About Vietnam
	Introduction
	Viet culture
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Vietnamese culture and society

1. History

Legend has it that Vietnam's origin lay in the harmonious union of Lac Long Quan, King of the Sea, and Au Co, Princess of the Mountains. Real life was not the paradise that was Vietnam's early mythical history-- its recent history— was characterized by a nearly continuous struggle for autonomy. First came an entire millennium of Chinese domination, which was finally thrown off in the 9th century.

External control was imposed once again in the 19th century (1858), when Vietnam was occupied by the French. French colonists established a protectorate and a colonial government that controlled the entire territory of Vietnam. In the early days, resistance movements of the Vietnamese people under the leadership of intellectual patriots, cultured people and scholars broke out everywhere, but in the end, they all failed..

Nguyen Ai Quoc, who later became known as President Ho Chi Minh, traveled abroad to find ways to save the country. He laid the foundation for the Vietnamese Communist Party, which was founded on 3 February 1930. Under the leadership of the Communist Party, the Vietnamese people rose up against the French colonialists and the Japanese occupation, they organized the Great National Uprising in August 1945 and established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on 2 September 1945.

Being confronted with aggressive foreign schemes and the intervention of France and the United States, the newly born Democratic Republic of Vietnam carried out a thirty-year war of resistance. The return of aggressive French troops resulted in the nine-year war of resistance (1945-1954) which ended with the famous victory in Vietnam at Dien Bien Phu and the 1954 Geneva Agreement on Vietnam. According to this Agreement the country was temporarily partitioned into North Vietnam and South Vietnam at the 17th parallel. The north was placed under the control of the Vietnam Workers' Party. The south was controlled by a pro-French administration and later, a pro-American administration, with its capital in Sai Gon.

To maintain the Sai Gon regime, the United States increased its military aid to the Sai Gon government. In the middle of the '60s, a half-million American troops and their allied troops were sent to South Vietnam in direct military intervention; from the 5th of August 1964, they began bombing North Vietnam. In spite of that, following president's Ho Chi Minh's teaching "Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom", the Vietnamese people bravely and firmly stood up and won numerous victories in the northern and southern parts of the country. In 1973, Washington signed the Paris Agreement on the restoration of peace in Vietnam and the withdrawal of all American troops from Vietnam.

In the spring of 1975, the patriotic armed forces of Vietnam swept across the country in the great general offensive and overthrew the Saigon government. The southern part of Vietnam was liberated and the country was united as one. On the 25th April 1976, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was renamed the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which governs both the northern and southern parts of its territory. In 1977, Vietnam became a member of the United Nations.

After many years of prolonged war, the country was heavily devastated. In the period of 1975 - 1986, Vietnam had to cope with innumerable difficulties. Early in the 80s, the country witnessed the most serious socio-economic crisis in its history, inflation rate rose to a record 774.7% in 1986.

The 6^th Congress of Vietnam’s Communist party in December 1986 launched the “ Doi moi” or ‘all-round renovation’ process, stepping towards the general trends of developing countries and the process of gradual globalization and regionalization. Since then the Vietnamese economy began to open and has transformed from a centralized planned economy heavily based on imports to a market-oriented economy. The self-determination of financing was introduced; all efforts aimed at balancing the budget and promoting exports. From 1989, Vietnam began to export about 1 - 1.5 tons of rice, the inflation rate gradually decreased (the rate stood at 67.4% in 1990), living standards were improved, democracy was enhanced, national defense and internal security was firmly consolidated, and external relations were broadened freeing the country from blockage and isolation. Vietnam’s determination to pursue the renovation process was reaffirmed in the VIII in  1991. The government set forth a foreign policy of multilateralization and diversification with  the guideline "Vietnam wants to be a friend to all other countries in the International Community for Peace, Independence and Development”. The IX Congress of the Vietnam Communist Party in April 2001 reviewed achievements recorded during 15 years of renovation (1986 - 2001) and set targets for development by the years 2001 and 2010: focusing on promoting industrialization and modernization.  Currently, Vietnam focusing much effort to pursue its reform process with many renovations in administration procedures and the business environment. Vietnam is actively integrating into the world economy and trying to confirm its international  position .

