"Non Bai Tho" or "Poetical Leaf"

"Non Bai Tho" or "Poetical Leaf"
Take a peasant's common conical hat, add a touch of this and a little of that, and you will have the idea, but not quite an authentic Nón Bài ThÖ or "Poetical Leaf" from Central Vietnam. Just a few simple arrangements added to the conical form are enough to give the Vietnamese leaf-covered hat unique features found nowhere else among Asia's various types of conical hats.
Vietnamese girls become milder, more elegant and more delicate when once they put on a hat which gives shelter to their blushing cheeks like a crowing bud protected from sun, rain or rough wind. Now, Vietnamese girls do not like just any conical hat they come upon. The dearest to them is inevitably the one called the "Poetical Leaf ".


Looking at the inside of the hat, when held ,against the light, one finds widely popular, romantic poems, proverbs and old sayings; sometimes there is the image of a temple, palace or tomb.
The hat originated in Hue, the ancient cultural capital of Vietnam, and the birthplace of many eminent literary men. It is true that the place where the hat comes from has been romantically famous with its peaceful HÜÖng (Perfume) River and its majestic Ng¿ B́nh (Peace) mountain. Moreover, Hu‰ has been famous for her attractively sentimental, soft-voiced and long-haired girls who often gave inspiration to poets whose creative works have been handed down to the present day. And the "Poetical Leaf" has a prominent place in all that poetical, dreamy and yet scholarly diet of the ancient city.
The hat is meticulously and creatively made from simple materials of nature. Thin wooden pieces with notches are used as a frame to shape the conical form and to hold the hat rims together. All this is done solely by hand, for no machine ever touches a " Poetical Leaf ".
The leaves used to cover the hat are brought from the forest. Then they are exposed to the dew for one night to soften them. When the leaves become dry but still soft they are flattened either by hand or by ironing. Only young leaves are selected. Old or dark ones are discarded. A hat usually consists of 16 to 18 rims made from a special kind of bamboo. The poem and picture frames are made in advance and then attached to the hat between the leaves. 1n order to have a well-made hat, it must be knitted together with a peculiar kind of thread made from the leaves of a special kind of reed.
Finally, the hat is trimmed and painted with a coat of attar oil to keep it clean and smooth.
All the attraction and unique value of the hat depends upon the arrangements of the dexterous craftsman.
The "Poetical Leaf" is not only a symbol of the mysterious dreamlike beauty of the girls in Central Vietnam, but has also become part of the national cultural spirit.

The Refined Pleasure of Tea-Drinking

The Refined Pleasure of Tea-Drinking 
by Tuong Minh 
Tu Xuong, one of the best-liked Vietnamese poets of the late 19th century, once claimed to have a "Triple Weakness" for tea, for wine and for sex. He readily admitted defeat in his vain attempts to resist these three worldly pleasures, especially the irresistible charms of tea.
From early times, the Tea plant, a native of Southern China, has been known to Botany and Medicine in ancient China. Highly valued for its healing properties (such as relieving fatigue, delighting the soul and strengthening the will as well as the eye-sight of tea-lovers). Tea can also be used as a stimulant to help students or priests fighting drowsiness during their long hours of study or meditation. However, its high cost at the beginning made it a "regalia for high treatment and entertainment; and too choicy, too costly a beverage for the common people."
But in a relatively short time, tea drinking has spread with marvelous rapidity to make tea not only a popular beverage, a necessity of life, but a poetical pastime and one of the most distinguished methods of self- realization. Tea also represented the true spirit of Asian Democracy by making all tea-lovers aristocrats in taste and in the free communion of artistic spirits.
Tea has been warmly welcomed in the dwellings of the humblest of peasants as well as in the palaces of the haughtiest of princes and mandarins.
Furthermore, it has led people of different countries to gather around the tea-set in the highly refined delectation of its flavor.
Heartily accepted by the Western world (which so often has failed to pay due respect to Eastern culture) since the early 16th century, that brown beverage is still almost the only Asian product commanding universal respect.
However, tea in itself is a work of art that requires a master’s hand to bring out its noblest qualities. There is no single recipe for making the perfect brew, but there are many ways to prepare the tea-leaves; each one has its own individuality, and its own affinity with water and heat.
Some connoisseurs proclaim that the best formula for tea-preparation can be summed up in the 11 Sino-Vietnamese words "NhĂt thûy, nh́ trà, tam bôi, tÙ b́nh, ngÛ quÀn anh " (Lit-water first, then the choice of tea, of tea-cups, of tea pots and the choice of companions). Nothing is possible without the right choice of water according to tea-master’s teachings; pure water taken from a mountain spring is always the best; next comes river-water, then water taken out of a deep well dug in a thinly populated area. Naturally there is no use for unclean water and water polluted with any kind of waste.
After that, the pure water must be boiled in the right way. Tea-lovers are particularly choosy in the choice of fuel to be used in boiling the water. Charcoal is preferred because it does not give an undesirable stink to the boiled water as other fuels might do. Never let the kettle boil dry over boiled water would be lacking in taste and flavor due to too great a loss of oxygen.
Water should be brought to the right boiling point, when the little bubbles in the tea-kettle, look like the eyes of crabs. When the water is boiled beyond this point these bubbles look like fish’s eyes. When the bubbles surge wildly in the kettle the water is already over-boiled and has lost too much oxygen to be used for tea-making.
As for the tea itself, there are so many varieties that even the cleverest among tea-connoisseurs would have trouble making a comprehensive list of them. Aristocrats in ancient China once prided themselves upon their specially prepared teas such as "Vu Di Son Tra" (tea plants grown on the famous mountain named Vu Di) or "Tram ma tra" (tea leaves taken out of beheaded horse’s stomach).
According to Lu Wu, a mid-8th century Chinese poet and the first apostle of tea in China, "the top quality tea-leaves must have creases like the leather boots of tartar horsemen; must curl like the dewlap of a mighty bullock; must be able to unfold like a mist rising out of a ravine; must be gleaming like a lake surface under the caresses of a gentle breeze and must be wet and soft like a newly rain-swept earth" (Lu Wu - The Holy Scripture of tea/trà Kinh in Vietnamese).
Tea-enthusiasts in Vietnam as well as in many other countries in South East Asia have known themselves to be less exacting in their love of tea. Tea seeds were brought back from China (by many member, of the Buddhist Church or of the diplomatic services) to be planted in local tea plantations, giving great delight not only to the local aristocracy and priesthood but to the common people, sometimes later on.
As the caked-tea and powdered-tea (of the Tang and Sung dynasties in China) had sunk into oblivion centuries before, the only method of drinking tea which reached the South East Asian region was to steep tea-leaves (or dried and flower-perfumed tea-leaves) in boiling water.
According to old-time etiquette, drinkers were expected to pay much attention to the appreciation of tea-utensils (especially tea-cups, tea-spots, tea-trays). There were different sets of tea-utensils to serve just one drinker (Çc Äm), two drinkers (song Äm), four drinkers (tÙ Äm) or several drinkers at the same time (quÀn Äm/many people taking tea together), As for tea-cups, most popular in ancient China & Vietnam were the tiny ones -about the size of a jack fruit seed (chén mít) or a buffalo’s eye (chén m¡t trâu). Tea connoisseurs make a point savoring their tea in tiny cups because their main source of pleasure comes mostly from the amount of beverage consumed. Consequently the art of tea-drinking exerted a favorable influence on pottery and ceramics. The blue glaze was once considered by many tea-lovers as the ideal color for tea-cups because it lent additional greenness to the beverage years later, black and dark brown were preferred by some while many connoisseurs of steeped tea felt the greatest joy over a set of white-glaze porcelain.
Until the first half of the 20th century, the possession of a highly-valued tea-set (made of glazed pottery or porcelain with or without drawings of flowers, birds or landscapes) was a must for the average Vietnamese household.
Last but not least was the pleasure of keeping good company with close friends or other fellows in the appreciation of tea.
More often than not, tea-drinking parties became a kind of improvised drama, with the plot woven about tea, flowers, music, paintings, and poetry. For members of high society, tea grew to become an excuse for the worship purity and refinement.
According to the teachings of Senno Rikyu, the 16th century best-known, Japanese tea-master, it is on the host’s responsibility not only to prepare charcoal to heat the water, but to make his guest feel warm in winter and cool in summer, to be attentive towards all guests and to serve the tea with insight into their souls.
Such are the keys to a successful tea-drinking party, nowadays a rarity for many Asian tea-lovers as global industrialization makes true refinement more and more difficult. To be merely an idealized form of drinking but to some extent a kind of religion, at least for worshippers of the art of living.

