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1. What Is The Cold Food Festival?
The Cold Food Festival, also known as the Cold Food Tet, the Vietnamese Floating Rice Cake Tet, or the Han Thuc Tet, is a popular traditional holiday in Northern Vietnam, some Central Provinces and the Chinese community in Vietnam. On this occasion, families will prepare portions of glutinous rice balls (Banh Troi, Banh Chay) to respectfully offer to the ancestors.
1.1. Origin of the Cold Food Festival
The birth of the Cold Food Festival is associated with the legend "Gioi Tu Thoi died in a fire". The story takes place in the Spring and Autumn period, when King Tan Van Cong of Tan country left the country in exile amid chaos, met Gioi Tu Thoi, and received his help to regain his throne. However, after regaining the throne, when conferring deities on those who had meritorious services, the king forgot Gioi Tu Thoi's help.
However, Gioi Tu Thoi still did not resent him, he returned and took his old mother into the mountains to hide. Sometime later, when the king remembered, he sent someone to look for Gioi Tu Thoi but the man refused to return to receive the reward. The king saw this and ordered the forest to be burned to force him to show up, but instead, both mother and son died in the mountains. His death made the king heartbroken and regretful, he then built a temple and ordered people to abstain from using fire for three days and only eat cold, pre-cooked food to commemorate Gioi Tu Thoi.
1.2. The Meaning of the Cold Food Festival
Today, Vietnamese people celebrate the Cold Food Festival to express their gratitude to their ancestors and the nation's roots.
The later generations express good traditions and cultural beauty from ancient times through the dishes offered to ancestors on this occasion, all are made from rustic ingredients, typical of the Vietnamese people.
In addition, the Cold Food Festival is an occasion for people to express their religious beliefs and pray for a year of good weather, good harvests, and a prosperous and happy life.
1.3. What Day Does the Cold Food Take Place?
In folk culture, the Cold Food Festival takes place on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month. In 2025, the festival will happen on Monday, March 31st.
2. The Custom of Cold Food Festival in Vietnam
2.1. Eat The Floating Rice Cakes
The custom of eating floating rice cakes during the Cold Food Festival in Vietnam is said by researcher Tran Quang Duc to have started during the Le Trung Hung dynasty (1533 - 1789). In his notes on folk culture, Le Quy Don also wrote "Our country's custom is that glutinous rice balls is the most important, every year on the 3rd day of the 3rd month, we make that cake".
"Banh troi" (glutinous rice cake) are made from rice flour, which carries the meaning of Vietnamese wet rice culture similar to the Chung Cake. The image of cakes shaped into a circle and stacked together represents the tradition of "when drinking water, remember the source" because it is also related to the mythical story about the birth of the Vietnamese people.
2.2. Eat Banh Xuan Thai (or steamed rolled rice pancake)
Besides the floating rice cakes, according to historical documents, steamed rice rolls are also a traditional dish during this festival. The custom of eating steamed rice rolls during the Cold Food Festival likely appeared during the Tran Dynasty.
Banh Xuan Thai is a version of Banh Cuon, known as a type of cake made from steamed rice flour, rolled thinly and then filled with meat, chopped wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, sprinkled with a little dried onion, and served with sour dipping sauce.
2.3. Worship
On the 3/3 Lunar Year every year, each family often prepares worshipping platters to worship ancestors and Buddha with main dishes including floating cakes, betel, areca, incense, fresh flowers, and fruit. People believe that odd numbers will bring luck, so the amount of floating cakes offered is usually 3 or 5 bowls of cakes.
3. Abstention During The Cold Food Festival
- Avoid offering colorful floating cakes: The Cold Food Festival is a day to worship ancestors and Buddha, so purity and simplicity are important, that’s why the cakes are only naturally white.
- Avoid moving house: According to folklore, the spirits of the deceased often follow the family closely, so moving house on that day of the Lunar Year will cause chaos in the house, which is not good.
- Abstain from thorny, bitter fruits: Implied to avoid bringing disasters, suffering, and a more bitter and difficult life.
- Avoid offering lilies, porcelain flowers, and marigold flowers: Avoid bringing bad luck to your family
4. How is The Cold Food Festival in Vietnam different from that in China?
For Chinese people, when the Cold Food Festival takes place, they will abstain from using fire and use cold food and participate in many traditional activities such as visiting graves, cockfighting, swinging, boat racing, etc., for three days.
In Vietnam, Vietnamese people celebrate the Cold Food Festival by offering a worshipping platter of floating rice cakes to their ancestors, and worshiping Buddha, and there is no custom of abstaining from using fire or eating cold food.
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