Four great philosophies and religions have shaped the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity. Over the centuries, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism have melded with popular Chinese beliefs and ancient Vietnamese animism to form what is known as Tam Giao (or `Triple Religion').
The Vietnamese language (kinh) is a hybrid of Mon-Khmer, Tai and Chinese elements with many of its basic words derived from the monotonic Mon-Khmer languages. The most widely spoken foreign languages in Vietnam are Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), English, French and Russian, more or less in that order.
Popular artistic forms include: traditional
painting produced on frame-mounted silk; an eclectic array of theatre,
puppetry, music and dance; religious sculpture; and lacquerware.
Vietnamese Cuisine
Vietnam is a long, skinny country stretching from Hanoi
and the Red River in the north to Ho Chi Minh City and
the fertile Mekong River Delta in the south. These ends
are connected by a mountainous spine that runs along
the South China Sea. On the west, Vietnam is bordered
by Laos and Cambodia, and to the north, lies China. The
food of the north, through stir-fries and noodle-based
soups, shows the heavy influence of Chinese cooking.
The mountainous middle section, with the former
Imperial capitol, Hue, at its center, has an abundance of
fresh produce.
It was in Hue that royal chefs
developed the more elaborate dishes of Vietnamese
cuisine. The southern region is tropical, sustaining rice
paddies, coconut groves, and many more spices than the
north. As in the rest of Southeast Asia, there is an
ancient layer of Indian cultural presence, most
obviously evidenced in the religion of Buddhism (which,
during the first millennium C.E., made its way along the
Silk Road from India to East Asia). French colonization
of Vietnam, which began in the 16th century and ended
in the middle of the 20th century, also had a deep
influence on Vietnamese cooking. The cuisine balances
all these influences. One street vendor may noodle
soup, pho bo, from his cart. The next vendor over might
sell baguette smeared with one of the many ground
pork concoctions known as pâtés. Both may be
complemented by the ubiquitous native fish sauce (nuoc
nam) or dipping sauce (nuoc cham -- made from fish
sauce, water, sugar, and lime juice and seasoned with
chiles and garlic).
As in many of the neighboring countries, a Vietnamese
meal is rarely divided into courses. All the food is
served at once and shared from common dishes. Meals
are anchored by a starch, usually rice and sometimes
noodles (especially in the north where grain is more
prevalent than rice). The Vietnamese prefer long-grain
rice to the glutinous short grain varieties preferred by
north-eastern Thai and Japanese palates. Most meals include
a soup, a stir-fry, and another main dish. Often, a light
salad with shrimp or beef and vegetables will
accompany the meal. Like the Chinese, the Vietnamese
eat from a bowl with chopsticks.
Vietnamese cooking is generally not as rich or heavy as
the coconut milk curries, of, say, Thailand or India. All
that coastline means that fish and seafood are central
to the diet. Other meats -- pork, beef, and chicken --
are also common, but in smaller quantities. Vegetables
are often left raw, especially in the south, to act as a
fresh contrast to the spicy cooked meat. The distinct
flavors of Vietnamese food come primarily from: mint
leaves, coriander, lemon grass, shrimp, fish sauces
(nuoc nam and nuoc cham), star anise, ginger, black
pepper, garlic, basil, rice vinegar, sugar, and green
onions. Many flavorful marinades are made by some
combination of these flavorings. Marinated meat or fish
is quickly sautéed in the wok and served with an array
of raw vegetables and herbs. All this may be eaten over
rice or rolled in a rice-paper wrapper or lettuce leaf
(or both), then dipped into a pungent sauce.
Roll Your Own
The other do-it-yourself element in many Vietnamese meals comes
with roll-your-own rice-paper rolls. For example, grilled chunks of
lemongrass beef (thit bo nuong), grilled meatballs (nem nuong), or
freshly steamed shrimp (tom) all come served with a salad plate
together with a stack of moist rice papers (banh trang) or fresh
rice wrappers (banh uot). You lay a wrapper on your open palm, put
in a piece or two of meat, several strips of pickled radish, perhaps
some herbs, sprouts, or rice vermicelli, then tuck over the ends and
roll it up. You now have your own unique fresh spring roll that can be
dipped in nuoc cham or nuoc leo, or eaten simply on its own.
