The articles, penned by celebrated Vietnamese and French scholars namely Nguyen Van Vinh, Pham Quynh, Tran Van Giap, Paul Boudet, Jean Marquet, and Georges Pisier, among others.
They were previously published from 1919 to 1923 in Dong Duong (Indochina) magazine, which was the first magazine in Vietnamese language in Hanoi.
The articles were collected by Associate Professor Nguyen Manh Hung from the Institute for Vietnamese Studies.
The 200-page book is divided into three parts on the rituals, customs and hobbies practiced by Vietnamese people during Tet with the contents illustrated by 50 pictures on a Tet theme.
The first part introduces readers to the Vietnamese people’s traditional rituals for Tet, including ancestor worship and the ceremony to greet the new spring in Hue city.
The second part presents the Tet atmosphere through the eyes of French writer Jean Marquet, historian Georges Pisier, tourists and European missionaries to Vietnam during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Vietnamese people’s hobbies during Tet, such as the art of narcissus bulb carving, folk paintings, and others are revealed in the final chapter of the publication.
The introduction to the book is penned by Vietnamese scholar Nguyen Van Huyen, in which he gives an overview on Tet – the most important festival for the Vietnamese people each year.
