culture

Red river delta (Đồng bằng sông Hồng)

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Contrary to the Mekong Delta, the Red River Delta contains many historical vestiges. It is the cradle of the Vietnamese nation. Found here, near Thanh Hoá in the Mã River valley is the presence of an civilization in the millenium before Christ at the Bronze Age called Dongsonian Age. Also started with the Bronze Age, the mystical periods of Vietnam’s history. The first legendary dynasty, that of Hồng Bàng, would have reigned until 3rd century B.C. From this delta has begun at the beginning of10th century the Nam Tiến Movement (or the Descent toward the South) started by General Lê Hoàn and finished in 18th century by the kings Nguyễn.

To dominate and control its water and its vagaries, the Vietnamese people had to build and consolidate dikes ceaselessly. These dikes existed for a thousand years and broke sixteen times during the past twenty-five years. It is because of the Red river that the Vietnamese people has been haunted with the domination and control of water. Since the beginning of our era, the Vietnamese people have been compelled to organize, perform, and maintain water amnagement works. This has brought to the Vietnamese the virtue of being more patient, more obstinate, keener, hard working and methodical in dike construction, canal digging, embankment building and breach filling. In this delta is found a sophisticated network of drainage canals and high dikes that only a centralized state on water control such as Vietnam knows how to realize.

It is itself that witnessed several decisive battles of the Vietnamese people against their invaders. It is thanks to its complicity that General Trần Hưng Ðạo defeated the Mongol army by planting on its bed pikes that broke the Mongol ships in 1288 at the mouth of the Bạch Ðằng river, renewing the tactics used by General Ngô Quyền against the Chinese in 938 (a victory that put an end to the thousand-year Chinese domination ). It is also witness of the Yên Bái uprising led by nationalist leader Nguyễn Thái Học in 1930. Its destiny is that of the Vietnamese people. It is it that gives the capital of Vietnam the last name Hànội (Hà means river, Nội means inside, interior).

Hà-Nội means « On this side of the river ». This city was founded by king Lý Thái Tổ (Lý Công Uẩn) in year 1010 at the neighborhood of Ðại La that geomancers believed to be favorably sheltered from the waters of the Red river. It is also called Thăng Long (City of Ascending Dragon) because, in his dream, Lý Thái Tổ saw a golden dragon flying from that locality.

Vietnam’s history is linked closely with this Red River (or Sông Hồng ). It is itself that forged the Viet soul. It is itself that has petrified the thick identity of the Vietnamese people. At the same time, It is the enemy, the friend and the actor of the Vietnamese people.

It is it that saw Hanoï  growing with its thirty-six business streets and lakes. Writer Thạch Lam of the « Tự Lực Văn Ðoàn » writing club talked about It in his novel « Hà Nội 36 phố phường« . It is it that gave birth to the French construction of the Paul Doumer (now Cầu Long Biên) bridge 1680 meters (approx. one mile ) long at Hà Nôi.

Thanks to its silt rich in iron, and with its irrigation, the delta is so fertile that it is possible to have one more harvest in November. It is it that shapes the landscape of the delta. Every day are seen women leaning under their conical hats, feet and hands in the clay, children coming from school surveying the dikes, motionless buffaloes in their mud baths under a sun that is sometimes overwhelming. It is it that often floods the plain of Hoa Lư, the old capital of Vietnam until 11th century.

The Red River is the second largest river of Vietnam after Mekong. It descends from Yunnan, a mountainous region south of China. It is known as the « six-head river » that enters Vietnam definitively at Lao Cai. It curves on more than 1000km ( over 600 miles ) before dying in the somptuous bay of Hạ Long. This one is the eighth wonder of the world. It counts more than three thousand isles, islets, and reefs. One finds rocks of varied forms. Some are tiny, others are of important dimmension bearing picturesque names such as isle of the Wonder, isle of the Surprise, the Marionettes, the Monkeys, the Toad etc…

The Ha Long bay has become for the past few years the site most visited by foreign tourists when they landed in Vietnam. Mini-cruises by junk make it possible to visit it. It is in this bay, according to the legend, that a dragon would have descended to tame the sea currents. That is why the Vietnamese called it Hạ Long (or the site of the Descending Dragon).

