Vietnam’s
Culture
Influences
that have shaped the way we think and behave
The Chinese legacy
The roots of Vietnam’s culture are firmly bedded in a thousand
years of Chinese domination, but other influences have helped
to shape Vietnam’s intellectual achievements and way of
life. The early Dong Son people, the original Viet people,
brought sophisticated mining, smelting and casting skill
from their Mongolian origins and left a legacy of magnificent
bronze statues and drums. The Champa Kingdom also left its
mark in the form of ornately carved sculptures decorating
their mysterious brick towers.
However, the impact of other races and nations
is dwarfed by that of China. The Confucian code and Buddhism
introduced during their occupation of the country have dominated
Vietnamese life for two millennia, and will doubtless continue
to do so for centuries to come.
Putting aside the differing cultures of
Vietnam’s many smaller ethnic groups, most of which have
migrated into Vietnam comparatively recently, the post-Chinese
development of the culture of the majority ‘Kinh’ people
that constitute 85% of the population can be divided into
four phases. They are the long period of dynastic rule,
the French occupation, the years between 1945 and 1986,
and the post ‘doi moi’ period.
The Dynasties
The years of the Imperial Dynasties that ruled Vietnam from
the 10th to the 19th century were marked by wars and feuds
with neighbouring countries as the country expanded to the
south and consolidated its territory. Culturally, there
was little change under the Confucian administrative structures
inherited from the Chinese. The conservative nature of Confucianism
limited technological and cultural progress, making the
country highly vulnerable to the advanced military power
of the French.
French domination
The French brought European-style administration, Christianity
in the form of Catholicism, and implemented the written
version of Vietnamese that had been ignored by the Vietnamese
since its creation by a Jesuit monk in the 17th century.
They introduced new forms of cultural expression, such as
painting and prose, established a European-style theatrical
tradition, brought in a different style of architecture
and European cuisine, and created the social conditions
that led to the rise of communism in Vietnam during the
twentieth century.
The USSR model
Ho Chi Minh’s declaration of independence in 1945 ushered
in a new era of social realism in which the purpose of culture
and all forms of artistic expression was to further the
county’s revolutionary aspirations. Many traditional and
French-influenced artistic genres were suppressed. The influence
of the USSR was considerable during this period. Russian
became the second language, large numbers of Vietnamese
people went to the Soviet countries to study, and new administrative
systems, economic structures, planning models and mass movements
based on examples in the Soviet Union were introduced.
New directions
The advent of ‘doi moi’ following the failure of centralisation
and collectivisation paved the way for opening up the country
to the outside world and re-entering the international community
after a long period of isolation. Since then, the reins
have been loosened, and several traditional and new forms
of cultural expression are beginning to flourish. Tourism,
television and the Internet have hastened the rate of change,
but the brake of Confucianism has meant that economic and
cultural development has been slower than might have been
expected. However, it has also helped to insulate Vietnam
from some of the more pernicious features of globalisation.
Nevertheless, change is moving ahead relentlessly,
and the culture of Vietnam is being reborn in a different
guise. Vietnam’s large proportion of young people will mature
into a social and cultural milieu that will be completely
unrecognisable to their elders.
