Culture of Vietnam

The culture of Vietnam is one of the oldest of such in the Asia-Pacific region, consisting of several traditions and customs. Although Vietnam lies geographically in Southeast Asia, its traditions and the origins of its people are of East Asian descent.

1 The country
2 Society
3 In the past
4 In modern times
- 4.1 Cuisine
- 4.2 Clothing
5 Religion
6 Holidays or other Important Days
7 Media
8 See also

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The country

Vietnam's 2003 population was 83,666,356, and it has a population density of 987 persons per sq km (665 per sq mi). Most people live in or near the densely populated Red or Mekong deltas.

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Society

Rural

About 74% of Vietnamese currently live in rural areas, and although many are being influenced by the process of Westernization, traditional rural customs and traditions still play a vital role in shaping the culture of Vietnam.If you calculate 83,535,576 it will equal to 66,828,460 people in rural areas and 16,707,115 people in urban areas.

Organization

In terms of societal levels of organization, the two most important units are làng (village) and nước (country). Vietnamese people usually say that "làng goes hand in hand with nước". Intermediate organizational units like the huyện (district) and tỉnh (province) are not as important.

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In the past

Kinship

In rural Vietnam, kinship plays an important role. If it can be said that Western cultures value individualism, then it can also be said that Eastern cultures value the roles of family and clan. Comparing with Eastern cultures, Chinese culture values family over clan while Vietnamese culture values clan over family. Each clan has a patriarch, clan altar, and death commemorations attended by the whole clan.

Most inhabitants are related by blood. That fact is still seen in village names such as Đặng Xá (place for the Đặng clan), Châu Xá, Lê Xá, etc. In the Western highlands the tradition of many families in a clan residing in a longhouse is still popular. In the majority of rural Vietnam today one can still see 3 or 4 generations living under one roof.

Because kinship has an important role in society, there is a complex hierarchy of relationships. In Vietnamese society there are 9 distinct generations.

Virtually all commemorations and celebrations within a clan follow the principles of these nine generations. Young persons might have a higher position in the hierarchy than an older person and still must be respected as an elder.

Geographical
Occupational
Patriarchal
Administrative

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In modern times

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Cuisine

(See Cuisine of Vietnam for the full article.)

Vietnamese cuisine is based on rice, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Its characteristic flavor is sweet (sugar), spicy (Serrano peppers), and flavored by a variety of mints.

Vietnam also has a variety of noodles. Different regions invented different types of noodles, varying in shapes, tastes, colours, etc. One of the nation's most famous type of noodles is Pho (pronounced phuh), which consists of rice noodles and beef soup (sometimes chicken soup). This cuisine originated from North Vietnam.

Vietnam's middle region is also famous with many delicious cuisines which possess very distinct tastes.

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Clothing

Vietnamese clothing is very diverse. Every ethnic group in Vietnam has its own style of clothing. Festivals are the occasion for all to wear their favorite clothes. Among the ethnic Vietnamese majority, northern peasants traditionally wear brown shirts and white trousers. In the south, peasants tend to wear all black pajama-like clothes. Their headgear is a plain piece of cloth wrapped around the head and their footwear is just a pair of sandals. For formal occasions men would wear two additional items, a long gown with slits on either side, and a turban, usually in black or brown made of cotton or silk. In feudal times, there were strict dress codes. Ordinary people were not allowed to wear clothes with dyes other than black, brown or white. Monarchs had the exclusive right to wear the colour gold, nobles wore red or purple. In daily life, the traditional Vietnamese styles are now replaced by Western styles. Traditional clothing or costume is worn instead on special occasions. Women may not wear skirts and shorts are rarely worn by either gender.

Vietnamese national dress is "Áo Dài" which is usually worn by women. Men wear Áo Dài on special occasions such as weddings, funerals, etc. This piece of clothing is similar to Chinese Cheongsam (qipao). It is elegant in style and comfortable to wear. This national dress is made compulsory in many senior high schools in Vietnam. Female teachers wear Áo Dài every time they give lectures. Some female office workers (e.g. receptionists, secretaries, tour guides) also wear Áo Dài. Owing to its popularity, the dress has become a national symbol, representing cultural values of Vietnam.

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Religion

The principal religion in Vietnam is the so-called Tam Giáo ("triple religion"), characterizing the East Asian intricate mixture between Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. The Hoa Hao community appears to operate as a significantly smaller and independent, marginal sect of Vietnamese Buddhism; and Cao Dai, which was once a syncretist cult, is now a full-fledged religion with a complex hierarchical system of fellowship.

Significant Christian minorities of about 8% consists mainly of Roman Catholics, but with a noticeable minority of new Protestant groups. The likely largest Protestant churches are the Evangelical Church of Vietnam and the Montagnard Evangelical Church.

A syncretic blend of Sunni Islam and the localized Bashi Islam is practiced mainly by the ethnic Cham minority, but there are also a few ethnic Vietnamese adherants to Islam in the southwest.

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Holidays or other Important Days

**Public Holidays**
Date	English Name	Local Name	Remarks
January 1	New Year's	Tết dương lịch
Between late January - late February	Tết (Chinese New Year)	Tết Nguyên Đán	Largest holiday of the year, officially first three days of lunar calendar, but celebrations are held for the week before and after those three days
April 30	Liberation Day	Ngày giải phóng	Liberation of Saigon and reunification in 1975
May 1	Labour Day	Ngày Quốc tế Lao động
September 2	National Day	Quốc khánh	Ho Chi Minh's speech in 1945

**Other holidays**
Date	English name	Local name
March 8	International Women's Day	Quốc tế Phụ nữ
November 20	Teacher's Day	Ngày Nhà giáo Việt Nam
December 25	Christmas	Giáng sinh/Nôen
15/1 (lunar)	Full moon of the 1st month	Rằm tháng giêng
15/4 (lunar)	Buddha's Birthday	Lễ Phật đản
5/5 (lunar)	Midyear Festival	Tết Đoan ngọ
15/7 (lunar)	Full moon of the 7th month	Rằm tháng bảy
15/8 (lunar)	Mid-Autumn Festival	Tết Trung thu
23/12 (lunar)	Kitchen guardians	Ông Táo chầu trời

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Media

Vietnam's telecommunication sector lags far behind other countries in Southeast Asia, Hanoi has made considerable progress since 1991 in upgrading the system.

All provincial switch boards have been digitized, and fiber-optic and microwave transmission systems have been extended from Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City to all provinces. The density of telephone devices doubled nationwide from 1993 to 1995, but is still far behind other countries in the region.

Vietnam has two Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) satellites. As of 1999 there are 65 MW (AM), 29 SW (shortwave) and 7 FM radio stations operating in the country. There are 8.2 million radio receivers (1997 est).

The number of television broadcast stations are at least 10 (plus 13 repeaters) (1998). There are 7 ISPs (internet service provider) (2003).

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Culture of Vietnam

Contents

The country

Society

In the past

In modern times

Cuisine

Clothing

Religion

Holidays or other Important Days

Media

See also

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