Cold Food Festival, 3rd of the third lunar month

The Cold Food tale comes from the state of Jin in China's Spring and Autumn period, around the 7th century BC. Prince Chong'er was forced into exile for nineteen years. Always at his side was Jie Zitui, a loyal follower who shared his hunger and hardship across many foreign lands.

Legend says that once, when their food ran out and Chong'er was faint with hunger, Jie Zitui quietly cut flesh from his own thigh to make soup for his master. When Chong'er learned the truth he was deeply moved. Later generations retold the story as a symbol of loyalty that asks for nothing in return.

When Chong'er returned to take the throne as Duke Wen of Jin, he rewarded those who had followed him but forgot Jie Zitui. Without complaint, Jie Zitui took his elderly mother to live as a hermit on Mount Mian, simply and with no thought of fame. To him, helping his lord return was a duty, not a way to earn rewards.

Remembering his debt, Duke Wen sent men to find him, without success. Someone suggested burning the forest to force him out. The fire raged for three days, yet Jie Zitui never left and died with his mother beside a tree. In grief, the duke decreed that every year on that day no fires would be lit and only cold food eaten. Hence the name Hàn thực, eating cold food.

When the festival reached Vietnam with Chinese culture, Vietnamese people adopted it in their own way. They did not give up fire or eat cold food all day, but chose the 3rd of the third month to make bánh trôi and bánh chay for the ancestors. The day is affectionately known as the festival of floating dumplings.

Bánh trôi is made from glutinous rice flour wrapped around a lump of palm sugar and is cooked when it floats to the surface. Bánh chay holds a mung bean filling and is served in ginger syrup with toasted sesame. Both are simple, easy to make and suited to the turn from spring to summer, and they bring families together around the stove.

The floating dumpling entered Vietnamese literature through "Bánh trôi nước", a poem by Hồ Xuân Hương, who lived around the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In just four seven-syllable lines she describes the white, round dumpling rising and sinking in boiling water, and at the same time speaks of a woman's lot in old society.

The closing line about keeping a faithful red heart refers to the sugar filling inside and also affirms dignity and constancy. Thanks to the poem, every time Vietnamese people shape dumplings for the Cold Food Festival, many recall the lines they learned at school.

My body is both white and round, now rising, now sinking with the waters and the hills.

Hồ Xuân Hương, The Floating Rice Dumpling

Today the 3rd of the third month is still a day when many families, especially in the north, shape bánh trôi and bánh chay for the ancestors. The dumplings are tinted with gấc, pandan and butterfly pea to brighten the offering. In the cities, busy people may buy ready-made dumplings but still light incense and eat them together.

The festival usually falls close to the Thanh minh period, so many families also tend ancestral graves. At work, a plate of dumplings shared with the team is a small, warm way to keep the custom alive amid a busy life.