Culture of Viet Nam in general

• The culture of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Văn hoá Việt Nam) is highly multicultural. The early culture in Vietnam started with the Bronze Age Đông Sơn culture considered to be one of its most important progenitors for its Ancient history. Vietnamese culture was heavily influenced by Chinese culture due to the 1000 years of Northern rule. In this period of time, Classical Chinese was used to write which was known as Hán văn. Vietnamese was written with chữ Hán, a Chinese script, and a Vietnamese derived script (chữ Nôm) from Chinese characters, but which included invented characters to represent native Vietnamese words. These scripts were known collectively as chữ Hán Nôm. This large impact on Vietnamese culture means that Vietnam is often considered to be part of the Sinosphere (with China, South Korea, North Korea, and Japan).

 

• Following independence from China in the 10th century, Vietnam began a southward expansion and annexed territories formerly belonging to Champa and Khmer, resulting in various influences on the Vietnamese. During the French colonial period, Catholicism and a Latin alphabet (the Vietnamese alphabet), called chữ Quốc Ngữ (National Language Script), romanising the Vietnamese language, was introduced in Vietnam.

 

• Some elements considered to be characteristic of Vietnamese culture include ancestor veneration, respect for community and family, manual labour and living in harmony with nature.

 

 

• Language

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  Handwritten Vietnamese

   

  Vietnam is one of the most linguistic diverse countries in Southeast Asia. Although Vietnamese is set as the official language of Vietnam, there are currently more than 100 speaking languages in the country. They belong to five different major linguistic families: Austronesian, Austroasiatic, Hmong–Mien, Sino–Tibetan, and Kra–Dai.

   

  The Vietnamese language is an Austroasiatic language with monosyllabic and tonal features, sharing similarities with some Northern Austroasiatic languages, such as Bolyu. The writing of Vietnamese started with Vietnamese script (chữ Nôm) in the 13th century which used Chinese script as a basis, to the current Latin iteration (chữ Quốc Ngữ).

   

  The current Vietnamese alphabet uses diacritics (glyph added to a letter) to represent tones in Vietnamese writing. When computerised, digraphs are used. For example, input ‘a’ generates ‘a’, but input ‘aa’ generates â.

   

  The Vietnamese Latin alphabet uses the horn for the letters “ơ” and “ư”; the circumflex for the letters “â”, “ê”, and “ô”; the breve for the letter “ă”; and a bar through the letter “đ”.

   

  It also has six tones: “á“, “à“, “ả“, “ã” and “ạ“, the five tones used for vowels along with flat tone “a“.

  Music

  

  A trio of Vietnamese musicians perform together. The man at centre plays a đàn nhị.

   

  Vietnamese music varies slightly in the three regions: North, Central, and South. Northern classical music is Vietnam’s oldest and is traditionally more formal. Vietnamese classical music can be traced to the Mongol invasions, when the Vietnamese captured a Chinese opera troupe. Central classical music shows the influences of Champa culture with its melancholic melodies. Southern music exudes a lively laissez-faire attitude.

  Vietnam has some 50 national music instruments, in which the set of percussion instruments is the most popular, diverse and long-lasting such as đàn đáy, đàn tranh, đàn nhị, đàn bầu … The set of blowing instruments is represented by flutes and pan-pipes, while the set of string instruments is specified by đàn bầu and đàn đáy.

  Vietnamese folksongs are rich in forms and melodies of regions across the country, ranging from ngâm thơ (reciting poems), hát ru (lullaby), hò (chanty) to hát quan họ, trong quan, xoan, dum, ví giặm, ca Huế, bài chòi, ly. Apart from this, there are also other forms like hát xẩm, chầu văn, and ca trù.

  Two of the most well-known Vietnamese traditional genres are:

  • Imperial Court music: When referring specifically to the “Nhã nhạc” form it includes court music from the Trần dynasty on to the Nguyễn dynasty. It is an elaborate form of music which features an extensive array of musicians and dancers, dressed in extravagant costumes. It was an integral part of the rituals of the Imperial court.
  • Ca trù: An ancient form of chamber music which originated in the imperial court. It gradually came to be associated with a pansori-type of entertainment where talented female musicians entertained rich and powerful men, often scholars and bureaucrats who most enjoyed the genre. It was condemned in the 20th century by the government, being tied falsely with prostitution, but recently it has seen a revival as appreciation for its cultural significance has grown. Ca trù has been recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity since 2005.

