culture

Maison communale Kim Ngân (Đình Kim Ngân, Hànội)

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Đình Kim Ngân

 

Đình Kim Ngân này được xây dựng vào đầu thế kỷ 16 bởi Thượng thư Nội vụ của vua Lê Thánh Tông, Lưu Xuân Tín. Ông vốn là người tỉnh Hải Dương, nổi tiếng với nghề nấu chảy vàng thỏi. Vào thời điểm đó, ông đã đưa một số lượng lớn người dân trong làng của mình đến Hà Nội làm thợ kim hoàn cho nhà vua. Họ đã xây dựng ngôi đình này mang tên Kim Ngân khi họ định cư tại đây. Sau nhiều năm bị bỏ hoang, nó chỉ được trùng tu vào năm 2004 nhờ sự giúp đỡ của các chuyên gia người Pháp từ thành phố Toulouse. Ngày nay, nó không chỉ là nơi thường xuyên diễn ra tất cả các buổi biểu diễn âm nhạc truyền thống (ví dụ như Ca Trù) mà còn là nơi tôn kính tổ tiên của nghề thủ công Hiền Viên.

Cette maison communale Kim Ngân fut édifiée au début du XVIème siècle par le ministre de l’intérieur du roi Lê Thánh Tông, Lưu Xuân Tín. Celui-ci était originaire de la province Hải Dương, connue pour sa spécialité dans la fonte des lingots d’or. Il fit venir à cette époque un grand nombre de gens de son village pour travailler en tant qu’orfèvres à Hànoï pour le compte du roi. Ces derniers y ont construit lors de leur installation cette maison communale de nom Kim Ngân. Etant laissée à l’abandon depuis plusieurs années, elle fut restaurée seulement en 2004 grâce au concours des experts français de la ville de Toulouse. Désormais c’est non seulement l’endroit où ont lieu fréquemment tous les spectacles de musique traditionnelle (Ca Trù par exemple) mais aussi le lieu de vénération de l’ancêtre des métiers Hiên Viên.

This communal house was erected under the reign of king Lê Thánh Tông by the Minister of the Interior, Lưu Xuân Tín. This one was from Hải Dương province known for its speciality in casting into ingots. He invited at this time a large number of people in  his village for working as  silversmiths on the behalf of the king. During the installation, the latter have built à Hàng Bạc this communal house named « Kim Ngân (or silver). Being neglected for many years, it was restored in 2004 by French experts of Toulouse city. Henceforth, it is only the place where tradional music concerts take place frequently but also the space of veneration of Hiên Viên, the ancestor of crafts.
 

Communal House Kim Ngân

(Hàng Bạc)

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Ancienne maison Mã Mây (Hànội)

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Nhà cổ Mã Mây

Ngôi nhà nầy được xây cất vào cuối thế kỷ 19 và được thay đổi nhiều chủ nhà mà phần đông họ là những người buôn bán. Ngôi nhà nầy được sùng tu lại gần đây  trong chương trình hợp tác giữa thành phố Hànội với thành phố Pháp Toulouse. Tại sao có tên Mã Mây ? Vì trước đó phố (hay đường) Mã Mây  ở đoạn đầu phố  là Hàng  Mây chuyên môn bán đồ tre và cuối phố thì Hàng Bạc bán vàng mã. Phố nầy thời Pháp thuộc rất sầm uất và buôn bán nên qui tụ nơi nầy rất nhiều thương gia nay trở thành một trong những phố có nhiều du khách ngoại quốc. Nhà cổ Mã Mây được xây cất theo dạng hình ống, rất hẹp chiều ngang và có chiều dài và đa năng sử dụng. Mặt trước là cửa hàng phiá trong có sân tiếp đến là nhà hậu và sau cùng là nhà bếp và khu vệ sinh.  Trên tầng 2 là gian thờ ông bà tổ tiên  và phòng ngủ. Ngôi nhà nầy là mẫu nhà truyền thống mà được công nhận từ năm 2004 bởi bộ văn hoá Việtnam.

Tọa lạc ở  số 87 Mã Mây – Hàng Buồm – Hoàn Kiếm – Hà Nội

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Cette vieille maison Mã Mây a été construite à la fin du 19 ème  siècle et changée plusieurs fois de propriétaires, en particulier des commerçants. Elle a été rénovée  dans le cadre de coopération entre les villes de Hanoï et de Toulouse (France). Pourquoi a-t-elle ce nom Mã Mây? Cette maison se trouvait dans une rue dont l’une des extrémités était la rue Hàng Mây destinée à vendre des articles en bambou et en rotin et l’autre extrémité, la rue Hàng Bạc où on ne trouvait que les objets votifs.  À l’époque coloniale, cette rue fut tellement animée et commerciale si bien qu’elle devint en quelques années un lieu de rassemblement de commerçants. Aujourd’hui, la rue Mã Mây est l’une des rues les plus fréquentées par les touristes étrangers. Cette vieille maison a été construite sous forme tubulaire. La largeur de la maison est très limitée par rapport à sa longueur. Elle a plusieurs fonctions d’usage. Pour répondre à cette exigence, il y a un ordre très précis dans la répartition :

  • Pièce principale-cour-pièce postérieure-cuisine et toilette.
  • Au deuxième étage, la pièce donnant sur la rue est dédiée au culte des ancêtres tandis que l’autre pièce sert de dortoir.

Cette maison fut reconnue comme  le modèle de la maison traditionnelle par le ministère de la culture  en 2004.

Adresse: n° 87 Mã Mây – Hàng Buồm – Hoàn Kiếm – Hà Nội.

Version anglaise

This old Mã Mây house was built at the end of the 19th century and has changed owners several times, particularly merchants. It was renovated as part of a cooperation between the cities of Hanoi and Toulouse (France). Why does it have the name Mã Mây? This house was located on a street whose one end was Hàng Mây street, intended for selling bamboo and rattan items, and the other end was Hàng Bạc street, where only votive objects were found. During the colonial era, this street was so lively and commercial that it became a gathering place for merchants within a few years. Today, Mã Mây street is one of the busiest streets frequented by foreign tourists. This old house was built in a tubular form. The width of the house is very limited compared to its length. It has several functional uses. To meet this requirement, there is a very precise order in the layout:

  • Main room – courtyard – back room – kitchen and toilet.
  • On the second floor, the room facing the street is dedicated to ancestor worship, while the other room serves as a dormitory.
    This house was recognized as a model of traditional houses by the Ministry of Culture in 2004.

Address: No. 87 Mã Mây – Hàng Buồm – Hoàn Kiếm – Hà Nội.

Nhà cổ Mã Mây

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The Vietnamese bra

j050807 Art, Histoire, Traditions ,

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yem_dao
Being an integral element  of four-part dress, Yếm is the most popular bra worn by Vietnamese women in the past. One finds in its manufacture a silk or cotton fabric square, the ends of which  are fixed by the straps tying behind the back and at the neck  level.This is intended to cover and support the chest for leaving  naked the rest of the body’s upper part. Yếm causes not only lure of seduction but also pleasant freshness during summer days. However in winter, it becomes a kind of the underwear above which is added the four-part dress,  thus allowing  Vietnamese women to protect themselves against the severe cold.

In the Vietnamese tradition, the wasp waist is one of the distinctive traits  of female beauty. Perhaps that’s why the birth of this bra is linked to this tradition intended   to emphasize  the line of the women’s body by giving it the shape of the segmented body of the wasp. 

This bra  was worn by all sections of the population without exception. But the notion of color differentiates between the categories of people wearing it. The brown colour is intended for  farmers while  educated girls prefer the harmonious, elegant and discrete colors. For the elderly, the dark remains the most widely used. Despite this observation, it is possible to see Yếm with eccentric colours.

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One does not known its origin but  Yếm was appeared for the first time in the 11th century under the Lý dynasty. It underwent many changes over time before being again recently an glamourous fashion article, competitor of « Áo dài ». In  old days, it was accompanied by wearing a skirt and a turban cloth (black or brown) or a scarf ending with a « Crow beak » at the  front top. (khăn vuôn mõ quạ). It is only during the reign of  Minh Mạng emperor  that the black pants was  imposed instead of the skirt.