Vietnamese traditional medicine

Vietnamese traditional medicine 
By Lena Lopez
Although the government in Vietnam intends to develop an identifiable Vietnamese Medical Science, traditional medicine has existed for generations. There are three medical traditions which have coexisted in Vietnam prior to the impact of Western Medicine: these are Thuoc Bac (Northern Medicine), Thuoc Nam (Southern Medicine), and Thuoc Tay (Western Medicine).
With Thuoc Bac or Northern Medicine only those Vietnamese capable of reading Chinese characters could diagnose and prescribe remedies. Northern medicine began with the belief that out of Yin-Yang force interactions and the eight trigrams, one could construct a model of the entire universe, valid on both material and moral planes. The human body was thus a microcosmic reproduction of the vast dynamic natural forces at work in the universe. The body was intimately and constantly linked to those external forces, so that good health depended in large part on tuning internal functions to the environment, as well as building defenses against disruptive changes. Disease was defined as impairment of the overall balance between external and internal, physical and moral forces. Many drugs and methods of treatment clearly emerged by trial and error, only later being incorporated by Chinese metaphysicians into medical ideology.
Vietnamese practitioners of Northern Medicine relied on the four-part clinical examinations: visual inspection, auditory perception, questioning the patient, and taking his pulses. Other techniques of examination would be listening to the patient cough to even tasting his urine. Significantly, asking a patient for his past medical history or questioning him in detail about symptoms often caused suspicion. Expectations were placed on a good physician to know what was wrong from outward signs, and not have to rely on the perceptions of a untutored patient.
A physician first decided whether the illness was ni thÜÖng that is to say, emanating mainly from within the body due to poor physical maintenance or emotional strain, or ngoåi cäm, the result of external forces (time of year, weather, humorous food, drink) disrupting the body's systemic harmony. After that he needed to determine whether the disease was still superficial in character (bieu), or already lodged deep in the major organs of the body (ly). The 'hot' and 'cold' components had to be delineated. Finally he reviewed all symptoms to judge whether some actually disguised the ultimate source of illness, rather than revealing them.
Particular drugs could be administered to produce sweating, expectoration, defecation, urination, vomiting, heat reduction or heat increase. Other ingredients who designed to excite or soothe particular organs. Still others might be added to offset harmful side-effects. If a first choice of prescription did not appear to work, three of four other prescriptions existed for the same complaint. Some Northern medicine ingredients were extremely rare and treatment could become very expensive for the patient, capable of ruining an entire family financially if the disease persisted for very long.
The second tradition available to Vietnamese was Thuoc Nam, or 'Southern Medicine'. It relies almost exclusively on tropical plants and animals native to Vietnam. It was a poor man's medicine, generally using ingredients readily available nearby and involving a minimum of processing. Most knowledge was passed unselfconsciously from one generation to the next. Thus every one understood that for a common cold one could eat rice gruel laced with onion, place one's head under a blanket for a herbal steam bath (xông), or to rub a coin hard across certain parts of the body (cåo gio). Headaches could be treated by pinching or pricking the forehead. Preheated bamboo tubes or small glass cups were applied to the skin to suck out perverse humors. Garlic or soapherry helped some in danger of fainting, ginger relieved stomach aches and a broth made from tangerine rind lessened nausea. Chewing fresh tea leaves or guava buds might halt diarrhea, apricot leaves might relieve dysentery.
The third Vietnamese medical tradition Thuoc Tay involved dealing with harmful spirits, preferably by preventing them from entering the body at all. Or failing that, by finding a way to exorcise them and hence regain physical and mental equilibrium. The spirits went by many names and techniques for dealing with them were innumerable.
Concern began during pregnancy, when mothers wore amulets to protect the fetus, and continued into childbirth, when a symbolic notice was hung outside the home to ward off visitors for fear that someone of 'bad corporal essence' (xĂu viá) would make the infant sick. For the first year the infant's real name was not mentioned, to lessen the chances of being noticed by demons. Until the age of twelve, magical formulas were available to ward against Con Ranh, a demon specializing in killing children.
When a family member became seriously ill, defensive prayers would probably be offered to the ancestors, and someone sent to a fortune teller to try to ascertain which particular spirit was causing the trouble, and where one might go to offer food and seek forgiveness. If that failed to work a variety of Buddhist monks, Taoist priests, sorceress, and mediums were available. Either the patient or his close relative could proceed to cleanse himself, abstain from eating meat, and sleep at a temple or pagoda in hope of experiencing a dream which revealed the source of the problem. It was even sometimes necessary to shift the grave of an ancestor or move one's own residence to a more favorable position.
It is important to ask how the three medical traditions related to each other. Both Northern and Southern Medicine were primarily secular and naturalistic in character, not religious or spiritual. A stomach ache or an abscessed tooth was treated with pharmaceuticals, or perhaps acupuncture. If these did not work another technique would be attempted, or the patient would go to a different practitioner. There were no incantations, no ghosts, no battles of hex and anti-hex as in Eastern medicine. Similar to Eastern physicians, Northern medical practitioners in Vietnam had no reservations about including magical components in their ingredients. One remedy for post-partum illness specified that a particular leaf had to be picked in utmost secrecy or it would lose its effectiveness. Another in the same text, after curing the symptoms of a bewitched person, prescribed the drinking of one bowl of warm blood from the neck of a freshly killed black dog in order to expel the poisons from the body.
Contrary to Northern Medicine beliefs, Eastern Medicine practitioners believed that humans possessed three 'souls' (h̉n), unlike animals with two, or plants with one. These could be attacked or lured out of the body. Death meant loss of all three souls, unconsciousness the loss of two, and various mental or physical disorders the loss of one.
In conclusion, since 1954, Vietnam had inevitably produced two very different health systems. In the South, the government extolled Northern medicine and tried repeatedly to restrict the role and status of traditional practitioners. In the North, building on practical experience obtained during the Anti-French Resistance, Ho Chi Minh urged all medical practitioners to study means of 'harmonizing' Eastern and Southern remedies. Meanwhile the advent of the Second Indochina War forced ordinary citizens in both regions to fall back on local initiatives and remedies.
REFERENCES:
1. Archimedes, Patti. Why Vietnam ? Prelude to American's Albatross. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980, p.52.
2. Cima, Ronald Vietnam a Country Study. Washington D. C.: Library Of Congress, 1989, p.20-22.
3- Coney, Rober. The Process of Americanization :The Process of Americanization problems of the Vietnamese Refugees: California: Alameda County California 1981, p.2-4 and p.50-52.
4- Crozier, Ralph. Traditional Medicine in Modern China: Science. Nationalism, and the Tension of Cultural Change. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968, p.58-148.
5. Dunker, William. The Lessons of the Vietnam War. Pittsburgh: Center of Social studies Education, 1988, p.19.
6. Frrbes, Susan. Adaptation and Integration of Recent Refugees to the United States. Washington DC: Refugee Policy Group, 1985, p.68-7Z.
7. Hinton, Harold. East Asia and the Western Pacific 1992. Washington DC: Stryker-Post Publications, 1992, p.32.
8. Huard, Pierre and Ming Wong. Chinese Medicine. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1975, p.64.
9. Lavergne, D.C. and Abul H.K. Sassani- Education in Vietnam. Washington, DC: US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1975, p. 17-27.
10. Marr David. Vietnamese Tradition on Trial, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981, p.78-82, 212-214, and 339-340.
11. Nguyen Dinh Hoa. Some Aspects of Vietnamese culture Carbondale, Illinois Southern University, 1980, p.42.
12. Owen, Norman. Death and Disease in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1987, p.20-21.
13. Scott James. Vietnamese Healing. Connecticut: Yale Southeast Asia Studies, 1986, p.26-59.
14. Thuy, Vuong- Getting to Know the Vietnamese and Their culture. New York Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1980, p.7-13.
15. Tran Minh Tung. Health and Disease: The Indochinese Perspective in Working with Indochinese Refugees. Chicago: Travelers d, 1978, p.45-46.
16. U. S. Government. lnteragency Task Force on Indochinese Refugees. A Guide to Two Cultures American and Indochinese. Washington, D.C.: 1975, p.28-35.
17. Government, United States-Vietnam Relations. 1945-1967, Volume II, Book 1. Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 197l, p.20-31.

