The story that causes controversy every year is related to the fact that many people tend to attach importance to material values, specifically the monetary value of lucky money envelopes… but ignore the spiritual value and beauty associated with it. culture of wishing good luck in the new year… Dan Viet had an interview with Associate Professor. Dr. Nguyen Toan Thang, former Director of the Institute of Culture and Development, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics on this issue.
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Toan Thang, former Director of the Institute of Culture and Development, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics. Photo: NVCC
Dear Assoc.Prof. Dr. Nguyen Toan Thang, the Vietnamese custom of celebrating the first year of life has been preserved as an immutable cultural value for many years. Why is that?
– According to “Vietnamese customs” by Phan Ke Binh, “After worshiping ancestors, children and grandchildren congratulate their parents and grandparents, bow twice. Parents and grandparents congratulate their children and grandchildren, each with a few coins or a few dimes. , called lucky money”.
In Vietnamese Lunar New Year customs, following welcoming New Year’s Eve, or on the morning of the first day, children and grandchildren often wish their parents a Happy New Year with a sum of money placed in a pink paper bag, called “lucky money”. “opening money”, with the hope of bringing luck to grandparents and parents. The elders will then “open the shop” once more for their children and grandchildren. Friends who meet on Tet often “open shops” for each other to get luck. Lucky money is usually not much, but it is always new money, mainly for luck in the early spring of the new year.
In the 20th century, people celebrated money with very small denominations; usually only five cents, one dime. Children will often cherish that lucky coin for a whole year. It doesn’t matter what the denomination is, but it is a lucky coin, expressing the love and affection of the person celebrating the new year. Therefore, that money is preserved without being spent. According to ancient beliefs, that lucky money will give rise to other coins. If you spend money buying or selling something, you will lose luck.
In recent years, the words “happy new year” or “opening shop” are rarely used, replaced by the word “lucky money”. Is there any cultural difference in this way of calling, sir?
– We Vietnamese people do not use the word “lucky money”. In the last 40 years or so, the word “lucky money” has appeared more and more and replaced the words “happy new year” or “opening of stores”. Now people use the word “lucky money” more. Our generation, when we were kids around 1965, only knew regarding “opening stores” and “happy new year” but not “lucky money” and even now I still prefer the old way of calling it.
Around following 1975, when the country was unified, economic development led to the spread and cultural interference between the North and South, the way the Chinese called “lucky money” in Saigon – Cho Lon gradually began. is more common, has the same meaning as “happy new year”.
New Year’s Eve envelopes are treasured and kept by a person as good luck. Photo: Tran Viet.
In today’s society, people often pay less attention to the spiritual value of lucky money and instead value the face value of that money. Has the meaning of lucky money been changed, sir?
– Recently, this beautiful custom is being practiced incorrectly by many people. It seems that people do not care much regarding the spiritual value of that money but only pay attention to its purchasing value. In the past, people celebrating lucky money and those receiving lucky money often cared regarding the luck of money, but now there is a mentality of paying attention to the face value of money. The larger the denomination of the coin, the more people like it. And receiving lucky money to have a bunch of money like that turns out to be giving each other money, not lucky money anymore. That is extremely unfortunate.
When celebrating a child or someone you love, remember to make them understand that spiritual values are important and noble. We are giving each other luck, not giving each other money. The heavy emphasis on the material value of money has distorted the custom of celebrating the New Year or opening money at the beginning of the year.
In your opinion, where did the transformation of the new year celebration custom come from?
– Cultural values are often era-specific, people of each era have a different type of thinking. In my opinion, this transformation largely depends on each person’s perception. When people live in a market economy, it seems to lean more towards material values. People with an enjoyable, pragmatic lifestyle often care a lot regarding material values. Each person will have different abilities to control their needs. There are people whose greed is insatiable, and they don’t know how much is enough.
Many people place too much emphasis on the face value of lucky money, which distorts the spiritual value of this custom. Illustration.
Knowledgeable people will harmonize both material values and spiritual values. Celebrating the first year of the year to wish each other luck clearly belongs to spiritual values. But turning it into material value is clearly a transformation of good customs and traditions.
So, according to you, is the custom of celebrating the coming of age still suitable for the new era?
– Actually, this is still a respectable custom! Nowadays, when life has improved a lot, material needs are met all year round, so Lunar New Year will mainly be regarding spiritual and cultural values. It’s like people buying a peach branch or an apricot branch to watch the signs of life emerging. But due to the awareness of some people or children who have not been taught properly, they just follow their feelings.
I think this culture should still be maintained but must be explained so that practitioners can understand the meaning to transform it. Don’t turn this into a matter of giving each other a lot of money, which means it will materialize and trivialize that lucky money.
In recent years, many forms of New Year’s celebration have appeared, such as celebrating the birthday through bank accounts or celebrating the birthday with lottery tickets… Is this suitable for Vietnamese culture, sir?
– In this day and age, I think, that is acceptable. If people cannot meet each other, there will be appropriate forms. When celebrating each other’s birthday, it’s all regarding care and affection.
Or with a lottery ticket, it doesn’t matter, this also means sending a gift of luck. As long as we don’t turn it into giving each other a lot of money. Don’t look at a gift through its material meaning, but look at it through its spiritual meaning.
Thank you Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Toan Thang for sharing the information.