Running head: EXPLORING VIETNAMESE CULTURE

Exploring Vietnamese Culture

Theodore, D, Heiskell
University of Kentucky

The comments on my paper were that I needed to add more information from my interviews as
well as add a conclusion paragraph. I did not really add anything new in terms of my interviews.
The reason behind this was because I used my interviews as a way to gain information for my
speech more rather than for my paper. I feel that had I put more from my interviews into this
paper it would have made it more confusing to read and it would not have tied in well. I did
however add a conclusion paragraph. I spoke about some of the differences in American culture
and Vietnamese culture and why we should strive to learn about cultures different from out own.

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Abstract

Vietnam is a country with a rich historical and cultural history. The culture of Vietnam is vastly
different than that of the United States. The cultural differences are apparent in many ways
anywhere from the types of foods eaten and the significance of foods to what family means and
how taking care of family is. This paper will give a brief overview of Vietnamese history.
However the bulk of the paper will be focused on the culture of Vietnam. In specific I will be
discussing gender roles, food and customs associated with food, religion, rituals, Vietnamese
politics, and family life.
Keywords: family life, religion, behavior, food, gender roles

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Exploring Vietnamese Culture

History
In 42 B.C. China designated the northern part of what is modern day Vietnam as its own
land. China subsequently ruled the area for the next thousand years. In the year 939 Ngo Quyen
fought the Chinese back and took control of the land. For the next thousand years Vietnam was
ruled by a number of dynasties. During this time the dynasties continued to expand south. It was
not until the last dynasty, the Nguyen Dynasty, that the name Vietnam was coined. In the year
1802 Nguyen Anh defeated the Tay Son armies; uniting both the northern and southern parts of
the country. Nguyen Anh renamed the country Vietnam (Vietnam History in Brief, Paragraph 7)
Modern day Vietnam was created from French colonization (Malarney, Paragraph 9). In 1882
France invaded Vietnam and forced the government to accept French rule. Early on in the French
colonization of Vietnam resistance fighting was heavy. This heavy resistance died down for
quite a long time, only to be picked back up again in the late 1920s. Around this time the
Vietnam Nationalist Party was formed as well as the Indochinese Communist party. During
World War Two these resistance groups gained strength and on August 19 1945 they overthrew
the Japanese administration in control of the country. Two weeks after the overthrowing of the
Japanese Ho Chi Minh declared the country the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. France
decided to try and take back Vietnam as its colony in September of 1946. In 1954 the Vietnamese
forces where able to defeat the French. Vietnam, however, was not a unified country; it was
divided into North and South Vietnam. Beginning in 1959 North Vietnam began to attempt to
forcibly unify the country. This policy of forcibly trying to reunify the country led to the
American war in Vietnam. This war was over in 1975 after North Vietnamese fighters took
control of Saigon forcing the surrender of the South Vietnamese. Three million people lost their

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lives due to this war. It is estimated that Vietnam lost two million people to the war, in
comparison the United States lost 58,000 soldiers. (Vietnam War History, Paragraph 17) In 1986
Vietnam put into practice a renovation program designed to increase foreign investment.
(Vietnam History in Brief, Paragraph 28) The United States ended its trade embargo on Vietnam
in 1994 and resumed full relations in 1995.
Gender Roles
The roles of men and of woman in Vietnam are much different than the roles men and woman
have in America. The current day roles of man and woman in Vietnam fall in line more with the
views of America during the 1930s and 1940s. The public domain or public space is more for
the men and the private domain or private space is more for the women. Tasks like cleaning,
cooking, taking care of children and going to the market are considered to be jobs for women.
(Malarney, Paragraph 38) The only thing outside the home that woman are really responsible for
is that of trading small goods. In cities woman perform jobs like waitress or secretary, they will
usually not get anything better than low level service jobs. On the other hand men are
responsible for performing most of public services like jobs and government positions. Anything
that requires being away from the home for an extended time period are considered jobs for men.
Men and women both do virtually the same thing when it comes to farming; however men tend
to do more of the physically demanding tasks. Men are also Buddhist monks as well as catholic
priests. (Malarney, Paragraph 38) On the Vietnam embassys website it says Men play the most
important roles in family and always have the final say. Women are shaped around the three
obediences, four virtues the three obediences are obedience to their fathers during childhood,
to their husband when married and to their son when widowed. The four virtues are diligence,
good manner, proper speech, and morality. (Culture and Society, Paragraph 2) legislature has

