Vietnamese Mark Lunar New Year with Traditional Fish Release
2021-02-05
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Vietnam launched preparations for the Lunar New Year with a fish release on Thursday.
2The tradition involves releasing fish called carp into rivers and lakes in the country a week before the the holiday known as Tet officially begins.
3The tradition comes from an ancient story of three "Kitchen Gods."
4The three, two males and a female, take a ride on the brightly colored carp at the end of the year.
5They go to Heaven to meet with the Jade Emperor, the God who rules there.
6The Kitchen Gods report news about the families they represent to seek the emperor's care and protection.
7Their efforts help to keep the kitchen fires burning, and families happy and healthy.
8Vietnamese believe the fish release brings good luck to their families.
9As the gods go to Heaven, families clean their houses in preparation to celebrate Tet.
10A clean house, Vietnamese believe, will bring luck in the new year.
11On Lunar New Year's Eve, the gods will return to earth and their duties in the kitchen of the house.
12"Releasing the fish makes me feel better about myself," said Nguyen Hong Nhung of Hanoi.
13"It's like I've done a good deed, so I'll be luckier in the new year."
14Thursday's event, which takes place across Vietnam, was more restrained than in years past because of the new coronavirus.
15It is spreading in several northern areas of the country.
16However, Vietnam has increased contact tracing, mass testing, and quarantine measures to slow the spread.
17The aggressive action has limited infections in the country to 1,948 cases.
18Vietnam has reported only 35 deaths from COVID-19.
19A fast-spreading coronavirus variant from Britain is the cause of the latest increase in cases.
20"Vietnamese will still follow the tradition of releasing the fish, but COVID-19 has made people keep a safe distance," said Tran Van Toi as he released carp from a plastic bag at Hanoi's West Lake.
21Thich Tinh Giac, a Buddhist monk, noted, "This year, due to COVID, there are fewer people releasing fish here, but there is a major change in attitude towards plastic bags," Giac said.
22"After years of persuasion, now they don't throw the plastic bags into the water anymore but collect them to be recycled."
23The Lunar New Year is also celebrated in China, Korea, Laos, Tibet and other Asian countries.
24I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.
1Vietnam launched preparations for the Lunar New Year with a fish release on Thursday. The tradition involves releasing fish called carp into rivers and lakes in the country a week before the the holiday known as Tet officially begins. 2The tradition comes from an ancient story of three "Kitchen Gods." The three, two males and a female, take a ride on the brightly colored carp at the end of the year. They go to Heaven to meet with the Jade Emperor, the God who rules there. The Kitchen Gods report news about the families they represent to seek the emperor's care and protection. Their efforts help to keep the kitchen fires burning, and families happy and healthy. 3Vietnamese believe the fish release brings good luck to their families. 4As the gods go to Heaven, families clean their houses in preparation to celebrate Tet. A clean house, Vietnamese believe, will bring luck in the new year. On Lunar New Year's Eve, the gods will return to earth and their duties in the kitchen of the house. 5"Releasing the fish makes me feel better about myself," said Nguyen Hong Nhung of Hanoi. "It's like I've done a good deed, so I'll be luckier in the new year." 6Thursday's event, which takes place across Vietnam, was more restrained than in years past because of the new coronavirus. It is spreading in several northern areas of the country. 7However, Vietnam has increased contact tracing, mass testing, and quarantine measures to slow the spread. The aggressive action has limited infections in the country to 1,948 cases. Vietnam has reported only 35 deaths from COVID-19. 8A fast-spreading coronavirus variant from Britain is the cause of the latest increase in cases. 9"Vietnamese will still follow the tradition of releasing the fish, but COVID-19 has made people keep a safe distance," said Tran Van Toi as he released carp from a plastic bag at Hanoi's West Lake. 10Thich Tinh Giac, a Buddhist monk, noted, "This year, due to COVID, there are fewer people releasing fish here, but there is a major change in attitude towards plastic bags," Giac said. 11"After years of persuasion, now they don't throw the plastic bags into the water anymore but collect them to be recycled." 12The Lunar New Year is also celebrated in China, Korea, Laos, Tibet and other Asian countries. 13I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. 14Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English with additional reporting from Reuters. Caty Weaver was the editor. 15______________________________________________________________ 16Words in This Story 17deed - n. something that is done: an act or action 18contact tracing - n. the practice of identifying, notifying, and monitoring individuals who may have had close contact with a person having a confirmed or probable case of an infectious disease as a means of controlling the spread of infection 19quarantine - n. the situation of being kept away from others to prevent a disease from spreading 20variant - n. different in some way from others of the same kind 21attitude - n. the way you think and feel about someone or something