Before giving red envelopes became customary on Lunar New Year holiday (Tet), Vietnamese children got lucky money in a very specific way. They went around the village, sang the folk song “Xuc xac xuc xe” with clanging sounds from two bamboo tubes filled with coins on hands, and sometimes knocked their neighbors’ doors expecting lucky money.

Badanamu characters sing “Xuc Xac Xuc Xe” folk song while dancing in front of Ben Thanh Market in the music video

HTV3 DreamsTV has cooperated with South Korean company Calm Island to recreate the familiar Vietnamese folk song in a music video with the Vietnamese spring background.

The video features Calm Island’s Badanamu cartoon characters including Bada, MiMi, Jess, Pogo and Curly.

Poet Van Cong Hung, recalling “Xuc Xac Xuc Xe,” said, "Almost all children have a bamboo tube with two knots. Then they put coins in it, like a piggy bank.

“The tubes are also a kind of tool for Tet wishes. About 15 children of the same age, both boys and girls, with a tube like that line in a row one by one, with the first child holding an oil lamp or a torch. They just go and sing while shaking the tube to make it resonate with the sound of this folk song:

“Xuc xac xuc xe

Nha nao con lua

Mo cua cho chung toi

Buoc len giuong cao: Co doi rong ap

Buoc xuong giuong thap: Co doi rong chau

Buoc ra dang sau: Co nha ngoi lop…”

However, this custom is no longer existent, even in remote villages.

The music video “Xuc Xac Xuc Xe” keeps the original version mixed with modern rap and electronic sound. The image of the video is also interesting when the characters of Badanamu animation wear Vietnam’s traditional clothes such as ao dai and ao ba ba and travel across the country. They visit Mot Cot Pagoda, The Huc Bridge and Ben Thanh Market, and wish every family a happy, prosperous and peaceful Tet.

“Xuc Xac Xuc Xe” is a special music video celebrating the Year of the Pig with the participation of funny cartoon characters from Badanamu. In addition, Badanamu characters will meet the audience in the cartoon series "Badanamu cadets", broadcast on HTV3 DreamsTV at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and played back at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the following week.

SGT