Society and Culture

Social and Cultural Continuity and Change Research Task: Vietnam

Background to Vietnam:
Vietnam is located in South-eastern Asia, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia. It
has a population of 84,402,9661 and is the most densely populated nation in South
East Asia. Its population growth rate is 1.02%2 and life expectancy for the total
population is 70.85 years3. Vietnams two most common religions are Buddhism and
Catholicism. Its official name is the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and is a communist
state government. Vietnams current GDP growth rate is 7.8%4.

Vietnam and the Fundamental Concepts:

Society: Refers to the way people organise themselves; including groups, institutions
and systems that people use to link themselves with others. In Vietnam society is
based around the family and respect for elders. Society also places importance on
commonality of ancestry, creating a network of respect; politeness and saving face.
Vietnam is a very close and connecting society. Education also plays a key role and
teachers respected greatly. Respect in traditional networks maintains order in Vietnam
society. Elders held at highest respect, because they delivered independence to
Vietnam and this has also allowed them to remain in power and authority.

Culture: Refers to the values, arts, technology, laws and beliefs that bind a society
together. This shared knowledge allows its members to gain meaning from such
aspects. Culture in Vietnam reflects both its history and geography. Its neighbouring
country China has ensured development of ideas such as Confucianism and traditions
such as Tet. As for history, French and American influence can be seen throughout
Vietnam, from foods to language.

Persons: Refers to the individuals who are shaped by their society and how they
communicate and interact with other persons. Persons in Vietnam place themselves in
the service of the state for common good. Individualism does not exist; the country is
always placed before the individual. This can be seen in the example of Vietnamese
coming together for guerrilla wars against France and America.

Environment: Can refer to the physical setting of a society but also the psychological
environment. The environment in Vietnam is the tropical monsoon belt. Devastation
caused by war is another factor of the environment. Bombs were dropped and because
of the dense Vietnamese jungle, American soldiers had to clear as much vegetation as
possible- some land remains to toxic to live on.

Time: Measured in past, present and future and an indicator of continuity and change.
Time in Vietnam must be considered by the influence set upon the country- national
identity caused by war and changes to Vietnam as they enter an era of globalisation.

1
Est. July 2006 https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/vm.html
2
ibid
3
ibid
4
ibid

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Research- Continuity and Change of Family Life and Population in Vietnam:

Family is the basic unit of Vietnamese society. Vietnamese culture is based on four
fundamental values: allegiance to the family; development of a good name; love of
learning and respect for other people. Out of theses, allegiance to the family is seen as
the most important principle. Family structure has been influenced by Vietnamese
history. It has been influenced by Chinese, French and American culture as well as
religions such as Confucianism, Buddhism, Catholicism and Taoism. The family can
not be understood without taking into context the culture, nation and country of
Vietnam. These influences have also impacted some change into family structures.

Traditional roles and structure of the Vietnamese family focus around the strong
allegiance to the family. Collective identity is one of the basic foundations that exist
within the family structure. It means that individuals interests and destiny are
conceived in the framework of the family, both immediate and extended. Children are
taught not to develop individuality and considerations of the family are always put
before the individual.

This is reinforced by filial piety of concept considered to be the most essential virtue
in Vietnamese society. Family is the foremost institution of the education of children.
Filial piety teaches them to forgo their interests for those of the family. They must be
thankful to their parents for giving birth to them, upbringing them and for education.
They are taught to make sacrifices for their family and to love and care for their
parents into their old age. An individual who disregards this responsibility is shunned
from the community and their family. Also entwined with these ideas is the value of
respect for elders.

The structure of the Vietnamese family is more complicated then western family
structure. There is a clear difference between immediate and extended families in
Vietnam. Immediate means not just the mother, father and children but also the
husbands parents and the sons wives and children. Extended family includes
relatives who share the family name and the ancestors who live in the same
community. Another complex factor in the family is the role and position of each
member. Forms of address are also complex. For example, sons are referred to by
their both position, the first son holds the most power. But this can be slightly
different depending on which region the family is from- forms of address in the North
are different to those of the South. Respect is established to the head of the family and
advice is sought form older members of the family. Grandparents hold a lot of power
due to their age, wisdom and status. And for siblings, the eldest son is considered the
most important.

As for family relationships, Vietnamese family remains a patriarchal foundation.

Women are subservient to men and have to obey three men in their life- their father,
their husband and their eldest son. Although, from events in Vietnamese history has
earned them well regard for their endurance and sacrifice. The parent and child
relationship is very important. The family is the key socialising agent. Talking back or
disobeying their parents is unacceptable. Children are to care for their parents during
their old age ad take on the responsibility of carrying on their obligation to ancestor
worship and maintenance of ancestral tombs. Relations between siblings are
determined by gender and birth position and ties with extended family are very close.

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This traditional family structure is continued to maintain its importance and position,
but through out Vietnamese history, some change has been impacted into the family
life of Vietnam. And to help understand these changes, it is best to look at the
historical periods that influenced Vietnam. Two main periods of civilisation are
Agricultural and Industrial/Post-industrial which family life developed and also five
main historical periods: family before French rule, the family under French rule, the
family during the Vietnam War, the family during social reform and the family during
Doi Moi.

During the agricultural period, the traditional family structure was in high dominance
and significance. However, during the Industrial and post- industrial is when some
change was being implemented.

The development of urbanisation through the introduction of Doi Moi (a series of

reforms aimed at economic renovation) has seen the Vietnamese society been
influenced by industrialisation, westernisation, modernisation, individualism and
capitalism. And such factors have had an impact on the family structure.

Curing this period, marriages under went some modifications. While it is still
regarded as important in Vietnamese society, young people now have the choice to
decide on who their marriage partner will be. And the introduction of capitalism has
seen a rise in the standards of living and spending on Vietnamese weddings, a factor
in the face value. Urbanisation has also seen a rise in the divorce rate, which results
in conflicts within the family. And there has also been a rise in the amount of newly
wed couples who decide to live separately from the family. Capitalism has also
changed perceptions of many young couples. Polls have indicated that home
appliances are the most important factor in family happiness. And in urban areas, the
youth are now waiting longer before getting married and are more likely to have
intercourse before marriage. However, despite, these modifications, the patriarchal
nature of marriage remains.

Urban migration has lead to the change within the family structure. It has lead to the
break up of families in rural areas as the youth move to the city; this also causes a
strain on the parent-child relationship and traditional family roles and values.
Capitalism also has resulted in the break up of families, as rural families send the
children to the city to find more work to help the family income. This causes young
people living in the city to band together to form surrogate families and acting out the
traditional role of the family.

Doi Moi has opened opportunities for women and this has resulted in the conflict with
the traditional role as men still believe that they are superior to women and that the
womens ole is to serve.

There has been many changes within Vietnamese population, sue to such urbanisation
changes and influences. There has been a dramatic rise in urban population,
increasing by 1.2 million people5. The Vietnamese government, to reduce the birth
rate hasnt been too successful; it still has a rate of 17%6. Women still outnumber men

5
2001 est.
6
Ibid.

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in Vietnam, the legacy of warfare still having effects on the population. And the
number of families with three children has been increasing.

Bibliography:

Websites:
http://www.ausaid.gov.au/country/country.cfm?CountryID=33&Region=EastAsia

http://hsc.csu.edu.au/society_culture/change/focus_studies/2501/CCVietnamfamily.ht
ml

http://www.ptc.nsw.edu.au/scansw/continuity.html

Books:
Heinemann: Society and Culture

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