Impressed by the splendor and beauty of this bay that he visited by junk in 1468, king Lê Thánh Tôn left some unforgettable verses in witness of his emotion:

Muôn ngọn núi nổi trên như biển ngọc
La liệt như những sao sa, những quần cờ, chênh vênh màu xanh biếc …

High summits are drawn up as a crowd in the sea like many jewels
Bluish tops are dispersed like the falling stars and the pieces in the chessboard of waves.
Fish and salt, abundant like sand, offer a rapid gain to people

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Capital Hanoï (Vietnam)

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Thăng Long muôn thưở 

As indicated by its name Hà Nội means « The city on this side of the river » (Hà means river, Nội means inside). Contrary to other cities in Vietnam, Hanoï has a long agitated history. Its destiny is that of the Vietnamese people. It experienced a long period of disgrace when Nguyễn Ánh arrived at founding the Nguyen dynasty in 1802 after 20 years of fighting the Tây Sơn and decided to transfer the capital to Huế (or Phú Xuân). It witnessed several decisive battles in the reclaim of independence, in particular the Đống Đa battle run by Emperor Quang Trung in 1789. Thanks to the blitzkrieg upon Chinese troops of Qing, and to Quang Trung’s scheme to choose the date of the Vietnamese new year to surprise the Chinese enemy, Hanoï was thus liberated as well as Vietnam. It was also chosen by Hồ Chí Minh to proclaim Vietnam’s independence on September 2, 1945 at Ba Đình Square.

It was also on one of its lakes under the name of Hồ Gươm where Lê Lợi, future king Lê Thái Tổ, after his victory over the Ming, according to a Vietnamese legend, returned his magic sword to a golden tortoise which gave him this sword during a walk. Thanks to this sword, Lê Lợi succeeded in chasing Chinese troops of Ming out of Viet Nam after 10 years of fighting a guerilla warfare. That is why the lake is known as « Lake of Returned Sword » (or Hồ Hoàn Kiếm).

It was also at Hanoï that the unique one-pillar pagoda (Chùa Một Cột) was erected in 1049 by king Lý Thái Tông on a strong wooden pillar in the style of ancient temples of ancestors. According to legend, the king afflicted by not having a descendant, saw in his dream Quan Âm, the Goddess of Compassion. Sitting on a lotus flower, she gave him a son. Shortly after that, a young country girl that he made favorite, gave him an heir. In witness of his gratitude, he had this pagoda erected in the middle of a pond of lotus flowers.

Because of its proximity to the Red river, every year Hà Nội is victim of floodings caused by the cresting of this river and by violent monsoon rain and typhoons.

In spite of that, Hà Nội continues to remain the capital of a unified Vietnam. No one dares to contest the political and cultural heritage it has left to the Vietnamese people. It represents not only for the majority of Vietnamese the symbol of national unity but also the pride of a people of peasants who know how to valiantly resist the changes of nature and the ambitions of invaders.

Hànội vắng những cơn mưa

Saxophoniste Quyền Văn Minh

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Thăng Long muôn thưở

Before becoming the capital city of Việt-Nam, Hà Nội was the seat of the Chinese administration in 607 and bore the name of « Tống Bình« . In 866, this seat was surrounded by the wall of Ðại La whose some vestiges still exist. It was chosen by the founder of the Lý dynasty, king Lý’ Công Uẩn, in 1010 as a new capital of Vietnam at the place of Hoa Lư.

According to legend, in his dream the king saw a golden dragon flying over that locality. That is why Hà Nội was called at that time « Thăng Long » (ascending dragon)« .

This site was deemed favorable in comparison with other sites because it is located between « hà » and « sơn », waters and mountains, in the middle of rice paddies and protected from flooding by dikes. In 15th century, Hà Nội took the name of Ðông Kinh. Then it retook the name of Thăng Long until the transfer of the royal residence to Huế. Next, it took the name of Thành Tích then Bắc Thành before becoming Hà Nội only in 1931. It became the capital of North Viet-Nam after the Geneva Accord in 1954 and since the events of 1975, the capital of reunified Viet-Nam.

Hà Nội covers 913km2. Its interior (or nội thành 40km2) is divided into four urban districts (or Quận): Quận Hoàn Kiếm, Quận Hai Bà Trưng, Quận Ðống Ða, and Quận Ba Ðình. It also includes six suburban districts (or Huyện) and several villages located within its limits.

One finds the soul of Hà Nội through its old city. Poetess Bà Huyện Thanh Quan, a poetess of 19th century evoked it in one of her works. What retains the most in that old city are the 36 streets that are often known as Hàng (or merchendise in English). There, each cratfsman makes his specialty object and each street was baptized following the craft that was practiced there: street of Silk, street of Drums, street of Potteries etc. Novelist Thạch Lam talked about it in his novel « Hà Nội, 36 Phố Phường ». Hà Nội is also the Vietnamese city which keeps more colonial traits compared to other cities. It can be said that it is the conformed copy of a French town in the structure of Arcachon, with its governor’s palace, opera house, post office and park. The bridge Long Biên (or Paul Doumer) recalls not only the first work of art of French builders on the Red river in 1902 but also the traces of American bombings during the Vietnam War.

In spite of that, Hanoï, from the past few years begins to change its face and look. Constructions have been multiplied at such a rhythm that there is not one square meter unoccupied. It tries to catch up with its late economy and to fill in the incoming vacuum left by the return of Hong Kong to China.

