VIETNAM CALENDAR (YEAR OF THE PIG)

ILLUSTRATION AND DESIGN VIETNAM CALENDAR

2019 YEAR OF THE PIG

( Minh họa và thiết kế lịch Tết Kỷ Hợi )

This is project was inprired by The Pig is the twelfth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Vietnamese zodiac and Vietnamese traditional festivals such as Tet Nguyen Dan and Tet Doan Ngo.

Tet Nguyen Dan or Tet is the most important and popular holiday and festival in Vietnam. It is the Vietnamese New Year marking the arrival of spring based on the Lunar calendar, a lunisolar calendar. The name Tet Nguyen Dan is

Sino-Vietnamese for Feast of the very First Morning. Vietnamese families usually have a family altar, to pay respect to

their ancestors.

During Tet the altar is thoroughly cleaned and new offerings are placed there. Traditionally, the kitchen guardians for each house (Ông Táo) (Kitchen God) return to heaven on the 23rd day of the twelfth month by lunar calendar

to give his annual report on family members to the Jade Emperor. Their departure is marked by a modest ceremony where the family offers sacrifices for them to use on their journey.

Lion Dance is a folk art originated from China in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune. In Vietnam the lion dance is usually performedduring the Tet and other traditional,

cultural and religious festivals. It may also be performed at important occasions such as business opening events, special celebrations or wedding ceremonies.

One of very popular traditional food in Tet is Mut (candied fruits) which is not served in the meals but a snack to welcome guests visiting house and always kept in beautiful boxes and placed at the table in the living room.

The first day of Tet is reserved for the nuclear family. Children wear their new clothes, give their elders the traditional Tet greetings before receiving the lucky money from them in exchange.

In the days leading up to Tet, each family cooks special holiday foods such as bánh chưng and bánh dầy.

Preparations for these foods are quite extensive. Family members often take turns to keep watch on the fire overnight, telling each other stories about Tet of past years.

Tet Doan Ngo The summer solstice (fifth day of the fifth moon) is marked by festivities aimed at warding off epidemics brought on by the summer heat. This is also the time of dragon-boat races; late May to early June.

Ong Do - THE SINO - VIETNAMESE TEACHER

If you want to have perfect parallel sentences for Tet, you need to hire a specialist called Ong Do. There is a poem called "THE SINO - VIETNAMESE TEACHER" used to describe a bout him
"Each year, when peach flowers blossom,
We see again the old teacher
Display black ink and crimson paper
On the sidewalk busy with passers-by.

Many people hire him to write,
Praising in wonder his talent:
"His dexterous hand draws like
Dancing phoenix, flying dragon."

But each year, clients become rarer.
Where are you now calligraphy users?
Untouched red paper deep in sadness,
Unstirred ink gloomy inside the jar.

The teacher is still sitting there,
Pedestrians are unaware.
A yellow leaf falls on the paper
As dusty rain flies in the air.

This year, peach trees bloom again
Ancient teacher is not seen.
People from millennia past
Where are your souls now?"