Funeral rites in Vietnam

Funeral rites in Vietnam 
By Van Ngan
Saigon (MF)--The Vietnamese attach great importance to two traditional family obligations to care for their parents in their old age and to mourn them in death. These duties are felt so strongly, they are considered sacred. The traditional time of mourning for parents is three years. Mourning begins even before death is imminent. When death is about to take place, the entire family assembles around the dying relative. A strict silence is observed. The eldest son or daughter bends close to record the last words of advice or counsel. At this time, the eldest child suggests a name for the dying person for it is considered unfortunate to continue the same name used in life after the relative has died. Men usually take the name "Trung" which means faithfulness or "True" which means loyalty. Women are usually called "Trinh" which means devotion or "Thuan" which means harmony.

According to ritual, when the parent has died, the children do not, as yet, accept the idea of death. They place a chopstick between the teeth of the deceased and place the body on a mat on the floor in an effort to "bring it back to life". The next rite in this tradition is for the eldest son or daughter to take a shirt the deceased has worn in life and to wave it in the air and call upon the soul of the dead to return to the body. After this rite has been completed, the descendants then perform the ceremonial cleansing of the body. The corpse is bathed which symbolizes washing off the dust of the terrestrial world; hair is combed and nails clipped. Money, gold and rice are placed in the mouth of the dead to indicate that the deceased has left this world without want or hunger. The corpse is then wrapped in white cloth and placed in a coffin. Members of the family form a honor guard around the clock until a propitious time for burial is selected.


A funeral procession
During the period of mourning, descendants wear special mourning clothing. These garments are made of crepe of ample cut with a seam in the middle of the back. All are required to cover their heads. In times gone by when Confucianism was still a dominant influence in life, mourning the dead was considered more important than the affairs of the living. A mandarin had to resign his position and retire to his home. He was expected to erect a tomb where the parent was buried and there conduct memorial ceremonies. Mourners could not marry, comb their hair or have a haircut. They were not permitted to eat good food or enjoy any form of entertainment whatsoever.
Recently, however, the severity of the mourning period has been abolished to a large extent. After the funeral the descendants return to work and are no longer required to interrupt their business affairs. Clothing for the mourning period has been modified to only a piece of black cloth worn around the arm, lapel or the head. Wedding ceremonies during the mourning period are still banned, but if the families have already approved of the engagement, special dispensation may be obtained through the proper rural or urban authorities.
The Vietnamese writer Le Van Sieu explained the importance of traditional funeral ceremonies by saying "Funeral rites represent a traditional way of life to the Vietnamese people. They are based on the concept of the indestructible soul and the close relationship between members of the same blood line. By assuming this responsibility, generation after generation retains the strong fabric of our society".