Market and Restaurant Foods
Market food is at its best, and offers the greatest selection in the
morning before the day gets hot. While breakfast in the south and
north is generally soup, in rural areas it can be xoi -- sticky rice
steamed in a leaf wrapper. Often peanuts or mung beans are
steamed with the rice.
In addition to street food, you'll want to experience a Bo Bay Mon
or "Beef Seven Ways" restaurant. Beef dishes include beef fondue
(bo nhung dam), grilled beef-stuffed leaves (bo la lot), beef pate
steamed in banana leaves (cha dum), and beef rice soup (chao thit
bo). Another restaurant specialty, often eaten for lunch in the
south, is banh xeo, a kind of crepe filled with finely chopped
vegetables and meat.
Beverages
Freshly pressed sugarcane juice is available from vendors in the
afternoon and evening. Vietnamese beer is good; try Saigon Beer or
333. Vietnam grows its own tea in the region around Dalat. Tea is
consumed morning to night; it's served before or after but never
during a meal. For another caffeine hit, try Vietnamese coffee
black and hot or iced with condensed milk, gafe suda -- our favorite.
The coffee is made in individual slow-drip filters and can be very
strong.
Family Culture
Respect for parents and ancestors is a key virtue in Vietnam. The oldest male in the family is
the head of the family and the most important family member. His oldest son is the second
leader of the family. Sometimes, related families live together in a big house and help each
other. The parents chose their children's marriage partners based on who they think is best
suited for their child. When people die, their families honor their ancestors on the day of
their death by performing special ceremonies at home or at temples and by burning incense
and fake money for the one who died. The Vietnamese believed that by burning incense, their
ancestors could protect them and their family from danger and harm.
Days before the ceremony starts, the family has to get ready, because they won't have
enough time to get ready when the guests arrive and the ceremony starts. Usually the women
cook and prepare many special kinds of food, like chicken, ham, pork, rice, and many more
including desserts.
While the women are busy cooking, the men are busy fixing up and cleaning up the house, so it
won't be messy and dirty because of all the relatives of the person that died will come for
the ceremony and show honor and respect to that person
Events
Special prayers are held at Vietnamese and Chinese pagodas on days when the moon is either full or the merest sliver. Many Buddhists eat only vegetarian food on these days. Some of the major religious festivals follow a lunar calendar. They include: Tet (late Jan-early Feb), the most important festival of the year, marking the new lunar year as well as the advent of spring; Wandering Souls Day (August), the second-largest festival of the year, when offerings of food and gifts are given to the wandering souls of the forgotten dead; Doan Ngu (June), when human effigies are burnt, becoming soldiers in the god of death's army; and Holiday of the Dead (April), which commemorates deceased relatives.
Vietnam boasts an age-long
and special culture that is closely attached to the history of the formation and
development of the nation.
Historians have shared a common view that Vietnam
has got a fairly large cultural community that was formed around the first half of the
first millenium before Christ and flourished in the middle of this millenium. That was Dong
Son cultural community. This culture attained a degree of development higher than that
of others at that time in the region and had its own characteristics but still bore the
features of Southeast Asian culture because of the common South Asian racial root
(Southern Mongoloid) and the water rice culture. Different development routes of local
cultures in various areas (in the deltas of Hong (Red) river, Ma (Horse)
river, Ca river and so on...) joined together to form Dong Son culture. This
was also the period of the very "embryonic" state of Vietnam in the form of
inter- and super-village community, which come into being and existed in order to resist
invaders and to build and maintain dykes for rice cultivation. From this pattern of
"embryo" state, primitive tribes grew into nations.
Dragon dance
The period of Van Lang-Au Lac
culture (lasting for nearly 3,000 years up to the end of the first millenium before
Christ) in the early Bronze Age with 18 Hung kings was regarded as the first apogee
in the history of the Vietnamese culture, which was typified by the Dong Son bronze
drum and stable technique of cultivating water rice.