Yếm is an inexhaustible source for Vietnamese poets among which is  famous Hồ Xuân Hương. She has had the opportunity to describe not only the romantic and glamourous image of this Vietnamese undershirt but also the innocence of a young girl living in a society ruled by Confucian immutable ethic, in her poem entitled « the girl asleep in the daytime » (Thiếu nữ ngủ ngày).

Mùa hè hây hẩy gió nồm đông
Thiếu nữ nằm chơi quá giấc nồng
Lược trúc lỏng cài trên mái tóc
Yếm đào trễ xuống dưới nương long
Ðôi gò Bông đảo sương còn ngậm
Môt lạch đào nguyên suối chưa thông
Quân tử dùng dằng đi chẳng dứt
Ði thì cũng dở ở không xong.

Summer breeze is sporadically blowing,
Lying down the young girl slides into sleeping.
Her bamboo comb loosely attached to her hair,
Her pink bra below her waist dropped down fair.
On these two Elysian mounds, the nectar is still remaining,
In that one Fairy rivulet, the current seems to stop flowing.
At such a view, the gentleman hesitated,
Odd to leave, yet inconvenient if he stayed.

Yếm is mentioned so many times in  popular poems. It reflects the strength and intensity of the love through these two following verses:

Trời mưa trời gió kìn kìn.
Đắp đôi dải yếm hơn nghìn chăn bông.

It’s raining and it made the wind with intensity.
To be covered with a pair of Yếm better than to get thousand duvets

 

It is difficult to leave the person we fell in love unless we have become this undershirt to retain her. That is what we have in the two verses below:

Kiếp sau đừng hóa ra người
Hóa ra dải yếm buộc người tình nhân.

In the future life, one should not be born a man
But it is necessary to be transformed into undershirt to retain the lover.

Bayon temple (Angkor Thom)

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 bayon

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Bayon is the central temple of the old city Angkor Thom, capital of Khmer sovereigns at the beginning of the XIIIth century. It is the last one of temples-mountains built by king Jayavarman VII, restorer of royal power of the Khmer Angkor kingdom after the invasion of the Cham. Its decoration of a exceptional wealth is at the apogee of Mahayana Buddhist art.

This king dedicates this monument to Buddha he spreads the doctrine of which with his face towers. There are over 37 harmonious towers around a big central tower, the sanctuary. But we think that they could be more numerous, perhaps 54 towers with 216 faces according to French Paul Mus.

King Buddha at Guimet museum  

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These towers are built by putting stony blocks piled on top of the other without any cement. The sculpture will be made after the completion of placement of these rocky blocks.

What mechanical strength did they have, the Cambodians in the past, to raise the enormous stony blocks until higher parts of the building after having extracted them from the distant mountains, having polished and sculptured them? It is this question which haunted frequently Henri Mouhot during the discovery of Angkor ruins. We find on four sides of each tower, gigantic faces in the enigmatic smile, each one of them turned respectively to one of the four cardinal points.

The visitor has the impression to be followed by their glaucous look. For Pierre Loti, Bayon was the heaviest stony mountain the men dared to undertake since the pyramids of Memphis.

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In his work entitled « Travel in the kingdoms of Siam, Cambodia, Laos and other central parts of Indochina « , the discoverer of the Angkor ruins, Henri Mouhot, left his impression: In spite of the disappearance of the gold and colors which almost totally removed from the building, there are only stones there. But these ones proclaim loudly the genius, the strength and the patience, the talent, the wealth and the power of the Cambodians in the past.

We discovered recently during a excavation realized in 1933, in the broken remains of a big stony statue 3,60 m in height, the representation of Jayavarman VII in king Buddha. The builder of the Bayon, is seated, legs tucked on the coiled body of the naga. Since then, we attributed this face with the mystic smile found on the sides of the Bayon towers to that of Jayavarman VII.
 

Culinary art ( Nghệ Thuật Ẩm Thực của người Việt)

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amthucvn

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Vietnamese people grant a great importance to the culinary art, in particular to their eating. It is the first necessity in their daily life and culture. Nothing is more amazing to see the use of « an » as the prefix in a great number of words. Among them we find: ăn nói ( to speak ), ăn mặc ( to wear ), ăn ở ( to live ), ăn tiêu ( to consume ), ăn ngủ ( to sleep ), ăn trộm ( to steal ), ăn gian ( to cheat ), ăn hiếp ( to bully ) and so on…It is usually said: Trời đánh tránh bữa ăn to means even God dare not disturb the Vietnamese during their meal.

Their eating is carefully elaborated according to the concept of Yin and Yang and the five elements (Thuyết Âm Dương Ngũ Hành) which serves as the fundamental basis of their Van Lang civilization.
Yin-Yang ( Âm Dương ) is the representation of the two poles of all things, a duality that is at the same time contradictory and complementary. Of the nature Yin is whatever is fluid, cold, humid, passive, somber, interior, female in essence like the sky, the moon, night, water, winter. Of the nature Yang is whatever is solid, hot, luminous, active, exterior, male in essence like the earth, the sun, fire, summer. Human is the hyphen between these two poles or rather between the Earth (Dương) and the Sky ( Âm ). Harmony may only be found in the equilibrium that human brings to its environment, universe and body. Vietnamese food therefore finds all its meticulous preparation and particularity in the dialectic relationship of the theory of Yin and Yang. It also shows the respect of the millennial cultural tradition of a farming country and of a civilization known for its rice farming on flooded rice fields (trồng lúa nước).

Yin-Yang in Vietnamese culinary art

© Đặng Anh Tuấn

That is why rice should not be missed in a Vietnamese meal. It is at the basis of several Vietnamese dishes (bánh cuốn, bánh xèo, phở, bún, bánh tráng, bánh chưng vân vân ) (ravioli, crepe, pho, vermicelli, rice paper, sweet rice cake etc..) Rice can be whole, round, long, crushed, scented, glutinous etc… More than a food, rice is for the Vietnamese people a tangible proof of their Bai Yue culture, a trace of civilization that is not lost under the weight of long Chinese domination.

The manner in Vietnamese eating is not foreign to the search for the middle-of-the-road attitude encouraged in the concept of Yin and Yang.  » Eating together  » requires in their view a certain respect, a certain level of culture in the art of eating because there exists an undeniable interdependence among the guests in the share of food and space. It is usually said: Ăn trông nồi , ngồi trông hướng.

When eating look for where the rice cooker is and when sitting look for where the direction is. That is the maxim that Vietnamese parents used to tell their children about their table manners. One has to behave oneself when invited to a meal. One should not eat too fast for not to be called impolite but should neither eat too slowly as one should not make other guests wait. Emptying one’s plate or the cook pot is not allowed because it gives the feeling of being greedy. On the contrary, eating too little implies a lack of mannerliness, which may vex the host. This cautious behavior could be summed up by the following statement: Ăn hết bị đòn, ăn còn mất vợ. (Emptying the cook pot deserves spanking, leaving some leftover leads to losing the spouse ). It is in the constant search for equilibrium evoked in the Yin and Yang theory that a Vietnamese must exercise in due course at a meal. It should not be ignored the « varied » nature brought in by Vietnamese food that is characterized by the diversity and visible exuberance in colors of the ingredients in the preparation.

Around a bowl of rice is the creation of a multitude of colors, flavors and dishes. The expression of the 5 senses (ngũ giác) is also found in a Vietnamese meal:  

smell: by the release of aromas and flavors of foods served,
sight: by various coloration of the ingredients that go in the preparation of the dishes,
taste: by the flavors of the dishes,
hearing: by the sound made by the sucking of tea or stock with the mouth,
touch: by the nonstop handling of chopsticks.