Superstition in Vietnam

Superstition in Vietnam 
By Van Ngan
Saigon--What is the best way to keep a child healthy? An old Vietnamese grandfather believes the charm of a certain necklace wards off evil spirits and he may give it to his grandson to protect the boy. An employee fails to show up for work on the third day of the lunar month because he believes that particular date brings him bad luck. A student tries to borrow money to buy lottery tickets because he dreamed of fire the night before. These are some examples of superstition which may baffle the foreign visitor to this country. But, in Vietnam, it is part of tradition and customs passed down from one generation to the next. Ignorance, of course, plays some role in the traditional acceptance of superstition. Not having sufficient knowledge, faith or trust in scientific methods, a Vietnamese often relies on his prejudices, emotions and the word of his forefathers to guide his daily life.
Superstition, sometimes, plays more than a passing role in Vietnamese society. By the time a boy is old enough to marry, for example, he may not be able to wed the girl he loves because she was born in the wrong year. On the 12-year lunar calendar commonly used throughout Asia, many of the years are considered incompatible. Such years are thought to bring misfortune if they are improperly matched with other years. Thus a young man born in "the Year of the Tiger," cannot marry his beloved from "the Year of the Horse" unless he wants to risk a break in family ties with his parents and elder relatives. To the conservative relatives, the Tiger and Horse are incompatible and sure to bring bad luck to such a marriage. The hoot of an owl is regarded as a bad omen announcing death or illness. According to ancient tradition the bird must be chased away and those who heard his cry should be extremely cautious about their personal safety.
A large number of fortune-tellers, astrologers and palm-readers owe their living to Vietnamese superstition and often made a small fortune from their clients. Even the poor save money for occasional visits to well-known soothsayers. Superstition has been known to determine the conduct of the war in this ravaged country. A friendly or enemy commander may refuse to attack or may alter his strategy if the stars are not in his favor. One story has it that an American commander always consulted a Vietnamese astrologer before planning the deployment of his troops. When questioned by his incredulous superiors, he explained that, according to his theory, he could depend on the enemy to base his attacks on the positions of the stars. So, he consulted a stargazer himself for intelligence on the enemy's movements. Another story passed down through history is that of the famous Vietnamese generals Le Loi and Nguyen Trai. Several years ago, the pair was leading a war against Chinese invaders. Nguyen Trai decided to turn superstition to his advantage and used grease to write the phrases "Le Loi vi Quan; Nguyen Trai vi Than," (Le Loi for King; Nguyen Trai for Minister of State) on the large leaves of forest trees. Ants later consumed the grease absorbed in the leaf tissue and left the prophecy clearly engraved. People living nearby noticed the perforated leaves and interpreted them as a "divine message." Inspired by this, they wholeheartedly supported the war which eventually led to the defeat of the Chinese and the enthronement of Emperor Le Loi.
Another story is told of a Montagnard tribe that trapped a white elephant in 1961 and offered the rare animal to the late President Ngo Dinh Diem as a gift. Government news agencies, attempting to strengthen the already tottering regime of Diem, spread the word that a "powerful king" had been sent down from Heaven to rule the Vietnamese. The President himself flew to the city of Ban Me Thuot in the Central Highlands to accept the gift, a symbol of supreme and divine power. The elephant was given to Diem in a much publicized ceremony. Two years later, history proved no "powerful king" had come to the rescue when Diem was assassinated and his regime overthrown in a military coup. Whether by chance or not, superstition scores an occasional point in its favor. One story tells of an old Vietnamese Senator who, learning that the opening ceremony of the first Vietnamese Senate under the new Constitution would be October 10, 1967, voiced his disapproval. It was a bad day, he said, and someone in the Senate would surely suffer for the indiscretion. Four months later, during the Communist Tet offensive of 1968, Senator Tran Dien, a popular and well loved figure, was assassinated, by the Viet Cong in Hue, in Central Vietnam. The old Senator is convinced his prophecy of doom came true .
There are some social reformers in this country who believe that superstition is a problem, which should be eradicated in Vietnam is to become a truly progressive, modern nation. A young whipper-snapper, a graduate from a foreign western university, even proposed legislation to outlaw superstition in this country. How dull life would be if all our soothsayers, fortune tellers, palm-readers and astrologers were to be pensioned off and retired. We promptly took this abominable proposition to our favorite soothsayer who solemnly assured us that this is not in the stars.

Vietnamese hair style

Vietnamese hair style
In a popular Vietnamese folk song expressing the ten most striking features of a gracious and beautiful woman, long jet black hair is cited as being of first importance: "You are first loved for your hair which is tied in a cock's tail shape." There is good reason to place a Vietnamese woman's hair in first place. Long and flowing, smooth and very fine, it makes any woman, even one otherwise not attractive, appear feminine and graceful.
In ancient times when girls were raised in traditional customs and manners,their hair was nurtured and regarded as a symbol of correctness, kindness and virtue. "One's hair reveals one's origin," says an old proverb which fully expressed the importance people attached to hair, especially that of a young woman. No girl dared cut her hair, and. untied, it would reach her heels.

  
The hair of young women is a subject which has occupied a significant place in Vietnamese literature, poetry, and art.. "Her hair is silken threads of cloud, and her eyebrows crescent like moons and shadowed clouds on a quiet night," a poet of times past sang in reference to the hair of Vietnamese girls.
Times have changed since then, and today only a few girls allow their hair to grow long enough to reach their heels. Style changes have come in stages. A plaited braid was the first sign of change, followed by the "pony tail" when the hair was still long, but gathered behind the neck. Later women adopted the onion-shaped chignon with the hair wound behind the neck in a roll. Some Vietnamese women in the provinces still wear their hair in a chignon.
During the French period, western fashions penetrated Vietnam. Shortly before World War II, women in the cities married to Frenchmen; or working in French businesses began cuttings their hair and curling it into tight sausage curls with a curling iron. The curly style spread like an oil slick on water. Middle class girls disregarded public opinion and began wearing the little ringlets. The practice filtered down to the countryside, and after Vietnam was divided in 1954, hair curling shops had sprung up everywhere.
At the same time, there was a fad for dying hair. Jet black hair was tinted orange, red, and even blonde, generally with very unfortunate results. This fad was short-lived, and today few Vietnamese women change the shade of their hair.
Hairdressers are always happy to cut the waist length or longer hair of young girls. With the sudden popularity of wigs and hair pieces, the long thin strands command a high market price. However, once cut, the girl is faced with the problem of choosing a hair style. The possibilities are endless.
It now appears that hair styles are not only subject to change, but also to cycles. In Saigon at the present time, long hair is making a comeback. The gracefulness of long hair seems to have an attraction that young women are again discovering. They have begun changing back to the natural long hair, letting it grow to flow down their backs. Perhaps they now realize the true value of long hair, for, as it was once remarked, the very slender Vietnamese girls without their long hair do not differ from trees with leafless branches.

