With Tet just a week away, calligraphy produced on Pham Ngoc Thach Street is believed to bring luck and fortune to Saigon crowds.
With Tet just a week away, calligraphy produced on Pham Ngoc Thach Street is believed to bring luck and fortune to Saigon crowds.
About 30 booths are coloring the street in District 3 red and yellow with calligraphy written on red canvas and apricot blossoms.
Calligraphy, featuring Vietnamese or Chinese characters, symbolizes good health, happiness and wealth, and is much sought after as the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday nears.
This year, about 10 booths feature female calligraphers, unusual for a scene traditionally occupied by male elders.
Calligraphers are dressed similar to ong do, an archaic term for those who passed academic exams under Vietnam’s old imperial regime. These scholars were usually teachers and adept in Chinese.
This is the first year Minh Anh produces Tet calligraphy. "I've only studied calligraphy for a year, so I asked to help out and improve my skills. The feeling of giving out these Tet blessings makes me very happy," the 22-year-old said.
Khanh Vy, 18, a student at Van Lang University holds up a piece of calligraphy "happiness" in Vietnamese. "It’s my first time, so I only produce some short and simple words," she said.
Xuan Thanh, 20, has spent seven years as a calligrapher in Saigon. "This one I like the most. It includes 12 Chinese zodiac symbols circling the word ‘bliss’, which is what lots of people expect for the new year. A customer offered me VND10 million ($432) for this piece," he said.
According to calligraphers, visitors often ask for the words happiness, talent, and fortune.
It is said that when Vietnam officially adopted the Quoc Ngu, the Vietnamese writing system based on the Roman alphabet, in 1919, scholars ong do became calligraphers who would draw Chinese scripts for people to hang in their homes for good luck and prosperity, especially during Tet season.
Paintings and calligraphy sell for tens of thousands to millions of Vietnamese dong ($1 = VND23,200). Materials range from paper, to silk and wood.
Corners decorated in typical Lunar New Year motifs have become a popular backdrop for those looking for festive snapshots.
Calligraphers said many people will ask for letters after offerings are made to the Kitchen God on the 23rd of the last lunar month (January 17 this year). The street will be open until January 29.
The country will enjoy a seven-day Tet holiday starting January 23, two days before the Lunar New Year.