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Being young in Vietnam (Thời thiếu niên)

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etrejeune

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In spite of the war which devastated this country for so many years, the Vietnamese young people continue to crave for life. That amazes enormously those who do not know Vietnam. In this country,  » Being Young » concerns always boldness because the living conditions are extremely hard and nature is also extremely rude and pitiless, in particular for those who live in the North and on the Central highlands. It is necessary to know how to resist bravely the forces of nature but it is also necessary to learn how to live with wild creatures, tricking them and fighting them.

One also starts to work very young in Vietnam. From their youth in rural areas, boys tend buffaloes, make them feed on small floodbanks while girls help in the household chores. Very young, from six or seven years old, they know how to cook rice, carry their little brothers, feed the pigs and ducks, carry drinking water to the familiar animals or taking part in family artisanal work. During the years when the war was at its height, young people were also assigned to dig trenches along the small floodbanks to throw themselves in when airplanes approached, live in undergrounds and tunnels to escape the bombings. Girls have twice as much work as boys. It was they who were the first being proposed and sold like slaves or concubines for a few kilos of rice when one could not manage any more to feed a family of several children in the years 30’s and 40’s. Ngô Tất Tố, in his novel  » When The Lamp Dies Out « , appeared in 1930, reminds us this reality. To pay a corrupt official, a country-woman had to sell her daughter for one piastre.

Nowadays, even this practice is prohibited, one nevertheless notes a great number of young female prostitutes on the streets of big cities. There, in spite of free education, many of young people must work on little jobs such as selling cigarettes or newspapers, collecting plastic bags etc. to provide for the subsistence of their families. The living conditions are also distressing. Many young people coming from families afflicted by poverty and war continue to always crawl in tangles of badly erected huts that are dark and terribly dirty. There would be 67000 slums in Saigon at the end of 1994. It is the number maintained by the authorities and published by the press. One still finds the scenes described by novelist Khái Hưng in his work entitled « The Gutters » ( Ðầu Ðường Xó Chợ ) » with pavements and drains encumbered permanently with vegetable peelings, sheets of banana tree leaves and scraps of rags in the poor districts of the big cities.

Facing the indifference of society, novelist Duyên Anh did not hesitate to denounce the indigence of these young people in his novels, among which the most known remains the best-seller « The Hill of The Phantoms« . Inspired by this novel, movie maker Rachid Bouchareb recalled the history of the « Amerasians » who pay the price of the madness of the adults and the war in his film « Dust of Life » in 1994.

In spite of the deficiencies of life, one likes to be young in this country because, if there are no mountains of toys and gifts which submerge our children in the west as Christmas approaches, there are on the other hand popular games, unforgettable memories of childhood. In the countryside, one could go fishing in rice fields and placing hoop nets in the streams to catch shrimps and small fish. One could hunt butterflies and dragonflies with traps made with the stems of bamboo. One could climb trees to seek bird’s nests. Hunting the crickets remained the preferred game of the majority of Vietnamese young people.

While walking in group, ears wide opened for the song of the crickets, eyes scanning the least recesses, one tried to locate the burrows from where came out the song. It is one’s habit to make the insect leave its hole by flooding it with water or dejection, then to lock it up in a matchbox, to make it sing by exciting it with a small feather or to make it drink a little rice alcohol for excitement at the time of cricket fights.

In the cities, one played soccer with bare feet in the middle of the street, the goal posts consisted of stacked clothing. The matches were often stopped by the passage of bicycles. One also played shuttle cock game (Đá  Cầu) in the street. The flying object the size of a table tennis ball was made with a fabric end wrapping around a zinc coin. Born in the war, Vietnamese young people did not scorn war games. One manufactured oneself rifles out of cardboard or wood, one fought with swords made of tree branches. One could also fly kites. 
This childhood, this youth, all the Vietnamese had it, even novelist Marguerite Duras. 

She did not hesistate to point out her Indochinese childhood in her novel « The places« : My brother and I did not spend whole days in the trees but in the woods and on the rivers, on what is called the racs (rạch), these small streams that go down towards the sea. We never put on our shoes, we lived half naked, we bathed in the river.

In this country where the war devastated so much and where thirteen million tons of bombs and sixty million liters of defoliants were poured, being young in the years 60-75 was already a favor of destiny. The young people of Vietnam today no longer know the fear and the hatred of their elders but they continue to have an uncertain future. In spite of that, in their look, there is always a gleam of intense life, a glimmer of hope. It is what is often called  » the magic of Vietnamese childhood and youth « .

It is necessary to be young in this country to have such an attachment, an impression always poignant.

ijeune

Communal house (Đình Làng : Part 4)

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Communal house 

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Decoration art in the communal houses

Thanks to the communal house (đình), we discover that the village life is intimately introduced in the decoration art. This one tries to liberate itself not only from classic conventional models encountered until then but also Confucian straitjacket that Vietnam has known in the feudal system. That is what we see in wooden carvings which take up all free spaces encountered inside the đình (from roof frame to columns).