Traditional Vietnamese female attire (ao dai)

Traditional Vietnamese female attire (ao dai) 

  


    

Traditional Vietnamese male attire

Traditional Vietnamese male attire 
By Van Ngan 
  
Saigon (MF): A revived interest in the national Vietnamese dress for men was demonstrated at an Lions International Club meeting held in Tokyo in 1969. The assembled Lions, along with thousands of Japanese observers on the streets and perhaps millions more at their television sets, were treated to a look at the Vietnamese national dress worn by the Vietnamese Lion delegates.
This was the first time Vietnamese men have worn their national dress at an international gathering since the fall of the late President Diem in November 1963. Before that time it was not unusual for Vietnamese diplomats to appear at official functions in their national attire. In Tokyo, however, the "fashion models" were private business men, delegates to the Lions meeting.
Anyone who has seen the exquisite costumes worn by Vietnamese women will recognize similarities in the traditional dress of the male. Both costumes are tailored from the same fabric, worn with the conventional snug collar and buttoned down on the left side to the waist, with no crease in front or back. The male dress extends only to the knees. The female dress flows with graceful lines from a tight waist down to the heels.
The national Vietnamese dress has preserved its essential features through the ages. Vietnamese take great pride in wearing this dress for it is part of their nation, their history and their culture. It is part of Vietnamese social customs which includes respect for superiors, dignitaries and relatives. Elders in the family continue to receive this recognition as did once emperors, mandarins and court teachers, all of whom had traditional dress variations according to their status in Vietnamese society.
There are many variations on the basic theme. At the top of the list is the elaborate dress of the emperor and the mandarins. Their rank was shown in the display of color in the brocade and embroideries. Gold brocade with embroidered dragons was for the emperor only. Gold is the national color and the dragon heads the fabulous mythical animal world. Purple is the color reserved for high-ranking court mandarins, while blue is for those of lower rank.


King Dong Khanh in imperial costumeCostumes worn for religious ceremonies also have their special colors. Dresses for ceremonial occasions usually have very wide and ample sleeves. Wedding dresses are similar to the popular fashions, and the color is usually purple or blue brocade. Dresses for mourning have frayed fringes or a line up the back and may be either black or white in color.
Vietnamese dress styles underwent changes since the beginning of French influence in the country. Many Vietnamese employed by the French had a tendency to look down upon those who continued to wear the traditional dress. European styles were popular mainly among civil servants and university students. The majority of people, especially those in the rural areas, remained faithful to their national dress and it even became a symbol of silent opposition to French colonialism. During the colonial war against the French from I945 to I954, many people concealed their social status. The revolutionaries wore black, those who were pro-French wore western clothes while others wore the simple pajama-type shirt and trousers. Following independence the traditional dress came back into its own and was once again the required attire for all ranking officials at government ceremonies or functions of the diplomatic corps.


Artist in traditional attire
When President Diem was overthrown in 1963, the national dress was so closely identified with his administration that it sank with him into oblivion. This neglect, however, was not officially inspired but rather a reflection of political turmoil, frequent government changes and resulting chaos. Today, there is serious thought to restore the Vietnamese national dress for men to its traditional and rightful place, for it is a symbol of pride in the cultural heritage of an ancient and proud Asian land. 

Young boy in traditional attire

Vietnam's venerated ancestors

Vietnam's venerated ancestors
SPIRIT CALLERS HELP DECEASED GUIDE THE LIVING
Since war's end, Vietnamese emigres have spread across U.S.

BY ELSA C. ARNETT
Mercury News

HANOI -- They all have unfinished business.

So they cram together in a sweltering, incense-fogged room on the outskirts of Hanoi, waiting for answers.

From the dead.

There's the elderly woman, cradling a sack of ripe persimmons, who wants to ask her brother where his remains are because he has been missing in action for 52 years.

There's the young woman, with two toddlers romping at her feet, who wants to ask her firstborn why she had to die when she was just 3 days old.

And there's the middle-aged couple huddled in the corner who want to ask their long deceased grandfather why their family has been beset by so many hardships.

If any answers come, they will come through people who claim to navigate the mystical nexus between life on Earth and the afterlife in a practice known as ``calling the spirits,'' or goi hon.

The popularity and longevity of this custom makes clear that in Vietnam the dead exert a profound hold over the living. And it reveals how many Vietnamese will go to great lengths to try to commune with those who have passed into another realm.

``Ancestor worship is a cornerstone of Vietnamese philosophy,'' said Le thi Quy, a sociologist at the National Center for Social Science and Humanities in Hanoi. ``Some Vietnamese believe a hint of advice from the dead is worth more than everything the living have to say.''

The majority of Vietnamese revere and fear the dead. They believe the dead are all-knowing, and perhaps even, all-powerful. In almost every house in Vietnam, and most businesses, the deceased stare from framed portraits perched atop altars positioned in a prime location.

Bowls jabbed with dozens of singed incense sticks surround the photographs. Fresh fruit or flowers brought into the house are cleaned and placed on a platter as a prayer offering.

Practical matters

For all this, the ancestors have work to do. They are called upon to bless a new house or motorcycle, to help a child pass an important exam, to send a disease into remission, to revive a struggling marriage, to bring good fortune to a family and to intercede in whatever crisis may arise.

If those prayers aren't enough, some people are tempted to go a step further and actually try to communicate with the dead.

No one knows when or how this tradition began, but it is believed to go back hundreds of years. Then, when the communists took control, spiritual searching, along with much of religion in general, was officially banned. During those decades, the practice continued quietly, underground.

After the communists opened up the economy in 1986, many social restrictions were loosened as well, including the prohibition on calling the spirits.

These days, the practice is flourishing as it was before the crackdown. However, it still isn't advertised, it still is run out of peoples' houses and those who claim to have these ``talents'' are still reluctant to talk about them because they don't want to jinx their gift.

People usually learn of a convincing spirit caller through word-of-mouth. Someone discovers that a new spirit caller seems to have a consistent ability to make credible comments. Word gets out and others make pilgrimages. This usually lasts a few years, at best. Then, the person's skills seem to dissipate just as mysteriously as they appeared. A new name surfaces and the cycle begins again.

Of course, even with the most reputable spirit callers, not everyone gets what they came for. At best, only a handful out of dozens, or even hundreds of people waiting will get any word from the beyond. So some people return, again and again, hoping for their turn.

Usually, the ceremonies are carried out in a place such as this stuffy second-floor room in a private home deep in the suburbs of Hanoi. The tangle of motor scooters and bicycles piled at the front gate give the first clue to the size of the crowd assembled upstairs.

Offerings for ancestors

Up two narrow, spiraling flights of stairs, an enormous gold-trimmed altar stretches across one entire side of the room and up to the ceiling. Statues of Buddha are engulfed by vases of roses in full bloom. Cartons of soybean milk, packages of vanilla wafers, mangoes and small amounts of Vietnamese currency are strewed around as offerings.

People are jammed up against the wall, perspiring, waiting for their turn. They scribble the name of their deceased loved one, date of birth and place of burial, if known, on slips of paper stacked in front of the person who calls the spirits. And they wait.

Many Americans have been enraptured by movies such as ``Ghost'' and ``The Sixth Sense,'' flirting with the idea of talking with the dead. There are plenty of psychics listed in the Yellow Pages. But most Americans believe it's hokum.