   

  In the 20th century, in contact with the Western culture, especially after 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 Hồ 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.

  Source: Wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Vietnam

   

  Festivals

 

• Thus, Vietnam does not have its own system of philosophical and ideological theories, and lacks international-class philosophers. But that does not mean that there are no philosophies and ideas suitable for our people.

• The agricultural society is characterized by the village community with many lingering primitive remnants that have created the distinctive character of the Vietnamese people. It is a dualistic way of thinking, a specific way of thinking, favoring emotional experience rather than rationality, preferring images to concepts, but being flexible, flexible, easy to integrate, easy to adapt . It is a way of life that is full of gratitude, solidarity and attachment to relatives and villages (because the country loses the house, the flood drowns the whole village). It is a way of acting in the direction of a harmonious, balanced solution, relying on relationships, and at the same time cleverly good at improvisation, having known many times in history to use softness to prevail, use weakness against strength.
• In the spiritual value ladder, Vietnam highly appreciates the word Nhan, closely combining Nhan with Nghia, Nhan with Duc. Nguyen Trai once described the Vietnamese people’s concept of Nhan Nghia – opposed to tyranny, raised to become the basis of the line of national governance and national salvation. Vietnam understands the Chinese word as being middle to the country, higher than middle to the king, to respect the word Hieu but not too narrowly within the family framework. The word Phuc is also at the top of the list of life values, people praise the house for being blessed rather than complimenting the rich and complimenting the luxury.
• On the road of industrialization, modernization and world integration, we will have to strive to overcome some weaknesses in traditional culture; poor logical thinking and science and technology; patriarchal, conservative, local, narrow-minded; average thought; the tendency to negate the individual, to level the personality; idolatry and deification; The habit of preferring the words of vanity, weak in practical organization…

• Customs and traditions

• Vietnamese people are inherently practical, prefer to eat well and wear durable. The first is to eat, only if you have real food, you will be able to save the Way. If you fight, you will also avoid meals. The eating structure is plant-based, with rice and vegetables being the main plus seafood. Boiling is a unique way of cooking in Vietnam. But the way to prepare the dish is rich in synthesis, combining many ingredients and spices. Today there is a lot of meat and fish, still not forgetting the taste of cucumber.
• Vietnamese people often use fabric materials of plant origin, thin, light, airy, suitable for hot countries, with brown, indigo, and black colors. Men’s clothing evolved from the topless loincloth to blouses and trousers (modified Chinese pants). In the past, women used to wear bibs, skirts, and four-piece dresses, which later changed into modern ao dai. In general, Vietnamese women beautify delicately and discreetly in a society of “the habit of beating beauty to death”. Old clothes also pay attention to towels, hats, belts.

 

• Beliefs and religions

 

• Vietnamese folk beliefs from ancient times have included:
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• The cult of fertility, the cult of nature and the cult of man. Humans need to reproduce, crops need to be lush to maintain and develop life, so the belief of fertility arose. In Vietnam, that belief exists for a long time, in two forms of expression: worshiping male and female fertility (different from India, which only worships male fertility) and worshiping mating acts (human and animal, even In Southeast Asia, there are few people who worship this thing). These vestiges are also left in many relics of statues and stone pillars, in the decoration of the Central Highlands tombs, in some customs and dances, most clearly in the shape and pattern of the ancient bronze drums.

 

