Vietnamese Culture

VIETNAM THROUGH DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILIZATIONS

Professor Vu Khieu
Vietnamese Hero of Labour

We understand that dialogue among civilizations is an essential need of our time, as it taps the boundless potential of knowledge and spirit of each and every civilization in order to serve the advancement, prosperity and well being of each person, each nation and the whole of humankind. 

As for Vietnam, dialogue among civilizations is what we have long desired. It enables us to expand our cultural exchanges with the world community. It helps our culture to develop continuously by further promoting our own values and at the same time absorbing the best values of all civilizations in the world. 

DOING BUSINESS IN VIETNAM: A CULTURAL GUIDE

Esmond D. Smith Jr. and Cuong Pham

Abstract:

Vietnam and its 73 million people is considered a market with huge potential, and US corporations are wise to look into the possibility of doing business there now that relations have been normalized. Ways to overcome language and cultural barriers are discussed.

How that U.S.-Vietnamese diplomatic ties have been restored, many American businesses are hoping to be in on the development opportunities offered by what some analysts consider to be Asia's newest economic "tiger." Structural problems do abound in Vietnam. Its underdeveloped economic infrastructure, a ponderous and pervasive government bureaucracy, and an embryonic legal system are but a few of them. But the country's dynamism lies in its principle asset - its people.

The population of Vietnam is young: 80 percent of its 73 million people are under the age of 40. They are also well educated, with an overall literacy rate approaching 90 percent. In addition, despite two decades of communist "socialism," Vietnamese have retained a strong work ethic and an energetic sense of entrepreneurialism. Add to these facts the current low cost of labor in the country - the average annual per capita income was under $250 in 1994 and it is easy to understand why foreign businesses and investors are pouring into Vietnam.

Competing successfully in Vietnam against other foreign - mostly Asian - businesses will require that American companies make an effort to understand, respect, and, to some extent, adapt to Vietnamese culture. The purpose of this article is to provide some insights into that culture, with a focus on business and interpersonal communications.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGED AND DEVELOPMENT

Ngo Duc Thinh

Allow me to express my warm thanks to the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and to Unesco Professor Baidyanath Saraswati for their kind invitation to participate in this seminar. This is a happy opportunity for me to set foot on this wonderful land for the first time and to meet and learn from colleagues from India and other countries. On this occasion, originating from realities in Vietnam, I would like to share with our colleagues my thinking and experience related to the issues our seminar is interested in.

HALLYU AND ITS EFFECT ON YOUNG VIETNAMESE

Dang Thi Thu Huong, PhD (in UK)

University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam

The impact of Chinese movies and later the "Korean wave" during the last decade, especially on young Vietnamese, has been a dramatic and significant phenomenon. As China and Vietnam are neighbours, Vietnam is influenced significantly by Chinese culture, which took root during the long Chinese occupation. However, Korean dramas are even more popular than the Chinese ones.

NUTRITION AND FASTING IN VIETNAMESE CULTURE

Janet Tu

Information for the following was compiled from interviews with a hospital outpatient community nutritionist; a community health clinic nutritionist/registered dietician; a community clinic physician's assistant who was a physician in Vietnam; and a 46-year-old Vietnamese immigrant mother of two.

HOW TO AVOID CULTURE CHASMS IN VIETNAM

Dao Thi Lien Huong

Quoc Anh IEC company Vietnam – Managing director

FELCA- Federation of Education and Languages Consultants Association – Secretary for  Asia Pacific

Culture clashes may occur from the differences in culture and belief systems, due to generational gaps or just because of the time or venue of the action. To avoid cultural blunders and shocks, one has to do research and study well the culture that one is going to do business with.

Nguyen Ngoc Tho

Presently visiting fellow of Harvard-Yenching Institute,Harvard University

(Bài viết tiếng Việt đăng ở mục Văn hóa Việt Nam / Văn hóa ứng xử với môi trường xã hội. The Vietnamese version can be seen at http://www.vanhoahoc.edu.vn/site/index.php?option=com_content&;task=view&id=403&Itemid=79)

I - THE EVENTS

The ethnic Zhuang nationality with its long-standing tradition is said to have close racial relations with the peoples of Au Viet (瓯越) and Lac Viet (骆越) in the ancient Hundred-Viet race. After the long vicissitudes of times, the present Zhuang’s ascendants has been bequeathed a rich and colourful cultural tradition which helps build the present Zhuang cultural identities. The local cultural nature still plays the important role in folk-culture acitivities, despite the long-lasting and unsmooth processes of cultural contacts with the neighbouring peoples, especially with the Han Chinese. The traditional singing festival in the third of March in each lunar year (三月三, san’yue’san) can be seen as the typical case.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

OF THE TAY, THE NUNG AND THE ZHUANG IN CHINA

Nguyễn Thị Yến

ASF member cohort IV th

The Tay, Nung and Zhuang are the three most populous ethnic minority groups belonging to the Thai language-speaking community, the biggest in Asia. The groups spread over Southeast Asia, including Viet Nam and China. Research into their religious belief should shed light on the similarities and particularities of the religious beliefs of each group. This constitutes the most important target of our research project. The initially achieved results have met this target.

WOMEN IN VIETNAMESE FOLKLORE

CONG HUYEN TON NU NHA TRANG

Chính chuyên lấy được chín chồng
Vê viên bỏ lọ gánh gồng đi chơi
Ai ngờ quang đứt lọ rơi
Bò ra lổm ngổm chín nơi chín chồng.
(Respecting the rule of fidelity I have married nine husbands
Rolling them into balls, I put them in a jar and carried it with a shoulder pole.
Accidentally the suspending frame broke and the jar fell to the ground;
Out crawld the nine husbands scatteringly in nine different directions.)

THE CHAM'S BANI IN THE CENTRAL OF VIETNAM

- A INDEGENOUS FORM OF ISLAM

 
ThS. Phan Anh Tú

(ĐHQG TP.HCM)

 
Đã đăng: AMANA Magazine, 2006

 
Đạo Bà Ni của người Chăm ở miền Trung Việt Nam - một loại hình Hồi giáo bản địa

Nhiều nguồn thư tịch của Champa và Trung Hoa cho biết, đạo Hồi được các thương gia Ả Rập, Ấn Độ và Java truyền bá vào Champa vào khoảng cuối thế kỷ thứ 9. Tuy nhiên, do quá trình "Nam tiến" của người Việt diễn ra mạnh mẽ trong nhiều thế kỷ sau đó đã làm cho đại bộ phận tộc người Chăm bị phân tán và xáo trộn. Phần lớn người Chăm chạy sang tị nạn tại vương quốc Cam Pu Chia, một số khác tìm đường vượt biển sang bán đảo Hải Nam của Trung Hoa hay sang tận đảo Java của Indonesia ngày nay. Số cư dân còn lại tập trung tại vùng Panduranga (Phan Rang, Phan Thiết ngày nay) là vùng đất cuối cùng của vương quốc Champa cổ. Do vậy, sinh hoạt tinh thần của người Chăm Hồi giáo cũng bị hoàn toàn cách biệt với thế giới Hồi giáo. Tuy đạo Hồi vẫn tiếp tục phát triển nhưng qua thời gian đã bị bản địa hóa và trở thành một loại hình tôn giáo mới gọi là đạo Bà Ni.