The sharp drop in prices of many goods will benefit people if they are not superstitious, especially during a period of rising unemployment, falling wages, and escalating living costs.
Every lunar July, Thanh Huyen's family starts shopping, sometimes for a motorbike, sometimes for a phone, TV, or refrigerator.
While some people believe that they should limit their purchases in the seventh lunar month to avoid bad luck and bring bad luck to their home, Ms. Huyen, 45 years old, in Thai Binh, said that the number of items she bought in July was more than all the other months of the year combined. "There are few customers this month, many stores are discounting to stimulate demand, I will be able to buy at a cheap price," she said.
Like three years ago, Ms. Huyen bought a motorbike for 75 million VND, while in other months of the year, this model costs nearly 100 million VND.
But before she could be happy about buying something cheap, friends and relatives advised her to make an offering to ward off bad luck, fearing that buying a car in a bad month could lead to an accident. "A good or bad month is just a concept. Two of my family's three cars were bought in the ghost month but they still run well, so there's no problem," said Ms. Huyen.
For her, waiting until the "ghost month" of July to shop is like people in many countries waiting for Black Friday. In a difficult economic situation, with reduced income and rising living costs, each item purchased at a price several million to tens of millions of dong cheaper than usual helps her reduce her spending burden.
Although he is a businessman, Mr. Manh Kien, 50 years old, in Hai Phong, believes that the seventh lunar month is the Vu Lan season for filial piety, not the "ghost" month that brings bad luck.
This belief has made Mr. Kien often buy houses and cars in the 7th lunar month for many years and often get good prices. He even once bought a piece of land 200-300 million VND cheaper than the market price. "As a businessman, profit is important, taboos are only a part of it. As long as I live well, I don't worry," Mr. Kien said.
However, Ms. Tuyet Mai (his wife) is somewhat hesitant because she thinks "it's better to worship than to abstain". She said that every time she sees Mr. Kien making a big purchase transaction during the "ghost month", she goes to see a fortune teller, and if necessary, she will secretly perform a ritual to ward off bad luck.
Since starting work, Duc Duy, 26 years old, has always chosen the 7th lunar month to buy technology products or move house, hoping to save some more money. "My monthly salary is only 10 million VND, I have to calculate everything I want to buy, so why not take advantage of the discount period," said the 26-year-old man.
Associate Professor, Dr. Le Quy Duc, former Deputy Director of the Institute of Culture, Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, said that the psychology of abstaining or not abstaining in the 7th lunar month comes from each individual's belief in order to achieve peace of mind and avoid guilt, although in reality no one has verified whether it is right or wrong.
"In the past, people avoided getting married in the seventh lunar month for fear of breaking up, but this is also the only time of the year when the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl meet, a month of happiness. And not all couples who get married in this month are unhappy," said Mr. Duc.
Further explaining, cultural researcher Pham Dinh Hai, Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, said that the seventh lunar month commonly has three ceremonies according to the concepts of Taoism (pardoning the dead), Buddhism (Vu Lan Bon) and Than Sat (Mid-Autumn Festival). These ceremonies are all held on the full moon of the seventh month. In essence, these are ceremonies with the spirit of gratitude and reunion, so taboos are baseless.
Mr. Le Quang Vu, General Director of the MediaMart electronics supermarket chain, said that the consumption of many products in the system in the 7th lunar month every year has decreased sharply. To stimulate shopping, the unit has to continuously launch discount programs, give gifts, vouchers without conditions or support shopping.
"The purchasing power of high-value items is often slower," Mr. Vu said, admitting that some customers intentionally wait until the seventh lunar month to buy items because the prices are "softer."
In addition to electronics, many car and motorbike manufacturers have also reduced prices to stimulate demand. Ms. Mai Le, manager of a motorbike dealership in Hai Phong, said that every lunar July, the purchasing power of the unit decreases by at least 20%. To avoid a "frozen" business situation, the unit continuously offers deep discount programs, many products are priced tens of millions of VND cheaper than the listed price. Most customers who come to buy during this time are interested in discounted products.
A representative of a real estate brokerage in Hanoi also said that normally in the seventh lunar month, the number of transactions decreases by 70-80%.
The sharp drop in prices of many goods, Associate Professor, Dr. Le Quy Duc said, will help people benefit if they are not superstitious, especially during a period of rising unemployment, falling wages, and escalating living costs.
"Although we know that abstinence is a spiritual therapy, we should not go overboard with anything. If necessary, just buy it. If the product is cheap and of good quality, people should consider using it to avoid making life difficult," the expert said.
But there are people who still cannot overcome their fear in the seventh lunar month. In addition to requiring her husband and children to come home before 11 p.m., not to hang clothes at midnight, not to call out names when arriving in deserted places, and not to cut their hair, Ms. Cam Ly in Ninh Binh also made a rule that they cannot buy new things to avoid bringing bad luck home. She even did not let her husband buy the only hair dryer in the family that had just broken down or the night light bulb that had burned out.
The 35-year-old woman thinks that instead of buying a new one, she should fix it, like if her hair is wet, she should sit in front of a fan to dry it, and if her night light bulb is burned out, she should temporarily not use it until the end of the month.
"The economy is difficult, business is losing money, so I don't want bad luck to follow me all year long, if something happens I'll feel guilty," said Ms. Ly.
TB (according to VnExpress)