The story of "Visiting the Teacher on the Third Day of Tet" then and now

New Year's gifts for teachers are "homegrown produce."

Professor, there's a folk saying, "On the first day of Tet, visit your father; on the second day, visit your mother; on the third day, visit your teacher." When you were a student, what did you usually bring when you visited your teacher to wish him a Happy New Year?

About thirty years ago, on the third day of the Lunar New Year, we also went to wish our teachers a happy new year. The shy middle school students were accompanied by their parents; the high school students went in groups from the same village or family.

Coming from a poor hometown, the gifts we gave our teachers during Tet (Lunar New Year) were usually simple, homegrown produce: sometimes a dozen eggs, sometimes a few cabbages or kohlrabi, sometimes some coriander and a dozen tomatoes... thinking back, it felt so heartwarming! Now, every time we return home, we still make time to visit our old teachers, lighting incense for those who have passed away – something we should do from the bottom of our hearts, no one forces us to do it, not to show off, just to calm our hearts and minds.

Professor Hoang Anh Tuan and representatives from the university's Trade Union visited and extended New Year greetings to Professor Hoang Thi Chau, a leading linguistics expert in Vietnam.

Even after becoming a teacher and taking on administrative roles, did he still often visit and wish his teachers well on the third day of Tet (Lunar New Year)?

We try to maintain that tradition, although in an industrial society, there are some deviations.Fantezi!It can be from the week before Tet to the week after Tet, not necessarily just on the third day. What's important is that we preserve the tradition of respecting teachers and remembering our roots. The timing of visiting teachers to wish them a Happy New Year can be flexible to suit our needs.

Moreover, after turning 40, we take on different "roles": Students visiting their former teachers to wish them a Happy New Year, representatives from our workplaces visiting veteran educators to wish them a Happy New Year, parents wishing their children's teachers a Happy New Year... One of my former students is now my child's teacher. When she came to wish me a Happy New Year, we chatted happily, just like it was the New Year! The student thanked me for teaching her; I thanked her for teaching my child, and every year I recommend her students to study at my university! Teaching is truly a joyful profession!

Vietnamese scholarship and learning are profound and highly valued.

Having visited your teachers to wish them a Happy New Year over the years, you must have many fond memories with them, right?

Throughout their school years, each person has dozens, or even hundreds, of teachers for those who have studied at multiple levels. Each teacher specializes in a different field and has their own unique personality… but they all share the common traits of being exemplary, caring, loving, and dedicated to their students.

When I entered Tong Duy Tan High School (Vinh Loc, Thanh Hoa), my homeroom teacher taught Chemistry; she was young, only about ten years older than us, but very exemplary and full of love for her students. In the early 1990s, the countryside was still very poor, and food was scarce, so education was very rudimentary. Most students came to class barefoot, rain or shine, with their heads uncovered and their trousers rolled up to wade through water to get to school...

Professor Hoang Anh Tuan visited and extended New Year greetings to Associate Professor Pham Thi Tam, a history expert and co-author (along with Professor Ha Van Tan) of the book "The Resistance War Against the Yuan-Mongol Invasion in the 13th Century". 

My teacher was also poor, but she always cared about helping her students: donating old clothes for them to wear, giving them new notebooks and old books. Our math teacher tutored us for several months for our graduation exams without receiving a single penny in payment…

Some students brought the teacher a few bowls of sticky rice as a gift, others, better off, brought a chicken; once, when I went to tutoring, my father sent the teacher a string of freshly caught perch from the night before. I felt embarrassed, so I quietly left the fish by the well outside and went into the teacher's house to study with my friends. By evening, when the teacher saw them, the fish had already spoiled! Those images are deeply etched in each of our minds, hard to forget.

Returning to the story of the third day of Tet (Lunar New Year) and teachers, some argue that the market economy has caused many students to forget their former teachers.

I don't think so! Having been a student myself, and now a teacher, I understand and believe in the affection and respect that students have for their teachers, regardless of the educational level.

Basically, before the age of 40, everyone has to work hard to build their careers, so they may not see their teachers often, even though their hearts still yearn for their old school and classmates. It was the same for our generation of students born in the 1970s; we were busy for so long that we only managed to gather together again on the 25th anniversary of our graduation. Teachers and students reminisced endlessly; the teachers confided: "It's the same with every graduating class; it takes about 20 years for students to settle down and start their own lives. As parents, we understand and believe that one day they will find their way back..."

Professor Hoang Anh Tuan visited and extended New Year greetings to Professor Le Hong Sam, a leading expert in Vietnamese literature. 

Therefore, let's not look at a few isolated incidents to form a negative view of Vietnamese education or morality. Let's place our trust in the generations of students. Personally, I believe that "respecting teachers and valuing morality" is deeply ingrained in everyone's mind. And in a nation with a culture that values ​​learning like Vietnam, students always show their respect to their teachers in various ways and under different circumstances, as appropriate.

I still believe that Vietnamese scholarship and learning are profound, lofty, and precious; their forms of expression may change to suit the social context, but their essence and noble meaning, which have been cultivated for thousands of years, will not change!

Thank you, Professor!

According to the online newspaper nguoihanoi.