Vietnamese Culture

Vietnamese Culture Thesis Statement: The Vietnamese culture, a rich heritage on many different levels. Through exploring its religion, population, language, education, government, art and economics, an appreciation can be developed for the important contributions Vietnamese people make in American society. The early inhabitants of the area were Negritos. Some 4,000 years ago Austronesian (Indonesian) migrants from the north were moving into the area that is now North Vietnam. Later, Austro-Asiatic (Mon-Klimer and Maylayo-Polynesian) peoples arrived. Then, about 2500 years ago Viet (Yueh) and Tai peoples moved down from southern China. Out of this mixture of genes, languages, and cultures arose Van Lang, considered to have been the first Vietnamese Kingdom. In mid-third century B.C Van Lang was over run by and incorporated into another state to the north, forming the kingdom of Au Lac. Then Au Lac was incorporated into an even larger and more powerful state: Nam Viet. (Levison 284) Historically speaking, Vietnam (officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as of 1992) has struggled for independence for at least two thousand years, primarily from China. There have been brief periods when the country has itself p

In spite of its long relationship and physical closeness to China, Vietnam has for most of historical time "defined itself as China"tms enemy, a fact memorialized in folk song and legend" (301). The Communist party enlists neighborhood committees and uses these along with its own organizations to monitor behavior and punish what it perceives to be deviance from the norm. About 20 percent of all Vietnamese people live in cities, the majority of these in two or three room apartments. The punishment for exceeding the two child limit was most easily enforced" (295). Once a tattoo artist, Tan experiments with subjects such as men masturbating and variations on the phallic symbol. But number one, there is very little money to be made in Vietnam, so there are few places to spend it. In writing, these tones are marked diametrically, giving the language a great musicality. In 1994 the population of Vietnam was roughly 69 millions. Respecting its economy, Vietnam is and always has been a very poor country, "with an annual per capita income of less than U. Although the party has eased up on the economy a bit regarding control, it still wields absolute political power. In Vietnam, "gossip and ridicule have been important weapons for social control because of a concern for face" (296). Was Communism to be practiced, as it should be in Vietnam There would be a middle and upper class which there are not except at the level of government, meaning it"tms the same old story of corruption, hunger for power and the odd need to keep the people as submissive and as under-privileged as possible. The children are taught that "water from Vietnam"tms many rivers and from the annual monsoons is basic to the rice agriculture" (26), which is so vital to the country"tms existence in terms of both substance and economy. Music plays a central role in daily life just as it does in America; its fine arts and architecture, however, reflect Chinese as well as Western influence. Most households have altars for their ancestors and "small shrines built in honor of various spirits (the earth god, Shakyamuni, the goddess of mercy, the god of wealth, etc.