Peach in Vietnam and Asia is not only a popular plant, flower, or fruit but also associated with many cultural and religious stories. When it comes to peach blossoms, it comes to Spring, Spring necessarily has the colour of the peach blossoms. Tet holiday – Spring – Peach Blossoms – Human have been a celestial – earth – human unity in the human world, in Vietnamese culture. Nguyen Trai once wrote: A good fresh peach blossom – Far from Spring to see Spring smiling”.
The beautiful spring colours and colourfulness of peach blossoms
Why is that? As explained by many people, the peach tree is considered as a tree used to exorcise, ward off evils to bring peace, happiness and prosperity for homeowners. Therefore, for thousands of generations, peach trees have always been loved and seen as a symbol of Tet holiday. However, there is a coincidence that peach trees often bloom in the spring and occupy a unique position for the spring, because in the past, the flowers were not as abundant and popular as now, in additionally, peach flowers are suitable for cold air of the North region. Amid the cold of the winter season, peaches rise, bud, bloom every day, giving people a sense of suspense and happiness. Therefore, peach blossom in Spring is associated with the longing for a peaceful, prosperous and happy life of the ancients.
In the North of our country still circulates the story that, on the mountain, there was a very big peach tree, on the tree, there were two gods sent by the Jade Emperor, one named Tra and the other named Uat Luy. These two gods can ward off evil spirits, so there is no evil around the area that dares to come, people’s lives are peaceful and prosperous. But on the last day of the year, the two gods had to return to the sky, so the devil came to harass the residents. Seeing that, the two gods instructed the people when they returned to the sky, everyone should pick up a branch of peach blossom tree to put into the house, the evil saw the peach tree, thought the god was there, so they would not come to disturb anymore. The people obeyed, and at the end of the year, they picked up the branch of the peach and brought it back home to put it in a jar, to exorcise ghosts. Some people uproot and bring it home to expect year-round will not be harassed by evil spirits. With these stories and meanings, peach trees have brought many cultural and spiritual meanings to the Vietnamese traditional New Year from the past to the present.
Peach trees, from there, also create for people to enjoy both elegant and humane, simple and sophisticated interest. Simply that, you just need to go to the flower market on Tet holiday, choose a favourite branch and bring home which brings the atmosphere of Spring. It is sophisticated when you are a peach fancier, every day you often spend time and mind taking care, pruning from branches, stems, stumps, to leaves, to buds, to flowers. Sometimes you will have to take days, go to many flower markets to choose a peach tree with buds, with flowers, leaves are both beautiful and unique to take home, they bring has spring atmosphere, prosperity, happiness, and Joy, and also ward off evil and bad luck. Peach blossom has been brought to the next level by a poet – associated with nature, beauty, maiden and love. In Vietnamese and Vietnamese poetry, peach is often associated with a girl, with predestined relationships, love: lady-killer, peach garden, young girl fate, young girl … “Apart from the wall in a silent night – Under the peach appearing someone” (Kieu novel – Nguyen Du) or: “Yellow butterflies, white butterflies, blue butterflies – Flying around and around the peach garden” (folk songs). In a larger sense, King Quang Trung chose peach blossom as a symbol of the joy of victory, promising good things ahead. When repelling more than 20 thousand Thanh troops out of the realm, he chose peach branches to send to the ancient capital of Hue for Empress Ngoc Han – a branch of peach blossom news. Every year, in the Go Dong Da festival, there are always peach branches decorated with festive stage, stories, and plays about the love of this talented young man and girl.
Bright peach colors bring good news for the annual Go Dong Da festival
Peach blossoms are so famous that in Hanoi from ancient times, there were villages specializing in planting peaches to serve the Spring day such as Nhat Tan peach village, now peach villages on the outskirts of Hanoi in Me Linh, Thanh Tri and Thuong Tin, Dan Phuong, Chuong My districts. The most famous and the most beautiful is still Nhat Tan peach. Nhat Tan peach is beautiful because of the techniques of flower growers and soil in this region, so whether people are simple or sophisticated, connoisseurs, every time Tet holiday comes, everyone wants to have a peach branch and Nhat Tan peach branch for Lunar New Year. However, not everyone is as expected so the types of forest peach, native peach, planting peach in other flower villages have been developed, serving the needs of the majority of people.
Thanh Quy