Contents

Contents

1 History of Vietnam 1
1.1 Prehistory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 First human evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.2 Paleolithic to Neolithic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Early dynastic epoch (c. 2879–111 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1 Hồng Bàng period/dynasty (c. 2879–258 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.2 Thục dynasty (257–179 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.3 Triệu dynasty (207–111 BC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 The long eclipse: Chinese millennium (111 BC – 938 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.1 Han domination (111 BC – 40 AD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.2 Trưng Sisters (40–43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.3 From Han to Liang domination (43–544) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.4 Early Lý dynasty (544–602) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.5 From Sui to Tang domination (602–905) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3.6 Autonomy (905–938) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4 Late dynastic epoch (939–1945) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4.1 Ngô, Đinh, & Early Lê dynasties (939–1009) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4.2 Lý, Trần, & Hồ dynasties (1009–1407) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4.3 Ming domination & Later Lê dynasty (1407–1527) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.4 Mạc & Restored Lê dynasties (1527–1788) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.4.5 Tây Sơn & Nguyễn dynasties (1778–1945) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.5 Republican period (from 1945) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.5.1 Communist North & capitalist South (1945–76) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.5.2 Socialist Republic after 1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.6 Changing names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.8.1 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.9 Further reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.10 Primary sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.11 In Vietnamese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.12 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

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2 Demographics of Vietnam 19
2.1 Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1.1 UN estimates[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 Vital statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
[2]
2.2.1 UN estimates of births and deaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2.2 Birth, death and fertility rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.3 Ethnic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.4 Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.5 Religions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.6 CIA World Factbook demographic statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.6.1 Sex ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.6.2 Life expectancy at birth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.6.3 Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.8 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

3 Geography of Vietnam 22
3.1 Physiography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2 Terrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2.1 Red River Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2.2 Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.2.3 Central Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.2.4 Coastal lowlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.2.5 Mekong Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.3 Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.4 Area and boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.5 Resources and land use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.6 Environmental concerns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.7 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.9 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

4 List of cities in Vietnam 27

4.1 Centrally controlled cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.2 Provincial cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.3 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.4 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.5 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

5 Politics of Vietnam 29
5.1 Legal framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
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5.2 State ideology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

5.3 The Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.3.1 Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.3.2 Central Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.4 Vietnamese Fatherland Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.5 Executive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.6 Legislative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.7 Elections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.7.1 Latest parliamentary election . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.7.2 Latest presidential election . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.8 Judiciary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.9 Local government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.9.1 List of provinces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.10 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.11 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.12 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

6 Human rights in Vietnam 37

6.1 Vietnam’s report about human rights in UN human rights council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.2 Recent facts of human rights in Vietnam from international human rights organizations reports . . . 38
6.3 Current human-rights related dissidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.4 Ethnic Minorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.5 Religious Discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
6.8 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

7 President of Vietnam 41
7.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
7.2 Duties, powers and responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
7.3 Order of succession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.4 List of presidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.5 Living former presidents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.6 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
7.8 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

8 Economy of Vietnam 45
8.1 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
8.1.1 Development since 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
8.2 Economic sectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
8.2.1 Agriculture, fishery and forestry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
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8.2.2 Energy, mining and minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

8.2.3 Industry and manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
8.2.4 Services and tourism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
8.2.5 Banking and finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
8.3 Currency, exchange rate and inflation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
8.3.1 Currency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
8.3.2 Exchange rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
8.3.3 Inflation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
8.4 Mergers and acquisitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
8.5 Foreign economic relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
8.5.1 Foreign trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
8.5.2 External debt, foreign aid, and foreign investment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
8.5.3 Free trade agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8.6 Major economic areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8.7 Economic indicators and international rankings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8.8 Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8.9 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
8.10 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

9 Culture of Vietnam 54
9.1 Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
9.2 Kinship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
9.3 Marriage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
9.4 Funeral ceremony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
9.4.1 Wake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
9.4.2 Funeral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
9.5 Religion and philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
9.6 Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
9.7 Visual arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
9.7.1 Calligraphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
9.7.2 Silk painting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
9.7.3 Woodblock prints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
9.8 Performing arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
9.8.1 Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
9.8.2 Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
9.8.3 Dance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
9.9 Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
9.10 Cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
9.11 Clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
9.12 Martial arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
9.13 Holidays and other important days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
9.13.1 Public holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
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9.13.2 Other holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

9.14 World and intangible cultural heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
9.14.1 Cultural heritage sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
9.14.2 Natural heritage sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
9.14.3 Intangible cultural heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
9.15 See also . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
9.16 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
9.17 External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
9.18 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
9.18.1 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
9.18.2 Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
9.18.3 Content license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Chapter 1

History of Vietnam

The history of Vietnam can be traced back to around ing sovereign power in the country, the next millennium
25,000 years ago.[1] Archaeological findings from 1965, was advanced by the accomplishments of successive dy-
still under research, show the remains of two hominins nasties: Ngôs, Đinhs, Early Lês, Lýs, Trầns, Hồs, Later
closely related to Sinanthropus, dating as far back as the Trầns, Later Lês, Mạcs, Trịnhs, Nguyễns, Tây Sơns
Middle Pleistocene era, roughly half a million years ago. and again Nguyễns. At various points during the impe-
Ancient Vietnam was home to some of the world’s ear- rial dynasties, Vietnam was ravaged and divided by civil
liest civilizations and societies—making them one of the wars and witnessed interventions by the Songs, Mongol
world’s first people who practiced agriculture.[2][3] The Yuans, Chams, Mings, Dutch, Manchus, French, and the
Red River valley formed a natural geographic and eco- Americans. The Ming Empire conquered the Red River
nomic unit, bounded to the north and west by mountains valley for a while before native Vietnamese regained con-
and jungles, to the east by the sea and to the south by trol and the French Empire reduced Vietnam to a French
the Red River Delta. The need to have a single author- dependency for nearly a century, followed by an occu-
ity to prevent floods of the Red River, to cooperate in pation by the Japanese Empire. Political upheaval and
constructing hydraulic systems, trade exchange, and to Communist insurrection put an end to the monarchy after
fight invaders, led to the creation of the first Vietnamese World War II, and the country was proclaimed a republic.
states approximately 2879 BC.[4][5][6] Another truly in-
fluential part of history in Vietnam occurred during the
late Bronze Age, when the Đông Sơn culture dramati-
cally advanced the civilization. Vietnam’s peculiar geog-
1.1 Prehistory
raphy made it a difficult country to attack, which is why
Vietnam under the Hùng kings was for so long an inde- Main article: Prehistoric Vietnam
pendent and self-contained state. The Xích Tỵs and Qins
were among the earliest foreign aggressors of Vietnam,
but the ancient Vietnamese managed to regain control of
the country soon after the invasions. 1.1.1 First human evidence
Once Vietnam did succumb to foreign rule, however, it
proved unable to escape from it, and for 1,100 years, Archaeological excavations revealed the existence of hu-
Vietnam had been successively governed by a series of mans in the area that is today Vietnam as early as the
Chinese dynasties: the Han, Eastern Wu, Jin, Liu Song, Paleolithic age. The presence of Homo erectus around
Southern Qi, Liang, Sui, Tang, and Southern Han; lead- 500,000 BC[7] was found in caves of Lạng Sơn and Nghệ
ing to the loss of native cultural heritage, language, andAn provinces in Northern Vietnam. Other early human
much of national identity. At certain periods during fossils are from the Middle Pleistocene age. They include
these 1,100 years, Vietnam was independently governed mostly isolated teeth from northern Vietnam at Tham Om
under the Triệus, Trưng Sisters, Early Lýs, Khúcs and (250–140 kyr), and Hang Hum (140–80 kyr).[8] Teeth at-
Dương Đình Nghệ—although their triumphs and reigns tributed to Homo sapiens are also known from the Late
were brief. Pleistocene of Vietnam at Dong Can (16 kyr)[9] and from
the Early Holocene at Mai Da Dieu/Mai Da Nuoc (8.2
During the foreign domination of North Vietnam, sev- kyr),[9] Lang Gao[10] and Lang Cuom (6.44 ± 0.5 kyr).[11]
eral civilizations flourished in what is today central and
south Vietnam, particularly the Funanese and Cham. The
founders and rulers of these governments, however, were 1.1.2 Paleolithic to Neolithic
not native to Vietnam. From the 10th century onwards,
the Vietnamese, emerging in their heartland of the Red
Main page: Template:Prehistoric and ancient cultures of
River Delta, began to conquer these civilizations.
Vietnam
When Ngô Quyền (King of Vietnam, 939–944) restor-

1
2 CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF VIETNAM

There are some caves with Paleolithic remains typified Quỷ and reigned over the confederacy that occupied the
by the Nguom industry and the Sơn Vi culture, dating Red River Delta in present-day Northern Vietnam and
from 28,000 BC to 8,000 BC. The most important event part of southeastern China, seeing the beginnings of na-
in Vietnamese prehistory is the appearance of Hòa Bình tionhood for Vietnam under one supreme ruler, the Hùng
and Bắc Sơn cultures—the most typical cave cultures in king, also starting the Hồng Bàng period.
Southeast Asia. Archeological excavations in Thailand
(Spirit Cave, Non Nok Tha) and northern Vietnam (Dong
Son, Hòa Bình) revealed a major surprise: the first South-
east Asians had agriculture and pottery at the same time
as the city-states of ancient Mesopotamia. The finds of
the fossils of Homo erectus, Homo sapiens and Homo
sapiens sapiens in the cave sites in North Vietnam have
confirmed that the evolution of human formation took
place the most dramatically in the karst topology, from
the late Pleistocene to Holocene.

