TL;DR: Khai bút at the start of spring is the custom of writing the first strokes of the new year, common among students, teachers and those who work with writing, to pray for good luck and to honour the spirit of studiousness. This custom is usually said to have appeared around the 13th century, tied to the teacher Chu Văn An, but that is a folk legend and no contemporary document confirms it. People in the past performed khai bút after Giao thừa or chose an auspicious day early in the year; today people write wishes, famous sayings or their own cherished thoughts, and many heritage sites and schools hold collective khai bút ceremonies.
What is khai bút đầu xuân and why does this custom exist?
Khai bút đầu xuân is the custom of writing the first strokes of the new year, which people of old performed after Giao thừa (the New Year's Eve moment) or on an auspicious day early in the year. The writer prepares a new pen, fresh ink, and fine paper, then sets down words carrying good wishes for the year ahead. The custom is tied to the spirit of learning and the Vietnamese tradition of honoring teachers and respecting education[1][3].
In Việt Nam phong tục, Phan Kế Bính states clearly: from the second day of Tết onward, some choose a day for the first outing, and "officials choose a day to open their seals, students choose a day to open the pen, traders choose a day to open their shops, and farmers choose a day to perform the ground-breaking ceremony." Pen-opening thus belongs to a series of rituals that begin the year's work, with each group having its own way of opening[2].
Where does the pen-opening custom come from?
This question has no certain answer. Many documents say the custom appeared around the 13th century and is linked to the teacher Chu Văn An, who opened a school in Chí Linh. Legend has it that when students came to visit him, on leaving they were often given a character written by the teacher's own hand, carrying a message about how to live. Whoever received a character treasured it, and from that the pen-opening custom is said to have been passed down[1][3]. The 13th-century date does not fit his biography: Chu Văn An was born in 1292, so his teaching belongs to the 14th century[4].
However, this is folk legend, not an event confirmed by contemporary documents. The documents that mention this origin all use phrasing such as "legend has it" or "according to historical records," without citing a specific text. Modern research does not treat the story of Chu Văn An giving away characters as historical evidence, but as a beautiful legend attached to a figure later generations honored as "Vạn thế sư biểu" (Model Teacher for Ten Thousand Generations).
What is more certain about Chu Văn An lies in his biography: he was born in 1292 and died in 1370, a native of Quang Liệt village, Thanh Đàm district, now part of Hà Nội (before July 2025, Văn hamlet, Thanh Liệt commune, Thanh Trì district). He passed the Thái học sinh examination but did not enter office, instead opening a school to teach, and was once invited by King Trần Minh Tông to serve as Tư nghiệp of the Quốc Tử Giám[4].
Which day is the right day to open the pen?
There is no fixed day required for everyone. According to Quảng Ninh newspaper, people of old opened the pen after Giao thừa, the first moment of the new year[3]. Phan Kế Bính records that students chose a day to open the pen from the second day of Tết onward, at the same time as choosing a day for the first outing[2].
Việt Nam phong tục also shows that choosing an auspicious day and hour was a common habit: weddings, house-building, opening a business, entering school, and sending off troops all required consulting the date. The book adds that for whatever one begins at the start of a new year, whether ground-breaking, the first outing, pen-opening or seal-opening, "lại cần xem ngày lắm" (consulting the date matters all the more)[2].
Quảng Ninh newspaper notes that today many schools choose the first day back after the Tết holiday to hold a pen-opening ceremony[3]. Folk belief holds that opening the pen on a good day and at a good hour will bring luck for the whole year, but this has no scientifically verified basis.
What should you write in a pen-opening ceremony?
There are no hard rules about content. People of old often wrote parallel couplets, greetings, or a single character carrying a message. Today, pen-opening content is usually a New Year greeting, a quotation, or the reflection the writer most wants to record.
Here are some common suggestions:
- New Year greetings: peace and prosperity, may all go as you wish, peace and good fortune.
- Quotations about learning: "Học chỉ là mắt, hành mới có chân, có mắt có chân mới tiến lên được" (Learning is only the eye; practice gives the feet; with both eye and foot one can advance), a line used in the pen-opening ceremony at the Chu Văn An shrine in 2025[4].
- A Hán character or a Vietnamese-script character with good meaning: Nhẫn (patience), Tâm (heart), Đức (virtue), Học (learning), or phrases such as "Hưng Vượng Phát Đạt" (prosperity and success)[4].
- A personal reflection: a line of poetry, a short passage, or a goal for the new year.
Quảng Ninh newspaper describes how people of old opened the pen: they burned incense at the writing table, took a new brush, ground Chinese ink, and set their writing on flowered or deep-pink paper; the space had to be quiet, and the writer solemn and calm[3].
How is pen-opening different from asking for calligraphy at the start of the year?
The two customs are often confused as one. Pen-opening means writing yourself, while asking for calligraphy means asking someone else to write for you. The custom of asking for calligraphy at the start of the year is tied to the image of the ông đồ (calligraphy teacher) writing characters at communal houses, pagodas, and temples of literature. People would ask for a character to hang in the house to seek good fortune and remind their children of the way of learning[3].