For some Vietnamese specialties (gà nướng (roasted chicken), gà luộc ( boiled chicken ), gỏi cuốn (spring rolls) ), the use of hand is highly appreciated. Most Westerners used to attribute to the Chinese the holder of chopstick civilization. However it is the product of the cradle of the rice growing civilization of South East Asia. It is what the Chinese historian Ðàm Gia Kiện has written in his book entitled « Cultural History of China » ( Lịch sử văn hóa Trung Quốc ) ( 1993, page 769 ):
At the time prior to the unification of China by Qin Shi Huang Di, the Chinese continued to use their hands to grasp food. It was a tradition found in people growing millet (kê), barley (mạch) and eating bread, hum bao ( bánh bao ) and meat. They only began to use chopsticks during their expansion toward Southern China.
That assertion has been justified by recent scientific discoveries. Chopsticks can only be made in a region where abundance of bamboo is not in doubt. That is the case of Southern China and South East Asia. They are the rudimentary tool shaped to the image of the bird’s bill to efficiently pick up grains of rice and fish without having to soil the hands with the plates containing water (soup, broth, fish cauce etc…). It is found in the Vietnamese use of chopsticks a simple as well as humoristic philosophy. A pair of chopsticks is always compared with a married couple.

That is why one used to say:

Vợ chồng như đôi đũa có đôi
Bây giờ chồng thấp vợ cao như đôi đũa lệch so sao cho bằng.

Husband and wife are like a pair of chopsticks
Now that husband is short and wife is tall
Like mismatched chopsticks can’t be paired at all.

During the Lê dynasty, breaking a pair of chopsticks is like a dissolution of marriage. One prefers having a stupid spouse to having a disastrous pair of crooked chopsticks. This preference is evoked many time in the following statement:

Vợ dại không hại bằng đũa vênh.

Besides the « vivacious » and « lively » characteristics found in the handling of chopsticks, the « collective » characteristics should not be ignored as an attribute to this rudimentary utensil. It is often referred to a bundle of chopsticks to evoke solidarity. The saying: Vơ đũa cả nắm( gather chopsticks in a bunch) reflects that idea when we want to criticize someone and his family in a dispute or debate.

The Vietnamese fierce will to give a big attention to the balance of Yin and Yang is found again in their way of eating. A good meal must meet a certain number of criteria where interdependence cannot be ignored:

  • 1) It must be in agreement with the weather. It cannot be defined as good even when it is served with tasty dishes.
  • 2) It must occur at a pleasant place and time otherwise it is not deemed good either.
  • 3) It must be shared with close friends otherwise the word good cannot be attributed to it.

That is why coming from the criteria mentioned above, a good Vietnamese meal is not necessarily well stuffed. Sometimes meagerness is found in a good meal. It is that of Vietnamese poor peasants where a clever mixture of aromatic herb flavors plays a preponderant role.
The judicious search for balance of Yin and Yang is undeniably shown in the dishes, the human body and between man and the environment. In the Vietnamese culinary art three following important points are turned up: 

1) Yin-Yang equilibrium in the makeup of the dishes.
 
Vietnamese people tend to distinguish dishes according to classification they established in relation to the five elements of Yin-Yang: hàn ( cold ) ( Water ), nhiệt ( hot ) (Fire), ôn ( warm ) ( Wood ), lương ( fresh ) ( Meta l) and bình ( temperate ) (Earth). They take into account the compensation, interaction and combination of ingredients and condiments in the elaboration of a dish. One notices a series of vegetables and condiments in in the makeup of Vietnamese recipes. Known for curing illnesses caused by the « cold » ( coughs, colds etc…), ginger (gung), the condiment of the Yang characteristics, is visible in all the dishes having tendency to bear the cold: Bí đao ( marrow quash ), cải bắp ( cabbage ) rau cải ( lettuce ) and cá ( fish ). Hot pepper is of Yang nature ( hot ) and frequently used in dishes having cold, temperate or foul-smelling characteristics ( seafood, steamed fish for example ). One used to eat fermented chicken’s or duck’s eggs ( trứng gà lộn, trứng vịt lộn ) having the Yin characteristics ( Âm ) along with a very flavorful leaf ( rau răm ) of the Yang ( Dương ) tendency. The Yin (Âm) bearing water melon is always eaten with the Yang ( Dương ) natured salt. The most typical Vietnamese sauce remains the fish sauce. In the preparation of this national sauce, it is noticed there are 5 flavors classified according to the 5 element of Yin and Yang: mặn ( salty ) with the fish juice ( nước mắm ), đắng ( bitter ) with the zest of lemon ( vỏ chanh ), chua ( sour ) with the juice of lemmon ( or vinegar ), cay ( hot ) with powdered or crushed hot pepper and ngọt ( sweet ) with powdered sugar. Those five flavors ( mặn, đắng, chua, cay, ngọt ) combined and found in the national sauce of Vietnamese people correspond respectively to five elements defined in the theory of Yin and Yang( Thủy, Hỏa, Mộc, Kim, Thổ) ( Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, Earth).
 
2) Yin-Yang equilibrium in the human body.

Vietnamese food is sometimes used as an effective medicine to cure dysfunctions caused by the loss of balance in Yin and Yang in the human body. For the Vietnamese, the scenario seen in nature is also found inside their bodies. When an organ becomes too Yin, it leads to a slowdown in physical metabolism (feeling cold, slow heartbeats, indigestion etc…). On the other side, if it becomes too Yang, it triggers an acceleration of physical metabolism ( feeling hot, fast heartbeats, physical and mental hyperactivity etc…). A well-balanced Yin-Yang maintains life and assure good health. To regain this balance a person whose illness is of Yin nature ( Âm ) must eat dishes bearing Yang (Dương) characteristics. On the contrary a Yang-natured illness must be treated with Yin-natured dishes. To the Vietnamese, eating is taking care of oneself. Constipation (a Yang illness) can only be cured among the Yin dishes (chè đậu đen, chè đậu xanh etc..( meung bean, black bean compote, a Vietnamese dessert). On the other hand, Yin-natured diarrhea or stomach ache can be treated effectively with Yang-natured seasoned dishes (ginger (gừng, galangal (riềng)). The cold (a Yin-natured illness must find its solution in a bowl of rice porridge full of ginger slices

3) Yin-Yang equilibrium with the environment.

One used to say in Vietnamese : Ăn theo mùa ( Eating according to season ). This saying reflects the state of mind of the Vietnamese to be always in phase with nature and the environment in food.

In Summer, the supply of heat favors an abundance of vegetables, seafoods and fish. Therefore the Vietnamese people tend to eat vegetables and fish. They used to boil vegetables, pickle them (dưa) or make salads (gõi). Dishes that contain water are appreciated. It is the case of pho, the national stock of the Vietnamese people. Bitter and sour flavors cannot be absent either in the Vietnamese cuisine. It is the case of a mildly sour soup prepared with fish (or shrimps), tamarind (or pine apple) and tomatoes ( canh chua cá, canh chua tôm ).

On the other hand in Winter, to resist the cold, the Vietnamese prefer to eat meat and fatter dishes (of Yang characteristics). We notice a massive use of oily liquids (vegetable or animal) and condiments (ginger, chilly, garlic, pepper etc…). Slow cooking meat on low heat in fish sauce (rim thit), sauteing (xào) or frying meat (rán) are the cooking methods frequently used and conformed to climatic variations. Known as a tropical country (Yang)(Dương), Vietnam possesses a great number of dishes of cold characteristics ( Âm ). That is what the father of Vietnamese traditional medecine Hải Thượng Lãn Ông ( Lê Hữu Trác ) had an opportunity to emphasize in his work entitled « Nữ Công Thắng Lãm ». Out of 120 foodstuffs, he succeeded in picking about a hundred of Yin characteristics. This remark puts in evidence the unquestionable preference of Vietnamese for Yin dishes in their traditional food structure and the importance they keep granting to the search for a balance with nature and the environment. Vietnamese cuisine finds more and more followers in the West. Unlike other cuisines that play with sauces, it prefers using a lot of aromatic herbs and condiments. It is a cuisine that stands out for its lightness and digestibility. Much less fatty than Chinese cuisine, it does not miss showing its subtlety and originality. No less than 500 dishes are counted among them remains the imperial roll ( chả gìo). In this cuisine one finds not only a harmony of flavors and a multitude of subtle variations around a bowl of rice but also a profound and intimate agreement with nature and the environment.