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been passed not long ago endorsing the idea of gender equality, but it is still a long way from
even being close to gender equality. These views of men and women in Vietnam are in stark
contrast to the view we have today in America. For the most part in America we have gender
equality, we have women in high-ranking government and corporate positions as well as in
religious positions. It does not come as a shock to hear about men who stay at home and take
care of what would be considered a womans job in Vietnam.
Family. The ideas of family are regarded extremely highly in Vietnamese culture. It is
not strange to find three or even four generations all living under the same roof. Marriage is
considered to be a right of passage into adulthood. Vietnamese men and women often get
married in their late teens or early twenties. Marriage in Vietnam is not arranged and being in
love is considered important in the decision to marry someone. With that said what the family
thinks is also considered highly in the decision. Once married, sons will move back into their
parents house with their new wives. The eldest son and his wife will stay in the home and the
younger sons and their wives will sometimes leave after a few years and start their own home.
The eldest man in the home has the most authority and his wifes opinion also matters a great
deal. All of the women of the house work on the household tasks, but the majority of the work
tends to be left for the younger wives. Older children will help their mothers with taking care of
their younger siblings. The majority of inheritance will go to the eldest son. The eldest son will
receive the parents home as well as the majority of the land. Younger sons will get smaller
portions of land and sometimes gold. Daughters will usually get something little so that everyone
gets something from their parents and friction is not caused in the family. If there is no will in
place then the Vietnamese law states that everything will be divided up equally amongst the next
of kin. (Malarney, Paragraph 43)

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Religion. In Vietnam, originally, there where three main religions in Vietnam; Taoism,
Mahayana Buddhism, and Confucianism. Today the government of Vietnam recognizes these six
different religious beliefs, Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Taoism, Cao Dai, and Hoa Hoa. The
last two religions Cao Dai and Hoa Hoa are both indigenous religious beliefs. The majority of
people in modern day Vietnam adhere to Buddhist ideals. Seventy percent of the population says
that they are Buddhist. The Vietnamese constitution allows for religious freedom. With that said
the government will sometimes suppress religions if they believe that they are detrimental to the
countries safety and well-being. (Religion/Philosophy in Vietnam, Paragraph 3) When
Catholicism was first introduced to the country many Buddhist monks protested the religion.
They were not very successful in their attempts to suppress Catholicism. Catholicism now has
the second largest following in Southeast Asia. (Religion/Philosophy in Vietnam, Paragraph 4)
Each religion has its own set of practitioners that are often consulted on matters such as curing
illness or removing misfortune from a person or family. Buddhism has monks and nuns;
Catholicism has priests, Cao Dai and Hoa Hoa priests. In addition to these main religious figures
the country also has astrologers and diviners. Many Vietnamese people consult astrologers and
diviners before traveling or starting other ventures. (Malarney, Paragraph 52) Nearly all
Vietnamese, regardless of religion, believe in the worship of spirits, with the most important
spirits that of their ancestors. (Malarney, Paragraph 51) The majority of families in Vietnam have
altars in their house that pays homage to the deceased family member. Some of the Vietnamese
population believes that spirits can bring good and bad fortune among you and your family. This
belief is more common amongst the Vietnamese women than it is amongst the men.
Rituals. A large part of the culture of Vietnam has to do with the abundant amount of
rituals that they practice. The largest and most important of which is the celebration of the Lunar

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New Year. The Lunar New Year festival usually falls between the months of January and
February. It is celebrated for the first three days of the new lunar calendar. One of the reasons
for this festival is so that thanks and praise can be given to family ancestors. This praise to
ancestors takes place in a variety of places, from Buddhist monasteries to Family alters. This is
also a time to give thanks for the arrival of spring. All of the best cuisines are prepared for this
celebration. (Vietnam Lunar New Year Festival, Paragraph 2)

Lunar New Year Festival in Vietnam. (Photo from vietnamonline.com)

Politics. Vietnam is a socialist republic with a government that includes an elected
legislature, the national assembly, a president as head of state, and a prime minister as head of
government. (Malarney, Paragraph 28) The majority of the power in Vietnam lies with the
Vietnamese Communist Party. The communist party members are in almost every executive
position in the government. The communist party wants its members to try and mimic the ideas
and behavior of Ho Chi Minh. They consider Ho Chi Minh to be an example of a great leader

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because he put the needs of the country over his wishes, he also lived a simple life and he
avoided corruption. Living up to these expectations is rather difficult for local government
officials. Often times the community and family of these government officials try and get them
to use their power to directly benefit the community or themselves. Balancing this pressure from
the community and ones family and the ideas of the party is no easy task. The Vietnamese people
used to be required to address government officials with a bow, however now days terms such as
older brother or grandfather are acceptable. Beginning in the 90s religious demonstrations
by the Catholic, Cao Dai, and Hao Hao against the government have begun to crop up. These
demonstrations have typically been in South Vietnam. Government corruption in rural areas has
also caused some disturbances in rural areas of Vietnam. (Malarney, Paragraph 28)
Food. In Vietnam the food you eat, like in most countries, is a way to show your level of
wealth. Rice is in most every meal in Vietnam because it is inexpensive and it is also one of the
main crops produced in the country. Each person at a meal typically has a bowl of rice and they
sit around a table with trays and other bowls of food on them. Each person will take food from
the bowls and add it to their bowls of rice. You are always offered beer or rice liquor for a meal.
Tea is served in small cups whenever a family is hosting a guest or guests. (Malarney, Paragraph
18) Noodles are served after the initial meal in order to help fill you up. Typically meals are
eaten on the floor or on a large family bead. (Vietnam-culture.com, Paragraph 8) Some of the
more common dishes are Bahn Khuc, Fish Sauce, Bun Vietnam, Beef Noodle Soup, and
Cuttlefish Steamed with Ginger. (vietname-culture.com, Vietnamese Food) In the larger cities
there are restaurants that serve different international dishes as well as traditional Vietnamese
food. In the cities there are also street side stands and stalls that serve food. The majority of
foods that people eat outside of the home are bought from these street side stalls. Food is also an

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important part of ceremonies. Feasts are held after weddings and funerals. Feasts in general are
important because they help people maintain good social relations, either through the
reciprocation of previous feast invitations or the joint consumption of food. (Malarney,
Paragraph 20) Some of the dishes served at feasts are pork chicken and vegetables served with
rice. The celebration of a death anniversary and the Lunar New Year has a couple of dishes that
are prepared specially for it. One of those dishes is called the Banh Trung it consists of a square
of glutinous rice, pork and mung bean cake. (Malarney, Paragraph 20)

Bahn Trung (Photo taken from enbac.com)

The feasts that are served for these occasions are usally smaller than those of weddings. They
also usually only consist of close friends and family. I asked my roommate what food he likes
better; American or Vietnamese food, and he said Vietnamese food was way better. He told me
that the rice in Vietnam is considered the best in the world due to the soil and the perfect climate.
Conclusion. Vietnam has a culture that is much different from the United States. The roles of
men and women in Vietnam are much different than what they are in America. The modern day
roles of Vietnam are more similar to the roles men and women had prior to the 1950s in the

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United States. The values placed on family are much greater in Vietnam than they are in
America. This is evident through how different generations of a family will live under one roof
and all take care of each other. In America it is rather uncommon to see more than your
immediate family living under the same roof. Politics in Vietnam are vastly different than that of
the United States. There is less political competition in Vietnam then there is in America. In
America there are many different political parties. The values placed on food are also different
than in America. The Vietnamese culture is a lively culture that is worth understanding. By
understanding this culture we can help to debunk stereotypes. Learning about other cultures is a
way to better educate yourself and others around you. If you have a general knowledge of
another culture then you will be better equipped to form an opinion on the actions of people from
that culture.

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References

Malarney, Shawn, K (2014) Vietnam. Retrieved from

www.everyculture.com
Religion/Philosophy in Vietnam (2010) retrieved from
http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/vietnam/pro-religion.htm
Culinary Matters in Vietnam (2014) retrieved from
http://www.vietnam-culture.com/culinary-matters-in-vietnam.aspx
Traditional Festivals (2014) retrieved from
http://www.vietnam-culture.com/zones-13-1/Traditional-Festivals.aspx
Vietnam History in Brief (2014) retrieved from
http://www.vietnam-culture.com/articles-142-25/Vietnam-History-in-Brief.aspx
Culture and Society (?) retrieved from
http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/vietnam/culture
Vietnam War History (2014) retrieved from
http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history#
Vietnam Lunar New Year Festival (2006) retrieved from
http://www.holidaysvietnam.com/travel-guide/vietnam-lunar-new-year-festival.html
[Untitled illustration of Lunar New Year] Retrieved October 30, 2014 from
http://www.vietnamonline.com/az/lunar-new-year-tet.html
[Untitled illustration of Bahn Trung] Retrieved October 31, 2014 from
http://enbac.com/Ho-Chi-Minh/Noel-Tet-8-3-Trung-thu/p904526/Banh-chung-tet-mua-banhchung-ban-banh-chung-nhan-dat-lam-banh-chung.html

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