Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the heart of the thousand-year-old capital Thang Long - Hanoi, once again became vibrant with a program recreating the unique Lunar New Year rituals of the ancient royal court. Recently, the program experienced the Lunar New Year rituals that once took place in the ancient Thang Long royal court, expressing the wish for prosperity for the country, peace and prosperity for the people "farewell to the old, welcome the new" to see off the old year and welcome the new year.
Director of the Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center Nguyen Thanh Quang said that the "Farewell to the Old, Welcome to the New" ceremonies recreate unique folk and royal rituals and customs. These activities contribute to preserving the good customs of our ancestors, inspiring the quintessence of national culture and educating traditions for the younger generation.
In the ancient Thang Long Imperial Palace, on the occasion of Tet, solemn and dignified ceremonies were held to show the prosperity of the nation and the peace and prosperity of the people.
To promote the value of typical royal Tet rituals as well as traditional folk Tet customs, this year, in addition to traditional activities such as erecting the pole and releasing carp, the Thang Long - Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center organizes the reenactment of some rituals such as the Calendar Ceremony and the Changing of the Guard Ceremony in the form of dramatization.
Thang Long - Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center organizes a performance program of the "Sending the Old, Welcoming the New" ceremony to recreate unique folk and royal rituals and customs.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Duc Cuong, President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association, said that Tet Nguyen Dan is the biggest and most sacred traditional festival of the year for the Vietnamese people, marking the moment of transition between the old year and the new year, the time to close the events of the old year and look forward to the good things of the new year with much joy and hope. This is one of the festivals with many unique customs and bears the mark of the indigenous culture of the Vietnamese people throughout Vietnam.
It is known that the pole-raising ceremony is an indispensable ritual during the Lunar New Year in Vietnam. The pole-raising ceremony is a symbol of spring, carrying good meanings and blessings. When the pole-raising ceremony was held in the Royal Palace, people also began to raise poles in front of their houses.
Especially in the land of the thousand-year-old capital, Lunar New Year culture is even more rich and unique, converging and interweaving royal culture and traditional folk culture.
The calendar-promoting and calendar-issuing ceremonies show the importance of the feudal court to calendar-making as well as attention to weather and climate phenomena, good days and times, and favorable natural conditions to serve agricultural production and the daily lives of the court and people.
The Spring Ox Offering Ceremony is an important ritual carefully prepared by the royal court, held on the day of the beginning of spring with the wish for favorable weather, good crops and a warm and prosperous spring.
The rituals of farewelling the old year and welcoming the new spring with wishes for peace and reunion include the ceremony to worship the Kitchen Gods, the calendar ceremony, the pole-raising ceremony...
The New Year's Eve is the first grand court ceremony of the royal court, taking place on the first day of the Lunar New Year. This is a court ritual, an occasion for the king, the royal family and all the mandarins to meet on the first day of the new year, to wish the king a long life and the people peace and prosperity. All the regions in the country sent congratulatory messages to the king. On this occasion, the king also held a banquet and gave spring bonuses to all the mandarins.
These are traditional rituals in the ancient royal court, opening a series of rituals performed by the king and the court during the Lunar New Year, taking place from the end of December to the full moon of January.
Within the framework of the "Farewell to the Old, Welcome to the New" event series, the Thang Long - Hanoi Heritage Conservation Center also organizes a series of activities to celebrate the traditional Tet holiday, such as: Displaying the space "Old Tet - Tet during the subsidy period" (from January 20), recreating the traditional Tet of Vietnamese people in the 70s and 80s of the 20th century; the exhibition space "Royal Tet rituals in spring" takes place at building N14 on January 20. Special puppet shows serve visitors from January 30 to February 2 (ie from the 2nd to the 5th of January) in the following time slots: 9:30, 10:30, 11:30, 15:00 and 16:00.