All imperfections of the construction are hidden with address thanks to the technique of embellishment. In each carved piece, the motif whether it is animal, character, flower etc. is unique and cannot be found anywhere else even if it is the same theme. By contrast, one discovers in these sculptures the coexistence through centuries of two cultures, one being national and scholarly and the other popular. One finds not only in the first all motifs relating to four hieratic animals (Rồng, Lân, Rùa, Phượng) (Dragon, Unicorn, Tortoise, Phoenix), four noble plants, fairies, animals (tigers, elephants etc.) but also fantasy, imagination, innovation from peasant-sculptor despite his strict obedience to etablished standards.

In the popular sculptures, the master craftsman who is, above all, a peasant, let himself be guided by his personal inspirations, his sincere emotions, his frustrations, his spontaneity and his sentiments in the realization of his work with realism and humor. He succeeds in escaping the censoring custom by a unusual aptitude in the description of bawdy scenes through his work of art: a naked young girl taking a bath in the lotus pond or sitting with low-necked dress on a a dragon head (đình Phụ Lão, Bắc Giang), a young man groping the body of a woman under the watchful eye of his partner (đình Hưng Lộc), a mandarin disturbing a girl who is obliged to hide her body with the lotus sheet in her bath (đình Ðệ Tam Ðông, Nam Ðịnh) etc.

He dares to denounce the wrongdoings of corrupt mandarins. That is what one sees in the carved piece of the communal house Liên Hiệp. These are taboos and frustrating redtapes encountered every day in the Vietnamese confucian society. Everything found in this popular sculpture largely reflects artist’s freedom of expression, common aspirations and social life of village. The paradox is visible because the communal house is both the garden of Confucian order which is well established in Vietnamese family and social structure and the place where the peasant can find again his freedom of expression and denounce the Confucian straightjacket. By its sculptures and its architecture, the communal house constitutes an inestimable jewel for Vietnamese people. One has the habit of saying in Vietnamese: làng nước (Village Nation) because Vietnamese nation is constituted over centuries by the dissemination of villages whose communal house (Đình) is both spiritual, administrative, social and cultural centre. As a consequence, the communal house (Đình) is not only the soul of village but also that of Vietnamese nation.

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Communal house (Đình Làng: Part 3)

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Đình Làng (Part 3)

Armature ( Cấu tạo vì kèo )

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In addition to the ceremonies scheduled in the year in honor of the tutelary genius, villagers attach great importance to anniversaries of his birth and death. But there are also other occasional sacrifices caused often by a marriage, an appointment, a promotion or a old or siver wedding (khao lão). This allows you to give rise to feasts in the village and allows you to celebrate in large pump the cult in the tutelary genius. The latter may be a man or a woman. It is easy to identify this genius at the time of the procession. For the genius-man, there is always the presence of a horse in red (ngựa hồng) or white ( ngựa bạch) laquered wood. This one is of natural size and mounted on a wooden rectangular plate fitted with castors. The latter is richly harnessed and it is supposed to bring the genius soul. In the case where the genius is a woman, this horse is replaced by the palanquin in red hemp (võng đào) suspended from the beam having the ends carved with dragon head and based on two easels in the form of three crossed sticks.

Mái cong làng Ðình Bảng 

dinhlang02

For the duration of the feast, one sacrifices to the tutelary genius with solemnity by moving its char ( kiệu) accompanied by a large number of culte objects, parade weapons, dais (tán) and pennants (cờ), from the communal house (đình) to the his place of residence (nghè) (1) or from the village to another allied village in the case where these ones are united by the cult of the same genius and by organizing multiple entertainment: fighting of cocks, buffaloes and birds, chess games with human pawns, flat hand wrestling etc.

There is also a important rite which recalls the significant characteristics of genius life. Known as the « hèm » in Vietnamese and kept secret, it is always celebrated during the night for geniuses who have not done an honorable act (genius thief, genius with fists, wast collector genius etc … ).. By contrast, it is celebrated in the great day for the geniuses with a quality or an act of bravery. One avoids to pronounce also the name of the genius during the rite by modifying the pronunciation or by substituting a synonym. This is the case of genius Linh Lang for example. We are obliged to tell « khoai dây » instead « khoai lang » (potatoes), « thầy lương » for « thầy lang » (doctor) etc. This singular rite is one of the essential features of communal cults. The negligence of this rite could jeopardize the prosperity of the village.

Its construction is always operated according to a well-defined layout plan identifiable by some Chinese characters Nhất, Nhị, Tam, Ðinh, Công, Vương etc.  A communal house (đình) who stands alone with a rectangular main building (đại đình) evokes the character « Nhất ». This is the case of « đình » Tây Ðằng.By contrast, we are led to recognize the character Nhị by adding to the main building a second building (tiền tế) (or building reserved for sacrifices). This one is parallel to the first building and preceding it in the new layout. This is the case of the communal house Liên Hiệp. It is rare to find the character Tam in the construction of communal house. In a general way, the « đình » is frequently encountered in the shape of the character Công.

