Definition

1. Noun:
   • Cold Food Festival: A traditional festival observed on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month, originating from China, where people eat only cold, pre-prepared food to commemorate the death of Jie Zitui.
   • Cold food: The literal meaning refers to the act of eating cold, uncooked food, which is the central practice of this festival.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Tết Hàn thực diễn ra vào ngày mồng 3 tháng 3 âm lịch. (The Cold Food Festival takes place on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month.)
  • Vào ngày Hàn thực, các gia đình thường chuẩn bị bánh trôi, bánh chay. (On the Cold Food Festival, families often prepare bánh trôi and bánh chay [glutinous rice balls].)
  • Tục lệ Hàn thực có nguồn gốc từ một câu chuyện thời Xuân Thu ở Trung Quốc. (The custom of Hàn thực originates from a story during the Spring and Autumn period in China.)

Advanced Usage

• "Tết Hàn thực": The full name for the Cold Food Festival.
  • Tết Hàn thực còn được gọi là tiết Thanh minh. (The Cold Food Festival is also called the Qingming Festival.)
• "ăn đồ hàn thực": to eat cold food (as part of the festival observance).
  • Ngày xưa, vào tiết này người ta phải ăn đồ hàn thực, kiêng đốt lửa. (In the past, during this festival, people had to eat cold food and abstain from lighting fires.)

Variants and Related Words

• Tiết Thanh minh: Qingming Festival, a related tomb-sweeping festival that often coincides with or follows the Cold Food Festival period.
• Bánh trôi, bánh chay: Types of glutinous rice balls traditionally made and eaten during in Vietnam.

Synonyms

• Tết bánh trôi bánh chay: A Vietnamese folk name for the festival, named after its iconic foods. (Festival of and )
• Tiết ăn đồ nguội: A descriptive term meaning "the period of eating cold food".

Related Phrases

• Kiêng lửa ngày Hàn thực: to abstain from using fire on the Cold Food Festival day.
  • Truyền thống kiêng lửa ngày Hàn thực nay không còn phổ biến. (The tradition of abstaining from fire on the Cold Food Festival day is no longer common.)

Related Idioms

• Nguội như đồ Hàn thực: (as) cold as Cold Food Festival fare. This idiom describes something that is completely cold, either in temperature or in atmosphere/emotion.
  • Bát cháo để lâu, nguội như đồ Hàn thực. (The bowl of porridge has been left for so long, it's as cold as Cold Food Festival fare.)
  • Không khí cuộc họp nguội như đồ Hàn thực. (The atmosphere of the meeting was ice-cold.)

1. Third lunar month's third day's festival