The post-Chinese domination period was
characterized by the two parallel trends of Han assimilation and anti-Han
assimilation. The Dai Viet (Great Vietnam) period was the second apogee of the
Vietnamese culture. Throughout the time of independent feudal states, milestoned by the Ly-Tran
and Le dynasties, the Vietnamese culture underwent comprehensive restoration and
quick boom, under the tremendous influence of Buddhism and Taoism.
After the chaotic Le-Mac and Trinh-Nguyen
period, when the country was separated, and since the Tay Son dynasty reunited
the country and territory, the Nguyen dynasty tried to restore Confucian culture.
They, however, failed because Confucianism had already been fading and the Western culture
started to penetrate into the country. The period up to the end of French domination was
marked by a cultural mix brought about by two opposite trends - i.e. of Europeanization
and anti-Europeanization; that presents, the fight between patriotic culture and
colonialist culture.
The period of modern Vietnamese culture has
gradually taken shape since the 30’s and 40’s of this century under the banner
of patriotism and Marxism-Leninism. Vietnamese culture, with the increasingly intensive
integration into the world modern civilization and the preservation and enhancement of the
national identity, promises to reach a new historical peak.
It can be said that there were three layers of
culture overlapping each other during the history of Vietnam: local culture, the culture
that mixed with those of China and other countries in the region, and the culture that
interacted with Western culture. The most prominent feature of the Vietnamese culture is
that it was not assimilated by foreign cultures thanks to the strong local cultural
foundations. On the contrary, it was able to utilize and localize those from abroad to
enrich the national culture.
The Vietnamese national culture emerged from a
concrete living environment: a tropical country with many rivers and the confluence of
great cultures. The natural conditions (temperature, humidity, monsoon, water-flows,
water-rice agriculture ...) exert a remarkable impact on the material and spiritual life
of the nation, the characteristics and psychology of the Vietnamese. However, social and
historical conditions exert an extremely great influence on culture and national
psychology. Thus, there are still cultural differences between Vietnam and other
water-rice cultures like Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, India and so on. Though sharing the
same Southeast Asian cultural origin, the Vietnamese culture was transformed and bore East
Asian cultural characteristics because of the long domination of the Chinese Han
dynasty and the imposition of its culture on Vietnam.
The Vietnamese nation was formed early in the
history and often had to carry out wars of resistance against foreign invaders, which
created a prominent cultural feature: a patriotism that infiltrated and encompassed every
aspect of life. Community factors with primitive origin were amalgamated early in the
history and became the foundations for the development of patriotism and national
consciousness. Continual wars were the major cause of the vicissitudes of the Vietnamese
social development history. All the social and economic structures were often dismantled
by wars, so the social development could hardly reach its peak. Also because of the
destruction of wars, Vietnam has virtually no gigantic cultural and artistic construction,
or if any, they could not have been preserved intact.
Vietnam boasts 54 ethnicities living across the
country. Each ethnicity has its own cultural colour, thus, the Vietnamese culture is a
diversified unification. Apart from the typical Viet-Muong culture, there are other
cultural groups like Tay-Nung, Thai,Cham, Hao-Ngai, Mon-Khmer, H’Mong-Dao, and
especially Tay Nguyen groups that still maintain fairly diverse and comprehensive
traditions of a purely agricultural society that is closely attached to forests and
mountains.
The followings are the overview of major cultural
aspects:
1. Philosophy and
ideologies
At the start,
with primitive and rudimentary cognition of materialism and dialectics, Vietnamese thought
was mixed with beliefs. However, originating from agricultural culture that differs from
nomadic culture by the appreciation of stillness over movement and closely related to
natural phenomena, the Vietnamese philosophy paid special attention to relations that was
typified by doctrine of yin and yang and the five basic elements (not
exactly the same as the Chinese doctrine) and manifested by the moderate lifestyle tending
towards harmony.
Afterwards, the influence of Buddhism,
Confucianism and Taoism, that were conciliated and Vietnamized, contributed to the
development of the Vietnamese society and culture. Particularly, Zen-Buddhists in the Tran
dynasty came up with the interpretation of most philosophical subjects that was set forth
by Buddhism (Heart- Buddha, being or not being, life and death) in an original and
distinguished way. Although Confucianism flourished afterward, many famous Vietnamese
confucianists did not stick bindly to Confucianism and Mencianism, but rather adopted the
spirit of Buddhism and Taoism to make their ideology more open, closer to the people and
more harmonious with the nature.
