Customs in Vietnamese family meal
To Vietnamese people, eating time is the chance for all family members gather and share everything together, which means that family meal plays an important role in family life in Vietnam. In modern life, parents are always busy with their job. They have to take their children to school before going to work. Traditionally, women will prepare breakfast for all family members, but nowadays, due to the limited time this habit is ignored. Dinner is always family meal which is highly appreciated by Vietnamese people. As it is the time when all members in the family gather, share a meal other things together. In the past, traditional family in Vietnam was not familiar with eating out. Family meal is a way to maintain the happiness of Vietnamese family. By eating together, family members can understand feeling and favorite of each other. Relationships in Vietnamese family are more complicated than that in Western countries. However, ties and feelings between family members are strong and close even the change of time.

Vietnam custom in worshiping ancestors
Since thousands of years ago, Vietnamese people have the custom of worshiping ancestors to commemorate their origin. The custom came into being based on the belief of the soul’s immortality after the death. Worshiping ancestors becomes one of traditional Vietnamese customs, ethical norms, and principles. It plays an important role in the religious spiritual life of Vietnamese, especially in the countryside. In each family, there is an ancestor altar situated at the most respectful position. In special occasions, here is the place where family members worship to pray for best wishes. Traditionally, ancestor altar is located in the biggest room of a house with the display of specialized offerings. Nowadays, owing to the influence of modern life, few houses have ancient ancestor altars. These altars might be placed on a panel attached to the wall, even on top of cabinet. Over the time, there is a change in ways of worshiping, but the Vietnamese custom remains its meaning.

Vietnamese wedding custom
Marriage is one of three most important event in one’s life in Vietnam. Wedding custom in Vietnam is quite complicated. Before an official wedding of a couple, a ceremony of engagement must be held first. In accordance with Vietnamese tradition, engagement ceremony is an official occasion for families of fiancé and fiancée to mark their relationship and to arrange the wedding. Each family need to prepare a representative who is a family member having a happy life and high-ranking position in the family. In the day of engagement, the representatives of two families will have some announcement about the wedding and exchange gifts. The time of wedding is chosen suitably based on lunar calendar. Gifts which are put in trays are prepared by the family of fiancé a few days before the engagement ceremony. The number of trays must be an odd number (5, 7, 9, etc.) which is suitable to the condition of the fiancé’s family. In Vietnamese habits, odd numbers are thought to bring luck to the couple. In the trays, there are betel leaves, areca nut fruits, wine, tea, husband-wife and sticky rice. These trays are covered by papers or cloths in red.
In the wedding day, the couple has to stay apart to avoid unlucky things. The family of bride and guests will wait for the arrival of the bridegroom. Before the groom party is due, the bride slips away to don her wedding dress. The wedding ceremony starts in front of the ancestor altar. The bride and groom pray and ask for permission of their ancestor to get married, and receive best wishes in their future family. Next, they bow to the bride’s parents to express great thank for raising and protecting her. Then, they bow to each other to show their gratitude and respect. The master of the wedding ceremony will declare the couple becomes a new family, they take turn to exchange wedding rings, and parents give gifts to the couple. After the marriage, the wedding banquet will be held to introduce the groom and bride to guests who are not invited to the marriage ceremony. Then, the bride will leave for the groom’s house where she will live.

1 Play flower

Every spring time, we welcome New Year at the beginning of the lunar new year. Tet atmosphere really starts in the full moon of December. Those who grow cherry blossom (the North) and apricot (the South) all know this day, the day when people have to remove leaves to flower to blossom on the first day of the New Year.

Not everyone does this job because of the high professionalism of ornamental plants, however, playing peach blossom, apricot blossom on Tet holiday is a tradition, and letting flowers bloom on the first day of Tet is unique in Vietnam. .

If Japanese people are proud of bonsai, Vietnamese people are proud of playing flowers. But unfortunately there are some precious flowers like narcissus, quỳnh, often classified by the elite in the past to be classified as high-class New Year flowers, watching flowers bloom to guess luck, so far few people know come on New Year's Day. Time changes, the pleasures of Tet also change, but the tradition of mass Tet flowers in Vietnam today has many more types such as orchids, chrysanthemums, tulips ... developed from the country and imported from abroad.

2. Show Mr. Gong to the sky

Legend has it that every family since the time when humans have used fire to eat until now has always had Mr. Cong and Mr. Apple.

Mr. Cong is considered the guardian of the land and his symbol is a tree for Tet. Now, the custom of planting trees has been eroded because there are many people in high-rise houses so there is no land. And Mr. Apple is called folk "kitchen king". The kitchen king is the god who governs the cooking in every family associated with the adage "there is a new realism to help the religion". A kitchen with three kitchen kings is shaped out of clay (clay) with a truncated pyramid that bends its head to each other to form a "tripod".

The seeing off of Apple to heaven is a beautiful custom with a spiritual meaning. If he did not see Mr. Apple back to the sky, there was something obscure to heaven so he was afraid to do the ceremony. When Mr. Tao came home, he always released carp as a means for him. This is also the sacred life of the inhabitants of the river.

3. Going to Tet market, asking for worship

Going to Tet market in the past, it was mainly buying dong leaves, buying meat and onion to pack banh chung. In addition, people do not forget to go to the market gate to ask a few teachers for a few words about worship because in the old days most of them were illiterate so they had a custom of worshiping in the house to dream that their children and grandchildren would later be educated and prosper. The word chosen for worship is usually the words Tâm, Phúc, Đức ... The custom of worshiping words today is being restored by calligraphy showing a studious people in history and today.