1.2 Early dynastic epoch (c. 2879–

111 BC)
Lạc Long Quân’s temple at Sim Hill (Phú Thọ).
1.2.1 Hồng Bàng period/dynasty (c. 2879–
According to stories of the period, the First Hùng dy-
258 BC) nasty only had one ruler, Kinh Dương Vương himself,
and witnessed the first two capitals in Vietnamese history,
Main article: Hồng Bàng dynasty at Ngàn Hống and Nghĩa Lĩnh. Sùng Lãm (c. 2825 BC
– ?) was Kinh Dương Vương’s successor and founded
According to mythology, for almost three millennia — the Second Hùng dynasty. The next line of kings that
from its beginning around 2879 B.C. to its conquest by followed renamed the country Văn Lang.
Thục Phán in 258 B.C. — the Hồng Bàng period was di- The Third Hùng dynasty lasted from approximately 2524
vided into 18 dynasties, with each dynasty being based on BC to 2253 BC. The administrative rule of the Lạc tướng,
the lineage of the kings. Throughout this era, the coun- Bố chính, and Lạc hầu began.[12]
try encountered many changes, some being very drastic.
Due to the limitation of the written evidence, the main The period of the Fourth Hùng dynasty (c. 2252–1913
sources of information about the Hồng Bàng period are BC) saw the evidence for early Vietnamese calendar
[13]
the many vestiges, objects and artifacts that have been system recorded on stone tools and the population
recovered from archaeological sites - as well as a consid- from the mountainous areas moved out and began to set-
erable amount of legend. The land began as several tribal tle in the open along the rivers to join the agricultural
[14]
states, with King Kinh Dương Vương grouping all the activities.
vassal states at around 2879 BC. The ancient Vietnamese
rulers of this period are collectively known as the Hùng
Mid-Hồng Bàng (c. 1912–1055 BC)
kings (Vietnamese: Hùng Vương).
Main articles: Tốn line, Ly line, Khôn line, Đoài line,
Early Hồng Bàng (c. 2879–1913 BC) Giáp line, Ất line and Bính line
The Fifth Hùng dynasty lasted from approximately 1912
Main articles: Càn line, Khảm line, Cấn line and Chấn BC to 1713 BC.
line Then, during the Sixth Hùng dynasty, Văn Lang was in-
vaded by the mysterious people called the Xích Tỵ, as the
From time immemorial, modern northern Vietnam and king battled Văn Lang back to greatness.
southern China were peopled by many races. Lộc Tục The Seventh dynasty started with Lang Liêu, a son of the
(c. 2919 – 2794 BC) succeeded his predecessor as tribal last king of the Sixth dynasty. Lang Liêu was a prince
chief and made the first attempts to incorporate all tribes who won a culinary contest; he then won the throne be-
around 2879 BC. As he succeeded in grouping all the vas- cause his creations, bánh chưng (rice cake), reflect his
sal states within his territory, a convocation of the sub- deep understanding of the land’s vital economy: rice
dued tribes proclaimed him King Kinh Dương Vương, farming. The Seventh dynasty and well into the early first
as the leader of the unified ancient Vietnamese nation. millennium BC was a period of stabilizing, saw a civiliza-
Kinh Dương Vương called his newly born country Xích tion flourishing to continue its greatness.
1.2. EARLY DYNASTIC EPOCH (C. 2879–111 BC) 3

val was held which featured huge parties and sexual aban-
don. Religion consisted of primitive animistic cults.
Since around 2000 BC, stone hand tools and weapons im-
proved extraordinary in both quantity and variety. Pot-
tery reached a higher level in technique and decoration
style. The Vietnamese people were mainly agricultur-
ists, they grew the wet rice Oryza, now became their
main staple diet. During later stage of the first half of
the 2nd millennium BC, the first appearance of bronze
tools took place despite these tools were still rare. By
about 1000 BC, bronze replaced stone for about 40% of
edged tools and weapons, rising to about 60%. Here,
there are not only bronze weapons, axes, and personal
ornaments, but also sickles and other agriculture tools.
Toward the closure of the Bronze Age, bronze accounts
for more than 90 percent of tools and weapons, and there
are exceptionally extravagant graves – the burial places of
powerful chiefdoms – contained some hundred of ritual
and personal bronze artifacts such as musical instruments,
bucket-shaped ladles, and ornament daggers. After 1000
BC, the ancient Vietnamese people were skilled agricul-
turalists as they grew rice and kept buffaloes and pigs.
Map of Văn Lang 500 BC. They were also skilled fishermen and bold sailors, whose
long dug-out canoes traversed all the China sea.
Late Hồng Bàng (c. 1054–258 BC)

Main articles: Đinh line, Mậu line, Kỷ line, Canh line,

Tân line, Nhâm line and Qúy line

The first millennium BC, a new glamour period of an-

cient civilization of Viet Nam, went through the Twelfth
dynasty to the Eighteenth dynasty. It was when the Viet-
namese Bronze Age culture further flourished and at-
tained an unprecedented level of realism, and finally cul-
minated that led to the opening the stage of the Viet-
namese Iron Age.
The Eighteenth dynasty was the last ruling dynasty during
the Hùng king epoch. It fell to the Âu Việt in 258 BC after
the last Hùng king was defeated in battle.
Pottery fruit tray of the Sa Huỳnh people.

Cultural evolution

This period contained some accounts that mixed up his- Modern central and southern Vietnam were not originally
torical facts with legends. The Legend of Gióng tells of part of the Vietnamese state. The peoples of those areas
a youth going to war to save the country, wearing iron developed a distinct culture from the ancient Vietnamese
armor, riding an armored horse, and wielding an iron in the Red River Delta region. For instance, the 1st mil-
staff, showed that metalworking was sophisticated. The lennium BC Sa Huỳnh culture in the areas of present-
Legend of the Magic Crossbow, about a crossbow that day central Vietnam revealed a considerable use of iron
can deliver thousands of arrows, showed extensive use of and decorative items made from glass, semi-precious and
archery in warfare. precious stones such as agate, carnelian, rock crystal,
Fishing and hunting supplemented the main rice crop. amethyst, and nephrite.[15] The culture also showed evi-
Arrowheads and spears were dipped in poison to kill dence of an extensive trade network. The Sa Huỳnh peo-
larger animals such as elephants. Betel nuts were widely ple were most likely the predecessors of the Cham people,
chewed and the lower classes rarely wore clothing more an Austronesian-speaking people and the founders of the
substantial than a loincloth. Every spring, a fertility festi- kingdom of Champa.
4 CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF VIETNAM

Nam Việt at its greatest extent.

Map of the Cổ Loa Citadel, red is the wall, blue is the water,
green is the trees

1.2.2 Thục dynasty (257–179 BC)

Main articles: An Dương Vương and Cổ Loa Citadel Bronze drum during the Triệu dynasty.

By the 3rd century BC, another Viet group, the Âu Việt,

emigrated from present-day southern China to the Red
River delta and mixed with the indigenous Văn Lang pop- 1.2.3 Triệu dynasty (207–111 BC)
ulation. In 257 BC, a new kingdom, Âu Lạc, emerged as
the union of the Âu Việt and the Lạc Việt, with Thục
Phán proclaiming himself "An Dương Vương" (“King Main article: Triệu dynasty
An Dương”). Some modern Vietnamese believe that
Thục Phán came upon the Âu Việt territory (modern-day In 207 BC, Qin warlord Triệu Đà (pinyin: Zhao Tuo)
northernmost Vietnam, western Guangdong, and south- established his own independent kingdom in present-
ern Guangxi province, with its capital in what is today day Guangdong/Guangxi area.[17] He proclaimed his new
Cao Bằng Province).[16] kingdom as Nam Việt (pinyin: Nanyue), starting the
After assembling an army, he defeated and overthrew Triệu dynasty.[17] Triệu Đà later appointed himself a
the eighteenth dynasty of Hùng kings, around 258 BC. commandant of central Guangdong, closing the borders
He proclaimed himself An Dương Vương (“King An and conquering neighboring districts and titled himself
Dương”). He then renamed his newly acquired state from “King of Nam Viet”[17] In 179 BC, he defeated King An
Văn Lang to Âu Lạc and established the new capital at Dương Vương and annexed Âu Lạc.[18]
Phong Khê in the present-day Phú Thọ town in northern This period is controversial as on one side, some Viet-
Vietnam, where he tried to build the Cổ Loa Citadel (Cổ namese historians consider Triệu's rule as the starting
Loa Thành), the spiral fortress approximately ten miles point of the Chinese domination, since Triệu Đà was a
north of that new capital. However, records showed that former Qin general, whereas others consider it still an era
espionage resulted in the downfall of An Dương Vương. of Vietnamese independence as the Triệu family in Nam
At his capital, Cổ Loa, he built many concentric walls Việt were assimilated to local culture. They ruled inde-
around the city for defensive purposes. These walls, to- pendently of what then constituted Han Empire. At one
gether with skilled Âu Lạc archers, kept the capital safe point, Triệu Đà even declared himself Emperor, equal to
from invaders. the Han Emperor in the north.[17]
1.3. THE LONG ECLIPSE: CHINESE MILLENNIUM (111 BC – 938 AD) 5

1.3 The long eclipse: Chinese mil- til 866. Annam (with its capital around modern Bắc Ninh
Province) became a flourishing trading outpost, receiving
lennium (111 BC – 938 AD) goods from the southern seas. The Book of the Later Han
recorded that in 166 the first envoy from the Roman Em-
Main article: Chinese domination of Vietnam pire to China arrived by this route, and merchants were
soon to follow. The 3rd-century Tales of Wei (Weilüe)
mentioned a “water route” (the Red River) from Annam
into what is now southern Yunnan. From there, goods
1.3.1 Han domination (111 BC – 40 AD) were taken over land to the rest of China via the regions
of modern Kunming and Chengdu.
Main article: First Chinese domination of Vietnam
At the same time, in present-day Central Vietnam, there
was a successful revolt of Cham nations. Chinese dynas-
In 111 BC, Han troops invaded Nam Việt and estab- ties called it Lin-Yi (Lin village; Vietnamese: Lâm Ấp).
lished new territories, dividing Vietnam into Giao Chỉ It later became a powerful kingdom, Champa, stretching
(pinyin: Jiaozhi), now the Red River delta; Cửu Chân from Quảng Bình to Phan Thiết (Bình Thuận).
from modern-day Thanh Hóa to Hà Tĩnh; and Nhật Nam
(pinyin: Rinan), from modern-day Quảng Bình to Huế.
While governors and top officials were Chinese, the orig- 1.3.4 Early Lý dynasty (544–602)
inal Vietnamese nobles (Lạc Hầu, Lạc Tướng) from the
Hồng Bàng period still managed some highlands.
Main article: Early Lý dynasty