Festival
Under autocratic dynasties, deep feudal
ideologies were imposed on farmers and bound women, however, village democracy and
primitive community still existed on the basis of self-supplied agriculture. Farmers’
thoughts that penetrated deeply into the Vietnamese agricultural society had many positive
and typical features of the traditional Vietnamese. Farmers were the core of wars of
resistance and uprisings against foreign invaders. Many talented generals, topped by Quang
Trung Nguyen Hue - the hero of the common people in the 18th century, came from
farmers.
The policy that facilitated agriculture and
restrained trade, prevailing in the Nguyen dynasty, blocked the development of
city-dweller's consciousness. In the past time, the Vietnamese ranked agriculture and
education as their first and second priorities of occupations, while having a low opinion
of business people. Other trades were regarded as minor ones, including cultural
activities.
In the 19th century when Vietnamese feudalism
faded and Chinese civilization declined, Western culture started to penetrate our
countries, following the colonialists’ guns. The working class formed at the start of
the 20th century as a result of the colonial exploitation programs. Marxism-Leninism was
introduces in Vietnam in the '20s and '30s, combining with patriotism to become a momentum
of historical changes, which led the country up to independence, democracy and socialism.
The person representing this era was Ho Chi Minh, who was recognized by the international
community and UNESCO as Vietnamese hero of national liberation and great man of culture.
The ailing national bourgeoisie could only implement a number of partial reforms in the
first half of the 20th century.
That Vietnam did not have its own philosophical
and ideological theoretical system and lacked world-class philosophers does not mean that
it does not have ways of living and ideologies suitable to its nation.
The agricultural society is characterized by the
village community with many prolonged primitive vestiges that have formed the specific
characteristics of the Vietnamese. Those were the thoughts of dualism, a concrete way of
thinking that was tilted to emotional experiences rather than rationalism and preferred
images to concepts. However, it was also a flexible, adaptable, and conciliatory way of
thinking. This was a way of living that highly valued emotional ties and attachment to
relatives and the community (because "there would be no home in a lost country"
and "the whole village rather than a sole roof would be engulfed by flood").
This was a way of behaving toward conciliatory, equilibrium and relations-based settlement
of conflicts and disputes. This way of living could cope accordingly with the situation,
which many times in the history was successful in using suppleness to prevail over
firmness and weakness to resist strength.
Buffalo offreing ritual
On the scale of spiritual values, the
Vietnamese highly appreciate "Benevolence" and closely combined it with
"Righteousness" and "Virtues"; no benevolence and righteousness are
tantamount to no virtues. Nguyen Trai once described the Vietnamese concept of
Benevolence and Righteousness as the opposition to fierce violence, which was enhanced to
the foundation for the policy of ruling as well as saving the country. The Vietnamese
understood that Loyalty meant being loyal to the nation, which was higher than the loyalty
to the ruler, and respected Piety without being so bound with the framework of family.
Happiness was also among the top social values; people often make compliments on the
happiness of a family rather than wealth and social position.
On the road of industrialization, modernization
and integration into the international community, Vietnam will have to overcome some
shortcomings in its traditional culture like conservatism, and parochialism,
egalitarism, and the weakness in practical organization ...
2. Customs and Practices
The Vietnamese
people are realistic, prefering to "eat stodgy food and to wear hard-wearing
clothes". Eating comes first. The Vietnamese eating habit tends towards vegetarianism
; rice and vegetables are the main course of the meal that may be diversified by aquatic
products. Boiling is a special way of cooking of the Vietnamese people. Vietnamese people
like a synthetic food processing style that involves many materials and ingredients.
Today, although meat and fish are the Meat Dishes of the meal, the Vietnamese do not
forget pickled egg-plant.
The Vietnamese preferred to wear light, thin,
well-ventilated kind of clothing that originated from plants and was suitable for such a
tropical country as Vietnam, with grey, indigo and black colours. Men’s clothing
changed from loin-cloth with bare upper half of the body to short jackets and Vietnamese
traditional trousers (re-designed from Chinese trousers). In the past, women often wore
brassieres, skirts and four-piece long dresses that were later modified to the modern ao
dai. In general, Vietnamese women adorned themselves subtly and secretively in a
society where "virtue is more important than appearance". Old/time clothing also
paid attention to kerchiefs, hats and belts.
