In-depth
Peach, apricot trees bring good fortune for Tet
  • | yeudulich.vn, dtinews.vn | January 30, 2012 09:48 PM

Apricot trees are believed to be a symbol of fortune while peach trees are said to help expel evil spirits and bring peace and contentment, happiness and wealth for the house owner.

The peach tree


Peach trees are popular in the northern region of Vietnam. They are associated with a legend which refers to an old peach tree on Soc Son Mountain. The peach tree was so big that it could cover a large area of land. There are two deities called Tra and Uat Luy who lived in the tree and used their power to protect local residents.

These deities often helped chastise evil sprits and ghosts in the region. Time after time, evil spirits yielded to forces of these deities and became scared of the tree.

On the last day of the lunar year, while the deities had to attend the Jade Emperor’s audience, evil spirits spoiled the Tet holiday for local people. In order to deal with them, people decided to place peach trees and peach branches in their houses during the festival. Those who do not have a peach branch, opted to hang pictures of the deities on the front of their houses to drive evil spirits away.

The apricot tree


The apricot tree is attached to a legend about a young girl named Mai. She was daughter of a brave hunter. When she was 14 years old, she had been trained by her father to become a martial arts expert.

At that time, there was an ogre that threatened the lives of people in the village. People promised to give a prize to the person who could kill the ogre. The girl and her father joined forces to kill the ogre and they won.

Some years later, the father got sick but the girl continued to progress in her martial arts. When she was 18 years old, an ogre snake appeared in her village, troubling people’s lives. The girl and her father once again joined forces in order to confront with the ogre. However, as her father was too sick, he couldn’t help her in the mission. The girl did her utmost and finally injured the ogre. Before it died, the ogre used its tail to suffocate the girl to dead.

Being moved by the girl’s bravery and her mother’s prolonged crying, the Kitchen God entreated the Jade Emperor to revive the girl and allow her to live with her family for nine days a year. Since then, the girl had returned to live with her family during the nine days of Tet ranging from lunar December 28 to January 6. When her parents and other members of her family had all died, the girl no longer returned to her house but metamorphosed into a tree nearby a temple that villagers built in tribute to her sacrifice. The tree often gave blossoms during the nine days of Tet, so local residents named the tree after the girl’s name, the Mai tree, or apricot today. Since then, people often place an apricot tree at their house in order to expel evil sprits and bring good fortune in a new year.

The habit of using peach and apricot trees gradually developed into a Vietnamese cultural traditional during Tet.

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