According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2022 is the Year of the Tiger. Of the 12 animals named for the lunar year, tiger, symbolizes strength.

Located in Phuoc Dan township, Ninh Phuoc district of Ninh Thuan province, Bau Truc, also known as Palei Hamu Craok or Danao Panrang of Cham language, is considered one of the oldest pottery villages in Southeast Asia with unique pottery craft.

Like most other nations in Asia, the Vietnamese welcome the New Year according to the lunar calendar. Tet Nguyen Dan (the lunar New Year Day) has long become a great festival of the national community in Vietnam. The buying of votive offerings and the decoration of ancestral altars during the traditional New Year days are closely connected with the rituals of worship practiced by the Vietnamese towards their ancestors.

The Dao, a small iTay-Thai language group living in the northern mountainous part of the country, celebrate their village festival five times a year. The Dao’s village festival, devoted to the rulers of heaven and earth, Ban Vuong (the forefather of the Dao) and the village’s tutelary god, seeks their support for peace and prosperity for the village. 

Ta Thi Tam, M.A. Institute of Anthropology Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences The worship of gods and goddesses, tutelary deities, and family ancestors plays a very important role in the spiritual life of the Dao Do (Red Dao), one of the Dao’s seven subgroups living mostly in the northern mountainous provinces of Lao Cai, Lai Chau and Cao Bang.

The Pa Then, a Hmong-Dao language group, resides in lower districts of the northern mountainous provinces of Ha Giang and Tuyen Quang. Pa Then group has eight main family names, including Sinh, Phu, Tai, Lu, Tau, Lan, Van and Hung. Pa Then people believe in polytheism and worship ancestors. Every family has an ancestral altar set up in the middle compartment - the most solemn place of the house, and another altar erected next to but below the ancestral altar to the left for family members who die before reaching the age of 36.

A thread tying ritual, called hang van or et van, is an age-old practice of the Thai in the northwestern mountainous region of Vietnam and western parts of Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa provinces, who believe a sick person can get well again after praying the deities of muong troi, the heaven, and having his wandering souls returned to the body through tying a thread around his wrist.

In the system of Vietnamese feudal laws, the Confucian and legalist viewpoints always influenced the regulation of forms of handling violations committed by mandarins on official duty. Confucian values were institutionalized into the laws as Confucianism gave prominence to mandarins’ obligation to constantly train themselves for self-improvement. To the king they had to be absolutely loyal and totally devoted. To the people they must be incorrupt and exemplary and fulfill three duties “phu, giao and hoa” (serving the people, enriching people and educating people about politeness and uprightness). Mandarins had to well perform their duties. Otherwise, they would be duly punished. It can be said that mandarins’ obligation to train themselves was a prerequisite for determination of mandarins’ responsibilities in Vietnamese feudal law.

The Hmong Xanh, “blue” Hmong, is one of four sub-groups of Hmong people living mostly in Van Ban district of the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai.

The Nung Phan Slinh is one of three main subgroups of the Nung, an ethnic minority group of the Tay-Thai language living mostly in the northern mountainous provinces of Lang Son, Bac Giang and Cao Bang. The group’s customs of celebrating birthdays for elderly people not only show their filial piety but also reflect their spiritual life and more or less reveal information about their history and culture.