The old-style Vietnamese house was related to the
watery environment (stilted house with curved roof). Then came thatch-roofed house with
clay walls, which were built mostly from wood and bamboo. This kind of house did not stand
too high to avoid high winds and storms, and more importantly, the house should face to
the South direction to be free from hot and cold weathers. The interior of the house was
also not so spacious to leave room for the courtyard, pond, and garden. Also, the
Vietnamese thought that "spacious home was no better than sufficient food".
Sizeable ancient architectures were often built shrouded and in harmony with natural
environment.
The traditional means of transport is waterways.
Ship of all types together with the river and the wharf, are familiar in the Vietnamese
geological and humanitarian images.
Vietnamese customs of weddings, funerals,
holidays and rituals all are attached to village community. Marriages not only reflecte
the lovers’ desire but also had to meet the interests of the family lines, the
village; thus, the choice for future bride or bridegroom was done very carefully, which
had to go through many formalities from the plighting ceremony, the official proposal to
the bride’s family, the wedding to the marriage tie, the ritual of sharing bridal cup
of wine, the newly-weds’ first visit to the bride’s family. Besides, the bride
had to pay a fine in order for her to be accepted as a new member of the village. Funeral
service is also proceeded very thoroughly to express the grief and see off the relative
into the other world. The family of the deceased does not have to take care of the service
by themselves, they are also given a helping hand by the neighbors.
Vietnam is the country of festivities which take
place all year round, especially in spring when there is little farming work. The major
festivities are Nguyen Dan (Lunar New Year ), Mid-First month , Han thuc (cold
food) , Doan Ngo (double five) , Mid-Seventh month , Mid-Autumn Festival, Ong
tao (the god of the kitchen) etc... Each region has its own ritual holidays, the most
important of which are agricultural rituals (such as the rituals of praying for rain,
getting down to the rice field, and new rice...) and trades’s rituals (like the
rituals of copper casting, forging, making fire crackers, and boat racing...). Besides,
there are also rituals dedicating to national heroes and religious and cultural services
(e.g, Buddhist rituals). Ritual holidays are usually divided into two parts: the service
is carried out for blesses and thanksgivings, the holiday is the cultural activities of
the community consisting of many folk games and contests.
3. Beliefs and
Religions
The Vietnamese
folk beliefs since the ancient time consist of belief in fecundity, worship of nature and
worship of man. Human beings need to be reproduced, crops need to be lushly green for the
nourishment and development of life, so belief in fecundity came into existence. In
Vietnamese, this belief lasted for long in two forms: worshiping male and female genitals
(different from India where only male genital was worshipped) and worshiping sexual
intercourse (of both human beings and animals; right in Southeast Asia, there are few
nations worshiping this act. The vestiges of this belief are found in relics carved on
sculptures and stone poles, in decorative patterns in Tay Nguyen sepulchres, in some
customs and kinds of dance, particularly in figures and patterns engraved on ancient
bronze drums.
Festival ritual at Do
Temple
Water-rice agriculture that depended much on
natural factors ignited the belief of worshiping nature. In Vietnam, this belief was
polytheism and respect for goddess, and worshipp of animals and plants as well. A research
book published in 1984 listed 75 goddesses, mostly matriarchal goddesses, also called Mau
(ancient people not only worshipped the Creator but also Mau Cuu Trung which
was a female Creator, as well as Mau Thuong Ngan, River Goddess and so on).
Regarding botany-worshiping beliefs, the rice plant was most venerated, the next were the
banyan-tree, the areca-tree, the mulberry tree and the gourd. In respect of
animal-worshiping beliefs, unlike nomadic culture that worships fierce wild animals,
Vietnamese tend to worship gentle species of animals like stag, deer, frog, especially
those which are easy to come by in the riverside regions like water-birds, snakes, and
crocodiles. The Vietnamese proclaimed themselves as belonging to the Hong Bang
family line and the Tien Rong breed (Hong Bang was the name of a huge
species of water-bird, Tien, or Fairy, was deification of an egg-laying
species of bird, Rong, or Dragon, was an abstract image of snake and crocodile).
