Why is Vietnam so lucky to get Chinese culture? Why can’t the Philippines have Chinese and Japanese culture too? Why didn’t China invade the Philippines?
It’s not correct to say that Vietnam has Chinese culture. This is downplaying the unique development of Vietnamese culture.
Vietnamese culture is Chinese-like to untrained foreign eyes (like Korean/Japanese) but once you are familiar, you can see the unique styles to Vietnam, for example the curved roofs of Vietnamese traditional architecture.
There are many unique looking traditional buildings in Vietnam, the color combinations are not found in East Asian countries.
White stone buildings with red doors at Quan Thanh temple.
Last empress of Vietnam wearing traditional royal clothes. No clothes in China or East Asia had this style.
Modern version
Yet to the untrained eyes, they probably look Chinese like.
Whale worshipping in Vietnam
Singing traditional songs on boat. Vietnamese culture is heavily associated with water, from rivers, lakes to the sea so there are many local festivals that are centred around boat activities.
Annual pilgrimage on boats to Perfume Pagoda.
Another type of Vietnamese traditional clothes not found anywhere else in the world.
Vietnam even has our own unique styles of arts, Đông Hồ paintings which are based on Vietnamese folklores and a more complex style called Sơn Mài (lacquer painting)
Vietnamese lacquer painting
Due to the power of the historic Chinese dynasties, Vietnamese elite readily absorbed high culture from Chinese civilization such as literature, arts, architecture, fashion, and military. Nevertheless it maintained its own local development. Vietnamese culture being similar to Chinese isn’t just because of historical invasion.
I am an attorney in the Washington DC area, with a Doctor of Law in the US, attended the master program at the National School of Administration of Việt Nam, and graduated from Sài Gòn University Law School. I aso studied philosophy at the School of Letters in Sài Gòn.
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I have worked as an anti-trust attorney for Federal Trade Commission and a litigator for a fortune-100 telecom company in Washington DC.
I have taught law courses for legal professionals in Việt Nam and still counsel VN government agencies on legal matters.
I have founded and managed businesses for me and my family, both law and non-law.
I have published many articles on national newspapers and radio stations in Việt Nam.
In 1989 I was one of the founding members of US-VN Trade Council, working to re-establish US-VN relationship.
Since the early 90's, I have established and managed VNFORUM and VNBIZ forum on VN-related matters; these forums are the subject of a PhD thesis by Dr. Caroline Valverde at UC-Berkeley and her book Transnationalizing Viet Nam.
I translate poetry and my translation of "A Request at Đồng Lộc Cemetery" is now engraved on a stone memorial at Đồng Lộc National Shrine in VN.
I study and teach the Bible and Buddhism. In 2009 I founded and still manage dotchuoinon.com on positive thinking and two other blogs on Buddhism.
In 2015 a group of friends and I founded website CVD - Conversations on Vietnam Development (cvdvn.net).
I study the art of leadership with many friends who are religious, business and government leaders from many countries.
I have written these books, published by Phu Nu Publishing House in Hanoi:
"Positive Thinking to Change Your Life", in Vietnamese (TƯ DUY TÍCH CỰC Thay Đổi Cuộc Sống) (Oct. 2011)
"10 Core Values for Success" (10 Giá trị cốt lõi của thành công) (Dec. 2013)
"Live a Life Worth Living" (Sống Một Cuộc Đời Đáng Sống) (Oct. 2023)
I practice Jiu Jitsu and Tai Chi for health, and play guitar as a hobby, usually accompanying my wife Trần Lê Túy Phượng, aka singer Linh Phượng.
Xem tất cả bài viết bởi Trần Đình Hoành
CVD 