There, Yin-Yang does not lose its vitality, the Vietnamese people, their soul and their temperament.

Sampan (Con Đò)

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As Vietnam is a water country, it is not surprising to see the proliferation and large variety of boats used by the Vietnamese in their transport by water: from the lightest and smallest to the largest ones found until then only in the neighbouring countries like China or Indonesia. One finds in the construction of these vietnamese boats a notable foreign influence, chinese in the North and indonesian or even western indian in the South of Vietnam. This influence is more perceptible in the Center of Vietnam that has been occupied until the XIIIth century by the Vikings of Asia, the Chàms whose civilization has disappeared in the wirlwind of history by the secular march of the>Vietnamese towards the South.

In spite of that, the Vietnamese showing an acute sense of observation and of living experience due to the incessant coming and going of typhoons on the vietnamese coast, know to harmoniously combine the data of these different foreign techniques to construct boats often more handy than the chinese, malayan or indian models, as has noticed P. Paris in his work entitled « Search of relationship to four Indochise boats, BIIEH, 1946 ».

Because of the harshness of nature and of the quasi permanent fight against their chinese neighbors, the Vietnamese centered their efforts in the conquest of the rice plains. Locked up in the isolationism adopted by the Far East and comforted by the quasi permanent presence of the foreign boats in their ports ( Faifo, Tourane, Saigon etc), the Vietnamese do not see any interest to privilege the maritime transport although they are regarded as the most skilful sailors of the Far East. The Chinese recognized their superiority on water. A high chinese mandarin, Bao Chi, noted this in his confidential report submitted to the emperor of Song. The majority of the Vietnamese victories against the chinese neighbors took place on water. The Vietnamese are accustomed to using boats as means of transport for food or troops, as the abbot Prévost revealed in his  » History of the Voyages  » from 1751 while relying upon the description of Samuel Baron published in 1732.

The Vietnamese navy knew its apogee only in the first half of the XIXth century. It is the period when the emperor Gia Long assisted by his French lieutenants Jean-Baptiste Chaigneau ( Nguyễn Văn Thắng ), Philippe Vannier ( Nguyễn Văn Chấn ) etc. succeeds in defeating the army of Tây Sơn at Qui Nhơn with his royal navy made up of a hundred or so large galleys of 50 to 70 oars with guns and stone drains and of three european style vessels ( the Phoenix ( tàu Phụng ), the Eagle and the Flying Dragon ( tàu Long ). These last ones were built with such skill and remained no more than three months on the building site, as has noted father Lelabousse in his report dated at Nha Trang, the 24th of April 1800.

To request his investiture with the chinese emperor, in 1802, Gia Long sent the great poet Trinh Hoài Ðức (1), the first vietnamese delegate to travel by sea to Peking. Unfortunately, this apogee was only of short duration because his successors, surrounded by confuciasnist mandarins and entangled in the obscurantism, continued to adopt a policy of exacerbated isolationism in spite of the memorandum of the modernistic scholar Nguyễn Trường Tộ, which made it possible for the french navy to succeed in dropping anchor a few decades later in the vietnamese waters after having sunk in the port of Tourane ( Danang ) the first five armored junks of the vietnamese fleet on April 15, 1847.

Although the Vietnamese neglect the maritime transport, paradoxically they do not haggle the means of manufacturing a large variety of boats to facilitate their daily displacement because Vietnam has, in addition to the second mangrove of the world (the forest U – Minh 1000km2) after that of Brazil in the peninsula of Cà Mau, thousands of small rivers, affluents and distributaries, streams and rivers (Red River, Mekong River ).

Moreover, the vietnamese road network is quasi non-existent. The vietnamese boats are divided into two categories: those manufactured with bamboo plates coated in lacquer (thuyền nan) and those carved from tree trunks or made with wooden plates ( thuyền gỗ). With regard to the first category, if the boat is of a small size, it is often called in Vietnamese (thuyền câu). It is a small boat where only one person can be placed. If the light boat is of a round shape, it is called  » thuyền thúng  » and is frequently used by the fishermen of the Center of Vietnam.

This tight round basket existed in the Xth century. Dương Vân Nga, a girl from Hoa Lư, was known at that time to excel in the art of rowing with this floating basket. But on the day of competition, Ðinh Bộ Lĩnh, the leader of a rival band of boys, succeeded in immobilizing her floating basket by perforating it with the means of a pole.

This victory enabled him to win not only the admiration but also the love of Duong Vân Nga. This floating basket allowed the fast transport of the troops through the marshes and the rivers and ensured the couple Dương Vân Nga and Đinh Bô. Lĩnh the victory over the Chinese a few years later. As for the second category, the basic constitution is made with wood. There is a multitude of different boats but the most known and the most used by the Vietnamese is the sampan or the boat with three boards (Thuyền tam bản). It is that which is employed to cross the streams or the rivers. The majority of the people who advance the sampans are young girls.

This is why there are many stories of love born of these boats. One continues to tell them, in particular the story of emperor Thành Thái with the oarswoman. If a Vietnamese man was used to crossing the river in his youth, this could probably incite in him intense regrets, memories and emotions when he has the occasion to return to the river bank to take the vat. He feels more or less distressed when he learns that the oarswoman, the girl whom he continues to pity the fate and whom he is not far from falling in love with is no longer there. Probably, she is now the mother of a family or she has joined another world but she is no longer there to welcome him with her charming and ingenuous smile. He is not long to recall that he no longer has the occasion to hear her refrain, or to see the sides of her worn tunic flying in the wind of the river during the crossing. It is in this unusual context that he feels an indescribable affliction. He regrets missing so many occasions to find his dock, his river, his native land and to leave for too long in the lapse of memory the eternal charm of the sampan, that of a Viet-Nam bygone .

The film director Ðặng Nhật Minh, most known currently in Vietnam, does not hesitate to show the opposite case, the discrete love of the young boatwoman living on the River of the Perfumes, to the foreign and vietnamese public through his film.

The girl from the river ( Cô gái trên sông ) 1987

It is the story of its heroine Nguyệt who, to the peril of her life, does not hesitate to save a wounded young man known for his subversive activities by the south vietnamese police during the war. She tries to hide him in her sampan. Once peace is returned, this young man becomes an important communist cadre. The girl tries to find him because she continues to harbor deep feelings for this man. Unfortunately, she feels afflicted and betrayed because this man pretends not to know her and does not like to recollect the troubling periods of his life… She tries to remake her life with her former lover Sơn whom she rejected a few years earlier and who had the occasion to spend a few years in the reeducation camp for having the offence of being enlisted in the south vietnamese army.

In spite of the few things in their constitution, the boats, in particular, the sampans (đò ngang ) continue to charm the Vietnamese. They do not hésitate to integrate them not only in their everyday life but also in the songs and the poems. The songs  » Con Thuyền Không Bến  » ( The sampan without dock ) from the composer Ðặng Thế Phong and Ðò Chiều ( the sampan of the Evening ) from Trúc Phương going back to several decades and several generations continue to be appreciated and show at such point the profound attachment of all the Vietnamese to their rudimentary boats.

As for the poems describing them, there is only the Vietnamese having the occasion to take the vat who manages to appreciate the finesse and the beauty found in the verses because one perhaps rediscovers through these poems a fragment of one’s life so animated and so closely hidden in one’s memory with more emotions and sadness than joy and happiness. By reading the following verses,

Trăm năm đã lỗi hẹn hò
Cây đa bến cũ con đò khác đưa

Our rendezvous did not take place a long time ago
The banian and the dock are always the same but the sampan has changed owner.

The reader could realize that he is also caught up as so many other Vietnamese by memories that he thinks of erasing from his memory with the passing of the years. He cannot continue to sadden himself as that could be made when one was young and in love through the two following verses:

Tương tư thuyền nhớ’ sông dài
Tương tư là có hai người nhớ’ nhau

It is no longer worth seeing each other again
It is best to leave definitively when one loves intensely

But one should have the courage to forget when the sampan is no longer there as that was said in the following four verses:

Vô duyên đã lỗi hẹn hò
Mong làm chi nữa con đò sang sông
Thôi đành chẳng gặp là xong
Nhớ thương bền chặt bền lòng ra đi

One misses the chance to be at the rendezvous
One no longer hopes when the sampan has already left
It is no longer worth seeing each other again
It is best to leave definitively when one loves intensely

What becomes of her at this moment? Is she dead or happy? Does she deserve the life she leads? Is she like the young boatwoman, sister Tham who saved many people from drowning and who died drowning without anybody rescuing her in the story « Chảy đi sông ơi ( Run, my river, 1988 )  » of the talented writer Nguyễn Huy Thiệp? Is she like the young boatwoman Duyên who continues to hum a lullaby for her child:

Nước chảy đôi giòng …
…Con sông Thương …nước chảy đôi giòng …

One can go up or descend the current… of the river Love…
one can go up or descend the current..

and never asking questions about the life that was layed out for her just like the river that follows its course to the sea in the short story  » Nước Chảy Ðôi giòng ( At counter-current, 1932 ) from Nhất Linh?. These are the questions that the reader overcomed by memories continues to ask intimately. It is also the deep sadness, the poignant pain of the one who no longer has the occasion to find the freshness of his youth through the sampan and its dock which he was accustomed to take at a distant time. He had thought that with time this could erase all the memories as the water of the river evoked in the song with a strange sadness which sister Thắm likes to sing on the bank in the story  » Chảy đi sông ơi ( Run, my river, 1988 )  » from Nguyễn Huy Thiệp:

Chảy đi sông ơi
Băn khoăn làm gì ?
Rồi sông đãi hết
Anh hùng còn chi ? …

Run my river
Why be tormented?
The river erases all
Even memories of the heroes…

Chuyện Tình Buồn ( The story of sad love ) of Phạm Duy

(1) Author of two works Bắc sứ Thi Tập ( Collection of poems written during a mission in China ) and Cấn Trai Thi Tập ( Collection of poems from Cấn Trai ).

 

Hammock (Cái võng)

j050807 Culture, Traditions, Văn Hóa ,


Vietnamese version

French version

The hammock is an instrument very familiar to the Vietnamese. For many generations, one was used to hearing its resonant creaking with a regular cadence from the South to the North of Vietnam. This strident sound blended with the crying of the little children and lullabies becomes a tune of music eternally rooted in the Vietnamese soul. Poor or rich, each Vietnamese possesses at least one hammock. It is not only the cradle of the little Vietnamese children but also their swing. 

It is used by adults for relaxing. It is also a resting bed for people of old age. It is the only instrument that no Vietnamese could do without. It is a habit to say that in Vietnam one has grown up with the sound of the hammock ( lớn lên trong tiếng võng ) and will grow old in the lullabies ( già trong lời ru ) because the latter are sung tirelessly by the mothers or grand-mothers to pamper their children or grandchildren.

The lullabies stay the same but this time they are sung by a young mother who by a curious coincidence may be the girl he had known at the time he was an adolescent, or an old ferry crossing. It is sure there will be in this case the same resentment felt by a person returning to his or her native village after so many years of absence, proven in this following lullaby:

Bước chân vào ngõ tre làng
Lòng buồn nặng trĩu nghe nàng ru con
Bước lên thềm đá rêu mòn
Lòng buồn nặng trĩu nghe buồn võng đưa

One feels sad, setting foot on the village entrance
Hearing the nursery rhyme lulling her baby in cadence,
One feels sad, stepping on the worn and mossy rock
Hearing the melancholic creaking sound of the hammock.

One cannot stay insensitive when one is the issue of the Mekong delta when listening to the following lullaby:

Ầu ơ .. Bao giờ Chợ Quán hết vôi,
Thủ Thiêm hết giặc em thôi đưa đò,
Bắp non mà nướng lửa lò
Ðố ai ve được con đò Thủ Thiêm.

Âu ơ .. When the Chợ Quán market is out of lime,
The Thủ Thiêm region is out of war, I will stop being a ferrywoman.
Young and tender corn baked in oven,
I bet anyone who could court me, the boat of Thủ Thiêm.

This has without a doubt, made us relive the time of our youth, a time when we were still carefree, we would like very much flirting the girls even the ferrywoman.

 
Even the hammock is simply made of jute or fabrics, the sound provoked by its back and forth motion continue to anchor itself softly in the intimacy of our conscience and in our spiritual lifestyle and become as the years go by, the most talked about in the Vietnamese popular songs.

Ðố ai nằm võng không đưa,
Ru con không hát, đò đưa không chèo

Let’s bet who is sleeping on a hammoc without swinging,
Lulling a child to sleep without saying nursery rhyme, conducting a sampan without rowing.

In the old days, the hammock was also used to transport women or mandarins who did not know how to ride on horseback. The hammock is held up by a big bamboo resting on the shoulder of two men who trotted along with a rhythmical look. To shelter from the sun, a sedge matt is placed astride the bamboo. This assembly is often known as palanquin. This one has to follow certain protocols when it comes to a palanquin used by mandarins. According to their rank, the line that accompanied the palanquin was more or less important. One or several persons preceding the official palanquin bore arms (sabres, sticks etc…). By the sides of the palanquin walked the porters of parasols, betel nut box, spittoon, water pipe etc… This palanquin was replaced only at the appearance of the rickshaw in 1884 in Hànội.
The hammock was also the dream of most of Vietnamese young girls to be married to a mandarin as in our tradition, the young bride was riding in a palanquin preceded by her husband on horseback. ( Ngựa anh đi trước, võng nàng theo sau ).
In the West, one has the Eye of Cain to symbolize the torture of moral conscience. In Vietnam, to talk about this torture, one refers often to the creaking of the hammock of  » Con Tấm » (or Vietnamese Cinderella ) because this creaking brings back the thought the wandering soul of Tấm, victim of a plot hatched by her half-sister Cám and her step mother, trying to take revenge on Cám. The moment this one lay down on the hammock, its creaking became so deafening and menacing that Cam had the feeling her sister Tam’s wandering soul substituted for the hammock.

Nowadays, in the cities, well-to-do people replace the hammock with a bed for their little children. But it is certain that the bed, despite its comfort and attractiveness, cannot be recognizable as a familiar instrument, own and intimate of the Vietnamese people because its use is very limited and it lacks another part, the creaking that comes along with melancholic lullabies to become an eternal and irreplaceable tune of music.

In spite of its rudimentary constitution, the hammock continues to give rhythm to the Vietnamese life and witness as the years go by,the intimacy and cultural specificity of the Vietnamese people.

Literature (Văn chương)

j050807 Littérature, Văn Hóa, Vietnam ,

 

litterature

French version
Vietnamese version

Vietnam possesses an important literature, ancient as well as modern. Because of Chinese influence, the ancient literature was written in Chinese characters. It was only in about 13th century that the « nôm » began to replace the Chinese characters. Although the « nom » remains the expression of the common Vietnamese, it supposes the mastering of classical Chinese penmanship and the Vietnamese pronunciation of Chinese characters.

The Vietnamese literature tried to develop and freed itself from the Chinese model since 15th century, not only in style but also in theme. Nguyễn Trãi is one of the poets the most known by Vietnamese people. We owe him a collection of 254 poems in national language ( Quốc Âm Thi Tập ), whose translation into French language under the direction of P. Schneider is found in the Edition of CNRS, 1978, Paris. Nguyễn Trãi famous was his Bình Ngô Ðại Cáo ( Great Proclamation of The Pacification of The Ngô ). It is one of the most beautiful monuments of the Vietnamese literature.

But the most famous poems remain Chinh phu ngâm of poetess Ðoàn Thị Ðiểm and Kim Vân Kiều of Nguyễn Du ( 1756-1820 ). The latter composed during his retirement a novel composed of 3254 verses which symbolises for the majority of Vietnamese the heart and soul of the nation .

Everyone of Vietnamese knows it or many parts of it by heart. It is important to note that this masterpiece of the Vietnamese literature is also one of the masterpieces of world literature.