The ascending dragon that was born in the water is meaningful and special symbol of the
Vietnamese nation.
Among the human-revering beliefs, the custom of
worshiping ancestors is the most popular, which nearly become one belief of the Vietnamese
(also called Dao Ong Ba in the Cochinchina). The Vietnamese choose the death-day
rather than the birthday to hold a commemorative anniversary for the deceased. Every
family worships Tho cong, or the God of Home, who takes care of the home and
blesses the family. Every village worships its Thanh hoang, the God of the village,
who protects and guides the whole village (the Vietnamese always honour the people who
rendered distinguished services for villagers or national heroes who were born or died in
the village to be their Thanh hoang). The whole nation worships the very first
kings, sharing the common ancestors’ death anniversary (the Ritual of Hung
Temple). Particularly, the worship of Tu Bat Tu, or the Four Immortal Gods, namely,
God Tan Vien (preventing flooding), God Giong (resisting and defeating
foreign invaders), God Chu Dong Tu (together with his wife growing out of poverty
to consistently build his fortune) and Goddess Lieu Hanh (heavenly princess who
left Heaven for the earth in the yearning for happiness) has been regarded as extremely
beautiful national values.
Although turning into superstition in some
specific cases, folk beliefs have lasted consistently and mixed with orthodox religions.
Therevada Buddhism might have been imported
directly into Vietnam from India through sea routes since the 2nd century A.D. Vietnamese
Buddhism stays on earth rather than ascends up to heaven, attaches to exorcism and prayers
for wealth, happiness and longevity rather than heads toward nirvana. Only when Maharayana
Buddhism approached the country from China did Vietnamese monks have the chance to carry
out in-depth study of Buddhism; however, separate schools were later formed, such as Truc
Lam Buddhist School which attaches importance to the Buddha inside the human heart. In
the Ly-Tran dynasties, Buddhism, though having reached its peak, still embraced
both Taoism and Confucianism to create a cultural face with "the three religions
existing at the same time". Over ups and downs throughout the history, Buddhism has
become absolutely familiar to the Vietnamese; according to the 1993 stastistics, there
were up to some 3 million Buddhist believers and some other 10 millions frequently going
to the pagoda for worshipping the Buddha.
Under the Chinese domination, Confucianism had
yet to gain a position in the Vietnamese society. The official adoption of Confucianism
had not been recorded until 1070 when King Ly Thai To built Van Mieu (the
Temple of Literature) to worship Chu Cong and Khong Tu (confucius). In the
15th century, due to the need of constructing a unified nation, a centralized
administration and a social order, Confucianism took the place of Buddhism to become a
national religion under the Le dynasty. Confucianism, mostly Song Confucianism,
that took root deep into the social and political structure, the system of education and
examinations and the circle of Confucian scholars gradually dominated social and moral
life. However, Confucianism was only accepted to Vietnam in specific factors, particularly
on politics and morality, rather than its entire system.
Taoism penetrated Vietnam at roughly the end of
the 2nd century. Since the Vo Vi (letting things take their own course) doctrine
bore the thought of resisting the Chinese rulers, it was used as a weapon against the
Northern feudalism. This religion also contained factors of magic and mystery, so it fits
human subconscience and primitive beliefs. Many Confucianists also admired Taoism’s
tendency of enjoying quietness and joyful leisure. However, Taoism has long been regarded
as an extinct religion that only left vestiges in folk beliefs.
Christianity came to Vietnam in the 17th century
as an intermediary of the Western culture and colonialism. It made use of the favorable
opportunity in which feudalism was in crisis, Buddhism was depraved and Confucianism was
in deadlock to become a spiritual relief of a part of the population. However, this
religion failed to integrate into the Vietnamese culture for a long time. Christians had
to set up an altar dedicated to Jesus Christ right at their homes. Only when the Gospel
was introduced into Vietnam, Christianity was able to gain a position. In 1993, there were
5 million Catholics and nearly half a million Protestants.