The posterior building Hậu Cung is connected to the main building by a small corridor or a small court (Ống muống) . This is the case of the communal house Đình Bảng, Mộng Phụ. For the character Vương, it is sufficient to connect three buildings (Hậu Cung, Đại Đình, Tiền Tế) with two corridors (Ống muống). It is in this last building « Tiền Tế » where the official ceremony for tutelary genius is performed by notables wearing a blue suit during the feast days. READING MORE

Palanquin in red hemp (Đình Cổ Loa)              

(1) ghè: Place of residence of the genius often located at the entrance of the village. At the time of the feast, invited the genius is invited to join the communal house « đình ». It is brought back to its « ghè » when the feast is terminated.

Bibliographie:

Le Ðình, maison communale du Viêt Nam.
Hà Văn Tấn, Nguyễn Văn Kự,
Editions Thế Giới, 2001

Communal house ( Đình Làng: Part 2)

j050807 Art, Culture, Gallery, Histoire, Traditions, Văn Hóa , ,

 

dinhvn

Đình Làng: Part 2

 

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We are accustomed to say: Cầu Nam, Chùa Bắc, Ðình Ðoài with the aim of evoking the celebrity of three specific regions concerning the Vietnamese traditional architecture. Ðình Ðoài thus insinuates the region Ðoài (Hà Ðông, Sơn Tây) where there is a large number of famous communal houses. (Tây Ðằng, Mông Phụ , Chu Quyến etc. .. ). It is in this region near the mountain and forests that the precious and resistant hardwood is found essentially  for  the construction of đình.

The word « đình » has its origin in the Chinese ideogram ting. Despite this, the « đình » in the Vietnamese architecture does not correspond to the Chinese description of the ting. The latter is employed over time to designate a isolated house for cultural joys (thưởng ngoạn văn hóa) or a rest home (đình trạm) for a traveller or a mandarin in mission or a temple for the cult of the rampart genius at the time of the Han (Chinese).

In this meaning, there is the same type of ting in Viet Nam with the đình Trấn Ba within the temple Ngọc Sơn (Hànội) or Thủy Ðình ( Ðình on water) in front of the pagoda Thầy (Chùa Thầy) (Hà Tây). Based on the origin of the word Ðình, some specialists do not hesitate to think that the cult of the Chinese « ting » has inspired the Vietnamese « đình ». For Vietnamese writer and journalist Hữu Ngọc, the wall genius have been replaced by the village tutelary genius to adapt oneself to Vietnamese taste. But there are several reasons not allowing to reinforce this hypothesis.

Firstly, the Vietnamese đình which is due to its strength in an ingenious system of columns, tenons and mortices, is built on stilts (without poured foundation). This technique allows to facilitate sometimes its movement or its re-orientation in case its initial installation does not provide prosperity and happiness to the village after several decades of exploitation.This type of construction reminds us that, for some researchers, in particular French researcher Georges Coedes, the Vietnamese « đình » was undoubtedly influenced by Indonesian architectural style.
chu_quyen1

It does not call into question what one have already discovered on Vietnamese bronze drums with the house on stilts and a curved roof. (Ngọc Lữ ). We know very well that the Dongsonian (the ancestors of the Vietnamese ) were established along the coast of North Vietnam (1 millennium before J. C. ). They were considered as « Indonesian » (or Austroasians (Nam Á in Vietnamese), the Bai Yue.

According to Vietnamese researcher Trịnh Cao Tường, specialised in the study of communal houses (đình), the architecture of Vietnamese communal house on stilts testifies to the echo of the Dongsonian mind continuing to perpetuate itself yet in the daily life of the Vietnamese people. In addition, this building type is similar to sacred common building roong (nhà rồng) that one is accustomed to find among the Austroasiatic populations, in particular highland ethnic peoples (Central Highlands of Vietnam).

Analogous to the Vietnamese communal house, the building rôong cumulates a large number of social functions: board room of village committee, accommodation center for casual visitors, rallying point of all villagers etc. ..Some Vietnamese « đinh » are fitted with wooden floors serving as headquarters for meeting or sofa bed for notables and villagers. This is not the case of Chinese « ting ».

Đình Bảng (Bắc Ninh)

In the XVIII century, there are almost 11800 villages in Vietnam. This means that there are communal houses as much as villages. As the Vietnamese have the habit of saying: the water that we drink recalls the source (Uống nước nhớ nguồn), there is always within themselves a recognition, a gratitude for those who have done a great service for them and their country.

That is why nothing is surprising to see a large number of historical figures (national and local heroes) or legendary characters (Mountain genius Tan Viên for example) and benefactors considered to be part of geniuses of communal houses. Those who have done stirring deeds are not forgotten either. In addition, among these ministering geniuses, there are also the children, beggars and thieves. These ones die a violent death with a sacred hour, which gives them the supernatural powers to protect villagers against evils and misfortunes. Thanks to these communal gods, the village found not only tranquillity and prosperity but also rule, justice and morality. They are in some way the personification of this supreme authority which derives its full strength in the village itself.