• Wet-rice agriculture depends on many natural factors that have led to the worship of nature. In Vietnam, it is a polytheistic religion and respects the goddess, and worships both animals and plants. A research book (published in 1984) listed 75 goddesses, mainly mothers, Mothers (not only God, but also Ba Troi or Mother Cuu Trung, in addition, Mother Thuong Ngan, Queen of the River, etc.). The most revered plant is the Rice Tree, then the Banyan Tree, the Areca Tree, the Mulberry Tree, and the Gourd Fruit. Regarding animals, they tend to worship gentle animals such as deer, toads, not wild animals like nomadic culture, especially worshiping common animals in water areas such as water birds, snakes, crocodiles. The Vietnamese claim to belong to the Hong Bang family, like the Dragon Fairy (Hong Bang is the name of a large water bird, Fairy is an abstraction of a bird that lays eggs, Dragon is an abstraction from snakes and crocodiles). Dragons born from water flying to the sky are unique and meaningful symbols of the Vietnamese nation.
• In the religion of worshiping people, the most popular is the custom of ancestor worship, which has almost become a religion of the Vietnamese people (in the South it is called Dao Ong Ba). In Vietnam, the death anniversary is more important than the birthday. Every house worships Tho Cong, who is the god who looks after the house and keeps the family’s happiness. Every village worships the Citadel, who is the guardian deity for the whole village (usually honoring those who openly broke the business for the villagers, or national heroes who were born or died in the village). The whole country worships ancestral kings, there is a common ancestor’s death anniversary (Hung Temple Festival). Especially, the worship of the Four Immortals is to worship the very beautiful values ​​of the nation: Saint Tan Vien (fighting against floods), Saint Giong (fighting against foreign invaders), Chu Dong Tu (the poor family and their tenacious wife built a rich fortune). ), Mrs. Chua Lieu Hanh (Princess of Troi who abandoned Heaven to come down to earth as a woman yearning for ordinary happiness).
• Although there are cases that lead to superstition, folk beliefs persist and blend into mainstream religions.
• Buddhism (Theravada) may have been imported directly from India by sea into Vietnam around the 2nd century AD. Vietnamese Buddhism does not come out of the world but enter the world, associated with talismans, asking for fortune and happiness, rather than practicing to escape the world. When Buddhism (Mahayana) came from China to our country, Vietnamese monks went deeper into Buddhist studies, but gradually formed their own sects such as Truc Lam Zen Buddhism that promoted Buddha at the heart. During the Ly – Tran dynasties, Buddhism was at its peak but still embraced both Confucianism and Taoism, creating a cultural face with the character of “Three religions of the same age” (all three religions coexist). Through many ups and downs, Buddhism became close to Vietnamese people, statistics in 1993 showed that there were still up to 3 million ordained followers and about 10 million people regularly visiting temples to worship Buddha.

 

• During the Northern domination period, Confucianism did not have a place in Vietnamese society, until 1070 Ly Thai To established the Temple of Literature to worship Chu Cong-Confucius. In the 15th century, due to the need to build a unified country, centralized government, and orderly society, Confucianism replaced Buddhism as the state religion under the Le dynasty. Confucianism, mainly Song Confucianism, firmly adhered to the socio-political mechanism, to the academic system of academic study, to the Confucian class, gradually taking over the spiritual life of society. But Confucianism was only absorbed in Vietnam by individual elements – especially political – moral, not the whole system.

 

• Taoism penetrated into Vietnam around the end of the 2nd century. Due to the theory of wu wu with the ideology of resistance to the rulers, it was used by the people as a weapon against the Northern feudalism. It has many fairy and mysterious elements, so it is suitable for human subconscious and primitive beliefs. Many old Confucianists admire Lao – Trang’s tendency to prefer serenity and leisure. But long ago Taoism as a religion no longer exists, leaving only a legacy in folk beliefs.

 

• Christianity came to Vietnam in the 17th century as an intermediary between Western culture and colonialism. It took advantage of favorable opportunities: crisis of feudalism, decadence of Buddhism, deadlock of Confucianism, to become a place of spiritual comfort for a part of the population but for a long time could not get along. with Vietnamese culture. On the contrary, it is forced to let parishioners set up altars in the house. Only when there is harmony in the gospel among the nation, it can stand in Vietnam. In 1993 there were about 5 million Catholics and nearly half a million Protestants.

 

• The foreign religions imported into Vietnam do not lose the indigenous folk beliefs but blend together, making both sides have certain metamorphosis. For example, Confucianism does not lower the role of women. Mother worship in Vietnam is very popular. Polytheism, democracy, and community are expressed in collective worship of ancestors, worshiping many pairs of gods, entering a temple not only worshiping Buddha but also worshiping many other gods. . And perhaps it is only in Vietnam that a toad sues God, as well as the motif of people marrying fairies in fairy tales. These are her unique features  Vietnam’s religions.
• Source: Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism