Exhibition "Royal Tet through Nguyen Dynasty woodblocks"

The woodblocks clearly state the specific activities of the Nguyen Dynasty kings and mandarins in preserving and maintaining the traditional Tet holiday, including how to prepare for the Lunar New Year, the rituals to welcome the New Year, and how to reward the New Year.

Accordingly, Tet Nguyen Dan is the biggest festival among all traditional festivals of the Vietnamese people. From the 1st of December, the Nguyen Dynasty held the Ban Soc ceremony (promulgating the calendar for the new year) at Ngo Mon Gate. This calendar was compiled by the Imperial Astronomical Institute.

After the Ban Soc ceremony, the royal court held the Phat Thuc ceremony (the ceremony of washing the seal and cleaning the investiture books) at Can Chanh palace on December 20.

Next is the Te Huong ceremony at the temples (the year-end worship ceremony at the temples). During the worship ceremony at the temples on December 30, the king goes to Thai Hoa Palace to perform the Thuong Tieu ceremony (raising the flagpole) with the civil and military mandarins. All the palaces in the palace raise flagpoles and hang firecrackers to celebrate the new year.

New Year's Eve is the time to hold the New Year's Eve ceremony, to erase all the bad luck and unhappiness of the old year.

Normally, under the Nguyen Dynasty, the Lunar New Year holiday was scheduled from December 28 to January 8 of the following year. On New Year's Eve, the doors of the passageways in the Imperial City would be opened. In the courtyard of the Thai Hoa Palace on New Year's Eve, 20 gunshots would be fired every hour, a full 1,000 loud gunshots throughout the night.

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, the king will wear his royal robe and go to the Queen Mother's palace to celebrate the New Year. Afterwards, the king will go to the Thai Hoa Palace to receive congratulations from the king and his ministers and give bonuses to the mandarins. Depending on their rank, the mandarins will receive different bonuses from the king. The king will also hold a grand banquet to celebrate the New Year with the mandarins.

From the third day of Tet, the king often organized spring trips outside the capital to learn about people's lives and visit his old teacher.

On the 7th day, the Khai Ha (lowering the flagpole) ceremony is held. After 9 gunshots on the flagpole, officials open the seal box to start the work of a new year.

The exhibition "Royal Tet through Nguyen Dynasty woodblocks" is organized by the Hue Monuments Conservation Center in collaboration with the National Archives Center IV, lasting until March 30 at the Dai Cung Mon corridor (Hue Imperial City).

Lan Oanh