Depending on their role more or less filled, they can receive royal patent (sắc phong) who grant them the grades of « genius of higher rank (or Thượng đẳng thần) » or « genius of the average rank (or Trung đẳng thần) » or the « genius of lower rank (Hạ đằng thần) « . This institution allows the king to demote those of them failing to fulfill their mission by sowing disorder in the village or letting the villagers perish. Being kept with care and jealousy in the Hậu Cung (or interior palace) these royal patents are the indescribable pride of the whole village. If the latter has not his tutelary genius, it is forced to borrow the tutelary genius of another village or to replace it by the soil genius (thổ thần). In the case where the villages are united by a common cult for the same tutelary genius, they must come to an agreement so that the feast day is fixed at a date agreed in each village and everyone can participate by sending a delegation during the procession.

Unlike the temples built and maintained at public expense, the communal houses are charged to villagers because it is in fact a local worship. The wealth found in the decoration of communal houses and their dimensions depend both on the financial prosperity and the generosity of the villagers. One found in every village, some parcels of land called rice-fields of the rites (or tế điền) or rice paddies of geniuses (ruộng thần từ) whose exploitation is used to maintain the communal house and the area of which may reach several tens of mẩu (or 0.36 ha) in some villages before 1945. It is the local hierarchical authorities who are responsible for the administration of communal house and village as « a small court ». The rules, customs and traditions are applied with severity and they are more respected than the king’s authority. Women are not allowed in the đình. That is why we have a habit of saying in Vietnamese « Phép vua thua lệ làng » (the king’s authority yields to the village custom).

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Marriage (Hôn nhân)

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mariage

Hôn Nhân

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More than the eternal world law, it first appears that marriage in Vietnam is an alliance of families aiming at perpetuating not only the race but also the Vietnamese customs, especially the cult of ancestors.

Moreover, Vietnamese people, imbued with Taoist spirit, consider that youth has only a limited time like that of a bamboo shoot. Therefore people had the habit of marrying early in the old days in Vietnam.

Similar to the Ming Code in China, the Lê Code provided the minimal age of marriage at 13 for girls and 16 for boys. That is why in a Vietnamese proverb, it is said:

Gái thập tam, nam thập lục 
ou in English 
Girls at thirteen, boys at sixteen 

that Vietnamese society allows for marriage. It is always done in accordance with the Confucian tradition. It is always preceded by negotiations led by matchmakers and followed by exchange of astrological data if first contacts proved to be convincing. 

This, in a general manner would lead to the promise of marriage which should be kept under penalty of fines imposed by local mandarins in the old days. The engagement ceremony is also an occasion to confirm the definite commitment to marriage.

As for the latter, it occurs following a ceremonial standard to include the arrival of the future wife in palanquin, her discovery by the fiance, a ritual ceremony of offering before the altar of ancestors, then before the spouses’ parents, the holding of hands and the exchange of oath.

However, the same word is not used to refer to the marriage of a princess or an ordinary girl. « Hạ Giá » is used when it comes to the marriage of a princess because the king gives his daughter’s hand to someone less powerful than he, and of lower ranking. ( Hạ means « below » and Giá means « Marry »). For marriages between normal people, Xuất Giá is used because Xuất means « exit ». In the old days, rarely did the spouses know each other before getting married. 

The marriage was considered an arrangement between parents aiming at honoring a debt or contracting an alliance. It reflects also the Confucian state of mind not to be in favor of the predominance of the individual over family and society. The marriage of princess Huyền Trân to the Champa king Chế Mẫn ( Jaya Simhavarman III ) illustrated well this state of mind.

For territorial ambitions, it was difficult for king Trần Anh Tôn to ignore the promise made by his father, king Trần Nhân Tôn to give the hand of his sister to the king of Champa although he was aware of her love to general Trần Khắc Chung. An anonymous author at the time did not hesitate to denounce it in his Tang style, seven-foot poems entitled Vương Tường, comparing princess Vương Tường ( or Wang Zhaojun in Chinese ), a concubine of the Han emperor, Yuandi ( Hán Nguyên Ðế )(48-33 B.C.) destined to the king of Xiongnu ( shanyu Huhanxie ) in the goal of restoring peace with the barbarians coming from the steppes North of China.

In spite of that, there is in the annals of marriages the case of general Trần Quốc Tuấn where love triumphed over reason and the will of the parents although he was known as a very convinced confucianist. When he was young, he fell in love with princess Thiên Thành, king Trần Thái Tôn’s sister who did not even hide her admiration for this talented general.