2. Customs and practices

In general, the Vietnamese are exceptionally friendly and outgoing. Be prepared for many personal questions and comments regarding your age, marital status, and weight. Easy-going people may put these types of questions to you, so as to refer to you in the most polite terms of respect. Although this may lead  you to believe that the Vietnamese are open people, don't make the mistake of asking too many personal questions. Let the person you are talking with guide the conversation. In fact, because of their reputed hospitality, they are warm, helpful and easily ignore mistakes when your behavior doesn't apply to their cultural norms and standards. Above all, they  do know much about the western culture.

It is not unusual to be asked how much something you own costs--anything from a pen to your house back home. Don't worry about being evasive. A simple "I don't know," or "It was a gift" or even a pleasant, enigmatic smile should do the trick.

The Vietnamese get very embarrassed by displays of anger. Their usual reaction is to laugh. This is not because they do not take the situation seriously, but because they don't know how else to respond. It is not a good idea to chastise a person in front of others. This is a culture affected strongly by the concepts of pride and "face." Fortunately, there are no unique gestures that will get you in trouble.

The Vietnamese eating habits tend 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 by the Vietnamese people. Vietnamese people like a synthetic food processing style that involves many materials and ingredients. Today, although meat and fish are the main dishes of the meal, the Vietnamese do not forget pickled egg-plant. Some Vietnamese food specialties are: Banh Chung (sticky rice cake), Gio Lua (lean pork pie), Pho (noodle soup), Nem ran (spring rolls), Banh cuon (Stuffed pancakes), and Bun (rice vermicelli).

In the past, the Vietnamese preferred to wear light, thin, well-ventilated kinds of clothing that originated from plants and were suitable for such a tropical country , with grey, indigo and black colors. Men's clothing changed from the loin-cloth with the bare upper half of the body to short jackets and Vietnamese traditional trousers (re-designed from the 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 houses with curved roofs). Then came the thatch-roofed house with clay walls, which were built primarily  from wood and bamboo. This kind of house did not stand too tall , so as  to avoid high winds and storms, and more importantly, the house should face  the Southern direction to be free from hot and cold weather. The interior of the house was also not so spacious, in order to leave room for the courtyard, pond, and garden. The Vietnamese thought that the  "spacious home was no better than sufficient food". Sizeable ancient architectures were often built shrouded and in harmony with the natural environment.

The traditional means of transport is waterways. Ships of all types together with the river and the wharf, are familiar in Vietnamese geological and humanitarian images.

Vietnamese customs for weddings, funerals, holidays and rituals all are attached to the village community. Marriages not only reflect the lovers' desire but also had to meet the interests of  family lines and the village; thus, the choice for the future bride or bridegroom was planned  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 the  bridal cup of wine, and the newly-weds' first visit to the bride's family. The bride had to pay a fee in order for her to be accepted as a new member of the village. Funeral services also proceeded very thoroughly to express  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 a country of festivities which take place all year round, especially in spring when there is little farming work. The major festivities are Tet Nguyen Dan (Lunar New Year ), Mid-First month, Han thuc (cold food) , Doan Ngo (double five) , Mid-Seventh month , Trung Thu (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 to reach the rice field, and new rice crops...), and the trades rituals ( the rituals of copper casting, forging, making fire crackers, and boat racing.). There are also rituals dedicated to national heroes, religious and cultural services (e.g., Buddhist rituals). Ritual holidays are usually divided into two parts: the service is carried out for blessings and thanksgiving, the holiday is the cultural activity of the community consisting of many folk games and contests.

Vietnamese people are very helpful; they are good at foreign languages, so it's a great advantage to foreigners. If you have any trouble, don't hesitate to ask questions for a more comfortable stay.

3. Beliefs and religion

Vietnam is a country which has a rich and wide variety of religions. These include religions based on popular beliefs, religions brought to Vietnam from the outside, and several indigenous religious groups.

As with other countries, the Vietnamese have several popular beliefs, such as animism and theism. The most widespread popular belief among the Vietnamese is the belief in ancestor-worship.

In regard to the major world religions, Buddhism is the largest of the major world religions in Vietnam, with about ten million followers. It was the earliest foreign religion to be introduced in Vietnam, arriving from India in the second century A.D. in two ways, the Mahayana sect via China, and the Hinayana sect via Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. During the ten-century feudal reign of Vietnam, Buddhism was considered a state religion. At present, Vietnam has more than 20,000 pagodas dedicated to Buddha, with a large number of other pagodas being built or restored. The second largest foreign religion in Vietnam is Catholicism, with about six million followers.

