There is no cat in the Chinese zodiac. There is one in the Vietnamese one, though. Vietnam inherited the zodiac and the lunar calendar from the Chinese, who ruled it for a millennium a millennium ago. They replaced the rabbit with a cat.
The Vietnamese believe there are 12 sacred animals from the zodiac, and these take turns supervising earthly affairs. Lunar New Year’s eve sees the animal overseeing the old year end its term and hand the baton to the new animal. This year, for the Vietnamese — as for the Taiwanese — is the Year of the Rooster.
Although Vietnam has followed the Gregorian calendar since 1954, the traditional lunisolar calendar, mostly based on the Chinese lunar calendar, is still used to observe lunisolar holidays and commemorations, Tet being one of them.
Photo: AP
照片：美聯社
Tet Nguyen Dan — Tet for short — is Sino-Vietnamese for “Feast of the First Morning of the First Day”. It is Vietnamese New Year’s Day, falling this year on Jan. 28, the arrival of spring, and the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. The final day of the old year is about preparing food to offer to the ancestors. The actual dishes differ, depending on the climates of the northern, central and southern parts of the country.
The Vietnamese also believe that the new year’s first visitor determines the fortunes of the family for that year. It is very important that you don’t visit a family on that day unless invited. Sometimes, the owner of the house pops outside a few minutes before the clock strikes the midnight hour, and then returns a few minutes into the new year. That way, the year’s first visitor is at least presentable.
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
中國的生肖裡沒有貓，但是在越南的生肖中卻有貓。越南曾受中國統治了一千年，直到一千年前才擺脫中國統治。越南繼承了中國的十二生肖和農曆，但他們用貓取代了兔子。
越南人相信黃道十二宮有十二個神聖的動物，這些動物輪流掌管人間事務。在除夕夜送走掌管舊年的動物，並交棒給下一任動物。今年越南和台灣一樣是雞年。
雖然越南自一九五四年起便改採公曆，但其主要本於中國農曆的傳統陰陽曆，仍然用來過節日和紀念日，Tet便是其中之一。
Tet Nguyen Dan- — 簡稱Tet — 在越語中意謂「第一天的第一早的盛宴」。今年一月二十八日是越南的春節，是慶祝春天的到來，也是越南文化中最重要的慶典。越南人在舊年的最後一天準備食物來供奉祖先。實際上供奉的菜餚則根據國家北、中、南部各地的氣候而有所不同。
越南人也相信，新年的第一個訪客決定了那一年家裡的運氣。所以請千萬記住，除非你受到邀請，否則不要在新年的第一天到訪一戶人家。有時屋主在午夜前幾分鐘出門，然後在時針超過午夜幾分鐘後再回到家。這樣，今年第一位來訪的起碼是個像樣的人。（台北時報編譯林俐凱譯）
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