Tet: The Lunar New Year

 

Objectives

  • Using a Venn Diagram, students will compare and contrast Vietnamese American Tet lunar new year celebration with other celebrations around the world.

 

Activity

Students are encouraged to share how their families celebrate the new year in the U.S. Discuss if family celebrations are influenced by their religion, heritage and/or culture. Discuss the roots of American holidays. Why do we celebrate certain holidays? Why are they significant?

 

Next, present to the students an explanation of the Vietnamese New Year celebration Tet.

After learning about Tet, students will select one “American” holiday and one holiday influenced by ethnic culture, such as Tet (Students may use Tet or select another ethnic holiday).

 

Students complete a Venn Diagram to note the similarities and differences.

 

Teacher’s Note:

Tet is the abbreviation of Tet Nguyen Dan which means the first morning of the first day of the new period. Tet marks the beginning of a new year on the lunar calendar, as well as the beginning of Spring. Vietnam and a number of other countries in Asia had adopted the Western calendar as early as 1911, but the lunar calendar is still used for festive occasions such as this. The Lunar New Year begins on the first night of the first moon after the sun enters Aquarius (or the first night of the second new moon after the Winter Solstice), usually sometime between January 21 and February 19 on the solar (Western) calendar.

 

Tet is a huge celebration lasting three days. Families save money, store food, and plan far in advance to ensure that they start the new year off right. They buy new clothes, paint and clean their homes, cook three days worth of food, pay off all debts and make amends to rid themselves of all bad feelings. Cleaning is frowned on during Tet because one would not want to sweep out any good luck. Additionally, neither digging nor drawing water are allowed so that the ground and water can also enjoy the holiday.

 

The marketplace is particularly busy the week before Tet as people are buying food, trinkets, firecrackers, flowers, and other items in anticipation of the holiday. At four o’clock in the afternoon on Tet eve all the markets close down so everyone can go home and prepare for midnight when Tet begins.

 

The atmosphere of Tet is very festive. The color Red, symbolizing good luck and happiness is seen everywhere. Incense is burned in the homes and gambling games are played in the streets, homes and in cars. If a gambler wins then s/he is said to have good luck for gambling in the new year. If a gambler loses, s/he is said to have good luck in other affairs. There are also dragon dances at night. Food is plentiful, homes are decorated, parks are full of crowds of people dressed in their best new clothes, and for three days the people have an ultimate celebration.

 

In the United States large populations of Vietnamese-Americans also celebrate Tet. Ladies wear red and yellow, the colors of the Vietnamese flag, and the men wear all black. They go to the church or temple, eat earth cake, and have games, carnival rides, food booths and contests that are set up at a local college. Red envelopes are passed with “lucky money” in it. In the evening red firecrackers explode and dragon dances begin.

 

Some similarities between Tet and holidays celebrated in the U.S. may include:

  • New clothes- Easter
  • Firecrackers- 4th of July
  • Graves decorated- Memorial Day
  • Tree- Christmas
  • Ornaments- Christmas
  • Ghosts in the Street- Halloween
  • Midnight noise- New Years
  • Parade- 4th of July
  • Feast- Thanksgiving

 

Assessment

After learning new facts about how Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans celebrate new year, ask students to evaluate the extent to which Vietnamese or other diverse cultures in our community are or are not integrated into the broader culture along a continuum below.

 

Customs, music, food, community spirit, a similar or shared history, beliefs and values form the basis of a person’s culture and community. Decide if Vietnamese or other ethnic cultures and lifestyle are becoming a part of mainstream American life.

 

Use this scale to locate your opinion and provide 3-5 examples:

 

_______________________________________________________________

Not Integrated                        Moderately                  Considerably                           Integrated

(Not a part of)                                                                                                 (A part of)

 

Encourage students to visit various Asian American celebrations in our community.

 

 

Conduct an oral history of an immigrant or family member

 

Historical events can be personalized through the use of first-hand accounts.  Learners can become privy to the thoughts and emotions of individuals who have actual experience of what is being studied. Through first-hand accounts, the students can get a sense of the personal agency involved, personal struggles, and the sacrifices, losses or gains made as a consequence of one’s choices or of historical events that influenced a person’s life.

 

In addition, learning about the struggles and achievements of members of one’s own family can often heighten appreciation for one’s own identity and family roots. Family and community are often rich resources for learning about oneself, whether one is a recent immigrant with roots outside of the United States, or has been several generations in the United States.

 

Suggested Procedure:

  • The following questions may be helpful for a follow-up discussion on the different experiences shown in the previous lessons and to prepare the students to conduct their own oral interviews of a member in their family (or community) who has experienced immigration from another country or migration from another area in the United States.
  1. In what ways were the experiences of people in the photo cards similar? Different?
  2. What are some challenges that are mentioned by those in the photo cards?
  3. What are some successes mentioned?
  4. How might issues of adaptation be different or similar for those from different generations? What might those issues be for each generation?
  • Write up questions for the oral interviews (or choose questions from the handout “Oral Interview Sample Oralhistoryquestions.imageQuestions for Immigrant and Migrant Histories” and go over the procedures for conducting an oral interview.

 

Procedures for conducting an oral interview:

 

  1. Make an appointment for about 30 minutes with the person you would like to interview. Explain that the interview is a class project to gain more information on one’s own family migrations or immigration experiences. Ask permission to videotape or audiotape the interview if needed.
  2. When interviewing, have the interview subject answer the easy and less personal questions first, to build up some rapport and make the interview subject more comfortable in answering the later, more personal questions.
  3. Take notes, videotape, or audiotape the interview so that you can remember the content.
  4. Ask clarifying questions when something doesn’t make sense to you as the listener.
  5. Try to limit the interview to about 20-30 minutes unless you are sure that the interview subject would like to continue for a longer length of time.
  6. When you are through, thank the interviewee for her or his time and knowledge.
  • Have students conduct the oral interviews.

4)    Have students submit some sort of summary activity that highlights what they learned from the oral interview. It can be in the form such as a video clip, a transcription of the interview, a summary of selected quotes and why the interviewer found the person interesting, a family or community history write up, a photo essay or collage with accompanying explanation of its relationship to the oral interview, or a presentation to the class. (Also note that Lesson Plan 5 on Children’s Literature can be based upon this oral interview as well.)