TL;DR: Xông đất, xông nhà and đạp đất are the same custom: in folk belief, a person of good fortune who enters the house first after giao thừa brings luck for the whole year. Books on northern customs describe asking a generous, easygoing person to come and xông, while a household with someone at home does it itself; in Hue the custom is called đạp đất, there is no hái lộc rite, and anyone who goes out on the last night of the year avoids returning home after giao thừa; in the South there is a vào khem period from the night of giao thừa until the first visitor steps into the house and stamps a foot on the ground three times. What they share is the taboo on sweeping the house and dumping rubbish, on coarse speech, and on breaking things on the first day of the month.
What is xông đất and why is it also called đạp đất?
Xông đất is the custom of choosing a person to step into the household right after the giao thừa moment or on the morning of the first day of Tết, in the belief that that person's vía will affect the family's luck for the new year. The custom is also called xông nhà, and in Huế people call it đạp đất, a name the researcher Trần Đức Anh Sơn regards as the true old name of the custom[1]. The book Nếp cũ by Toan Ánh says xông nhà is also called xông đất, and that if no one in the household does the xông nhà themselves, a visitor must be chosen[3].
Xông đất should be distinguished from xuất hành. Xuất hành is when members of the household step out themselves in a chosen direction and hour to seek luck, while xông đất is when an outsider steps into one's home. Nếp cũ separates the two clearly: people chose a day and hour for xuất hành, picked a good direction, walked out of the village and returned by another route, and on the way also picked lộc[3].
How is the xông đất visitor chosen?
According to Nếp cũ, the criterion for choosing the xông nhà visitor is someone of good vía, quick and easygoing, who comes on the morning of the first day to bring good influence to the household all year[3]. The visitor would set off firecrackers to congratulate the household and wish the host good luck throughout the year; the host in turn wished the visitor well and thanked them for bringing luck to the home[3].
Scholar Phan Kế Bính, in Việt Nam phong tục, writes that many households asked a generous, easygoing person to come early in the morning to xông đất so that the whole year would bring good sales and good trade[2][4]. Both books take the visitor's temperament and vía as the criterion.
In Huế, this criterion is summed up as nhẹ vía (light vía). People hope the one who comes to đạp đất on the first morning will be an official, a learned person, or someone of light vía, so that fortune and luck follow them to the family for the whole year after[1]. Many Huế families still tell their children: whichever child is nặng vía must not get up early on the first morning, and if they wake they must lie still, waiting for another child of lighter vía, already arranged by the parents before giao thừa, to set foot on the ground first; only then may the others leave the bed[1].
How do the North, Huế and the South differ?
The books describe the three places as differing in the name, in whether the lộc-picking custom exists, and in what must be observed while waiting for the visitor.
| Place | Name used in the books | The visitor | What is described specifically |
|---|---|---|---|
| The North | Xông đất (Phan Kế Bính)[4]; xông nhà, also called xông đất (Toan Ánh)[3] | A generous, easygoing person[4]; someone of good vía, quick and easygoing[3] | Household members may do it themselves, otherwise a visitor is chosen; people pick lộc while doing xuất hành[3] |
| Huế | Đạp đất[1] | An official, a learned person, or someone of light vía[1] | No lộc-picking at the new year; people do not leave the house before and after giao thừa, and those who go out avoid returning after giao thừa[1] |
| The South | Xông đất, đạp đất (Huỳnh Ngọc Trảng)[2] | Someone the host chooses as desired; careful households also choose a good hour[2] | Vào khem from New Year's Eve; the visitor steps in and stamps a foot on the ground three times[2] |
A notable point is that in Huế, unlike in the North, there is no lộc-picking at the new year, so Huế people do not leave the house before and after giao thừa, and thanks to this the trees in Huế's temples keep their fresh green lộc throughout the spring[1]. In recent years, when the state organised a television bridge on New Year's Eve, a portion of Huế residents, especially the young, did go out on trừ tịch night, yet few returned home after giao thừa, and that is because of the đạp đất custom[1].
Why do Huế people avoid returning home after giao thừa?
This is directly tied to the đạp đất custom. Since no one wants to đạp đất their own home, after giao thừa people avoid stepping back inside, reserving that act for an outsider. Northerners also have the xông đất practice, but Huế people have named this old custom very aptly as đạp đất[1]. On the first morning, the first ritual is the Nguyên Đán offering, and only after it does the host open the door to receive Tết visitors[1].
