A DISCUSSION ON THE MEANING OF TẾT THƯỜNG TÂN
Tết Thường Tân, celebrated on the 10th day of the 10th lunar month, is also known as Tết Song Thập. Although it originated in China, when this festival came to Vietnam, people in different regions came to celebrate it with their own distinct meanings and customs.
Tết Thường Tân, also known as Tết Song Thập, originated in China, yet when it arrived in Vietnam, people across the country came to observe it with their own distinct meanings and customs. In some rural regions, Tết Trùng Thập is simply known as the "New Rice Festival" or Tết Thường Tân. Families would use freshly harvested rice to make sticky rice cakes, cook rice, and boil chicken as offerings to their ancestors and to the Buddhas and deities, giving thanks for a bountiful harvest. In the villages of the Red River and Mekong Delta regions, stretching from the North down to the South, this harvest celebration is called the New Rice Festival, falling right in the middle of the harvest season. As for traditional medicine, the 10th day of the 10th lunar month is considered an auspicious day in an auspicious month, when medicinal plants are believed to gather the essence of yin and yang and absorb the qualities of all four seasons, making their properties the finest of the year. For this reason, traditional healers hold this festival in especially high regard.
The Vietnamese people have always cherished their festivals and customary practices, preserving and passing them down to future generations as part of our timeless cultural heritage and the beautiful traditions of our nation...
In celebration of Tết Thường Tân on the 10th day of the 10th lunar month, Diệu Tướng Am respectfully wishes all Venerable Monks and Nuns, devoted Buddhists, and valued customers:
"IN SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN, AND WINTER, MAY BODY AND MIND EVER REMAIN AT PEACE
IN EAST, WEST, SOUTH, AND NORTH, MAY ALL THINGS BE BLESSED WITH GOOD FORTUNE"