1.3.2 Trưng Sisters (40–43) In the period between the beginning of the Chinese Age
of Fragmentation and the end of the Tang dynasty, sev-
Main article: Trưng Sisters eral revolts against Chinese rule took place, such as those
of Lý Bôn and his general and heir Triệu Quang Phục;
and those of Mai Thúc Loan and Phùng Hưng. All of
In 40 AD, the Trưng Sisters led a successful revolt against
them ultimately failed, yet most notable were those led by
Han Governor Su Dung (Vietnamese: Tô Định) and re-
Lý Bôn and Triệu Quang Phục, whose Early Lý dynasty
captured 65 states (including modern Guangxi). Trưng
ruled for almost half a century, from 544 to 602, before
Trắc became the Queen (Trưng Nữ Vương). In 43 AD,
the Chinese Sui dynasty reconquered their kingdom Vạn
Emperor Guangwu of Han sent his famous general Ma
Xuân.[20]
Yuan (Vietnamese: Mã Viện) with a large army to quell
the revolt. After a long, difficult campaign, Ma Yuan
suppressed the uprising and the Trung Sisters committed
suicide to avoid capture. To this day, the Trưng Sisters 1.3.5 From Sui to Tang domination (602–
are revered in Vietnam as the national symbol of Viet- 905)
namese women.
Main article: Third Chinese domination of Vietnam

1.3.3 From Han to Liang domination (43– In 866, Annam was renamed Tĩnh Hải quân. Early in
544) the 10th century, as China became politically fragmented,
successive lords from the Khúc clan, followed by Dương
Main article: Second Chinese domination of Vietnam Đình Nghệ, ruled Tĩnh Hải quân autonomously under the
Tang title of Jiedushi (Vietnamese: Tiết Độ Sứ), Virtuous
Learning a lesson from the Trưng revolt, the Han and Lord, but stopped short of proclaiming themselves kings.
other successful Chinese dynasties took measures to elim-
inate the power of the Vietnamese nobles. The Viet-
namese elites were educated in Chinese culture and pol- 1.3.6 Autonomy (905–938)
itics. Giao Chỉ prefect, Shi Xie, ruled Vietnam as an au-
tonomous warlord and was posthumously deified by later Main articles: Khúc clan, Dương Đình Nghệ and Kiều
Vietnamese emperors.[19] Nearly 200 years passed be- Công Tiễn
fore the Vietnamese attempted another revolt. In 225 an-
other woman, Triệu Thị Trinh, popularly known as Lady In 938, Southern Han sent troops to conquer autonomous
Triệu (Bà Triệu), led another revolt which lasted until Giao Châu. Ngô Quyền, Dương Đình Nghệ's son-in-
248. Once again, the uprising failed and Triệu Thị Trinh law, defeated the Southern Han fleet at the Battle of Bạch
threw herself into a river. Đằng (938). He then proclaimed himself King Ngô and
During the Tang dynasty, Vietnam was called Annam un- effectively began the age of independence for Vietnam.
6 CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF VIETNAM

1.4 Late dynastic epoch (939–1945) the five most influential families.
In 979, Emperor Đinh Tiên Hoàng and his crown prince
The basic nature of Vietnamese society changed lit- Đinh Liễn were assassinated, leaving his lone surviving
tle during the nearly 1,000 years between independence son, the 6-year-old Đinh Toàn, to assume the throne.
from China in the 10th century and the French conquest Taking advantage of the situation, Song China invaded
in the 19th century. The king was the ultimate source of Đại Cồ Việt. Facing such a grave threat to national in-
political authority, the final dispenser of justice, law, and dependence, the court’s Commander of the Ten Armies
supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces, as well (Thập Đạo Tướng Quân) Lê Hoàn took the throne,
as overseer of religious rituals. Administration was car- founding the Early Lê dynasty. A capable military tac-
ried out by mandarins who were trained exactly like their tician, Lê Hoan realized the risks of engaging the mighty
Chinese counterparts (i.e. by rigorous study of Confu- Song troops head on; thus he tricked the invading army
cian texts). Overall, Vietnam remained very efficiently into Chi Lăng Pass, then ambushed and killed their com-
and stably governed except in times of war and dynastic mander, quickly ending the threat to his young nation in
breakdown, and its administrative system was probably 981. The Song dynasty withdrew their troops and Lê
far more advanced than that of any other Southeast Asian Hoàn referred to in his realm as Đại Hành Emperor (Đại
state. No serious challenge to the king’s authority ever Hành Hoàng Đế). Emperor Lê Đại Hành was also the
arose, as titles of nobility were bestowed purely as honors first Vietnamese monarch who began the southward ex-
and were not hereditary. Periodic land reforms broke up pansion process against the kingdom of Champa.
large estates and ensured that powerful landowners could
Emperor Lê Đại Hành’s death in 1005 resulted in infight-
not emerge. No religious/priestly class ever arose out-
ing for the throne amongst his sons. The eventual win-
side of the mandarins either. This stagnant absolutism
ner, Lê Long Đĩnh, became the most notorious tyrant in
ensured a stable, well-ordered society, but also resistance
Vietnamese history. He devised sadistic punishments of
to social, cultural, or technological innovations. Reform-
prisoners for his own entertainment and indulged in de-
ers looked only to the past for inspiration.
viant sexual activities. Toward the end of his short life –
Literacy remained the provenance of the upper classes. he died at 24 – Lê Long Đĩnh became so ill that he had
Initially, Chinese was used for writing purposes, but by to lie down when meeting with his officials in court.
the 13th century, a set of derivative characters known as
Chữ Nôm emerged that allowed native Vietnamese words
to be written. However, it remained limited to poetry, 1.4.2 Lý, Trần, & Hồ dynasties (1009–
literature, and practical texts like medicine while all state 1407)
and official documents were written in Classical Chinese.
Aside from some mining and fishing, agriculture was the Main articles: Lý dynasty, Trần dynasty and Hồ dynasty
primary activity of most Vietnamese, and economic de- When the king Lê Long Đĩnh died in 1009, a Palace
velopment and trade were not promoted or encouraged Guard Commander named Lý Công Uẩn was nominated
by the state.[21] by the court to take over the throne, and founded the Lý
dynasty.[22] This event is regarded as the beginning of an-
other golden era in Vietnamese history, with great fol-
1.4.1 Ngô, Đinh, & Early Lê dynasties lowing dynasties. The way Lý Công Uẩn ascended to the
(939–1009) throne was rather uncommon in Vietnamese history. As a
high-ranking military commander residing in the capital,
Main articles: Ngô dynasty, Đinh dynasty and Early Lê he had all opportunities to seize power during the tumul-
dynasty tuous years after Emperor Lê Hoàn’s death, yet preferring
Further information: 12 Warlords Rebellion not to do so out of his sense of duty. He was in a way
being “elected” by the court after some debate before a
[23]
Ngô Quyền’s untimely death after a short reign resulted in consensus was reached.
a power struggle for the throne, the country’s first major The Lý dynasty is credited for laying down a concrete
civil war, the upheaval of Twelfth Warlords (Loạn Thập foundation, with strategic vision, for the nation of Viet-
Nhị Sứ Quân). The war lasted from 944 to 968 when the nam. Leaving Hoa Lư, a natural fortification surrounded
clan led by Đinh Bộ Lĩnh defeated the other warlords, by mountains and rivers, Lý Công Uẩn moved his court to
unifying the country. Bộ Lĩnh founded the Đinh dynasty the new capital in present-day Hanoi and called it Thăng
and proclaimed himself Đinh Tiên Hoàng (Đinh the First Long (Ascending Dragon).[24] Lý Công Uẩn thus de-
Emperor) and renamed the country from Tĩnh Hải quân parted from the militarily defensive mentality of his pre-
to Đại Cồ Việt (literally “Great Viet Land”), with its cap- decessors and envisioned a strong economy as the key to
ital in Hoa Lư (modern-day Ninh Bình Province). Em- national survival. The third emperor of the dynasty, Lý
peror Đinh Tiên Hoàng introduced strict penal codes to Thánh Tông renamed the country "Đại Việt” ( , Great
prevent chaos from happening again. He tried to form al- Viet).[25] Successive Lý emperors continued to accom-
liances by granting the title of Queen to five women from plish far-reaching feats: building a dike system to pro-
1.4. LATE DYNASTIC EPOCH (939–1945) 7

erful Khmer Empire took advantage of the Lý dynasty’s

distraction with the Song to pillage the south of the coun-
try. Together they invaded Vietnam in 1128 and 1132.
Further invasions followed in the subsequent decades.[27]

Southeast Asia c. 1010 AD. Đại Việt lands in yellow, Champa

in green and Khmer Empire in purple Trần royal battle standard

tect the rice producing area; founding Quốc Tử Giám,[26] Toward the end of the Lý dynasty, a powerful court min-
the first noble university; holding regular examinations ister named Trần Thủ Độ forced king Lý Huệ Tông to be-
to select capable commoners for government positions come a Buddhist monk and Lý Chiêu Hoàng, Huệ Tông’s
once every three years; organizing a new system of taxa- young daughter, to become queen. Trần Thủ Độ then ar-
tion; establishing humane treatment of prisoners. Women ranged the marriage of Chiêu Hoàng to his nephew Trần
Cảnh and eventually had the throne transferred to Trần
were holding important roles in Lý society as the court
ladies were in charge of tax collection. The Lý dynasty Cảnh, thus begun the Trần dynasty.
also promoted Buddhism, yet maintained a pluralistic at- Trần Thủ Độ viciously purged members of the Lý nobil-
titude toward the three main philosophical systems of the ity; some Lý princes escaped to Korea, including Lý Long
time: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. Tường. After the purge, most Trần emperors ruled the
The Lý dynasty had two major wars with Song China, country in similar manner to the Lý kings. Noted Trần
and a few conquests against neighboring Champa in the dynasty accomplishments include the creation of a sys-
south. The most notable battle took place on Chinese ter- tem of population records based at the village level, the
ritory in 1075. Upon learning that a Song invasion was compilation of a formal 30-volume history of Đại Việt
imminent, the Lý army and navy totaling about 100,000 (Đại Việt Sử Ký) by Lê Văn Hưu, and the rising in status
men under the command of Lý Thường Kiệt, Tông Đản of the Nôm script, a system of writing for Vietnamese
used amphibious operations to preemptively destroy three language. The Trần dynasty also adopted a unique way to
Song military installations at Yong Zhou, Qin Zhou, and train new emperors: when a crown prince reached the age
Lian Zhou in present-day Guangdong and Guangxi, and of 18, his predecessor would abdicate and turn the throne
killed 100,000 Chinese. The Song dynasty took revenge over to him, yet holding a title of August Higher Emperor
and invaded Đại Việt in 1076, but the Song troops were (Thái Thượng Hoàng), acting as a mentor to the new Em-
held back at the Battle of Như Nguyệt River commonly peror. Despite continued Champa-Khmer attacks, the
known as the Cầu river, now in Bắc Ninh province about Trần managed to arrange several periods of peace with
40 km from the current capital, Hanoi. Neither side was them.
able to force a victory, so the Lý dynasty proposed a truce, During the Trần dynasty, the armies of the Mongol Em-
which the Song emperor accepted. Champa and the pow- pire under Möngke Khan and Kublai Khan invaded Viet-
8 CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF VIETNAM

