According to folklore, the Dragon Boat Festival is fixed on the 5th day of the fifth lunar month every year.
Although people often worship in the early morning, the Lunar New Year is celebrated at noon (12 noon) because, “Doan” is the opening, “Ngo” is the period from 11 am to 13 pm. Doan Ngo New Year has many unique customs such as dyeing toenails, fingernails, picking medicinal leaves, examining trees… But perhaps the most special is the tray of offerings to ancestors on this day.
Illustration On the tray of offerings for the Lunar New Year, there must be a sticky rice dish. A few days before that, the mothers had calculated the date of brewing the sticky rice wine with many sophisticated steps in choosing sticky rice, choosing yeast… I remember, my mother used to wrap rice wine in Tay Ho lotus leaves, so sticky rice wine like being blended with the quintessence of summer heaven and earth. Every year, the mothers and fathers prepare a feast to worship the ancestors on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival with all the love and affection for all family members. On the tray there are always white glutinous rice wine and sticky rice wine with glutinous rice grains emitting a sweet, spicy aroma. The ash cakes are flexible, clear as jelly, and golden, sprinkled with molasses, which is very beautiful. This season, there are many kinds of fruit, but there must be lychee, plum and watermelon. In particular, the Doan Ngo festival of the Ha Thanh people also includes floating cakes, vegetarian cakes and a few cups of tea marinated with lotus leaves in Tay Ho. On the altar, next to the offering tray are summer lotus flowers blooming in the fragrant smoke of incense. The whole space is imbued with the summer flavor of Ha Thanh land. Tet Doan Ngo is also known as the “Tet to kill insects”. According to legend, once a year, farmers were happy because the harvest was good, but suddenly the insects crowded in and ate up all the fruit and food. While the people were bewildered and afraid, an old man appeared, claiming to be Doi Trun. He showed people how to set up an altar consisting of rice, wine, fruit, cake, etc. and stood in front of his house to exercise. The people did as he said. Strangely enough, the worms got scared and immediately left. To commemorate this, people call the 5th of May as the “Tet to kill insects”. Perhaps, stemming from the concept that the Dragon Boat Festival is also the Tet holiday to kill insects, mothers often call their children to get up early, to enjoy sticky rice wine and fruits. According to folklore, spicy, hot sticky rice combined with sour fruit can kill worms and parasites in the body. I still remember the exciting feeling when I was still sleepy when my mother brought a bowl of sticky rice wine and a few plums and lychees to the bed to feed them to “kill insects”. That dear image is forever imprinted in the sweet memories of my childhood. As time goes by, life has changed a lot, but the unique flavor of the Lunar New Year is still handed down in folklore. Hopefully, the traditional customs with sparkling fairy colors will be extended over the years and the shimmering magical beauty is woven from the bond of intimacy in each family.
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