Catholicism was introduced to Vietnam by the Spanish, Portuguese, and French missionaries early in the 17th century. There are now more than 6,000 churches engaged in religious activities throughout the country. More than 500 churches damaged during the U.S. air war against Vietnam are being rebuilt.

Protestantism came to Vietnam in 1911, and was widely spread throughout Vietnam until 1920, however  the number of Protestants in Vietnam is not very large. Islam was introduced to Vietnam long ago, but did not flourish.

In addition to these religions originating in other parts of the world, Vietnam has indigenous religions, such as the Cao Dai and the Hoa Hao sects, with their holy lands in the city of Tay Ninh and the provinces of Chau Doc and An Giang in the Mekong Delta. The Vietnamese religions have never opposed or competed with one another, but were united in a national united front, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, peacefully coexisting in the Vietnamese community, and contributing to the struggle against foreign aggression for national construction.

4. Ethnic groups

Vietnam is the homeland of many ethnic groups. According to legend, all are descendants of Lac Long Quan and Au Co, hatching out of a hundred eggs, half of them following their mother to the mountain, the other half accompanying their father to the sea. They joined hands to build the nation from "Three mountains, four seas and the land mass", with endless forests and mountains, and  delta plains stretching as far as the eye can see, and the Eastern Sea rippling its waves all the four seasons. It is a land stretching from the high peak of Lung Cu (north) to the hamlet of Rach Tau (south) and from the Truong Son Range (west) to the Truong Sa archipelago

In fact, there are 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. The Viet (Kinh) people account for 87% of the country's population and mainly inhabit the Red River delta, the central coastal delta, the Mekong delta and major cities. The other 53 ethnic minority groups, totaling over 8 million people, are scattered over mountain areas (covering two-thirds of the country's territory) spreading from the North to the South. Among ethnic minorities, the most populated are Tay, Thai, Muong, Hoa, Khmer, Nung... with a population of around 1 million each, while the least populated are Brau, Roman, and Odu with several hundred people each.

The Viet people succeeded in establishing a centralized monarchy in the 10th century. The Cham people once boasted a flourishing culture early in the history. The Tay, Nung, and Khmer peoples had reached high levels of development with the presence of various social strata. The Muong, H'mong, Dao, and Thai peoples gathered under the rule of local tribal heads. Many ethnic groups divided their population into social echelons, especially those who lived in the mountainous areas.

A number of ethnic minorities mastered  farming techniques. They grew rice plants in swamped paddy fields and carried out irrigation. Others went hunting, fishing, collecting and lived a semi-nomadic life. Each group has its own culture, diverse and special. Beliefs and religions of the Vietnamese ethnic minority groups were also disparate from each other.

However, a fundamental solidarity among ethnic groups has been established on top of these differences as a result of centuries’ long cooperation on the soil of Vietnam. In the first century of history, a mutual supplement in the economic relationship between lowland people and mountainous people was formed. This solidarity had been unceasingly strengthened during wars of resistance in defending the country. Through the shared struggle for defending and building of the country and the mutual assistance for co-existence and development, a common community between the Viet people and other ethnic minority peoples was established and continuously consolidated and developed.

Nonetheless, an evident gap in the material and moral life has indeed existed between peoples living in the deltas and those living in the mountain areas as well as among ethnic minorities themselves. The Vietnamese government has worked out specific policies and special treatment in order to help mountainous people catch up with lowland people, and made great effort to develop and preserve the traditional cultural identities of each ethnic minority group.

List of ethnic groups in Vietnam

(In the order of population size)

5.  Literature and Arts

Literature

Vietnamese literature includes two major components which have developed simultaneously and are profoundly interrelated: Folk literature and written literature.

Vietnamese folk literature came into being very early and had a profound effect on the spiritual life of the Viet. The folk literature always praised beauty, humanism, and the love of goodness, and contributed to the formation of a national sense. Legends, fairy tales, humorous stories, folk songs, epics and so on, have a tremendous vitality and have lived on until today.

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 1920’s , 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 work life.

Modern Vietnamese literature has developed from romanticism to realism, from heroism in wartime to all aspects of life, and soared into ordinary life to discover the 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), and Quoc am thi tap (Nguyen Trai). The Vietnamese had brilliant female poets such as: Ho Xuan Huong, Doan Thi Diem, and Ba Huyen Thanh Quan,  centuries ago.