nam in 1258, 1285, and 1287 88. Đại Việt repelled 1.4.3 Ming domination & Later Lê dy-
all attacks of the Yuan Mongols during the reign of nasty (1407–1527)
Kublai Khan. Three Mongol armies said to have num-
bered from 300,000 to 500,000 men were defeated. The
key to Đại Việt’s successes was to avoid the Mongols’ Main articles: Fourth Chinese domination, Later Trần
strength in open field battles and city sieges—the Trần dynasty and Later Lê dynasty
court abandoned the capital and the cities. The Mon-
gols were then countered decisively at their weak points, In 1407, under the pretext of helping to restore the Trần
which were battles in swampy areas such as Chương dynasty, Chinese Ming troops invaded Đại Ngu and cap-
Dương, Hàm Tử, Vạn Kiếp and on rivers such as Vân tured Hồ Quý Ly and Hồ Hán Thương. The Hồ dy-
Đồn and Bạch Đằng. The Mongols also suffered from nasty came to an end after only 7 years in power. The
tropical diseases and loss of supplies to Trần army’s raids. Ming occupying force annexed Đại Ngu into the Ming
The Yuan-Trần war reached its climax when the retreat- Empire after claiming that there was no heir to Trần
ing Yuan fleet was decimated at the Battle of Bạch Đằng throne. Vietnam, weakened by dynastic feuds and the
(1288). The military architect behind Đại Việt’s victo- wars with Champa, quickly succumbed. The Ming con-
ries was Commander Trần Quốc Tuấn, more popularly quest was harsh. Vietnam was annexed directly as a
known as Trần Hưng Đạo. In order to avoid further dis- province of China, the old policy of cultural assimilation
astrous campaigns, the Tran and Champa acknowledged again imposed forcibly, and the country was ruthlessly
Mongol supremacy. exploited. However, by this time, Vietnamese national-
It was also during this period that the Trần emper- ism had reached a point where attempts to turn them into
ors waged many wars against the southern kingdom of Chinese could only strengthen further resistance. Almost
Champa, continuing the Viets’ long history of southern immediately, Trần loyalists started a resistance war. The
expansion (known as Nam tiến) that had begun shortly af- resistance, under the leadership of Trần Quĩ at first gained
ter gaining independence in the 10th century. Often, they some advances, yet as Trần Quĩ executed two top com-
encountered strong resistance from the Chams. Champa manders out of suspicion, a rift widened within his ranks
was made into a tributary state of Vietnam in 1312, but and resulted in his defeat in 1413.
ten years later regained independence and Cham troops In 1418, a wealthy farmer, Lê Lợi, led the Lam Sơn up-
led by king Chế Bồng Nga (Cham: Po Binasuor or Che rising against the Ming from his base of Lam Sơn (Thanh
Bonguar) killed king Trần Duệ Tông in battle and even Hóa province). Overcoming many early setbacks and
laid siege to Đại Việt’s capital Thăng Long in 1377 and with strategic advices from Nguyễn Trãi, Lê Lợi’s move-
again in 1383. However, the Trần dynasty was success- ment finally gathered momentum, marched northward,
ful in gaining two Champa provinces, located around and launched a siege at Đông Quan (now Hanoi), the cap-
present-day Huế, through the peaceful means of the po- ital of the Ming occupation. The Ming Emperor sent a
litical marriage of Princess Huyền Trân to a Cham king. reinforcement force, but Lê Lợi staged an ambush and
The wars with Champa and the Mongols left Vietnam killed the Ming commander, Liu Shan (Vietnamese: Liễu
exhausted and bankrupt. The Trần dynasty was in turn Thăng), in Chi Lăng. Ming troops at Đông Quan sur-
overthrown by one of its own court officials, Hồ Quý Ly. rendered. The Lam Sơn revolution killed 300,000 Ming
Hồ Quý Ly forced the last Trần emperor to resign and soldiers.[28] In 1428, Lê Lợi ascended to the throne and
assumed the throne in 1400. He changed the country began the Hậu Lê dynasty (Posterior or Later Lê). Lê
name to Đại Ngu and moved the capital to Tây Đô, West- Lợi renamed the country back to Đại Việt and moved the
ern Capital, now Thanh Hóa. Thăng Long was renamed capital back to Thăng Long.
Đông Đô, Eastern Capital. Although widely blamed for The Lê dynasty carried out land reforms to revitalize
causing national disunity and losing the country later to the economy after the war. Unlike the Lý and Trần
the Ming Empire, Hồ Quý Ly’s reign actually introduced kings, who were more influenced by Buddhism, the Lê
a lot of progressive, ambitious reforms, including the ad- kings leaned toward Confucianism. A comprehensive set
dition of mathematics to the national examinations, the of laws, the Hồng Đức code was introduced with some
open critique of Confucian philosophy, the use of paper strong Confucian elements, yet also included some pro-
currency in place of coins, investment in building large gressive rules, such as the rights of women. Art and ar-
warships and cannon, and land reform. He ceded the chitecture during the Lê dynasty also became more in-
throne to his son, Hồ Hán Thương, in 1401 and assumed fluenced by Chinese styles than during the Lý and Trần
the title Thái Thượng Hoàng, in similar manner to the dynasty. The Lê dynasty commissioned the drawing of
Trần kings. national maps and had Ngô Sĩ Liên continue the task of
writing Đại Việt’s history up to the time of Lê Lợi. King
Lê Thánh Tông opened hospitals and had officials dis-
tribute medicines to areas affected with epidemics.
Overpopulation and land shortages stimulated Viet-
namese expansion south. In 1471, Le troops led by king
1.4. LATE DYNASTIC EPOCH (939–1945) 9

1.4.4 Mạc & Restored Lê dynasties (1527–

1788)

Main articles: Lê dynasty, Mạc dynasty and Southern

and Northern Dynasties of Vietnam

The Lê dynasty was overthrown by its general named Mạc

Đăng Dung in 1527. He killed the Lê emperor and pro-
claimed himself emperor, starting the Mạc dynasty. Af-
ter defeating many revolutions for two years, Mạc Đăng
Dung adopted the Trần dynasty’s practice and ceded the
throne to his son, Mạc Đăng Doanh, and he became Thái
Thượng Hoàng.
Meanwhile, Nguyễn Kim, a former official in the Lê
court, revolted against the Mạc and helped king Lê Trang
Tông restore the Lê court in the Thanh Hóa area. Thus
a civil war began between the Northern Court (Mạc) and
the Southern Court (Restored Lê). Nguyễn Kim’s side
controlled the southern part of Đại Việt (from Thanhhoa
to the south), leaving the north (including Đông Kinh-
Hanoi) under Mạc control.[29] When Nguyễn Kim was
assassinated in 1545, military power fell into the hands
of his son-in-law, Trịnh Kiểm. In 1558, Nguyễn Kim’s
son, Nguyễn Hoàng, suspecting that Trịnh Kiểm might
kill him as he had done to his brother to secure power,
asked to be governor of the far south provinces around
present-day Quảng Bình to Bình Định. Hoang pretended
to be insane, so Kiem was fooled into thinking that send-
ing Hoang south was a good move as Hoang would be
Map of Vietnam showing the conquest of the south (the Nam tiến, quickly killed in the lawless border regions. However,
1069-1757) Hoang governed the south effectively while Trịnh Kiểm,
and then his son Trịnh Tùng, carried on the war against
the Mạc. Nguyễn Hoàng sent money and soldiers north to
help the war but gradually he became more and more in-
dependent, transforming their realm’s economic fortunes
by turning it into an international trading post.
Lê Thánh Tông invaded Champa and captured its capital The civil war between the Lê/Trịnh and Mạc dynasties
Vijaya. This event effectively ended Champa as a pow- ended in 1592, when the army of Trịnh Tùng conquered
erful kingdom, although some smaller surviving Cham Hanoi and executed king Mạc Mậu Hợp. Survivors of
states lasted for a few centuries more. It initiated the dis- the Mạc royal family fled to the northern mountains in
persal of the Cham people across Southeast Asia. With the province of Cao Bằng and continued to rule there un-
the kingdom of Champa mostly destroyed and the Cham til 1677 when Trịnh Tạc conquered this last Mạc terri-
people exiled or suppressed, Vietnamese colonization of tory. The Lê kings, ever since Nguyễn Kim’s restoration,
what is now central Vietnam proceeded without substan- only acted as figureheads. After the fall of the Mạc dy-
tial resistance. However, despite becoming greatly out- nasty, all real power in the north belonged to the Trịnh
numbered by Kinh (Việt) settlers and the integration of lords. Meanwhile, the Ming court reluctantly decided on
formerly Cham territory into the Vietnamese nation, the a military intervention into the Vietnamese civil war, but
majority of Cham people nevertheless remained in Viet- Mạc Đăng Dung offered ritual submission to the Ming
nam and they are now considered one of the key minori- Empire, which was accepted.
ties in modern Vietnam. Vietnamese armies also raided
the Mekong Delta, which the decaying Khmer Empire
could no longer defend. The city of Huế, founded in 1600 Trịnh & Nguyễn lords
lies close to where the Champa capital of Indrapura once
stood. In 1479, King Lê Thánh Tông also campaigned Main articles: Trịnh lords, Nguyễn lords and Trịnh–
against Laos and captured its capital Luang Prabang. He Nguyễn War
made further incursions westwards into the Irrawaddy See also: Artillery of the Nguyễn lords
River region in modern-day Burma before withdrawing.
10 CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF VIETNAM

1651, the Nguyễn themselves went on the offensive and

attacked parts of Trịnh territory. However, the Trịnh, un-
der a new leader, Trịnh Tạc, forced the Nguyễn back by
1655. After one last offensive in 1672, Trịnh Tạc agreed
to a truce with the Nguyễn Lord Nguyễn Phúc Tần. The
country was effectively divided in two.