Foreign religions imported to Vietnam did not
exterminate the local folk beliefs, but they mixed with each other to derive specific
variants for both sides. For example, Taoism could not lower the women’s role, which
was reflected by widespread worship of Mau (Goddess). The features of polytheism,
democracy, and community are manifested by the worship of groups of ancestors, and pairs
of gods. Entering a pagoda, people can easily recognize that not only Buddhas but also
gods and even human are worshiped there. Perhaps, only in Vietnam, there were legends that
a toad dares to sue Heaven or a human being marries a fairy. These are the prominent
features of Vietnamese beliefs.
4. Languages
There have been
many theories regarding the origin of the Vietnamese language. The most persuasive one
argues that the Vietnamese language previously belonged to the Mon-Khmer group of
the Southeast Asian linguistic system, it was later transformed into Viet-Muong language
(or old Vietnamese language) and then separated to form the modern Vietnamese language. In
the present-day Vietnamese language, many words have been proved to contain Mon-Khmer roots
and to be phonetically and semantically relevant to the Muong language.
Throughout a millennium of Chinese domination and
under the Vietnamese feudal dynasties, the official language was the Han, but the
Vietnamese always demonstrated its strength for self-preservation and development. The Han
language was pronounced in the Vietnamese way, called the Han-Viet way of
pronunciation, and Vietnamized in various ways to create many commonly used Vietnamese
words. The diverse development of the Vietnamese language brought about the birth of a
system of writing scripts transcribing the Vietnamese language on the basis of the Han
characters in the 13th century, called the Nom character.
Under the French domination, Han
characters were gradually eliminated and replaced by French that was used in
administrative, educational and diplomatic languages. Thanks to the National language that
boasts the advantages of simple figure, composition, spelling and pronunciation the modern
Vietnamese prose was actually formed and then accepted positive influence from the Western
cultural language. The National language characters were produced by some Western
evangelists including Alexandre de Rhodes; they cooperated with some Vietnamese to
transcribe the Vietnamese language on the basis of the Latin alphabet for using in
evangelism in the 17th century. The National language characters were completed and
popularized to become a significant cultural tool. In late 19th century, publications were
published in the National language characters.
After the August 1945 Revolution, the Vietnamese
language and the National language characters have seized a dominating position and
strongly developed and established itself as a multi-functional language that has been
used in every field, every educational level and has reflected every reality of life.
Today, thanks to the Revolution, some ethnic minority groups have their own writing
scripts.
The Vietnamese language is characterized by
mono-phonology with a concrete, abundant, acoustic and imaginary vocabulary and a
proportionate, rhythmical, lively, flexible, symbolic and emotional way of expression,
which tremendously facilitates artistic and literary creation. The Vietnamese dictionary
published by the Center of Lexicography in 1997 consists of 38,410 entries.
5.
Literature
Parallel and deeply
interacting with other cultural aspects, the Vietnamese literature came into being at an
early date, including two major components - folk literature and written literature. Folk
literature held a great significance in Vietnam and made immense contribution to
preserving and developing the national language as well as nourishing the people’s
soul. Folk literary works were diversified by mythologies, epics, legends, humorous
stories, riddles, proverbs, folk-songs and so on... with many colourings of Vietnamese
ethnic groups.
Written literature was born roughly in the 10th
century. Up to the 20th century, there had been two components existing at the same time:
works written in the Han characters (with poems and prose demonstrating the
Vietnamese soul and realities; thus, they were still regarded as Vietnamese literature)
and works written in the Nom character (mostly poems; many great works were handed
down to the later generations). Since the '20s of this century, written literature has
been mainly composed in the National language with profound renovations in form and
category such as novels, new-style poems, short stories and dramas... and with diversity
in artistic tendency. Written literature attained speedy development after the August
Revolution, when it was directed by the Vietnamese Communist Party’s guideline and
focused on the people’s fighting and working life.
Admittedly, the whole Vietnamese nation likes
poetry and composing poems - ranging from kings, mandarins, generals to monks, feudal
scholars, and even revolutionaries. A farmer, an old boatman, a soldier all know some
six-eight-word meters or satirical verses.
Regarding the content, the mainstream was the
unyielding patriotic literature in every time and the anti-feudalist literature that was
often expressed through the plight of women. Another important theme was the onslaughts
against social vices. Great poets of the nation were all great humanists.