It is a poignant love story adapted from a Chinese novel, depicting an abundance of thoughts on the meaning of life, war, love and above all the purity of the soul inaccessible to bodily taints. The three key characters in this novel are Kim, Vân and Kiều. Separated from Kim by cruel circumstances and after so many years of suffering and humiliation, Kiều was rescued from suicide by fishermen who fished her from the river where she had wanted to drown herself. Following is an excerpt of this novel that describes the reunion of Kim and Kieu at the temple where she had spent her peaceful days.

In the joy of their reunion, they are moved by thought of their love of days before,
From the time their youth blossomed, tender like a lotus, delicious like a peach,
Fifteen years have gone by and now the dream has come true.

The detachment from the Chinese models has been accelerated by the development of the « quốc ngữ » ( Vietnamese writing in Roman alphabet ) favored by the colonization. In 1932, motivated by Nguyễn Tường Tam also known as Nhat Linh, writing club Tự Lực Văn Ðoàn was founded. This movement endeavored itself to the creation of a national literature starting from traditional bases and the most acceptable foreign influences. It relied on a review called Ngày Nay whose editors team was made of known writers such as Khái Hưng, Thạch Lam, Thế Lữ etc.

The Vietnamese literature written in French began with Phạm Quỳnh through articles of reflection on Vietnamese culture and the difficulty of dialogue between eastern and western cultures. Phạm Duy Khiêm published legends and an autobiographic novel. Phạm Văn Ky elicited in a profound manner the dialogue of the East and the West in his romanesque works ( Blood Brothers, 1947; Those Who Will Reign, 1954 etc.). While historical evolution and mostly the war seemed to drain that literature, the arrival in France of several refugees has revived a literature of witnessing ( Kim Lefèvre ) and also one in search of identity.

 

Being scholar (Sĩ Phu)

j050807 Culture, Littérature, Traditions , ,

mandarin

Vietnamese version

French version

Young or old, a scholar (Sĩ) is always well considered in the Vietnamese society. Much regard is given to him as well as the first place in social hierarchy before the farmer (Nông), the craftman ( Công ), and the merchant ( Thương ). That’s why the latter does not cease to ridicule him in folk songs.

Ai ơi chớ lấy học trò
Dài lưng tốn vải ăn no lại nằm

Never marry a student, His long back costs a lot of fabrics
Once full, he just keeps lying downischol

Equipped with intellectual kowledge, the learned man does not let himself be upset by these remarks and tries to reply with a snicker:

Hay nằm đã có võng đào
Dài lưng đã có, áo trào nhà vua
Hay ăn đã có thóc kho
Việc gì mà chẳng ăn no lại nằm

Lying down, here is the luxury hammock
My long back, this is the gown granted by the King
Eat until full, there is plenty of rice in the warehouse
I don’t have to worry, just eat until full, then lie down and rest

This consideration dated back from the time when Confucianism was implemented as the single model structure of the society. The recruitment of the learned man as a mandarin was essentially based on the literary contests which took place every three years at the great temple of Confucius or the Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu). This temple was built by King Lý Thánh Tôn in 1070 and was changed to The College of the Nation’s Children (Quốc Tự Giám) in 1076. From 1484, the name of the scholar who passed the mandarinal contests was inscribed on a stele including his date of birth and his works. This practice of inscription on the stele was stopped only in 1778. Therefore, the dream of passing the mandarinal contests became an obsession for the majority of the learned men. Some of them passed their tests with an astonishing ease such as Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm, Chu văn An and Lê Quí Ðôn. Others failed several times as was the case of the learned man Trân Tế Xương whose poems always convey a caustic irony. His everlasting failure has influenced his works enormously. Besides litterary knowledge, the passing candidate or future mandarin must possess all the concepts of mandate of Heaven, filial piety, loyalty to the king (Nghĩa tôi ) and all the values that provide a cohesion to the confucian vision. Armed with these concepts, the learned man will try to accomplish his mission not only until the end of his days but also to the detriment of his life.

It was the case of the poet laureate Nguyễn Du who prefered retiring to serving the new regime after the fall of the Lê dynasty. It was also the case of the learned man Phan Thanh Giản who decided to take his own life with poison while advising his children to farm the land and not to accept any position during the French occupation of Cochinchina in 1867. As for the learned man Nguyễn Ðình Chiễu, author of the popular poem Lục Vân Tiên and one of the noblest figures of scholars, he never stopped giving moral support to the resistance during the colonial time.

Pictures gallery

  

In his Confucian vision, the scholar tried to maintain at any costs and strictly apply these principles unless the king becomes no longer worthy of the obedience owed to him. In this case, the learned man being keen on justice, may overthrow the king because the latter has been dispossessed of the mandate of Heaven. It was the case of Cao Bá Quát who participated in the famous Locust uprising ( Giặc Châu Chấu ) in the name of the Le family against king Tự Ðức, and who was captured and executed by the latter in 1854.

Although the Scholar was one of the cornerstones of a society upon which rested so many Vietnamese dynasties to govern the country and the legitimate defender of moral values particularly the five human relations ( Ngũ Luân ), i.e. between the King and his subordinates, the Father and his son, the Husband and his wife, the Brother and his younger siblings, and the Friend and his friend), which enables us to have a social cohesion and a national identity through centuries, He is however the factor of inertia and cultural isolationism which proved to be mortal for the Nguyễn’s Empire since 1840.

While continuing to underestimate the foreign power and by maintaining his conservatism, the Scholar was incapable of adapting to modernizational reforms advocated by the modernistic learned man Nguyễn Trường Tộ. Thus, He became the major obstacle to reforms that Vietnam needed in facing the ambitions of the foreign powers. This compelled Him to disappear at the same time with the Empire during the French conquest.

The Scholar formed part of a population of 40,000 learned men, approximately 20,000 of whom were holders of ranks in 1880. The last learned man known for his patriotism and reformism was Phan Chu Trinh. This one was in favor of reforms and insisted on the priority of total progress of society, of the diffusion of the modern knowledge on simple political independence.

His banishment to Poulo Condor and especially his death in 1926 has brought an end to the dream of all Vietnamese to find an independent Vietnam with a policy of non-violence and gradual decolonization that he advocated and defended with enthusiasm and conviction for so many years.

 

He tried to reveal his state of mind in his poem entitledphanchutrinh

The candle

He wants the flame to shed light to the bottom of darkness
Because his heart is burned with anxiety of lighting
But the half-opened door lets in the north wind
In the ending night, with whom to share his tears?

Phan Chu Trinh

It was the tears of the last great Vietnamese learned man. But it is also a cry of despair of a great Vietnamese patriot facing the destiny of his country.

cierge

The animal world in the Vietnamese belief

j050807 Littérature, Traditions , ,

French version
Vietnamese version

Since the beginning of time, the Vietnamese were used to living in an inhospitable environment. Their living conditions were very hard and nature is extremely tough and pitiless. They must learn how to live with wild animals, tricking them and beating them. From that came a number of prejudices and superstitions. It is found in popular songs not only a kind of experience lived by the Vietnamese in the animal reign but also a certain philosoply sometimes just and simple. Based on observations and behavior found in the animal world, they succeeded in enriching their popular songs giving them a more invigorating, humorous, attractive and moralizing characteristic. Without referring to these wild and familiar creatures, popular songs would probably have lost their attractiveness they have kept so far. The following example indisputably illustrates this agreement borrowed from the animal reign:

Chim khôn tiếc lông
Người khôn tiếc lời

An intelligent bird keeps it feathers,
Wise people do not waste their words.

Without alluding to the bird and its feathers, the second verse would probably not have its significant range of subtlety. Likewise, in a concise manner, the following proverb depicts and sums up everything :

Một con quạ, đồn ba con ác

Rumor turns a crow into three magpies

to refer to a brag.

Instead of using the word « quạ » to mean a crow, the word « ác » is prefereed because in Chinese-Vietnamese dictionary « ac » also means evil. By its pronunciation and connotation, it brings us into inescapably thinking of something harmful while keeping intact the significant range of the proverb. It is not surprising to see a crow here because it is the bird the Vietnamese hate and spit upon. Thanks to this detestable bird, the degree of importance can be measured given the reflection contained in the proverb.

