Vietnam’s Culture

Influences that have shaped the way we think and behave

A brief overview of the building blocks of Vietnam's cultural heritage

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 colonialists 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 originated new forms of cultural expression, such as painting and prose, established a European-style theatrical tradition, transferred a different style of architecture and introduced European cuisine.

However, by their brutal suppression of the Vietnamese people, the colonialists also created the social conditions that led to the rise of communism and insurrection early in 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 country'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
By the early 1980's it had become glaringly obvious that the USSR model of centralisation and collectivisation had brought Vietnam to the brink of economic collapse and pariah status among the international community.

In 1986, the Communist Party Congress introduced ‘doi moi’- a programme of national renewal involving opening up the country to the outside world and embracing the concept of a market economy.

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 expected.

However, Vietnam's Confucian traditions have helped to insulate the country 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 completely unrecognisable to their elders.