are the way that most parents choose today. The simple reason is to help teachers conveniently spend in the context of material life, goods are now extremely abundant.

A colleague who is a literature teacher said: “A few days ago, a parent texted me via Zalo saying that he was on a business trip far away and wanted to meet me to wish me a happy new year but couldn’t. So the parent asked for my bank account number to transfer some money for the new year. I hesitated and thanked him, but refused to accept it. However, the parent was so insistent and earnest that I had to comply.”

The story of the 45,000 VND iron

In the past 10 years, "celebrating Teacher's Day" with small gifts, cards and vouchers worth from a few hundred thousand to one million dong has become popular.

Recently, a physics teacher at a high school (Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City) happily "bragged" to her colleagues: "I just bought a very good steam iron for only 45,000 VND."

When her colleagues wondered why the iron was so cheap, she explained that she had received a voucher from a parent, so she got a discount of 500,000 VND. The iron was priced at 545,000 VND, so she only paid 45,000 VND more. “So there is joy in Tet. The joy of Tet in the digital age...!”, the female teacher shared.