Advent of Europeans & southward expansion

Main articles: Christianity in Vietnam and Nam tiến

The West's exposure in Vietnam and Vietnam’s exposure

One of the earliest Western maps of Vietnam, published in 1651

by Alexandre de Rhodes (north is oriented to the right).

to Westerners dated back to 166 AD[30] with the arrival of

Map of Vietnam showing (roughly) the areas controlled by merchants from the Roman Empire, to 1292 with the visit
the Trịnh, Nguyễn, Mạc, and Champa around 1650. Violet: of Marco Polo, and the early 16th century with the arrival
Trịnh Territory. Yellow: Nguyễn Territory. Green: Champa- of Portuguese in 1516 and other European traders and
Panduranga (under Nguyễn overlordship). Pink (Cao Bang): missionaries.[30] Alexandre de Rhodes, a French Jesuit
Mạc Territory. Orange: Vũ Lordship priest, improved on earlier work by Portuguese mission-
aries and developed the Vietnamese romanized alphabet
Quốc Ngữ in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et
In the year 1600, Nguyễn Hoàng also declared himself
Latinum in 1651.[31] Various European efforts to estab-
Lord (officially “Vương”, popularly “Chúa”) and refused lish trading posts in Vietnam failed, but missionaries were
to send more money or soldiers to help the Trịnh. He
allowed to operate for some time until the mandarins be-
also moved his capital to Phú Xuân, modern-day Huế. gan concluding that Christianity (which had succeeded in
Nguyễn Hoàng died in 1613 after having ruled the south
converting up to a tenth of the population by 1700) was
for 55 years. He was succeeded by his 6th son, Nguyễn a threat to the Confucian social order since it condemned
Phúc Nguyên, who likewise refused to acknowledge the
ancestor worship as idolatry. Vietnamese attitudes to Eu-
power of the Trịnh, yet still pledged allegiance to the Lê ropeans and Christianity hardened as they began to in-
king. creasingly see it as a way of undermining society.
Trịnh Tráng succeeded Trịnh Tùng, his father, upon his Between 1627 and 1775, two powerful families had par-
death in 1623. Tráng ordered Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên to titioned the country: the Nguyễn lords ruled the South
submit to his authority. The order was refused twice. In and the Trịnh lords ruled the North. The Trịnh–Nguyễn
1627, Trịnh Tráng sent 150,000 troops southward in an War gave European traders the opportunities to support
unsuccessful military campaign. The Trịnh were much each side with weapons and technology: the Portuguese
stronger, with a larger population, economy and army, assisted the Nguyễn in the South while the Dutch helped
but they were unable to vanquish the Nguyễn, who had the Trịnh in the North. The Trịnh and the Nguyễn main-
built two defensive stone walls and invested in Portuguesetained a relative peace for the next hundred years, during
artillery. which both sides made significant accomplishments. The
The Trịnh–Nguyễn War lasted from 1627 until 1672. Trịnh created centralized government offices in charge of
The Trịnh army staged at least seven offensives, all of state budget and producing currency, unified the weight
which failed to capture Phú Xuân. For a time, starting in units into a decimal system, established printing shops to
1.4. LATE DYNASTIC EPOCH (939–1945) 11

reduce the need to import printed materials from China, After Quang Trung’s death, the Tây Sơn dynasty became
opened a military academy, and compiled history books. unstable as the remaining brothers fought against each
Meanwhile, the Nguyễn lords continued the southward other and against the people who were loyal to Nguyễn
expansion by the conquest of the remaining Cham land. Huệ's infant son. Nguyễn Ánh sailed north in 1799, cap-
Việt settlers also arrived in the sparsely populated area turing Tây Sơn’s stronghold Qui Nhơn. In 1801, his force
known as “Water Chenla”, which was the lower Mekong took Phú Xuân, the Tây Sơn capital. Nguyễn Ánh fi-
Delta portion of the former Khmer Empire. Between nally won the war in 1802, when he sieged Thăng Long
the mid-17th century to mid-18th century, as the for- (Hanoi) and executed Nguyễn Huệ's son, Nguyễn Quang
Toản, along with many Tây Sơn generals and officials.
mer Khmer Empire was weakened by internal strife
and Siamese invasions, the Nguyễn Lords used various Nguyễn Ánh ascended the throne and called himself Em-
peror Gia Long. Gia is for Gia Định, the old name of
means, political marriage, diplomatic pressure, political
and military favors, to gain the area around present-day Saigon; Long is for Thăng Long, the old name of Hanoi.
Hence Gia Long implied the unification of the country.
Saigon and the Mekong Delta. The Nguyễn army at times
also clashed with the Siamese army to establish influence The Nguyễn dynasty lasted until Bảo Đại's abdication in
over the former Khmer Empire. 1945. As China for centuries had referred to Đại Việt as
Annam, Gia Long asked the Manchu Qing emperor to re-
name the country, from Annam to Nam Việt. To prevent
any confusion of Gia Long’s kingdom with Triệu Đà's an-
1.4.5 Tây Sơn & Nguyễn dynasties (1778– cient kingdom, the Manchu emperor reversed the order
1945) of the two words to Việt Nam. The name Vietnam is thus
known to be used since Emperor Gia Long’s reign. Re-
Main articles: Tây Sơn dynasty and Nguyễn dynasty cently historians have found that this name had existed in
older books in which Vietnamese referred to their coun-
In 1771, the Tây Sơn revolution broke out in Quy Nhơn, try as Vietnam.
which was under the control of the Nguyễn lord. The The Period of Division with its many tragedies and dra-
leaders of this revolution were three brothers named matic historical developments inspired many poets and
Nguyễn Nhạc, Nguyễn Lữ, and Nguyễn Huệ, not related gave rise to some Vietnamese masterpieces in verse, in-
to the Nguyễn lords. By 1776, the Tây Sơn had occupied cluding the epic poem The Tale of Kiều (Truyện Kiều) by
all of the Nguyễn Lord’s land and killed almost the entire Nguyễn Du, Song of a Soldier’s Wife (Chinh Phụ Ngâm)
royal family. The surviving prince Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (of- by Đặng Trần Côn and Đoàn Thị Điểm, and a collection
ten called Nguyễn Ánh) fled to Siam, and obtained mili- of satirical, erotically charged poems by a female poet,
tary support from the Siamese king. Nguyễn Ánh came Hồ Xuân Hương.
back with 50,000 Siamese troops to regain power, but
was defeated at the Battle of Rạch Gầm–Xoài Mút and In 1784, during the conflict between Nguyễn Ánh, the
almost killed. Nguyễn Ánh fled Vietnam, but he did not surviving heir of the Nguyễn lords, and the Tây Sơn dy-
give up. nasty, a French Roman Catholic prelate, Pigneaux de
Behaine, sailed to France to seek military backing for
The Tây Sơn army commanded by Nguyễn Huệ marched Nguyễn Ánh. At Louis XVI's court, Pigneaux brokered
north in 1786 to fight the Trịnh Lord, Trịnh Khải. The the Little Treaty of Versailles which promised French
Trịnh army failed and Trịnh Khải committed suicide. military aid in exchange for Vietnamese concessions.
The Tây Sơn army captured the capital in less than two However, because of the French Revolution, Pigneaux’s
months. The last Lê emperor, Lê Chiêu Thống, fled plan failed to materialize. He went to the French terri-
to Qing China and petitioned the Qianlong Emperor for tory of Pondichéry (India), and secured two ships, a reg-
help. The Qianlong Emperor supplied Lê Chiêu Thống iment of Indian troops, and a handful of volunteers and
with a massive army of around 200,000 troops to regain returned to Vietnam in 1788. One of Pigneaux’s volun-
his throne from the usurper. Nguyễn Huệ proclaimed teers, Jean-Marie Dayot, reorganized Nguyễn Ánh’s navy
himself Emperor Quang Trung and defeated the Qing along European lines and defeated the Tây Sơn at Qui
troops with 100,000 men in a surprise 7 day campaign Nhơn in 1792. A few years later, Nguyễn Ánh’s forces
during the lunar new year (Tết). During his reign, Quang captured Saigon, where Pigneaux died in 1799. Another
Trung envisioned many reforms but died by unknown volunteer, Victor Olivier de Puymanel would later build
reason on the way march south in 1792, at the age of the Gia Định fort in central Saigon.
40. During the reign of Emperor Quang Trung, Đại Việt
was in fact divided into three political entities. The Tây After Nguyễn Ánh established the Nguyễn dynasty in
Sơn leader, Nguyễn Nhạc, ruled the centre of the country 1802, he tolerated Catholicism and employed some Eu-
from his capital Qui Nhơn. Emperor Quang Trung ruled ropeans in his court as advisors. His successors were
the north from the capital Phú Xuân Huế. In the South, more conservative Confucians and resisted Westerniza-
Nguyễn Ánh, assisted by many talented recruits from the tion. The next Nguyễn emperors, Minh Mạng, Thiệu
South, captured Gia Định (present-day Saigon) in 1788 Trị, and Tự Đức brutally suppressed Catholicism and pur-
and established a strong base for his force. sued a 'closed door' policy, perceiving the Westerners as
12 CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF VIETNAM

French army attacking Nam Định, 1883.

nam (which they called Tonkin) and captured Hà Nội

twice in 1873 and 1882. The French managed to keep
their grip on Tonkin although, twice, their top com-
manders Francis Garnier and Henri Rivière, were am-
bushed and killed fighting pirates of the Black Flag Army
hired by the mandarins. France assumed control over the
Many Catholic martyrs (believers and priests) were slain in whole of Vietnam after the Tonkin Campaign (1883–
Tonkin, Cochinchina and Annam during persecutions. 64 Mar- 1886). French Indochina was formed in October 1887
tyrs were declared blessed in 1900 of whom 54 were natives; 26 from Annam (Trung Kỳ, central Vietnam), Tonkin (Bắc
of the martyrs were members of the Dominican Order.[32] Kỳ, northern Vietnam), Cochinchina (Nam Kỳ, south-
ern Vietnam, and Cambodia, with Laos added in 1893).
Within French Indochina, Cochinchina had the status of
a threat, following events such as the Lê Văn Khôi re- a colony, Annam was nominally a protectorate where the
volt when a French missionary, Fr. Joseph Marchand, Nguyễn dynasty still ruled, and Tonkin had a French gov-
encouraged local Catholics to revolt in an attempt to in- ernor with local governments run by Vietnamese officials.
stall a Catholic emperor. Catholics, both Vietnamese
and foreign-born, were persecuted in retaliation. Trade
with the West slowed during this period. There were fre- French protectorate
quent uprisings against the Nguyễns, with hundreds of
such events being recorded in the annals. These acts were Main article: French Indochina
soon being used as excuses for France to invade Viet- After Gia Định fell to French troops, many resistance
nam. The early Nguyễn dynasty had engaged in many
of the constructive activities of its predecessors, building
roads, digging canals, issuing a legal code, holding exam-
inations, sponsoring care facilities for the sick, compil-
ing maps and history books, and exerting influence over
Cambodia and Laos.
Main articles: Cochinchina Campaign, Citadel of Saigon,
Trương Định, Phan Đình Phùng, Nguyễn Trung Trực,
Phan Thanh Giản and Tonkin Campaign

