If you are planning on taking a trip to the beautiful Eastern Asian country of Vietnam, it is best to learn some basics about the country first. This will help guide you in your travels there, especially in dealing with the locals. This is important because countries in Asia, even though they have already been modernized and highly influenced by the Western culture, often have practices that are significantly different than what Westerners are used to.
Cultural Influences
Vietnam is considered to be one of the countries that belong to the East Asian Cultural Sphere, mainly because of its Chinese influence evident in almost all aspects of the country. In the 10th century, when they gained their independence from China, Vietnam expanded to include the territories that used to be part of the Champa civilization and some parts of the Khmer empire.
The Chinese were not the only influence in the country, as they were also occupied for a time by the French, who brought Catholicism and the Latin alphabet to the Vietnam. Until now, Vietnam is the only Indochinese nation that uses the Latin alphabet to write their national language. Other cultural influence include Cuba, and the Soviet Union, hence the traces of communism.
Religion and Philosophy
The popular religion in Vietnam is typically an East Asia mix of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, or otherwise referred to as Tam Giáo (“triple religion”). Other religions include Catholicism and Vietnamese Buddhism. But whatever religious practice they choose, most Vietnamese have ancestor altars in their homes to practice ancestor worship and native animism. This plays a crucial role in their culture where family and kinship is of utmost importance.
Kinship, marriage, and family dynamics
As mentioned above, the importance of kinship and family is evident in the Vietnamese culture. But unlike what most would expect, the Vietnamese culture values the clan over family. But most inhabitants of each clan in a village are also related by blood. There is then a complex web of hierarchy within a village, and this is where the clan is considered more important than family, meaning a clan member’s hierarchal position in his family will not be considered important than his actual position in the clan.
Marriage in modern Vietnam is already considered to be influenced by both traditional and western cultures, but tradition is pretty much predominant in most Vietnamese families. They are expected to be married at a young age and most marriages are arranged by the parents.