In Vietnamese modern prose, there were authors who could emulate  whomever in the world, namely, Nguyen Cong Hoan, Vu Trong Phung, Ngo Tat To, Nguyen Hong, Nguyen Tuan, and Nam Cao. They were joined by excellent poets:  Xuan Dieu, Huy Can, Han Mac Tu, and Nguyen Binh. Regrettably, their great works that faithfully reflected the country and the times have yet to appear.

Arts

Vietnam has some 50 national musical 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), and dan t’rung. The set of wind instruments is represented by flutes and pan-pipes, while the set of string instruments is specified by dan bau and dan day.

The Vietnamese folksongs are rich in form and the melodies of regions across the country, ranging from ngam tho (reciting poems), hat ru (lullaby), and ho (chants) to hat quan ho, trong quan, xoan, dum, vi giam, ca Hue, and  bai choi, ly. Apart from this, there are also other forms:  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 during the Ly dynasty. At the start of the 20th century, cai luong (reformed theatre) appeared in with melodies of vong co.

The Vietnamese acoustic arts generally have symbolic, expressive and emotional features. Traditional stage performances are related closely to the audience and are 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 art of sculpture in 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, lacquer, silk-made pictures and paper-made pictures all attained high degrees of artistic development. The Vietnamese plastic arts focus on expressing innermost feelings with simplified forms using many methods for stylization and emphasis.

There have been 2014 cultural and historical relics recognized by the State and two other 2 relics, namely, the Old Capital of Hue and  Ha Long Bay, which have gained international recognition as  world heritage sites. The remaining ancient architectures are primarily 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, after contact with Western cultures, and especially after  national independence, many new categories of the  arts  ---  plays, photography, cinemas, and modern art have taken shape and developed strongly,  creating  huge achievements with the content reflecting social and revolutionary realities. Up to 1997, there have been 44 people  in the cultural and artistic fields honored with the Ho Chi Minh Award, 130 others conferred with People’s  Artist Honors, 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). There have been 28 movies, and 49 scientific and documentary films receiving international motion picture awards in many countries.

The traditional and national culture during the time of industrialization and modernization is facing many tough challenges posed by the market economy and globalization. Some cultural and artistic branches have been seeking renovation. The preservation and development of  national culture, the selection of  traditional values and the construction of the new values  have become more  important than any other time in history. The traditional cultural values should be preserved and should be also enriched by the advanced cultural values of mankind. Culture should be modernized but should not be separated from the nation. The process of cultural reform is still under way.

6. Languages

There have been many theories regarding the origin of the Vietnamese language. The most persuasive theory argues that the Vietnamese language previously belonged to the Mon-Khmer group of the Southeast Asian linguistic system; it was later transformed into the  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 found 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 Vietnamese always demonstrated its strength for self-preservation and development. The Han language was pronounced in the Vietnamese way, called the Han-Viet 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 the system of written script transcribing the Vietnamese language on the basis of the Han characters in the 13th century, with  Nom characters.

Under French domination, Han characters were gradually eliminated and replaced by French which  was used in administrative, educational and diplomatic languages. Thanks to the National language that boasts the advantages of simple figures, composition, spelling and pronunciation, the modern Vietnamese prose was actually formed and then adopted positive influencs from the Western cultural languages. The National language characters were produced by Western evangelists including Alexandre de Rhodes. They cooperated with the Vietnamese to transcribe the Vietnamese language on the basis of the Latin alphabet for use in evangelism in the 17th century. The National language characters were completed and popularized to become a significant cultural tool. In late 19th century, documents were published using  the National language characters.

After the August 1945 Revolution, the Vietnamese language and the National language characters have seized a dominating position, strongly developed and established  as a multi-functional language that has been used in every field, every educational level and has reflected the 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.

7. Holidays

Public holidays

8. Tourism

All year round, Viet Nam is a wonderful tourist destination. Ha Long Bay is recognized by UNESCO as one of the natural wonders of the world, with over 3,000 dramatic and magical islands set in pristine water. Phong Nha Cave is one of the largest and most beautiful caves in the world. Viet Nam has many cool mountain villages including Sapa and Dalat; clean and unspoiled beaches can be found the length of the country.

There are hundreds of historical and cultural sites including the Hung Temple, Co Loa, the Temple of Literature in Ha Noi, My Son Sanctuary, the ancient city of Hoi An, and the Citadel at Hue. Thousands of pagodas, temples, and churches can be found throughout the country.

Vietnamese cities and villages take pride in their architectural jewels of traditional and colonial design. Finally, it is very interesting to observe the distinctive traditions of the various ethnic groups that comprise our wonderful country.