Under the orders of Napoleon III of France, Rigault

de Genouilly's gunships attacked the port of Đà Nẵng
in 1858, causing significant damage, yet failed to gain
any foothold, in the process being afflicted by the hu- French officers and Tonkinese riflemen, 1884
midity and tropical diseases. De Genouilly decided to
sail south and captured the poorly defended city of Gia movements broke out in occupied areas, some led by for-
Định (present-day Ho Chi Minh City). From 1859– mer court officers, such as Trương Định, some by peas-
67, French troops expanded their control over all six ants, such as Nguyễn Trung Trực, who sank the French
provinces on the Mekong delta and formed a colony gunship L'Esperance using guerilla tactics. In the north,
known as Cochinchina. most movements were led by former court officers and
A few years later, French troops landed in northern Viet- lasted decades, with Phan Đình Phùng fighting in central
1.5. REPUBLICAN PERIOD (FROM 1945) 13

Vietnam until 1895. In the northern mountains, former nessing revolutionaries in action in China and Russia,
bandit leader Hoàng Hoa Thám fought until 1911. Even Vietnamese revolutionaries began to turn to more radical
the teenage Nguyễn Emperor Hàm Nghi left the Impe- paths. Phan Bội Châu created the Việt Nam Quang Phục
rial Palace of Huế in 1885 with regent Tôn Thất Thuyết Hội in Guangzhou, planning armed resistance against the
and started the Cần Vương (“Save the King”) movement, French. In 1925, French agents captured him in Shang-
trying to rally the people to resist the French. He was cap- hai and spirited him to Vietnam. Due to his popularity,
tured in 1888 and exiled to French Algeria. Guerrillas of Châu was spared from execution and placed under house
the Cần Vương movement murdered around a third of arrest until his death in 1940. In 1927, the Việt Nam
Vietnam’s Christian population during the rebellion.[33] Quốc Dân Đảng (Vietnamese Nationalist Party), mod-
Decades later, two more Nguyễn kings, Thành Thái and eled after the Kuomintang in China, was founded, and
Duy Tân were also exiled to Africa for having anti-French the party launched the armed Yên Bái mutiny in 1930
tendencies. The former was deposed on the pretext of in- in Tonkin which resulted in its chairman, Nguyễn Thái
sanity and Duy Tân was caught in a conspiracy with the Học and many other leaders captured and executed by
mandarin Trần Cao Vân trying to start an uprising. How- the guillotine.
ever, lack of modern weapons and equipment prevented Marxism was also introduced into Vietnam with the
these resistance movements from being able to engage the emergence of three separate Communist parties; the
French in open combat. The various anti-French revolts Indochinese Communist Party, Annamese Communist
started by mandarins were carried out with the primary Party and the Indochinese Communist Union, joined later
goal of restoring the old feudal society. However, by by a Trotskyist movement led by Tạ Thu Thâu. In 1930,
1900 a new generation of Vietnamese were coming of the Communist International (Comintern) sent Nguyễn
age who had never lived in precolonial Vietnam. These Ái Quốc to Hong Kong to coordinate the unification of
young activists were as eager as their grandparents to see the parties into the Vietnamese Communist Party (CPV)
independence restored, but they realized that returning to with Trần Phú as the first Secretary General. Later the
the feudal order was not feasible and that modern technol- party changed its name to the Indochinese Communist
ogy and governmental systems were needed. Having been Party as the Comintern, under Stalin, did not favor na-
exposed to Western philosophy, they aimed to establish tionalistic sentiments. Being a leftist revolutionary living
a republic upon independence, departing from the royal- in France since 1911, Nguyễn Ái Quốc participated in
ist sentiments of the Cần Vương movements. Some of founding the French Communist Party and in 1924 trav-
them set up Vietnamese independence societies in Japan, eled to the Soviet Union to join the Comintern. Through
which many viewed as a model society (i.e. an Asian na- the late 1920s, he acted as a Comintern agent to help build
tion that had modernized, but retained its own culture and Communist movements in Southeast Asia. During the
institutions). 1930s, the CPV was nearly wiped out under French sup-
There emerged two parallel movements of moderniza- pression with the execution of top leaders such as Phú,
tion. The first was the Đông Du (“Go East”) Movement Lê Hồng Phong, and Nguyễn Văn Cừ.
started in 1905 by Phan Bội Châu. Châu’s plan was to During World War II, Japan invaded Indochina in 1940,
send Vietnamese students to Japan to learn modern skills,
keeping the Vichy French colonial administration in place
so that in the future they could lead a successful armed as a puppet. In 1941 Nguyễn Ái Quốc, now known as Hồ
revolt against the French. With Prince Cường Để, he Chí Minh, arrived in northern Vietnam to form the Việt
started two organizations in Japan: Duy Tân Hội and Việt Minh Front, and it was supposed to be an umbrella group
Nam Công Hiến Hội. Due to French diplomatic pressure, for all parties fighting for Vietnam’s independence, but
Japan later deported Châu. Phan Châu Trinh, who fa- was dominated by the Communist Party. The Việt Minh
vored a peaceful, non-violent struggle to gain indepen- had a modest armed force and during the war worked with
dence, led a second movement, Duy Tân (Modernization), the American Office of Strategic Services to collect intel-
which stressed education for the masses, modernizing the ligence on the Japanese. A famine broke out in 1944–
country, fostering understanding and tolerance between 45.[34] Japan’s defeat by World War II Allies created a
the French and the Vietnamese, and peaceful transitions power vacuum for Vietnamese nationalists of all parties
of power. The early part of the 20th century saw the to seize power in August 1945, forcing Emperor Bảo Đại
growing in status of the Romanized Quốc Ngữ alphabet to abdicate and ending the Nguyễn dynasty. Their initial
for the Vietnamese language. Vietnamese patriots real- success in staging uprisings and in seizing control of most
ized the potential of Quốc Ngữ as a useful tool to quickly of the country by September 1945 was partially undone,
reduce illiteracy and to educate the masses. The tradi- however, by the return of the French a few months later.
tional Chinese scripts or the Nôm script were seen as too
cumbersome and too difficult to learn. The use of prose
in literature also became popular with the appearance of
many novels; most famous were those from the Tự Lực 1.5 Republican period (from 1945)
Văn Đoàn literary circle .
As the French suppressed both movements, and after wit- Main articles: National Assembly (Vietnam), History of
Vietnam since 1945 and 1940-1946 in the Vietnam War
14 CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF VIETNAM

South from Saigon. In the North, the communist gov-

ernment launched a land reform program. It is estimated
that some 50,000[36] people perished in the campaigns
1.5.1 Communist North & capitalist South against wealthy farmers and landowners. In the South,
(1945–76) Diem went about crushing political and religious opposi-
tion, imprisoning or killing tens of thousands.[37]
Main articles: Democratic Republic of Vietnam, State of
As a result of the Vietnam (Second Indochina) War
Vietnam, Republic of Vietnam, War in Vietnam (1945–
(1954–75), Viet Cong and regular People’s Army of Viet-
1946), First Indochina War and Vietnam War
nam (PAVN) forces of the DRV unified the country under
In September 1945, Hồ Chí Minh proclaimed the
communist rule.[38] In this conflict, the North and the Viet
Cong—with logistical support from the Soviet Union—
defeated the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, which
sought to maintain South Vietnamese independence with
the support of the U.S. military, whose troop strength
peaked at 540,000 during the communist-led Tet Offen-
sive in 1968. The North did not abide by the terms of
the 1973 Paris Agreement, which officially settled the
war by calling for free elections in the South and peaceful
reunification. Two years after the withdrawal of the last
U.S. forces in 1973, Saigon, the capital of South Viet-
nam, fell to the communists, and the South Vietnamese
army surrendered in 1975. In 1976, the government of
united Vietnam renamed Saigon as Hồ Chí Minh City
in honor of Hồ, who died in 1969. The war left Viet-
nam devastated, with the total death toll standing at be-
tween 800,000 and 3.1 million, and many thousands more
Vietcong prisoners await being carried by helicopter to rear area crippled by weapons and substances such as napalm and
after Operation Starlite. August 18–24, 1965 Agent Orange.[39][40][41]

Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and held the

position of Chairman (Chủ Tịch). Communist rule was 1.5.2 Socialist Republic after 1976
cut short, however, by nationalist Chinese and British
occupation forces whose presence tended to support the Main articles: Vietnam, Communist Party of Vietnam,
Communist Party’s political opponents. In 1946, Viet- History of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Politics
nam had its first National Assembly election (won by the of Vietnam
Viet Minh in central and northern Vietnam[35] ), which In the post-1975 period, it was immediately apparent
drafted the first constitution, but the situation was still
precarious: the French tried to regain power by force;
some Cochinchinese politicians formed a seceding gov-
ernment the Republic of Cochinchina (Cộng hòa Nam
Kỳ) while the non-Communist and Communist forces
were engaging each other in sporadic battle. Stalinists
purged Trotskyists. Religious sects and resistance groups
formed their own militias. The Communists eventually
suppressed all non-Communist parties but failed to se-
cure a peace deal with France.
Full-scale war broke out between the Việt Minh and
France in late 1946 and the First Indochina War offi-
cially began. Realizing that colonialism was coming to
an end worldwide, France fashioned a semi-independent
State of Vietnam, within the French Union, with Bảo
Đại as Head of State. France was finally persuaded to A communist propaganda poster in Da Nang, 2011
relinquish its colonies in Indochina in 1954 when Viet
Minh forces defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu. The that the effectiveness of Communist Party (CPV) poli-
1954 Geneva Conference left Vietnam a divided nation, cies did not necessarily extend to the party’s peacetime
with Hồ Chí Minh's communist DRV government ruling nation-building plans. Having unified North and South
the North from Hanoi and Ngô Đình Diệm's Republic politically, the CPV still had to integrate them socially
of Vietnam, supported by the United States, ruling the and economically. In this task, CPV policy makers
1.6. CHANGING NAMES 15