But it was forbidden for him to materialize his intention because his father, An Sinh Vương Trần Liễu opposed that union, having been forced by the machiavellian prime minister Trần Thủ Ðộ. at that time to yield his concubine, princess of the Ly, Thuận Thiên to his brother, king Trần Thái Tôn in the goal of perpetuate the dynasty. One day having learned that the king has granted the hand of his sister Thien Thanh to the son of Nhân Ðạo Vương, he was stunned and so sad that he did not know what to do although at that time he was known to be the best strategist in the struggle against the Mongols. 
Seeing him distraught, one of his aides known to be the most cunning suggested he seize the fiancee by surprise on the wedding day. Thanks to this extraordinary boldness, he succeeded in materializing his love, obtaining the king’s pardon and conquering the esteem of his entourage, in particular that of his father because the latter found in him not only a man of genius but also a son worthy and capable of cleansing the shame of the family. Marriage is sometimes the source of worry for those who assume a responsibility or a political role on this land of legends.

It is the case of emperor Duy Tân. Obsessed by his father emperor Thành Thái’s deposition and exile by the colonial authorities, Duy Tân since his coming up to the throne at age 7, has relentlessly nourished the intention of reopening the whole question the Patenôtre Treaty and reestablishing Vietnam’s sovereignty and independence by all means including force. He never thought of getting married as long as the country is under foreign occupation.

This has caused a lot of worry and anxiety for his mother, queen Nguyễn Thị Ðịnh. She saw in her son the immaturity and lack of authority toward his people because Duy Tan did not have any descendants. She hurriedly presented to the emperor a list of 25 young noble girls chosen

and provided by the mandarins. But facing Duy Tan’s disinterest and impassibility, she was furious and ordered him to look for a concubine within a short time. Being a pious son, he knew he could no longer delay the deadline and ignore his mother’s insistence. He replied with an impassible tone:

Up to now I have refused your list because I have long been in love with another girl one year older than I. This one, I am going to see her in ten days at the Cửa Tùng beach. 
Puzzled, the queen mother decided to join him during his walk at the Cửa Tùng beach. Duy Tan spent the whole day searching in the sand. In the evening, the queen mother decided to ask:

Don’t you find it ridiculous to look for your darling in the sand?

Duy Tân tried to provide an explanation with modesty:

I am never that nutty. All I told you is true. If we cannot find gold in the sand, we can find it in the capital Huế.

From then on the queen mother began to grasp the hint Duy Tân had evoked. It has something to do with the daughter of his teacher named Mai Thị Vàng. ( Vàng means gold in English ).

Intrigued by her son’s choice, the queen mother asked him one more time:

For what reason do you choose her?

Duy Tân replied with conviction:

Her father Mai Khắc Ðôn has taught me to read, to love the country, to avoid sycophants and to make use of loyal servants. I infer he would teach his daughter the same thing, wouldn’t he, mother?

By this marriage, emperor Duy Tân has shown us he knew how to be up to his mother’s expectation in showing his gratitude to his teacher, the man who has taught him love this country and in choosing a wife having the same conviction and ideal as he and not becoming a hindrance to his political fight.

It is also for the love of Vietnam and for the same fight that nationalist leader Nguyễn Thái Học and his party comrade Nguyễn Thị Giang vowed to each other to become husband and wife at the altar of ancestors just before their uprising in Yên Bái. They promised to get married later, once their plan It is also for the love of Vietnam and for the same fight that nationalist leader Nguyễn Thái Học and his party comrade Nguyễn Thị Giang vowed to each other to become husband and wife at the altar of ancestors just before their uprising in Yên Bái. They promised to get married later, once their plan is realized. To show her determination and to seal their fate, Nguyễn Thị Giang asked her husband for a revolver. It was with this weapon that she killed herself after having known of the failure of the uprising and the death sentence of her husband and his compatriots by the colonial authorities. 

For several Vietnamese generations, she has become on that date, like her husband, « nhân » ( nhân means Người or an exemplary human being in English ) because Nguyễn Thái Học had the habit of telling his comrades before his death:

Không thành công thì thành nhân.

One becomes exemplary human being without being successful.

 

 

Nowadays marriage is not as precocious as before, even in the rural areas. This deferment helps protect the mother against the effects of teen age pregnancy and limit births. Marriage is no more the result of the will of parents or the alliance of families. On the other hand it no longer bears a symbolical value, a particular meaning because the newly weds often know each other before marriage in most cases. It no longer reflects the sacrifice asked of young weds to perpetuate the cult of ancestors and the race. It is first and foremost the consecration of love and the pledge for better or for worse ( duyên nợ in Vietnamese) to all eternity.

 

Conical hat (Nón lá)

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 Conical hat

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To date, there are no historical documents that clearly specify the period of creation of the conical hat. However, only its primitive form (feather hat) has been seen engraved on artifacts of the Đồng Sơn culture (such as the Ngoc Lũ bronze drum or the Đào Thịnh bronze situla) between 2500 and 3000 BC.