By using popular songs, proverbs and legends, the Vietnamese have on several occasions shown their opinion on the animal reign. Certain wild animals are respected and sacred, others are not. Having to share the same environment with wild animals, they do not hesitate to associate them in their daily life, to reserve a particular regard to each of them, and to give them a hierarchic classification to the image of the Vietnamese society. All that has unquestionably been dictated by their live observations and experiences that with the flow of time become transmitted from generation to generation and anchored intimately in their mind.

The egret is a kind of heron that we used to see in company with the peasants on rice fields. Leaning on its long legs, she ceaselessly tiptoes quietly there in search of food or advances seriously in long strides.

This picture is not foreign to the impression the Vietnamese give to this creature. Is she the mysterious wader that we see carved on the bronze drums of Ðồng Sơn. In anyway, she is the symbol of purity and sacrifice. That is what we found in the following popular song:

Con cò lặn lội bờ ao
Tôi có tội nào ông sáo với măng
Có sào thì sáo nước trong
Chớ sáo nước đục đau lòng cò con !

The egret searching for food at night time
Landing on a weak branch, she tumbles in the pond.
Sir, please fish me out of here,
If I am unfaithful you may want to cook me with bamboo shoot.
Cooking me you have to use clear water,
Don’t use dirty water, it hurt the feeling of this tiny egret!

She is also evoked in another song, identifying herself to a Vietnamese woman:

Con cò lặn lội bờ sông,
Gánh gạo đưa chồng tiếng khóc nĩ non,
Nàng về nuôi cái cùng con,
Ðể anh đi trãy nước non Cao-Bằng.

Like an egret wading at the river side,
Hauling rice accompanying her husband she sobs:
I am returning home to take care of mother and children,
So you may rest assured trekking the Cao Bang rugged terrain.

The egret is appreciated such that in some regions of Vietnam it is given the title of nobility: Mister Farmer ( Ong Nông ). This respect may probably be due to its beautiful plumage and its imposing look in the middle of the rice fields. Being alongside with it, the peasants consider it as a companion that know how to participate in their daily occupations. The same for the heron ( vạc) who is synonymous with elegance and longevity. We use to say : Cưỡi hạc chầu trời to allude to an old person who passes away. On the contrary, a crow is seen unfavorably. Because of its black feathers, this creature is synonymous with misfortune. Its sudden appearance in front of the house or on the way calls for a bad omen. To blame the public for having an erroneous opinion, we borrow this proverb:

Quạ ăn dưa bắt cò phơi nắng
Nghĩ lại sự đời quạ trắng cò đen

The crow eats the melon but the egret is punished by having to stay in the sun
Reflecting on life gives the feeling that the crow is white and the egret is black.

Likewise, the bear is not so much favorite. It is called « Cha Cụ » or « Cha Gấu ( father bear ). The term « Cha » is very derogatory. It is seen in this designation a contemptible and ridiculous character. The allusion is probably made to show someone who, even he is the head of the family, does not live up to his role and deserve a particular regard. Would it have anything to do with the weight and slowliness of this plantigrade in its gait? In spite of that unjustified appellation, the bear is not as unfortunate as other creatures against whom the discrimination is even more visible. The pelican (chim bồ nông ), despite its respectable size and its extensible pouch where fish are stored for feeding its chicks, receives only a little title « thằng bè » ( or the heavy guy ). The teal ( con le le ) is often called  » thằng bồng » while the kingfisher ( chim bói cá ) is often labeled as « thằng chài » ( the one who fishes with a net ).

For the latter, there is no doubt on the choice of this attribution which is probably tied to the agility of this bird in its dive and capture of fish. The term « thằng » is intentinonally used to show a state of inferiority of the creature or the person in question in relation with other species or individuals. It is also the case of the loon that is often called « thằng cộc » thằng cha cộc ». Some birds are bluntly feminized because we grant them the title « mệ »( grandma ) or « mạ » ( mother ). It is the case of the heron ( con diệc ) that we use to called « mạ diệc » ( mother heron ). Another creature of the same family as the heron, the squacco heron, receives the title « mệ thợm » ( the crabeating gossiper ).heron

Some creatures are considered as those who come from Heaven living in open sky. The word « Trời » ( or sky, heaven ) is found in their names. It is the case of « vịt trời » ( wild duck ) « ngỗng trời »( wild goose ) or ngựa trời ( religious mantis ) or horse from the sky.On the other hand, the Vietnamese think that other creatures can capture their thoughts, and out of fear and reprisals they pay respect to those creatures in order to escape their mortal traps. That is why the word « Thiêng » is used to depict supernatural creatures.

It is the case of the little mouse ( con chuột ). They dare not call it by its name despite its minuscule size. They prefer to give it the tittle  » Ông Thiêng  » ( or Mister Sacred ) because it is capable of carrying out reprisals and of knowing all the secrets and privacy in their house. Likewise, the sparrow ( chim se sẽ ) receives the same honor as the mouse’s. By its supernatural force the sparrow can escape from the trap and cause big damages by destroying their rice stocks. The ant takes part in the supernatural creatures the same way as the elephant ( ông voi) and the tiger ( ông cọp, ông Ba Mươi ). The latter two have the capability of listening to their conversations, which makes them known as « ông Thính » ( Mister Listener ).

The ant takes part in the supernatural creatures the same way as the elephant ( ông voi) and the tiger ( ông cọp, ông Ba Mươi ) . The latter two have the capability of listening to their conversations, which makes them known as « ông Thính » ( Mister Listener ).It is attributed to the tiger the aptitude of bearing on its shoulder the soul of its victim. This one, wandering and known under the term « Ma » ( ghost ) compels the tiger to return to where the victim lived in search for offerings.  It is the way to interpret the return of the tiger around the area where the victim was devoured in order to catch another prey.

That is why it is very necessary to find at any costs what belongs to the victim, burn it together with a double made of paper and that of the tiger and bury them carefully in order to return the soul indefinitely into the tomb. It is ceaselessly believed that the tiger’s whiskers possess a character harmful to health. That is why in order to avoid the damages that may be caused by these whiskers, they decide to burn them immediately at the capture of this tiger.

For most Vietnamese, the tiger is sometimes feared and revered. For fear of reprisals, they keep not only signs of respect but also temples and altars dedicated in its honor and scattered here and there in the forest. Even before killing it after capturing it, they do not even forget to give it the last homage in holding a preliminary ceremony. They use to compare themselves with the tiger by means of the following maxim:

Hùm chết để da, người chết để tiếng.
Le tigre mort laisse sa peau et l’homme décédé sa réputation.

and to grant the king of the animals an irreproachable veneration. Despite that, the animal the most preferred remains the dragon. This one is part of the four animals with supernatural power ( Tứ Linh ) ( the dragon ( rồng, long ) , the unicorn ( lân ), the turtle ( quy, rùa ) and the phoenix ( loan, phượng, phụng ) ) and occupies the first place. It is the emblematic animal traditionally chosen by the king on his clothes. It appears as a key element of the Vietnamese mythology. All Vietnamese strongly believe they are descendents of this fabulous and mythical animal. The unicorn is synonymous with happiness. As for the turtle, it is not only the symbol of longevity but also that of the transfer of spiritual value in the Vietnamese tradition.

Its presence has been mentioned many times in the history of Vietnam by means of legends. ( The magic crossbow offered by the golden turtle god to king An Dương Vương in his struggle against Chinese general Triệu Ðà ( Zhao Tuo ), the return of the sword to the turtle god by the future king Lê Lợi after his shining victory over Chinese invaders, the Ming at the Hoan Kiem lake). The phoenix always identifies with beauty. This mythical bird is often referred to in marriage. Someone having the profile of the son of Heaven ( tướng thiên tử ) is depicted as having the nose of the dragon and the eyes of the phoenix (mũi rồng mắt phượng).

To separate the lovers, it is said: Chia loan rẽ phượng. Loan is the meaning of the female phoenix while phượng is used for the male one.

