According to folklore, what you do, what you buy on the first day of the year will affect the luck of the whole year, so what to buy and what to abstain at the beginning of the year is what many people care about.
The ancients said that the first item you buy on the first day of the new year often affects the luck of the whole year, can bring bad luck or good luck. Here are the things that people often do during the Lunar New Year and the beginning of the year to get lucky, please refer to it to understand more about Vietnamese culture.
What should I buy at the beginning of the year?
Buy salt
“Buy salt at the beginning of the year, buy lime at the end of the year” is a custom of Vietnamese people in the new year.The ancients believed that salt was a thing to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck.
“Buy salt at the beginning of the year, buy lime at the end of the year” is a Vietnamese custom.
At the same time, the taste of salt also symbolizes the richness of family affection. The ancients also believed that buying salt at the beginning of the year would help the family be in harmony and peace, and social relationships would also become close because it deepens the affection between the parties. Therefore, buying salt at the beginning of the year is buying happiness and warmth.
Buy fire
According to feng shui, fire symbolizes warmth, happiness and never-ending fortune, so many families believe that if they buy fire at the beginning of the year, the whole year will be peaceful, happy and prosperous. Buying fire here is buying fire-generating items such as matches, lighters….
That’s why on the first day of the Lunar New Year, when selling you a pack of salt, people often sell a lighter. With the fire on the first day of the year, people believe that their family will have a smooth and successful year.
“Buy” the word
Being a studious country, it is also a long-standing tradition of Vietnamese people to buy lettering papers on the first day of the year. Asking for letters – giving letters is a good cultural trait that both shows respect for knowledge and a wish to fulfill one’s own wishes.
Buying a letter of application for a job has a lot of cultural significance.
Letters hung in the house on New Year’s Day express the family identity and the wishes of the owner. The more beautiful the words of the adepts, the more famous they are in the region, the more precious they are. The person who asked for the word also wished for the blessing of the person who gave the letter, and wished for fortune and blessing for the family.
Buy feng shui items
Feng shui items are also “sold out” in the early days of spring. It is believed that the astral and destined feng shui items placed in the house will help the owner neutralize the weapon, bring vitality to better business or health.
Feng shui items are often quite expensive, but many families are not afraid to spend tens of millions of dong to “process” the items they want, hoping that next year they will have good fortune.
Buy gold on the Day of the God of Wealth
The ancients believed that buying gold at the beginning of the year would help us have a full and rich year, especially on the 10th of January. However, luck is not in the amount of gold we buy but in the heart of the city, so just buying a small amount is fine.
New Year’s Taboos
Besides the things to do, people also often avoid doing the taboos below to have a happy, prosperous and lucky new year.
- Sweeping the house, taking out the trash: During the 3 days of Tet, many families do not touch the broom, do not sweep the house, clean and empty the garbage. The ancients believed that this was the act of bringing money from the house to the street, so that the new year would be lacking and unable to do well. That’s why before New Year’s Eve, every family cleans the house, cleans the furniture, neat and clean so that 3 days of Tet do not clean anything more. Many families are so careful that they carry a concealed broom and mop, in case anyone doesn’t know how to use it.
- Breaking furniture: Vietnamese people are very abstain from breaking furniture, especially mirrors, glass or porcelain, especially on Tet because they think it is a bad omen. In the first 3 days of the year, people often remind each other to be careful when using fragile items.
Vietnamese people are very abstain from breaking furniture, especially mirrors, glass or porcelain, especially on Tet holiday.
- Open the cabinet: Like sweeping the house or taking out the trash, the act of opening the cabinet door is considered to release luck and fortune to the outside. The ancients believed that money was usually kept hidden in drawers, but opening the door was similar to spending money continuously. Some families in the Central region before New Year’s Eve also sealed all the cabinet doors for children’s rooms, opening them unknowingly. Some families also meticulously took out all necessary items and clothes during the 3 days of Tet so as not to touch the wardrobe.
- Crying, arguing: Vietnamese people always think that everything goes well, everything has a good start, then the whole journey will prosper, the new results will be as each person’s wishes. That’s why during the 3 days of Tet, people always laugh, joke, talk openly, avoid crying and arguing.
- Limiting access to hospitals and pharmacies: Except for force majeure cases, on the first days of the year, people avoid going to medical examination and treatment places, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies… for fear of being sick all year. cling. However, you should not avoid the doctor because of that if your body is having problems.
- For fire and water: In the house, fire and water are seen as keeping good luck and money. Therefore, the act of giving fire and water during the 3 days of Tet is considered to bring money to others, the new year will be difficult and difficult to earn back.
- Borrowing money: Not only in the first 3 days of the New Year, borrowing money is abstained from many people throughout January. Borrowing money on the first day of the year proves that life is not affluent, leading to a whole year of struggling to make a living, making it difficult to get rich.
- Haircut: According to the ancients, cutting off something from the body on the 1st is cutting off luck. Not only hair, people also limit cutting nails on the 1st.
The above taboos are just folk concepts, with no scientific basis, so you just need to know to gain more knowledge about culture and customs, not necessarily follow them.