What is Cold Food Festival?

Although the concept of Cold Food originated in China, Cold Food Festival in Vietnam has its own nuances of meaning and is better known as "Tet banh troi banh chay".

What is Cold Food Festival?

Cold Food Festival takes place on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month every year. In 2024, Cold Food Festival falls on Thursday, April 11th according to the Gregorian calendar.

"Cold Food" means "cold food", according to which people will eat cold food. The Chinese Cold Food Festival originated from the story of the wise man Jie Zitui and Duke Wen of Jin - king of Jin during the Spring and Autumn - Warring States period.

The Chinese novel Dong Zhou Lie Guo mentioned the origin of the Cold Food Festival, saying that Jie Zitui was a servant who assisted Duke Wen of Jin from the time of poverty, traveled to many countries, and endured many hardships. When Duke Wen of Jin gained the throne, he rewarded his officials but forgot about Jie Zitui.

Seeing this, Jie Zitui quietly returned home with his mother to the mountains. No one advised him to go see the king to receive his merits. When he remembered him, Duke Wen of Jin summoned him, but Zitui did not appear. The king sent someone to look for him, but Zitui was determined to stay hidden. Duke Wen of Jin ordered the forest to be burned to force him, but he still refused to come out, and burned to death with his mother.

The king took pity and built a temple, and at the same time ordered that no fire be lit for three days, and set aside the period from March 3 to March 5 every year to commemorate Jie Zitui. On that day, people did not light fires or eat cold food.

The meaning of Cold Food Festival

Although this holiday originated in China, when it was introduced to Vietnam, it had its own special meaning. On the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month every year, people perform ancestral worship rituals to express gratitude, remember the upbringing of their parents and grandparents, and send their love to deceased relatives.

On this day, Vietnamese people do not abstain from lighting fires and still cook normally. The cold dishes offered on the Vietnamese Cold Food Festival's offerings are banh troi and banh chay. These are traditional cakes of the Cold Food Festival, so Vietnamese people also call the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month the banh troi and banh chay festival. These are two types of cakes that have existed since ancient times and have appeared in poems and folk riddles. The ingredients to make banh troi and banh chay are both fragrant sticky rice flour, products of the rice civilization of thousands of years.

The white sticky rice cake has a negative character, the green bean paste inside is bright yellow, positive, symbolizing the harmony of yin and yang, expressing the meaning of praying for favorable weather, bountiful crops, and a happy and prosperous life. The image of round, white sticky rice cakes stacked side by side on a plate also reminds us of the story of "mother Au Co giving birth to a sac of 100 eggs", the origin of the Vietnamese people.

The appearance of banh troi and banh chay on the Han Thuc Festival offering tray for many generations has become a bond that connects people in the community, connecting tradition with modern life in the subconscious of Vietnamese people.