Experiencing Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tết) at Thăng Long Imperial Citadel, together with kids from Ngôi Sao School

In the cultural life of the Vietnamese people, Chinese characters have been commonly used in various types of documents, including contracts, letter, poetry, literature, or calligraphy artworks for decoration of houses and official halls. Pairs of couplets written on red paper are highly diverse in styles and humanitarian in values, and are normally hung on the Vietnamese family altars or in the best places of their houses as a form of reverence to ancestors. They can also be used as gifts to convey wishes of health, happiness and good luck on the first days of the new year. The 2020 New Year Programme at Thăng Long Imperial Citadel, titled “Pen Strokes of Spring”, aims to demonstrate the beautiful traditions of the Vietnamese people through the practices of hanging couplets, asking and giving calligraphic characters during the new year holiday.

Nearly 900 students of the Ngôi sao Inter-level School had interesting experience at Thăng Long this morning in the company of calligraphers from whom they learned about customs of the traditional Tết and the meanings of each calligraphic character. Each character contains the human aspirations for Blessing, Longevity, Achievement, Success, Merit, Virtue, etc. The students also had an opportunity to practice writing these characters themselves to convey their own new year’s resolution and wishes.

Không gian trưng bày Nét bút ngày xuân đã có sự kết hợp giữa truyền thống và hiện đại, mang hơi thở cuộc sống mới, trẻ trung vào nghệ thuật thư pháp chữ Hán truyền thống khi được diễn tả bằng phong cách Graffiti sống động đầy màu sắc.

Các bạn nhỏ được vui chơi thỏa thích trong không gian khu di sản rực rỡ sắc xuân, check in cùng các cụm trang trí độc đáo với câu đối, chuông gió, nón; trải nghiệm gói bánh chưng và nhiều trò chơi dân gian vui nhộn.

The exhibition space of the “Pen Strokes of Spring” Programme is a combination of tradition and modernity, especially when the vivid and colorful graffiti style was employed to breathe new life into traditional Chinese character calligraphy.

Schoolchildren enjoyed themselves to the full in a space of splendid spring flowers. They also took check-in photos with the couplets, wind-chimes and conical hats, tried wrapping the glutinous rice cake bánh chưng as well as took part in merry folk games.

Some photos of the schoolchildren taking part in the Vietnamese Tết Programme

Kim Yến