Oi Vietnam - May 2013
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If you are
lucky enough to be in Hoi An on the night of a full moon, you will witness a delightful transformation
taking place in the streets of the old town. In the evening, a calm descends
over the old town. The electric street lights are turned off and all the
lanterns are lit. No traffic is allowed on the streets, not even bicycles. This
is a night for promenading and connecting with Vietnam’s rich cultural
heritage.
The full moon is an auspicious night all over Vietnam. It is a
night for people to remember their ancestors. Families and friends will gather
around courtyard or pavement altars to drink tea and wait to see the moons
reflection in their cups. On these table altars are the yellow flowers
purchased that morning at the market, incense sticks, maybe a little clay
figure of the jade rabbit and a collection of offerings of fruit, tea and wine.
Some may make offerings to Chang’e who, according to Chinese mythology, drank
the elixir of immortality and floated up to the moon. Some may honour the
spirits that connect this world to the past and to the future, to the spirits
that run in the rivers and blow through the trees and that bind all humans to
the natural and the supernatural.
Synonymous in
particular with the Lunar New Year festival (Tet), that takes place in January
or February, the market women sell sunshine yellow chrysanthemums and
marigolds. Bunches of flowers are swept up into baskets and bicycle panniers;
they are tucked under arms and squashed in with the groceries to be taken home
for the evening’s celebrations. They make tributes of yellow flowers that
signify hope and family happiness or, perhaps, a wish for a new baby.
Another aspect of Vietnamese life is their love of playing games.
Any time of day or night, groups of men gather around card games or chess boards
but on Full Moon Night you can see Chinese Chess up close because games are
staged outside some of the ancient houses and temples. Dressed in traditional
Vietnamese costume, men play the game by candle light and welcome onlookers. If
you want to take part, they will even introduce you to the rudiments of the
game.
Other full
moon festivals in Vietnam are Ram Thang Bay during the seventh lunar month when
families give thanks to parents and ancestors and make offerings to pardon lost
or wandering souls. The famous ‘Mid-Autumn
Festival’ in the eighth lunar month, which is celebrated throughout East Asia,
is a time for homecoming and harvest and is marked by the exchange of moon
cakes. In ancient times, Confucian scholars used to make
up poems for impromptu performances on the night of this festival each year. Now
this tradition is remembered each month in Hoi An as poetry readings are staged
around the town.