In the South, according to researcher Huỳnh Ngọc Trảng in the book Khảo luận về Tết, the period from New Year's Eve through the first day, until someone arrives to xông đất or đạp đất, is called vào khem, a phrase recorded by Lê Văn Phát in a monograph on the customs and practices of Nam Kỳ in the early twentieth century[2]. The vào khem period ends when someone comes to xông đất: the visitor steps into the house, stamps a foot on the ground three times, is received with respect by the host, and the procedure is done[2]. Vào khem means beginning to observe the taboos and to practise a number of customs under strict conventions[2]. During that time everyone stays inside, the door is only slightly open and all keep silent, while children are told to behave well so as to have a good new year[2].
What is avoided when welcoming the first visitor in each region?
According to researcher Huỳnh Ngọc Trảng, all the taboos of Tết Nguyên Đán are meant to create good things on the first day of the year and for the whole year to come[2]. The first day of the first lunar month is Nguyên Đán, the first morning of Tết, the start of the new year, so folk belief holds that everything happening on this day will affect the whole year[2].
According to scholar Phan Kế Bính in Việt Nam phong tục, on the first day of Tết people must watch their speech, for fear that careless words bring bad luck for the whole year[4]. Sweeping the house must be avoided, no one dares to collect rubbish and throw it out, it is only piled in a corner, and after three days of động thổ it may be taken away[2]. The reason, cited by Phan Kế Bính from the Sưu thần ký: the story of a merchant named Âu Minh who passed by Thanh Thảo lake, was given a servant girl named Như Nguyện by the water god, and became very rich within a few years; later, on a Tết first day, he beat her, she fled into the rubbish heap and vanished, and from then on his house grew poor again, and so we follow the Chinese custom and avoid collecting rubbish[2].
During the vào khem period, people avoid sweeping the house because they believe sweeping will sweep away wealth, and if they do sweep, they sweep from the front of the house towards the back, never out towards the front[2]. According to Huỳnh Ngọc Trảng, the new-year taboos in the North and the Center are broadly similar: no sweeping for fear the god of wealth will leave, no ill-omened talk, no breaking of bowls and plates[2].
What if no one is available to xông đất?
Nếp cũ states clearly: if no one in the household can xông nhà themselves, a visitor must be chosen[3]. That is, if the home has no one of light vía, or no one wishes to đạp đất their own home, the household must ask an outsider. The chosen person is someone of good vía, quick and easygoing[3].
In Huế, light vía is looked after inside the family too: before giao thừa, parents tell one child of light vía to set foot on the ground first, after which the other children may leave the bed[1]. For outsiders, people hope the one who comes to đạp đất will be an official or a learned person[1].
How does xông đất relate to xuất hành and hái lộc?
These three customs are often mentioned together but have different functions. Xuất hành is when members of the household go out in a good direction, usually for traders who must travel all year, choosing a day and hour at Tết to set out, leaving their village territory, at least leaving their hamlet[3]. People choose a direction, only one direction is suitable each year, they leave by a good direction along one route and return to the village by another, and no one does xuất hành against the direction for fear of bad luck in the year[3]. The very careful only do xuất hành on a good day, at an hour of hoàng đạo[3].
In a village, people often follow one xuất hành direction, walk the same path, meet joyfully and wish each other well[3]. While doing xuất hành, people also pick lộc[3]. Thus lộc-picking is usually tied to xuất hành, not to xông đất. In Huế, because there is no lộc-picking at the new year, Huế people do not leave the house before and after giao thừa[1].
How has the xông đất custom changed today?
Some details of the custom have changed over time. Setting off firecrackers on arrival to xông nhà, recorded in Nếp cũ, is no longer common because firecrackers are banned. The choosing of the xông đất visitor in Huế has also shifted: when the state organised a television bridge on New Year's Eve, a portion of Huế residents, especially the young, did go out on trừ tịch night, though few still return home after giao thừa[1].
Even so, the core of the custom remains: choosing a person of light vía and easygoing temperament to step into the house at the start of the year, and avoiding acts that could sweep away wealth or the good atmosphere of the first day. This is how Vietnamese people in all three regions handle the same worry: how to keep bad omens out of the house on the first day of the year.
In short, how do the North, Huế and the South differ?
The greatest difference lies in the name and in the lộc-picking custom. Books on northern customs call it xông đất or xông nhà, have lộc-picking during xuất hành, and let household members do it themselves. Huế calls it đạp đất, has no lộc-picking at the new year, does not leave the house before and after giao thừa, and hopes for an outsider to đạp đất. In the South the custom is tied to the vào khem period from New Year's Eve until the visitor steps in and stamps a foot on the ground three times. What they share is avoiding sweeping and taking out rubbish, avoiding coarse words, and choosing the visitor by the criteria of light vía and good temperament.