So do a lot of people in Vietnam who dismiss spirit calling with a wave of their hand. Yet, every so often, another person has an inexplicable encounter.

``I have a skeptical, scientific mind,'' said Nha Luong, 75, a retired researcher at Hanoi's Institute of Medicine and Natural Science. ``I never believed in ghosts or devils,'' added Luong, a stout woman who has worn her graying hair pinned and coiffed in the same style for the past half century.

After her husband died from a heart attack in 1994, friends urged Luong to visit a spirit caller who was getting rave reviews.

She was doubtful, but agreed to think it over. When her husband was alive, there were so many decisions he made, so many things she is left to decide on her own now. Should she bring her 3-year-old granddaughter on a trip to the United States? Should a 20-year-old granddaughter going to school in Canada take out student loans?

If she could get a little guidance, she thought, why not give it a try?

A warning

In her first visit with the spirit caller, she asked to talk with any family member who had passed away. The first voice she said she heard was that of her father-in-law. He warned Luong that her eldest granddaughter must be careful on the 25th of the next month; she could have a big problem.

Luong relayed the message to her granddaughter. On the 25th of the following month, the granddaughter decided to stay home and someone else took her place on a drive to the countryside. The car crashed, she said, and the person who took her place was paralyzed.

Shaken, Luong made another visit. This time, she said, she heard from her daughter-in-law who was crushed by a truck while riding her bicycle 10 years ago. The young woman wailed and told Luong to urge her son to stop mourning for her and remarry.

Luong was chilled. She went again. Finally, this time, her husband's voice spoke to her. He told her he was sorry he left her, but he assured her that their son was devoted to her. He mentioned people they both knew, things they had done together over the years.

``I felt like he was talking to me,'' Luong said as her tear-filled eyes flashed to a photograph hanging on the wall in her living room of them together in younger days. ``I felt like we were just sitting on the couch together.''

It was a fleeting reunion. Though she didn't understand how such a thing was possible, she didn't care; she was grateful for any link to her late husband.

Having access to this kind of counsel, she said in a hushed voice, is a remarkable blessing. So, Luong said, she will not to abuse the supernatural gift. She does not want to put a strain on her deceased family members who are supposed to be resting in peace. She only plans to seek their advice when there is urgent family business.

But, with two granddaughters making their way into the world, she knows there are bound to be many more questions in future.

Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival

Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival 
By Le Ba Thinh
There are many different legends connected with this festival -that it is the birthday of the moon; that the Old Man in the Moon (the matchmaker) ties together couples with invisible red thread; and that Miss Hang and Toad Circle journey back to their home on the moon, but it is a harvest celebration throughout Southeast Asia, and a time to admire the moon when it is at its fullest and brightest for the year. Tet (Lunar New Year) is an occasion for national merry-making: fireworks, traditional foods, visits to temples and pagodas, walks by the Lake of the Restored Sword on the Eve of Tet and visits to the Flower Market (Comb Street) near the crowded Dong-Xuan market. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a children's celebration in which the adults also join. Festival of the Moon, Moon cakes.
In the eighth month comes the Festival of the Moon, answering to the Harvest Festival in Western countries. What are called "moon cake" are sold at this season. If the year has been productive there will be a great deal of rejoicing. Presents are interchanged at this time as also at other festival seasons. As the moon becomes gradually full there appears in it to the Chinese eye a man who is climbing a tree. The full moon is greeted with much ceremony, and the night on which the luminary appears its brightest is passed in feasting and rejoicing.


Moon cakes or "mid-autumn cakes" are a mixture of fruit and other sweets wrapped up in a thin crust in the shape of a full moo, about two or three inches in diameter and a half-inch thick. According to a long established custom they must be exchanged with relatives and friends on the days preceding the Autumn festival. On the night of 15th, each family lights the four lanterns, hanging two on either side of the "The kong" incense pot, in the main hall of the residence. Two of three large lanterns bear the family name usually with the inscription "may boys increase", while the other two lanterns are in commemoration of the marriage of the mother and father of the family. The banner of the eight immortal is hung over the main hall, and the whole family comes together for a banquet. To the Vietnamese the full moon signifies completeness, the entire family gathered together in happiness.
This is a delightful festival for children and most pleasant for the adults to watch. Many weeks before the festival, bakers are busy making hundreds of thousands of moon cakes of sticky rice and filled with all kinds of unusual fillings such as peanuts, sugar, lotus seed. They are baked and sold in colorful boxes. Expensive ones in ornate boxes are presented as gifts.
On the night of festival, children form a procession and go through the street holding their lighted lanterns and performing the dances of the unicorn to accompaniment of drums and cymbals.


Regarding the moon, the Chinese have a legend relating to Miss Hang Nga and the "Immortality medicine". According to a book by Alice Stralen, during the Chinese Nghiêu dynasty, there lived a marksman by the name of Hau Nghe who never missed a target with his arrows. He was sent to earth by the Emperor of Heaven to rescue people from the sufferings. At that time, there were 10 suns shining upon the earth. As a result, the earth was suffering from severe radiation and drought, and all the crops were damaged. Utilizing his sharp shooting skill, Hau Nghe was able to shoot down 9 suns, and left only the present sun that we see today. Hau Nghe had a wife, Hang Nga, who wished to live long and remain beautiful forever. She urged Hau Nghe to ascend the mountain of Côn lôn to seek the immortality medicine from the Fair Queen of the Western Regions. Hau Nghe brought home that kind of medicine; she felt her body floating on air, and she flew away to the moon where a rabbit, a toad and a cinnamon tree were the only living creatures. This story explained why sometimes the moon is also called Miss Hang, Toad Circle, Cinnamon Circle and Jade Rabbit.
The Vietnamese have adapted these special Chinese customs to fit their culture and customs. Therefore, the picture of a carp chasing away the devil has become a carp looking at the moon, or a carp jumping over a windy and rainy gate. The Mid-Autumn evening was fresh, and the whole family felt happy in the bright moonlight. The long days of summer were over and the autumn winds were beginning to blow. Finally, the crickets began to sing their quiet song, and we felt a gentle melancholy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Alice, Stalen. The Book of Holiday Around the World New York: E.P. Duntton, 1986
- Margaret, MacDonald. The Folklore of World Holidays. London: Gale, 1992.
- Ritu, Shalrma. Lands and and People of the World New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Private Limited, 1988.