Besides these mythical animals, there is another one often spoken of in Vietnamese annals and that is the water dragon ( con thuồng luồng ). It is a serpent resembling an eel, which has been described in P. Genibrel’s dictionary. To protect themselves against the water dragons, the Vietnamese used to tattoo their body so that they would not look different and be killed by these animals when they go fishing. This custom disappeared only during the reign of Trần Anh Tôn who himself renounced this practice. The water dragon is also the subject of the following proverb:

Thuồng luồng không ở cạn
The water dragon don’t live in the places where there is no water.

to mean that people of quality do not associate with lower people.

In the coastal regions, the animal the most revered remains the whale (or cá voi, cá ông). It is not surprising to see in each village along the coast, springing up an altar dedicated for this mammal. The profound attachment to this cetacean from Vietnamese fishermen is due to a great number of blessings it brought them.

Altar reserved for the whale.( Poulo Cham)

autel_baleine

In Vietnam, attention is made to precursor of natural phenomena seen in the behavior of wild creatures. Out of the roar of a tiger in search for food, the dry and staccato sound made by a deer or the squeal of a squirrel, a change of weather could be forecast (incoming wind or rain from the north). The hooting of a rooster of pagoda ( chim bìm bịp ) is a sign of an incoming flood. Seeing the ants building their big earthen nests in a hurry in the trees along the riverside, it would be possible to predict that a rise in water level is imminent. The unjustified song of a rooster predicts a bad news. The nibbling of mice in the house is not a good omen at all. The hooting of an owl near the house announces the imminent death of the sick if any in it. The drop of a spider from the ceiling is a mark of an infidelity in the household. The flight of a dragonfly on the ground level signals the imminent arrival of sunshine or rain. It is said in the following little saying:

Chuổn chuổn bay thấp thì mưa
Bay cao thì nắng, bay vừa thì râm

The dragonfly flying low brings rain
Flying high gives sunshine, flying average height predicts shadow.

A scientific explanation can be provided to that saying because the dragonfly possesses a pouch of water enabling it to regulate the altitude of its flight in function with air humidity. It is the application of the Archimedean push in air that we find in this behavior.

This superstition has been exploited in the past with ingenuity by a great number of Vietnamese leaders to consolidate their legitimacy in the conquest of power. It becomes a formidable and efficient weapon in the struggles against foreign invaders. It can be said that it was at the time what we have now with psychological warfare. The credulity has been put in evidence several times in the history of Vietnam. To facilitate access to the throne of the young virtuous Lý Công Uẩn, the future king of the Lý dynasty, the erudite monk Vạn Hạnh decided to mark discreetly the word  » thiên tử  » ( son of Heaven ) on the back of a white dog in the village Cổ Pháp and spreaded the rumor that in the current year of the Dog, there will be a new king born under the sign of the Dog to bring peace to people. That was why people did not contest the legitimacy of Lý Công Uẩn the day he took power and ascended the throne in the year of the Dog ( Canh Tuất 1010 ) under the pressure of Ðào Cam Mộc and his close relations led by monk Vạn Hạnh because people thought everything was decided in advance and that he was sent by Heaven to become king and that he was born in the year of the Dog (Giap Tuat) in 974. To shelter the capital from the caprices of the Red river, Lý Công Uẩn, heeding the advice of geomancers, intended to move the capital to Thăng Long ( or later Hà Nội). For this moving, it was necessary to make people believe that he had seen in his dream a golden dragon flying over this locality.

That would help him neutralize peacefully any ideas of contestation and revolt. Likewise, several centuries later, it is not surprising to see the building of a fantastic story of the legend on the character of Lê Lợi, a rich Mường farmer at Lam Sơn in the goal of unifying all the Vietnamese people facing their destiny and of stopping all claims of submission in the struggle against Chinese invaders ( the Ming ). It was also the resistance led by a Vietnamese of Muong origin for the first time in the history of Việtnam. It was successful to make people believe that before Lê Lợi’s birth, there was a black tiger roaming around his village. Since his birth, the tiger was no longer seen in the area. It was attributed to Lê Lợi the reincarnation of that king of animals. It was Nguyễn Trãi, his political and military counsel that described it in his work « Lam Sơn Thục Lục using the following terms:

Vua Lê vai tả có bảy nốt ruồi, long lá đầy người, tiếng như chuông lớn, ngồi như hổ ….

King Lê has 7 moles on his right shoulder, a hairy body, a voice that sounds like a big bell, a look like a tiger when seated.

It was also Nguyen Trai’s clever idea to spread for several months the following message written with toothpicks and honey on leaves that people found nibbled by ants:

Lê Lợi vì dân, Nguyễn Trãi vì thân
Lê Lợi for the people, Nguyễn Trãi for Lê Lợi

in the goal of showing the people that it was Heaven’s will and that Le Loi was designated as the sole and legitimate heir in the struggle against the Ming invaders.

To make disappear the visible affliction of a great number of people before the fate reserved for Gia Long’s foes, especially the family of emperor Quang Trung ( beheading king Cảnh Thinh, exhuming his tomb, torturing by means of elephant stamping on all his people and relatives ) and to legitimize his grab of power, many of legends around Gia Long have been brought into daylight. First is the story of encounter with his eunuch general Lê Văn Duyệt. This one, known by his courage and strength, having up until then led a hidden and reserved life with his mother in a remote corner of South Vietnam, did not hesitate to kill anyone who dared disturb him. Having known this motto and been pursued relentlessly by the Tây Sơn ( the Peasants of the West ), Nguyễn Ánh, the future emperor Gia Long decided to go see him and make friend with him. With his lieutenant Nguyễn Văn Thành, he found his house but Lê Văn Duyệt was absent at the moment. His mother invited them for lunch but advised them go withdraw immediately because she knew well the character of her son. Seeing the strangers in his house, he would not hesitate to kill them. Facing Nguyen Anh’s resolution to see her son, she was obliged to let them stay overnight. On his returning home, Le Van Duyet was annoyed by the presence of strangers in his home. But he noticed hat the young man was surrounded by a snake whose head leaned on his chest.

Troubled by this protection, he timidly asked his mother: Who is the person protected by the snake? Surprised by his question, she went to the room where Nguyen Anh was sleeping. She found no snake. Only Lê Văn Duyệt had seen that scene. For him there is no doubt that he was face to face with the person uncommon and under divine protection. He went to wake him up and asked him of the news. Lê Văn Duyệt became from that day one of his best and brilliant faithful in the conquest of power. According to the French erudite Léopold Cadière, the fabulous animal resembling the dragon found on Gia Long’s imperial costume or on the stage of his throne would probably evoke the snake’s protection that Nguyen Anh benefited during his years of vicissitude. Another time when he had to take refuge on the Phú Quốc island, Nguyen Anh was almost captured by the Tay Son if his boat was not held back and hampered by crocodiles. Intrigued by this omen, he knelt at the front of his boat and called upon Heaven:

If the enemies are hanging a trap at the mouth of river Ông Ðốc , please let me know by making disappear and reappear these crocodiles three times at once, if not, let me go now because time is very important for me.

Effectively, the disappearance and reappearance of the reptiles took place three time at once. Witnessing this unusual phenomenon responding to his wish, he did not want to go. To make sure of the presence of the enemies, a scout was sent out immediately. There was no more doubt that the enemies were waiting for him outnumbered on that day. If we do not know whether Nguyen Anh were under divine protected, then by means of historical stories we notice that he was a young prince, very courageous and intrepid. He was once chased by his enemies. He was compelled to swim across a river despite a great number of crocodiles. He had to resort to a buffalo to wade at the riverside in order to make the crossing.

The Vietnamese man is born with this belief. Without it, it would appear hard for him to overcome his daily life difficulties encountered in his inhospitable environment where fatality is in place. If superstition bears a certain image of pusillanimity, it remains nevertheless a effective weapon that the Vietnamese man does not miss an occasion to use in forging his destiny and purpose. He does not let himself being dragged too much into Cartesian mind to refute what belongs to the heritage of beliefs of his people.

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