Tet Nguyen Dan, a Tet full of traditional flavors, is an indescribable excitement for many children. Their round, sparkling eyes shine with extreme joy when thinking about the day they can wear brand new clothes, receive red lucky money envelopes and play with friends all day long. However, behind those innocent smiles are the worries and busyness of many families during the years when the country was still subsidized.
Lunar New Year, a Tet filled with traditional flavors
An unforgettable story of the past
During Tet 1975 and the years that followed, life was extremely difficult. In peacetime, the trade network flourished, and various types of ration cards were introduced. Fuel stores, restaurants, meat stalls, flour mills, hairdressers, etc. sprang up like mushrooms, but they still could not meet basic needs.
Tet was poor but happy. The time when the countryside was peaceful, the streets were quiet and bustling to welcome Tet.
For Vietnamese people, Tet Nguyen Dan is the most important holiday of the year. Every family tries to prepare for Tet as neatly as possible, even if they have to eat bo bo, fish sauce, etc. On the altar, there must be flowers, banana bunches, banh chung, banh tet. These are not just dishes but the soul of Tet. Tet must have a plate of cakes, jams, candies to entertain guests. There must be apricot and peach branches in the house.
Despite the hardships and poverty, Tet must still be celebrated. People in the subsidy period, who usually had to struggle to make ends meet, still joked and made up songs in a fun way. Food had to be calculated “scientifically” to be able to “have it for today, for tomorrow, for… two days later”.
Old Tet stalls
Hanoians tell each other that, no matter how busy the year-end work is at offices, factories, and enterprises, parents still spend precious time taking their children shopping for Tet. Even though they have to wake up at dawn, stand in long lines under the blazing sun to buy a few kilos of meat or rice, in the afternoon, parents are busy taking their children to department stores or famous fabric streets such as Hang Dao and Hang Ngang.
No matter how simple they dress all year round, on Tet, Hanoi children must have a new and beautiful set of clothes. Their joy comes not only from the new clothes but also from walking around the streets with their parents, watching the sparkling lanterns, and smelling the aroma of Chung cake and Day cake.
Hearing the word “subsidy” for the first time, young people of the 8x and 9x generations seem bewildered and unfamiliar. For the 6x and 7x generations and earlier, it is truly a beautiful memory.
At that time, when the country was still immersed in post-war difficulties, the meager salary was only enough to cover daily living expenses. Therefore, every time Tet came, worries covered every family. Preparing for Tet became a difficult problem, requiring careful calculation. Shopping, decorating the house, gifts for both sides, but "eating well will make you full, dressing well will make you warm". In addition to monthly coupons, each household was also distributed by the State with sticky rice, green beans, pork to wrap banh chung, plus a bag containing a few ounces of rice paper, cellophane noodles, rice paper, wood ear mushrooms, pepper (the quantity depends on whether the household is large or not).
Especially during Tet, buying goods under the rationing system using coupons issued by the State
There are many things that are bought for Tet such as: Tet goods bags including some pork skin, dried bamboo shoots, vermicelli, spring rolls, MSG, pepper, dong leaves... then a box of Hanoi jam, a package of Ba Dinh tea, a bottle of Thanh Mai lemon wine, a package of soft candy (which is very hard) and even a Truc Bach firecracker. You cannot buy everything at once, in one place. You have to line up to buy each item from dozens of days before Tet, when the trade Tet stalls are opened. Sometimes you have to wake up early to line up from 5am, wait until the door opens for your mother to go out and buy things because children are not allowed to hold money and stamps, if they lose them, the whole family will not have Tet that year. Line up is busy, but also a joy for the children at that time.
Just a little mixed jam, contained in a thin cardboard box, is enough for everyone to feel the Tet atmosphere coming to every home.
Going back in time, keeping the spirit of Vietnamese Tet
Despite the hardships and shortages, Tet is still the most important event of the year. From young to old, men and women eagerly wait for Tet to come and eat delicious food. Even though they have to line up from early morning to jostle each other just to buy a box of mixed jam, a few ounces of green beans to wrap Chung cake, a few ounces of meat, some MSG, and dried bamboo shoots. But that alone is enough to make everyone excited. Children look forward to having new clothes, eating sugar candy, and gai biscuits that they can only enjoy once a year.
A firecracker stall during Tet in the past, signaling the arrival of spring, the passing of the old year, and the welcoming of a new year. These images will be etched into the memories of many people because since 1995 our country has had a ban on firecrackers.
Some people say that during the subsidy period, the whole year was filled with hardship and worry, and only the three days of Tet were filled with prosperity. However, when the past is behind us, many people suddenly feel nostalgic for the difficult times. Among the countless happy events during the subsidy period, Tet is the happiest event.
Tet is the day of family reunion in the whole year. On Tet, every family is the most crowded and gathered together. Families try to have two meals together, on the afternoon of the 30th and the morning of the first day of Tet. The remaining time goes to wish relatives and friends a happy new year, sometimes even visiting neighbors' houses. In the subsidy period, the country was not very crowded, there were few means of transportation, so during Tet, the streets were often deserted, the air was fresh. Adults spoke to each other very gently and we children had to do the same.
The land and the blooming flowers of the old days
In those days, people gave lucky money mainly to their children and the elderly, the amount was just a convention. Sometimes, they gave lucky money in the form of firecrackers. During the war, material things were scarce, but people valued the spirit and always respected and gave way to each other, especially during Tet. Therefore, everyone looked forward to Tet and missed Tet when spring came.
1986 was a historic milestone marking the end of the subsidy period, opening a new chapter for the country. For the people, especially the generations that grew up during this period, it seemed that many people were bewildered. Decades of living in a centralized economy, all needs from food, clothing, housing to Tet were distributed by the state, which had become a habit that was hard to break.
People will never forget the country in difficult days still hurriedly celebrating the approaching Tet.
However, that feeling of uneasiness quickly passed. Now, if we talk about the image of people queuing up from midnight to buy Tet items during the old subsidy period, many people will find it very funny. The image of long lines of people queuing from midnight to buy a few kilos of rice, a few ounces of meat, or the busy afternoons going to the market to buy simple Tet decorations. These are not only familiar images but also a whole sky of memories of a bygone era.
All those stories have become past memories with many shades of bitterness, sweetness, joy and regret.