In Việt Nam phong tục, Phan Kế Bính also mentions "going to pick lộc" at the start of the year, that is, picking a flowering branch to pin on the door. This is a different custom, not pen-opening, but it belongs to the same group of rituals that open the new year[2].
Pen-opening ceremonies at historical sites and schools today
In recent years, many localities have held collective pen-opening ceremonies at historical sites, temples of literature, shrines to famous figures, and schools. These ceremonies usually include incense offering and ritual, followed by a pen-opening segment for delegates and students.
At the shrine to the teacher Chu Văn An in Chí Linh (former Hải Dương province, now part of Hải Phòng city), the 2025 spring pen-opening ceremony included incense offering and a memorial oration honoring the teacher's contributions. Calligrapher Phạm Hùng of the provincial Calligraphy Club performed the pen-opening with four Hán characters, "Hưng Vượng Phát Đạt." Delegates at the ceremony wrote ten Vietnamese-script characters, "Nhân thuận bách niên, phúc gia hòa, vạn sự hưng." Students at the ceremony simultaneously opened the pen on a template of the character "Học" (learning) following the line "Học chỉ là mắt, hành mới có chân, có mắt có chân mới tiến lên được"[4].
Also according to Nhân Dân newspaper, the shrine complex to the teacher Chu Văn An was inaugurated in early 2008, comprising the main shrine, two side houses, two stele houses, and several other structures. The teacher's tomb area lies about 600 meters from the shrine[4].
Other notable pen-opening ceremonies listed by Quảng Ninh newspaper include: the incense-offering and pen-opening ceremony at the shrine to the teacher Chu Văn An (former Chí Linh town, former Hải Dương province, now part of Hải Phòng), the pen-opening festival (Quỳnh Đôi commune, former Quỳnh Lưu district, Nghệ An), the pen-opening ceremony of the Hà Nội Department of Education and Training at the communal house honoring the teacher Chu Văn An (Thanh Liệt commune, former Thanh Trì district, Hà Nội), and the pen-opening festival at the Mạc Dynasty Memorial Site (Ngũ Đoan commune, former Kiến Thụy district, Hải Phòng)[3].
According to Quảng Ninh newspaper, Confucian scholar-teachers, educators, and outstanding local students are usually chosen to take part in the pen-opening ritual at these festivals[3].
If you use a computer, do you still need to open the pen?
This is a question many people ask in the digital age. The answer depends on how each person understands the custom.
Teacher Phan Thị Mỹ Huệ, a literature teacher at Nguyễn Khuyến private school in Ho Chi Minh City, holds that pen-opening at the start of the year is a beautiful feature of the Vietnamese soul, expressing the tradition of honoring teachers and the spirit of learning. In her view, spring is the occasion for each person to return to the core cultural values of the nation[1].
Teacher Mỹ Huệ also shared: "People believe that opening the pen will open up good things for a new year. But above all, it means keeping the beautiful features of one's own soul when cherishing and writing characters"[1].
Nguyễn Thị Hồng Yến, a master of cultural studies at Văn Hiến University, says that pen-opening at the start of spring is not an obligatory rite, and that today anyone can open the pen with a few improvised lines of verse or simple wishes for oneself and one's family[1].
The pen-opening custom in Vietnamese literature and culture
In literature, Nguyễn Khuyến's poem "Khai bút" is named in Nguyễn Thị Hà's 2023 study among the pre-modern works that portray Tết customs[5].
Summary table: pen-opening and other start-of-year customs
| Custom | Who performs it | Timing | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Khai bút (pen-opening) | Students, teachers, writers | After Giao thừa, or on a chosen day from the second day of Tết | Seek luck in study and career |
| Khai ấn (seal-opening) | Officials | From the second day of Tết onward | Begin official duties |
| Opening a shop | Traders | Choose an auspicious day | Seek wealth and good business |
| Ground-breaking | Farmers | Choose an auspicious day | Begin the new crop season |
| Asking for calligraphy | Everyone | Early spring | Seek luck, hang in the house |
| Picking lộc | Everyone | Start of the year | Seek good fortune |
The rows on pen-opening, seal-opening, opening a shop, ground-breaking and picking lộc follow Phan Kế Bính's account in Việt Nam phong tục, from the second day of Tết onward[2]; the row on asking for calligraphy follows Quảng Ninh newspaper[3].
Nhật Nguyệt's suggestions
If you want to keep the pen-opening custom in your family, you can start with simple steps:
- Prepare a notebook or a fine sheet of paper and a new pen.
- Choose a quiet time, usually the morning of the first or second day of Tết.
- Write a greeting, a reflection, or a goal for the new year.
- If you have young children, guide them to write their first characters and explain the meaning of the custom.
The important thing is not writing at length or writing beautifully, but sincerity and the meaning of beginning. The pen-opening custom is an occasion for each person to remind themselves of the value of words, of learning, and of the good things they want to do in the new year.