1971 THE YEAR OF THE PIG

1971 THE YEAR OF THE PIG 
By Van Ngan
Saigon (MF) January I, I971. Vietnam' s ever-active fortune tellers are now attempting to divine what lies ahead in the coming year, the last of the traditional I2-year cycle which will be known as the Year of the Pig. The pundits believe they see prosperity and possibly peace over the next year. The prophecy book of Trang Trinh, a much-quoted source of Vietnamese lore, declares that "The dog wags his tail to greet the master while the pig groans with satisfaction after a good meal." Thus the dog (I970) greeted signs of peace while the pig (197I) will be able to enjoy prosperity.
Despite the animal's poor reputation in other nations, the pig is much respected, in Vietnam, being a source of food for most people. Chicken is the other common meat, and nearby every farmer owns a sow or two with broods of piglets in times of prosperity. It is the pig who earns extra cash for the farmer with rice the main source of family support. A farmer wealthy in pigs not only observes religious feasts properly but has earnings to buy the finer things for his family. Piggy banks of ceramic and plastic are common in Vietnam as symbols and receptacles for savings. Pigs figure prominently in the ancient customs of the Vietnamese. At the Tet (New Year) festivities, pigs are slaughtered and eaten. Any special occasion is marked by the roasting of a pig, including the traditional meal for those who come to pay their last respects to the dead in post-funeral ceremonies.
At wedding ceremonies, the bridegroom's family must prepare a roasted pig festooned with paper flowers in its ears and bright red sash down its back to present to the bride's family. This marriage pig is carried before the wedding cortege by attendants in special attire. A pig, either whole or just its head and tail, is frequently offered to one's ancestors as a sign of respect and memory. The head is presented to the most important person, for example, to a village chief, while the tail goes to the second most important person. A traditional feast may have as many as eleven different recipes of pig: boiled, roasted, hammed, pasted, seasoned with rare and perfumed vegetables. Even tripe and coagulated pig's blood are used in exotically prepared recipes. Pork is considered nourishing. Mothers eat pig's feet with lotus grains and rice to improve baby milk and wives will fry hog testicles with vegetables or rice to stimulate their husbands. Working men enjoy blood coagulated with salt and served with heavily seasoned vegetables, believing it refreshes human blood and regulates digestion.
Vietnamese, as do other people, refer to obese persons and the over- sexed as pigs, but many fortune tellers claim persons with pig-like faces are harmless and sincere people. Tet New Year means a time of clearing up of debts and a balancing of accounts. It is the traditional time of year to set one's house in order and to prepare for the new year with a clean slate. Kitchens are cleaned and everyone attempts to start the new year with new clothing. For a nation at war for the past decade, may the Year of the Pig be a time of peace and prosperity for Vietnam.

The Three Kitchen Gods

The Three Kitchen Gods 
Adapted by George F. Schultz
There is a popular belief in Vietnam that Tao Quan, the Three Kitchen Gods, are present in the kitchen of every home. These gods observe everything that takes place there. At the end of the lunar year, on the twenty-third day of the twelfth month, they depart to make their report to Ngoc Hoang, the Jade Emperor, supreme divinity of the Taoist Heaven. On that day Tao Quan are offered the best of food and spices and are presented with gifts of money and clothing.
The idea of a threesome is unique to this story. More often the kitchen god or genie is described as a single person and may be called Ong Tao, Ong Lo or Ong Vua Bep.
Long, long ago, when Earth and Sky met in the Valley of Whispers, in the dense, green forest there lived a woodcutter and his wife. They were very poor and oftentimes the man was unable to earn enough to buy their food. Frustration and worry drove him to drink, and he would come staggering home at night in a vile mood. Since there was only his wife to listen to him in their ramshackle cottage, he poured out all manner of abuse on the poor woman. Because she was his wife, she had to accept it. Sometimes he would try to appease his rage by smashing the furniture; but when he took to beating her she could endure it no longer. One night, she fled the cottage and was never seen there again.
For days and weeks, the woman wandered in the forest. She was hungry and her feet were torn and bleeding. Finally, she came to a hunter's cabin. The owner was an honest man, who gave her food and permitted her to rest in his home. She kept house for him then, and after some time they were married. They lived together in great happiness, and it seemed that the woman had forgotten the terrors of her previous marriage.
One day, when Tet (Vietnamese New Year) was approaching and the hunter was out in the forest looking for game, a beggar knocked at the door of the cottage and asked for alms. He was clad in rags and his hair was matted and unkempt. The compassionate woman prepared a meal for the man; while he was eating, she suddenly recognized him as her former husband.
The beggar was still eating when the woman heard the steps of her returning husband. In her mind's eye she saw rapid end of her newfound happiness and became panic-stricken. Quickly she hid the beggar under a haycock .
The hunter had been very successful that day and was returning home with some excellent game. As soon as he entered the cottage, he prepared to roast it in the haycock quite unaware of the beggar's presence there.
When the beggar found himself ablaze, his first impulse was to cry out; then, fearing that the hunter might kill the woman on discovering him there, he remained silent.
As tongues of flame consumed the haycock, the poor woman was torn with grief. She realized of course that her former husband was meeting death for her sake and that she did not want. Hesitating for no longer than a moment, she threw herself into the fire in order to die with him.
The hunter cried out in dismay when he saw what his wife had done. He tried to pull her back but was unable to do so. Thinking that some act of his had driven her to such desperation, he too jumped into fire, preferring to die with her rather than to continue to live without her.
When the people learned of this touching story, they bowed their heads out of respect for the noble motives that had brought on the deaths of the woman and the two men. They were later acclaimed as Tao Quan, the Three Kitchen Gods.

The joy of "first writing of the new year" (khai but)

The joy of "first writing of the new year" (khai but) 
By Thuy Ngoc
Saigon (MF) January I971. It is crisp this morning, the first of the New Year. I have already started an aloe wood fire to chase away the wicked atmosphere of yesteryear and have washed my hands in perfumed water. Now it is time for the "first writing of this new year", a most important task.
Yes, all is in readiness; the scarlet red Hong Dieu paper for cheerfulness and luck, a new brush pen of sable for cleanliness and purity, and a fresh slab of stark black ink symbolizing stability.
What shall I write to guide the destiny of this coming year? A "Duong" poem like Phan Dinh Phung, "The oriole sings melodiously in the yard..." That would be in keeping with Vietnamese heritage.


