Culture of Vietnam
The culture of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Văn hoá Việt Nam, chữ Hán: 文化越南) are the customs and traditions of the Kinh people and the other ethnic groups of Vietnam. Vietnam is part of Southeast Asia and the Sinosphere due to the influence of Chinese culture on Vietnamese culture.[1]
Ancient Vietnamese cultural artifacts, such as Dong Son drums were found spread throughout Southeast Asia and South China, suggesting a spread of ancient Viet (Yue) culture all the way south to Indonesia.[2][3] Vietnamese culture was heavily influenced by Chinese culture due to the "1000 years of Northern Rule" (111 BCE – 939 CE). From this period until the 19th century, Classical Chinese (Hán văn) was the language used for formal writing. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, popular literature and folk songs were written in the Vietnamese language using a Vietnamese script (chữ Nôm) derived from Chinese characters (chữ Hán).[4][5]
Following independence from China in the 10th century, Vietnam began a southward expansion and annexed territories formerly belonging to Champa and Khmer, resulting in various influences on the Vietnamese. During the French colonial period, Catholicism, and a Latin script romanizing the Vietnamese language, the Vietnamese alphabet (Vietnamese: chữ Quốc Ngữ, lit. 'National Language Script'), were introduced in Vietnam.[6]
Some elements considered to be characteristic of Vietnamese culture include ancestor veneration, respect for community and family, and living in harmony with nature.[7]
Besides folk religion, religion in Vietnam has historically been a mix of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, known in Vietnamese as the Tam Giáo ("the three religions").[20] Recently, scholars have provided empirical evidence on the existence of the socio-cultural phenomenon called "cultural additivity" in Vietnamese history and society.[21] Some elements considered to be unique of Vietnamese culture include ancestor veneration and respect for community and family.[22]
Catholicism is also practiced in modern Vietnam.[23]
The three folk practices that are considered to be important or common amongst Vietnamese people may include:[24]
A Kinh Vietnamese woman with blackened teeth.
In feudal Vietnam, clothing was one of the most important marks of social status and strict dress codes were enforced. After the Ming conquest of Vietnam, Ming-style clothing was imposed by a Ming official within a month. Due to the previous centuries of conflict between China and Vietnam, Ming administrators said that their mission was to attempt to "civilize" the unorthodox Vietnamese "barbarians",[28] which ironically reduced the amount of Taoist institutions in the process.
Prior to the Nguyễn dynasty, people not of noble birth could dress quite liberally with only few restrictions on styles. For example, wearing yellow color in the Lý dynasty was tolerable since the Imperial clan wore red and white color. However, things changed at the beginning of the Nguyễn dynasty. Commoners now had a limited choice of similarly plain and simple clothes for everyday use, as well as being limited in the colors they were allowed to use. For instance, commoners were not allowed to wear clothes with dyes other than black, brown or white (with the exception of special occasions such as festivals), but in actuality these rules could change often based upon the whims of the current ruler.
The áo tràng vạt was a traditional cross-collared robe worn by Vietnamese before the 19th century. During the Nguyễn dynasty, it was replaced by the áo ngũ thân and became obsolete.[29][30]
The áo tứ thân or "four-part dress" is one such example of an ancient dress widely worn by commoner women, along with the áo yếm bodice which accompanied it. Peasants across the country also gradually came to wear silk pajama-like costumes, known as "áo cánh" in the north and áo bà ba in the south.
The headgear differed from time to time. People of the Nguyễn dynasty often put on a plain piece of cloth wrapped around the head (generally called Khăn vấn), men in the Lê dynasty often wore a hat called Đinh Tự, while in Trần dynasty and Lý dynasty leaving the head bare was more common. Beside the popular nón lá, a vast array of other hats and caps were available, constructed from numerous different types of materials, ranging from silk to bamboo and horse hair. Even the nón lá (conical hat) came in several different shapes and sizes, now only two styles still persist. For footwear peasants would often go barefoot, whereas sandals and shoes were reserved for the aristocracy and royalty.
Nguyễn emperors had the exclusive right to wear the color gold, while nobles wore red or purple. In the past the situation was different, Đinh dynasty and Lý dynasty rulers wore red, and Trần dynasty emperors wore white. Each member of the royal court had an assortment of different formal gowns they would wear at a particular ceremony, or for a particular occasion. The rules governing the fashion of the royal court could change dynasty by dynasty, thus costumes of the Vietnamese court were quite diverse. However, certain fundamental concepts applied.
The most popular and widely recognized Vietnamese national costume is the áo dài. Áo dài is worn by both genders but today it is worn mainly by women, except for certain important traditional culture-related occasions where some men do wear it. Áo dài consists of a long gown with a slit on both sides, worn over cotton or silk trousers. Adoption and enforcement of Áo ngũ thân (the predecessor of the áo dài) took place in the mid 18th century by the rulers of Đàng Trong. They decided that their garments had to be distinctive to set themselves apart from the people of Đàng Ngoài where áo tràng vạt and nhu quần were worn. White áo dài is the required uniform for girls in many high schools across Vietnam. In some types of offices (e.g. receptionists, secretaries, tour guides), women are also required to wear áo dài.
In daily life, the traditional Vietnamese styles are now replaced by Western styles. Traditional clothing is worn instead on special occasions, with the exception of the white áo dài commonly seen with high school girls in Vietnam.
Vietnamese martial arts are highly developed from the country's long history of warfare and attempts to defend itself from foreign occupation. Although most heavily influenced by Chinese martial arts, they have developed their own characteristics throughout the millennia in combination with other influences from their neighbours. Vietnamese martial arts are deeply spiritual due to the influence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and are strongly reliant on the "Việt Võ Đạo" (philosophy of Vietnamese martial arts).
The general Vietnamese term for martial arts is "Võ Thuật". Some of the more popular include:
Vietnamese martial arts remain relatively unknown in the world today when compared to their counterparts from China, Japan, Korea or Thailand. However, this is seeing a definite change as schools teaching various styles of Vietnamese martial arts are starting to pop up all over the world, notably in countries such as Spain.