Modern Vietnamese literature has developed from
romanticism to realism, from heroism in wartime to all aspects of life, and scoured into
ordinary life to find out genuine values of the Vietnamese people.
Classical literature generated such masterpieces
as Truyen Kieu (Nguyen Du), Cung oan ngam khuc (Nguyen Gia Thieu), Chinh phu ngam (Dang
Tran Con), Quoc am thi tap (Nguyen Trai)... Vietnamese had some brilliant female poets
like Ho Xuan Huong, Doan Thi Diem, Ba Huyen Thanh Quan... centuries ago.
In the Vietnamese modern prose, there were
authors who could emulate with whoever in the world, namely, Nguyen Cong Hoan, Vu Trong
Phung, Ngo Tat To, Nguyen Hong, Nguyen Tuan, Nam Cao... They were sided by excellent
poets like Xuan Dieu, Huy Can, Han Mac Tu, Nguyen Binh... Regrettably, great works
that faithfully reflect the country and the times have yet to appear.
6. Arts
Vietnam
has got some 50 national music instruments, in which the set of percussion instruments is
the most popular, diverse and long-lasting such as trong dong (copper drums), cong
chieng (gongs), dan da (lithophone), dan t’rung... The set of
blowing instruments is represented by flutes and pan-pipes, while the set of string
instruments is specified by dan bau and dan day.
A national music instrument
The Vietnamese folksongs are rich in forms and
melodies of regions across the country, ranging from ngam tho (reciting poems), hat
ru (lullaby), ho (chanty) to hat quan ho, trong quan, xoan, dum, vi giam, ca
Hue, bai choi, ly. Apart from this, there are also other forms like hat xam, chau
van, and ca tru.
Traditional performing arts include cheo
and tuong. Water-puppet shows are also a special traditional art that was ignited
in the Ly dynasty. At the start of the 20th century, cai luong (reformed
theatre) appeared in Cochinchina with melodies of vong co.
The Vietnamese acoustic arts generally have
symbolic, expressive and emotional features. Traditional stage relates closely to the
audience and is a combination of music and dance forms. The Vietnamese dance has few
strong and tough actions, but contains many smooth and curling features with closed feet
and a lot of arm-dancing actions.
In Vietnam, the arts of sculpturing on stone,
copper and baked clay came into existence very early, dating back to the 10,000 B.C.
Later, enameled ceramics, wooden statues, shell-encrusted pictures, lacquers, silk-made
pictures and paper-made pictures all attained high degree of artistic development. The
Vietnamese plastic arts focus on expressing innermost feelings with simplified forms uses
many methods of stylization and emphasis.
There have been 2014 cultural and historical
relics have been recognized by the State and other 2 relics, namely, the Old Capital of Hue
and the Ha Long Bay, have gained international recognition as the world heritage
site. The remaining ancient architectures are mostly pagodas and temples of the Ly-Tran
dynasties, palaces and stelas of the Le dynasty, the 18th century’s
community houses, citadels and tombs of the Nguyen dynasty and Cham towers.
In the 20th century, in contact with the Western
culture, especially after the national independence, many new categories of arts like
plays, photography, cinemas, and modern art had taken shape and developed strongly,
obtaining huge achievements with the contents reflecting the social and revolutionary
realities. Up to 1997, there have been 44 people operating in cultural and artistic fields
honored with the Ho Chi Minh Award, 130 others conferred with People’s Artist Honor,
and 1011 people awarded with the Excellent Artist Honor. At the start of 1997, there were
191 professional artistic organizations and 26 film studios (including central and local
ones). There have been 28 movies, 49 scientific and documentary films receiving
international motion picture awards in many countries.
The traditional and national culture in the time
of industrialization and modernization is facing tough challenges posed by the market
economy as well as the tendency of globalization. Some cultural and artistic branches have
been seeking for renovation. The preservation and development of the national culture, the
selection of the traditional values and the construction of the new ones have turned the
most important than any time in history. The traditional cultural values should be
preserved but should be also enriched by the advanced cultural values of the mandkind.
Culture should be modernized but should not be separated from the nation . The process of
cultural reform is still under way...
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