Vietnamese calligraphy
How far back are the origins of the first writing of the New Year tradition? Thousands of years, back into the antiquity of ancient China where the beauties of graceful calligraphy prompted man to seed in the written word not only the moral worth of the author but the external symbolization of his character within the disciplined beauty of his penmanship. How true is the old Vietnamese maxim, "Senseful ideas, beautiful hand-writing."
The "first writing of the New Year" is the most important. For each year is a completely new phase of life, a circle of destiny. What happened last year is forgotten; just as nature shrugs off the moldering leaves of winter, so does man. A new period is begun different, vital, promising. One's thoughts at this first moment must be noble and enriching.
True, many uneducated people buy quick poster calligraphy from fortune tellers at the pagoda rather than trust themselves to the ritual of the first writing. But I prefer to cast my own fortune with my own hand. Happiness, luck, joy, all may be mine during this New Year.
Ah, but that too is an ignoble thought for this occasion. On New Year's morn, one must rise above mundane things for beauty and honor go beyond self. That is the importance of a New Year, of the "first writing". No mere Phuc (fortune) or the usual "five happiness" calligraphy suffices for one's own home.
The first writing must be elegant, noble and beautiful. Such as the verses of famed female poet Ho Xuan Huong:
"On the last night of the old year doors should be closed tightly else Satan will bring in his devils,
"On the first day of the new year, the Creator opens wide the door for the Lady to welcome Spring."
I must elevate myself to a lofty plane and execute the writing with precision, clarity and strokes bold yet delicate, full-bodied yet sharply defined. It must be kept throughout the year in the Confucianism tradition.
What shall I write? It must be universal, something to set the mode of life for the coming year, to create the tone and temper of events for my family and my country.
Ah, I have it!
"Hoa Binh" -- Peace. How perfect!

The Unicorn dance at Tet (Vietnamese New Year)

The Unicorn dance at Tet (Vietnamese New Year) 
By Minh Tam


Saigon (MF): According to ancient Vietnamese history, the unicorn made its first appearance during the Duong Dynasty, about 600 AD (TT: this is the Chinese Imperial dynasty). Emperor Duong Cao To, after a military victory which resulted in his conquest of the Central Highlands, popularized the dance of the unicorn to celebrate peace. The unicorn, like the dragon, is a mythological animal and tradition has it that wherever a unicorn appears, people will have peace, happiness and prosperity. Originally the dance came from China where it is called the dragon dance, but in Vietnam it only became accepted after Emperor To's victory.
Today, there are two varieties of the Vietnamese version. In North Vietnam, it is called the Lion's dance and it is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Lunar Year, sometime around autumn. In South Vietnam, the Unicorn dance is held only during the Tet holidays. The techniques are similar, although the traditional procession varies a little between the two zones. The North Vietnamese lion comes out at dusk and is accompanied by a group of youngsters with different shaped paper lanterns suspended on long poles. The lanterns take the shape of various animals like rabbits, dragons and fish or they may appear like multi-winged stars.
In South Vietnam, where the dances take place during the day and evening, many brightly colored square flags take the place of lanterns in the procession of the Southern unicorn. Leading this procession are the flag carriers. The flags are usually donated by merchants whose shops are visited to obtain annual donations which is the purpose of the undertaking. The Vietnamese believe that the unicorn is a symbol of wealth and prosperity and therefore they are generous in their donations to the unicorn dance teams. After the flags comes the unicorn. Big processions may have more than one. Then there is a mythical creature called "Dia" known by a moonlike face mask and a man carrying a pole which is topped with a round ball representing a piece of jade. At the tail end come the drums and cymbals, usually mounted on a cart which provide the loud and rhythmical accompaniment to the dance.
Several men take turns handling the unicorn. They wear tight uniforms of various colors which are often identified with a particular locality where the dance takes place. Each unicorn group covers a well-defined area and they do not trespass on each other's territory. In Saigon, the unicorn procession begins early in the morning on the first day of Tet. It systematically visits every home and shop in its area. As soon as it appears in front of a house, the place swarms with children and onlookers. First, the drums and cymbals sound a salute to the occupants of the house. The unicorn stoops down, bends its head several times before the entrance door, then steps back to repeat the same gesture five or six times before beginning the dance. The home owner or shopkeeper then presents his donations, but to make the event more difficult and exciting, he suspends his gift from the first story balcony or window from the end of a pole very similar to the bait on a fishing rod. To cope with this challenge, unicorn dancers are strong and agile people and must be good climbers. To get at the target, the unicorn must be elevated through a human pyramid to the height of the suspended gift or sometimes they get at it through the use of a one column ladder. All the while, the unicorn dances to the rhythm of the throbbing drums while the excited crowd below noisily shouts encouragement. The climax comes when the prize is "swallowed" in the unicorn's mouth and then slowly the group moves on the next house for another donation.

TET I971 IN VIETNAM

TET I971 IN VIETNAM
By Phu Si 
Saigon (MF) - When the clock strikes midnight on January 27th, the first day of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, millions of Vietnamese will exchange toasts of good wishes for the coming year of the Hog.
The greetings are familiar and always concern the well-being of the family, the focal point of Vietnamese life. "May I wish you," so goes the toast to the head of the family, "nothing but prosperity in your endeavors. May you have a son at the beginning of this year and a daughter at the end. May your fortunes increase tenfold and may peace and happiness be with you and your family..."


Children watching firecrackers
"Tet Nguyen Dan" or the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, begins this year on midnight January 27th, I971 and the festivities will last three days. The traditional Vietnamese calendar runs in cycles of twelve years. A genie, in the form of an animal figure, dominates each year. They are, in the following order: Ty (mouse); Suu (buffalo); Dan (tiger); Mao (cat); Thin (dragon); Ty (snake); Ngo (horse); Mui (goat); Than (monkey); Dau (cock); Tuat (dog); and Hoi (hog). As the old year gives way to the new, the ruling genie quietly bows out to the next. This coming year will be the year of the Hog.


Firecrackers festival in the North
On Tet, the home is brightly lit and the family altar resplendent with flowers, fruits, cakes and sweets to welcome the new genie on this festive night. It used to be that firecrackers erupted on the exact moment of transition, as is the custom in many western countries. In Vietnam, they serve an additional purpose -- to chase out the evil spirit -- but since the infamous Tet attack of three years ago, the use of firecrackers was banned by the authorities.
At dawn, the family sits down to a banquet in honor of the ancestors to whom they pay their respects by ritual bows before the family shrine. When the meal is finished, it's time to dress in one's best fineries and meet the parents and grand-parents to wish them luck and happiness in the coming year. The youngsters especially look forward to this ceremony as each one of them receives a small sum of money wrapped in the traditional "red envelope".
It is an ancient belief in Vietnam that fortune or misfortune which occurs on New Year's Day sets the pattern for the rest of the year. The morning of Tet is of particular importance. The character of the first visitor to the home will leave his imprint on the family for the rest of the year. This ancient custom is called "Xong Nha". If the visitor is good, kind and honest, the family is in luck. But if he or she happens to be a rather shady type, the year is off to a bad start. It is not unusual in many homes to firmly lock the gates and wait until a few minutes after midnight to admit a favored friend as the "first guest in the New Year" who, in the meantime, has been walking around the block, waiting for his cue to make his "guest appearance".
Another important aspect of Tet is the family visit to the Pagoda or Church to pray for good fortune and happiness. The remainder of the holidays is filled with visits to friends and relatives, family games and just relaxation. In the countryside the ceremonies include a tilling event to insure a plentiful harvest after the spring planting. 

Water melon, traditional Tet fruit