Since ancient times, for living and protecting themselves from the sun and rain in a tropical climate, our ancestors thought of using materials easily found in nature such as the leaves of certain plants (pandan, coconut palm, buông, hồ, cối) and straw and succeeded in inventing the conical hat. The latter has since become an essential element in the daily life of the Vietnamese. It is seen everywhere in all corners of the country. It becomes inseparable from the peasant, from the dike to the rice field or from the shore to the river. Sometimes it’s used as a fan to relax under the scorching sun. It’s often seen following street vendors through the city streets. It has long become a distinctive symbol of Vietnamese culture. It adds a touch of elegance to Vietnamese women, whether worn with a tunic or a jacket with wide sleeves.

According to historical sources, the first person to mention the Vietnamese conical hat was Zhou Qunfei (Chu Khu Phi) of the Southern Song Dynasty in the book: Linh Ngoai Dai Dap (嶺外代答序) written about the customs of our Lý Dynasty in 1178. The people of Giao Chi wore conical hats [the original text is 螺笠 le loa lap, a conical shell-shaped hat].

Later, based on the book Zhou Qunfei, the Yuan Dynasty historian Ma Duanlin (Mã Đoan Lâm) described it in “Văn hiến thông khảo” in 1307 as follows: the hat being spiral-shaped, its shape resembles that of snails… made in a very meticulous manner from thin strips of bamboo. […]. The earliest image of Vietnamese conical hats is found in the painting « Trúc Lâm đại sĩ xuất sơn đồ (The Painting of the Zhen Monk King Trần Nhân Tôn) » illustrated by the monk-drawer Trần Giám Như. This one depicting the return of the Zhen Monk King to royal life in 1363. In this painting, two men are seen wearing hats of different shapes. The first person was wearing a wide-brimmed hat with the protruding part in the middle. The other was also wearing a wide-brimmed hat very pointed.  At that time, hats were intended for many different categories of people, from the rich to the poor or from officials to servants. During the Trần Dynasty, the village of Ma Lôi (present-day Hải Dương) produced conical hats. At first, Ma Lôi hats were popular and known only to the common people, but later, the Trần king found them so beautiful. He soon made improvements to these hats for use by concubines in the royal palace. From then on, these hats were known as nón thượng. The Ma Lôi hat was later used in the national navy commanded by General Trần Khánh Dư to differentiate it from the one worn by soldiers coming from the North.


Through the painting above “Trúc Lâm đại sĩ xuất sơn đồ” by Trần Giám Như, we can firstly identify the social status of each person wearing the hat. Then secondly the hat has undergone a long journey of transformation over many centuries with many different models,  each inspired by the local culture  (such as the Ba Tầm or Quai Thao hat in northern Vietnam, the Huế hat, the Bình Định hat, the Quảng Nam hat, etc.) so that today the conical hat has become a familiar and simple object of all classes of society, an inseparable companion of the Vietnamese people. Being known not only in everyday life, the image of the conical hat is also exhibited at fashion shows and has become a source of inspiration for fashion houses today. It is also a souvenir that foreign tourists often like to buy when returning to their country.

By wearing a Vietnamese tunic with a conical hat, Miss Isabelle Menin
honors the beauty of traditional culture at the Miss Grand International 2023 (Viet Nam) 

The vietnamese dress (Áo dài)

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aodai

Áo dài is always considered a symbol of traditional Vietnam. A foreign tourist who lands in Vietnam has the opportunity to see a woman dressed in her áo dài. It is about a close-fitting long tunic in light fabric, open on the sides from the waist down, worn over a large pants. It will be surely of speechless admiration facing this incarnate elegance. It is not the clothe that provokes this admiration but rather the relation between the woman, her dress and her culture. However the a’o dài has only a short history. It just dated from 18th century.Impressed by the elegance of the Manchurian costumes under the reign of the Qing, a Vietnamese lord of the name Nguyễn Võ Vương established the wearing of a Vietnamese national dress inspired by the Chinese model. It should wait one century before this dress is adopted in the popular strata of the Vietnamese society, in particular during the reign of emperor Minh Mạng.

Some selectioned dress

This dress becomes nowadays the national symbol with more and more varied models in colors as well as in decorative patterns. Most Vietnamese wear it.

The cult of ancestors (Thờ cúng tổ tiên)

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The cult of ancestors

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In Vietnam, filial piety is one of the fundamental notions in the Vietnamese family which is ruled by the cult of ancestors. The latter provide good advice and only help living descendant if they are respected and honored in particular if their tombs are well maintained.In most of Vietnamese homes one finds on the little family altar wooden tablets, each for an deceased ancestor, down to the fifth generation. One finds on each tablet the inscription of the name of the deceased and also the possessed titles acquired during his active live. Generally speaking, these inscriptions were written in Chinese characters.

In each Vietnamese family, it is the eldest son who is in charge of maintaining the family altar. It is possible that the oldest person in the eldest branch of the family has this responsibility when it comes to a « big family ». No importance concerning sex is imposed on the responsible person. A daughter may assume this responsibility as well as a man.

The cult of ancestors is especially put in honor at the festival of Tết, the Vietnamese New Year. One takes this occasion to offer to the deceased not only a meal but also incense and fake money bills that will be burned

during Tết.

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