were confronted with the South’s resistance to communist 1.6 Changing names
transformation, as well as traditional animosities arising
from cultural and historical differences between North See also: Names of Vietnam and List of Vietnamese
and South. Lê Duẩn purged South Vietnamese who had dynasties
fought against the North, imprisoning over one million
people and setting off a mass exodus and humanitarian
disaster.[42] For the most part of its history, the geographical bound-
ary of present-day Vietnam covered 3 ethnically distinct
Compounding economic difficulties were new military nations: a Vietnamese nation, a Cham nation, and a part
challenges. In the late 1970s, Cambodia under the Khmer of the Khmer Empire. The Vietnamese nation originated
Rouge regime started harassing and raiding Vietnamese in the Red River Delta in present-day Northern Vietnam
villages at the common border. To neutralize the threat, and expanded over its history to the current boundary. It
PAVN invaded Cambodia in 1978 and overran its cap- went through a lot of name changes, with Văn Lang being
ital of Phnom Penh, driving out the incumbent Khmer used the longest. Below is a summary of names:
Rouge regime. In response, as an action to support
the pro-Beijing Khmer Rogue regime, China increased Except the Hồng Bàng and Tây Sơn dynasties, all Viet-
its pressure on Vietnam, and then the Chinese troops namese dynasties are named after the king’s family name,
crossed Vietnam’s northern border in 1979 to “punish” unlike the Chinese dynasties, whose names are dictated
Vietnam as Sino-Vietnamese War, but their foray was by the dynasty founders and often used as the country’s
quickly pushed back by Vietnamese forces. Relations be- name. Nguyễn Huệ's “Tây Sơn dynasty” is rather a name
tween the two countries had been deteriorating for some created by historians to avoid confusion with Nguyễn
time. Territorial disagreements along the border and in Ánh’s Nguyễn dynasty.
the South China Sea that had remained dormant during
the Vietnam War were revived at the war’s end, and a
postwar campaign engineered by Hanoi against the eth- 1.7 See also
nic Chinese Hoa community elicited a strong protest from
Beijing. China was displeased with Vietnam’s alliance • Economic history of Vietnam
with the Soviet Union. During its prolonged military
occupation of Cambodia in 1979–89, Vietnam’s inter- • History of East Asia
national isolation extended to relations with the United • History of Asia
States. The United States, in addition to citing Vietnam’s
minimal cooperation in accounting for Americans who • History of Southeast Asia
were missing in action (MIAs) as an obstacle to normal
relations, barred normal ties as long as Vietnamese troops • Politics of Vietnam
occupied Cambodia. Washington also continued to en- • President of Vietnam
force the trade embargo imposed on Hanoi at the conclu-
sion of the war in 1975. • Prime Minister of Vietnam
The harsh postwar crackdown on remnants of capitalism
in the South led to the collapse of the economy during
the 1980s. With the economy in shambles, the commu- 1.8 References
nist government altered its course and adopted consensus
policies that bridged the divergent views of pragmatists [1] Origin of Vietnamese people
and communist traditionalists. Throughout the 1980s, [2] History of Vietnam
Vietnam received nearly $3 billion a year in economic and
military aid from the Soviet Union and conducted most of [3] Hoa Binh Culture
its trade with the USSR and other Comecon countries. In [4] Ancient time Archived November 29, 2014 at the
1986, Nguyễn Văn Linh, who was elevated to CPV gen- Wayback Machine
eral secretary the following year, launched a campaign for
political and economic renewal (Đổi Mới). His policies [5] Lê Huyền Thảo Uyên, 2012-13. Welcome to Vietnam. In-
were characterized by political and economic experimen- ternational Student. West Virginia University.
tation that was similar to simultaneous reform agenda un- [6] Handbook of Asian Education: A Cultural Perspective, p.
dertaken in the Soviet Union. Reflecting the spirit of po- 95
litical compromise, Vietnam phased out its reeducation
effort. The communist gov't stopped promoting agricul- [7] The Human Migration: Homo Erectus and the Ice Age
tural and industrial cooperatives. Farmers were permit- [8] Kha and Bao, 1967; Kha, 1975; Kha, 1976; Long et al.,
ted to till private plots alongside state-owned land, and in 1977; Cuong, 1985; Ciochon and Olsen, 1986; & Olsen
1990 the communist gov't passed a law encouraging the and Ciochon, 1990
establishment of private businesses.
[9] Cuong, 1986
16 CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF VIETNAM

[10] Colani, 1927 [37] “Ngo Dinh Diem”. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved
26 November 2012.
[11] Demeter, 2000
[38] “China saved Vietnam”. Bob Seals. Retrieved 23 Septem-
[12] Administration of Văn Lang - Âu Lạc. Retrieved 2014- ber 2008.
09-05.
[39] Charles Hirschman et al. “Vietnamese Casualties During
[13] Ancient calendar unearthed. Retrieved 2014-09-05. the American War: A New Estimate”. Population and
[14] Nguyen Ba Khoach 1978 Development Review (December 1995).

[15] Pierre-Yves Manguin, A. Mani, Geoff Wade. “Early In- [40] Shenon, Philip (23 April 1995). “20 Years After Victory,
teractions Between South and Southeast Asia: Reflections Vietnamese Communists Ponder How to Celebrate”. The
on Cross-cultural Exchange”. Institute of Southeast Asian, New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
2011; p.5 [41] Associated Press (3 April 1995). “Vietnam Says 1.1 Mil-
[16] Chapuis, Oscar (1995-01-01). “A History of Vietnam: lion Died Fighting For North.”
From Hong Bang to Tu Duc”. ISBN 9780313296222.
[42] Desbarats, Jacqueline. “Repression in the Socialist Re-
[17] Keat Gin Ooi. Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, public of Vietnam: Executions and Population Reloca-
from Angkor Wat to East Timor, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO, tion”, from The Vietnam Debate (1990) by John Morton
Jan 1, 2004; p.933-34 Moore. “We know now from a 1985 statement by Nguyen
Co Tach that two and a half million, rather than one mil-
[18] Taylor, Keith Weller (1991). Birth of Vietnam, The. lion, people went through reeducation....in fact, possibly
University of California Press. pp. 23–27. ISBN more than 100,000 Vietnamese people were victims of
0520074173. extrajudicial executions in the last ten years....it is likely
that, overall, at least one million Vietnamese were the vic-
[19] Taylor (1983), p. 70 tims of forced population transfers.”
[20] Taylor (1983), p. 135

[21] Andaya (2006), p. 23 1.8.1 Bibliography

[22] Ngô Sĩ Liên 2009, pp. 154 • Andaya, Barbara Watson. (2006). The Flam-
[23] Ngô Sĩ Liên 2009, pp. 155 ing Womb: Repositioning Women in Early Mod-
ern Southeast Asia (illustrated ed.). University of
[24] Ngô Sĩ Liên 2009, pp. 160 Hawaii Press. ISBN 0824829557. Retrieved 7 Au-
gust 2013.
[25] Ngô Sĩ Liên 2009, pp. 193

[26] Ngô Sĩ Liên 2009, pp. 197

• Cœdès, George. (1966). The Making of South East
Asia (illustrated, reprint ed.). University of Califor-
[27] Cœdès (1966), p. 84 nia Press. ISBN 0520050614. Retrieved 7 August
2013.
[28] Tsai (1996), p. 15
• Dardess, John W. (2012). Ming China, 1368-1644:
[29] Dardess (2012), p. 5
A Concise History of a Resilient Empire. Rowman &
[30] Brief History of Vietnam Littlefield. ISBN 1442204907. Retrieved 7 August
2013.
[31] Davidson, Jeremy H. C. S.; H. L. Shorto (1991). Aus-
troasiatic Languages: Essays in Honour of H.L. Shorto. p. • Hall, Kenneth R., ed. (2008). Secondary Cities and
95. Urban Networking in the Indian Ocean Realm, C.
[32] (1902-03) “Nachrichten aus den Missionen,” Die katholis- 1400-1800. Volume 1 of Comparative urban stud-
chen Missionen. Illustrierte Monatschrift 31, pp. 255-257. ies. Lexington Books. ISBN 0739128353. Re-
trieved 7 August 2013.
[33] Fourniau, Annam–Tonkin, pp. 39–77
• Nguyen Ba Khoach (1978). “Phung Nguyen”.
[34] Bui Minh Dung (July 1995). “Japan’s Role in the Viet- ScholarSpace - University of Hawaii.
namese Starvation of 1944-45”. Modern Asian Stud-
ies (Cambridge University Press) 29 (3): 573–618. • Taylor, K. W. (2013). A History of the Vietnamese
doi:10.1017/s0026749x00014001. (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN
[35] Neale, Jonathan The American War, pp. 23-24; ISBN 1- 0521875862. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
898876-67-3
• Taylor, Keith Weller. (1983). The Birth of Viet-
[36] Jean-Louis Margolin, “Vietnam and Laos: the impasse of nam (illustrated, reprint ed.). University of Califor-
war communism” in The Black Book of Communism pp. nia Press. ISBN 0520074173. Retrieved 7 August
568–569. 2013.
1.11. IN VIETNAMESE 17

• Tsai, Shih-shan Henry. (1996). The Eunuchs in the 1.11 In Vietnamese

Ming dynasty (illustrated ed.). SUNY Press. ISBN
1438422369. Retrieved 7 August 2013. • Vietnamese National Bureau for Historical Record
(1998), Khâm định Việt sử Thông giám cương
• Contributor: Far-Eastern Prehistory Association mục (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Education Publishing
Asian Perspectives, Volume 28, Issue 1. (1990) Uni- House
versity Press of Hawaii. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
• Ngô Sĩ Liên (2009), Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (in Viet-
namese) (Nội các quan bản ed.), Hanoi: Cultural
1.9 Further reading Publishing House, ISBN 6041690139

• Trần Trọng Kim (1971), Việt Nam sử lược (in Viet-

• Fitzgerald, Francis. 1972. Fire in the Lake: The namese), Saigon: Center for School Materials
Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam. Little,
Brown and Company. • Phạm Văn Sơn (1960), Việt Sử Toàn Thư (in Viet-
namese), Saigon
• Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David: Vietnam Past
• Taylor, Keith Weller (1983), The Birth of Vietnam,
and Present: The North (History of Hanoi and
University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-
Tonkin). Chiang Mai. Cognoscenti Books, 2012.
07417-0
ASIN: B006DCCM9Q.
• Trần Dân Tiên. Những Mẫu Chuyện Về Đời Hoạt
• Hill, John E. 2003. “Annotated Translation of the Động Của Hồ Chủ Tịch
Chapter on the Western Regions according to the
'Hou Hanshu'", 2nd draft edition • Văn Tiến Dũng. Đại Thắng Mùa Xuân

• Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the • Hành Trình Biển Đông (vols. 1 and 2); anthology of
Weilue by Yu Huan : A Third Century Chinese memoirs by Vietnamese boat people
Account Composed between 239 and 265 AD. Draft
annotated English translation. • Nguyễn Khắc Ngữ. Nguồn Gốc Dân Tộc Việt Nam.
Nhóm Nghiên Cứu Sử Địa
• Hung, Hoang Duy. 2005. A Common Quest for Viet-
• Văn Phố Hoàng Đống. Niên Biểu Lịch Sử Việt Nam
nam’s Future. Viet Long Publishing.
Thời Kỳ 1945-1975. Đại Nam. 2003
• Nguyễn, Khắc Viện. 1999. Vietnam - A Long His- • Lê Duẩn. Đề Cương Cách Mạng Miền Nam
tory. Hanoi, Thế Giới Publishers.
• Nhat Tien, Duong Phuc, Vu Thanh Thuy. Pirates in
• Nguyên, Thê Anh, Philippe Papin. 2008. Parcours the Gulf of Siam
d'un historien du Viêt Nam: Recueil des articles de
Nguyên Thê Anh. Paris. Les Indes savantes. 1026 • Nguyễn Văn Huy, Tìm hiểu cộng đồng người Chăm
pp. [Articles are in French or in English] tại Việt Nam

• Stevens, Keith. 1996. “A Jersey Adventurer in

China: Gun Runner, Customs Officer, and Busi- 1.12 External links
ness Entrepreneur and General in the Chinese Impe-
rial Army. 1842-1919”. Journal of the Hong Kong
• The Vietnam Maritime Archaeology Project Center
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. 32 (1992;
published 1996) • Fallout of the War from the Dean Peter Krogh For-
eign Affairs Digital Archives
• The Office of the United Nations High Commis-
sioner for Refugees. Published in 2000. The State of • Vietnam History from ancient time
The World’s Refugees 2000: Fifty Years of Human-
itarian Action - Chapter 4: Flight from Indochina • Viet Nam’s Early History & Legends by C.N. Le
(PDF) (Asian Nation - The Landscape of Asian America)

• Tungking by William Mesny

1.10 Primary sources • Pre-Colonial Vietnam by Ernest Bolt (University of

Richmond)

• Werner, Jayne, et al. eds. Sources of Vietnamese • Human Rights in Vietnam 2006 (Human Rights
Tradition (2012) excerpt and text search Watch)
18 CHAPTER 1. HISTORY OF VIETNAM

• French IndoChina Entry in a 1910 Catholic Ency-

clopedia about Indochina (New Advent).
• Virtual Vietnam Archive Exhaustive collection of
Vietnam related documents (Texas Tech University)
• Geneva Accords of 1954 Text of the 1954 Accords
by Vincent Ferraro (Mount Holyoke College)
• Việt-Học Thư-Quán - Institute of Vietnamese Stud-
ies - Viện Việt Học Many pdfs of Vietnamese his-
tory books

• Vietnam Dragons and Legends Vietnamese history

and culture by Dang Tuan.

• Indochina - History links for French involvement in

Indochina, casahistoria.net
• Vietnam - History links for US involvement in In-
dochina, casahistoria.net
• Early History of Vietnam - Origin of Vietnam name

• Vietnam Full history

• Hoàng Văn Chí, Từ Thực Dân Đến Cộng Sản

• Hoàng Văn Hoan, Giọt Nước Trong Biển Cả

• Hoàng Văn Chí, Trăm Hoa Đua Nở Trên Đất Bắc

• Nguyễn Thanh Giang, Tưởng Niệm Con Đường

Phan Chu Trinh
Chapter 2

Demographics of Vietnam

This article is about the demographic features of the Vietnam, while the ethnic minorities inhabit the major-
population of Vietnam, including population density, ity of Vietnam’s land (albeit the least fertile parts of the
ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, eco- country).
nomic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of The Khmer Krom are found in the delta of the Mekong
the population.
River, in the south of Vietnam, where they form in many
Originating in northern Vietnam, the Vietnamese people areas the majority of the rural population. They live
pushed southward over two millennia to occupy the en- in an area which was previously part of Cambodia and
tire eastern seacoast of the Indochinese Peninsula. Ethnic which Vietnam conquered in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Vietnamese, or Viet (known officially as Kinh), live in the Official Vietnamese figures put the Khmer Krom at 1
lowlands and speak the Vietnamese language. This group million people. Vietnam’s approximately 1 million eth-
dominates much of the cultural and political landscape of nic Chinese, constitute one of Vietnam’s largest minor-
Vietnam. ity groups. Long important in the Vietnamese economy,
Vietnamese of Chinese ancestry have been active in rice
trading, milling, real estate, and banking in the south and
2.1 Population shopkeeping, stevedoring, and mining in the north. Re-
strictions on economic activity following reunification in
1975 and the subsequent but unrelated general deteriora-
2.1.1 UN estimates[2] tion in Vietnamese-Chinese relations sent chills through
the Chinese-Vietnamese community.
2.2 Vital statistics The relation between China and Vietnam also declined
in this period, with Vietnam siding with the Soviet
2.2.1 UN estimates of births and deaths[2] Union against China in the Chinese-Soviet split. Ten-
sions peaked when Vietnam invaded Cambodia, an ally of
2.2.2 Birth, death and fertility rates China, to depose Pol Pot, resulting in a Chinese invasion
of Vietnam in 1979. In 1978-79, some 450,000 ethnic
The total fertility rate of Vietnam has been influenced Chinese left Vietnam by boat as refugees (many officially
by the government’s family planning policy, the two-child encouraged and assisted) or were expelled across the land
policy. border with China. In recent years the government has
performed an about turn and is encouraging overseas Hoa
• preliminary to return and invest, but the ethnic Chinese population has
been in continuous decline since the 1970s due to assim-
[3][4] ilation and low birth rates.
Source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam.
The central highland peoples commonly termed Degar
or Montagnards (mountain people) comprise two main
2.3 Ethnic groups ethnolinguistic groups--Malayo-Polynesian and Mon–
Khmer. About 30 groups of various cultures and dialects
are spread over the highland territory.
See also: List of ethnic groups in Vietnam
Other minority groups include the Cham—remnants
of the once-mighty Champa Kingdom, conquered by
The Vietnamese government recognizes 54 ethnic the Vietnamese in the 15th century, Hmong, and Tai
groups, of which the Viet (Kinh) is the largest; accord- (“Thái”).
ing to official Vietnamese figures (1999 census), ethnic
Vietnamese account for 86% of the nation’s population.
The ethnic Vietnamese inhabit a little less than half of

19
20 CHAPTER 2. DEMOGRAPHICS OF VIETNAM

2.4 Language 2.6.1 Sex ratio

Vietnamese is the official language of the country. It be- at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
longs to the Austroasiatic language family, which also in- under 15 years: 1.08 male(s)/female
cludes languages such as Khmer and Mon. Vietnamese 15–64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
was spoken by 85-90 million people in Vietnam at the
65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female
1999 census. In the early 21st century, around another
four million Vietnamese speakers are found outside of total population: 0.98 male(s)/female
Vietnam. Thus Vietnamese is the most spoken language
of the Austroasiatic family, being spoken by three times (2008 est.)
more people than the second most spoken language of
the family, Khmer. Both languages, however, are ex-
tremely different: Vietnamese is a tonal, monosyllabic, 2.6.2 Life expectancy at birth
phonetic language while Khmer has remained non-tonal.
Vietnamese was heavily influenced by Chinese and a total population: 71.33 years
small part of the Vietnamese vocabulary is Chinese, while male: 68.52 years
Khmer was heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Pali and female: 74.33 years
a great part of its vocabulary is now made up of Indian
words, so that both languages look very dissimilar on the
(2008 est.)
surface. Since the early 20th century, the Vietnamese
have used a Romanized script introduced by the French.
(See Vietnamese language and Vietnamese alphabet). 2.6.3 Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
2.5 Religions total population: 95.6% (2014 consensus)
male: 96.9%
Only a small fraction of the Vietnamese adheres to insti-
tutional religions, according to the 2009 official census.[9] female: 91.9% (2012)

• Non religious, 80.8%

2.7 See also
• Buddhism, 9.3%
• Christianity, 7.2% • Racism in Vietnam

• Roman Catholic, 6.7% • List of ethnic groups in Vietnam

• Protestant, 0.5% • Overseas Vietnamese
• Hòa Hảo, 1.5%
• Cao Đài, 1.1% 2.8 Sources
Estimates for the year 2010 published by the Pew Re- • 2006 Vietnam’s population estimates
search Center:[10]
• 1999 Census results
• Vietnamese folk religions, 45.3% • Socioeconomic Atlas of Vietnam
• Buddhism, 16.4%
• Christianity, 8.2% 2.9 References
• Non religious, 29.6%
[1] , 28 December 2015.

[2] Population Division of the Department of Economic and

2.6 CIA World Factbook demo- Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World
Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
graphic statistics
[3] General Statistics Office of Vietnam: Population and em-
ployment
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA
World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. [4] Socio-economic situation in 2013
2.9. REFERENCES 21

[5] United Nations 1993 Demographic Yearbook

[6] 1999 Population and Housing Census Vietnam

[7] 2009 Vietnam Population and Housing Census

[8] VN population reaches 90.4 million, with 7.95 million in

HCM City

[9] Vietnam 2009 Census Results

[10] Pew Research Center: Religious Composition by Country.

Chapter 3

Geography of Vietnam

For historical geography of Vietnam, see History of Viet-

nam.
Vietnam is located on the eastern margin of the

Regions of Vietnam

Cambodia. The S-shaped country has a north-to-south

distance of 1,650 kilometers and is about 50 kilometers
wide at the narrowest point. With a coastline of 3,260
kilometers, excluding islands, Vietnam claims 12 nauti-
cal miles (22.2 km; 13.8 mi) as the limit of its territorial
waters, an additional 12 nautical miles (22.2 km; 13.8 mi)
as a contiguous customs and security zone, and 200 nauti-
cal miles (370.4 km; 230.2 mi) as an exclusive economic
zone.
Vietnam’s cities and towns The boundary with Laos, settled on both an ethnic and ge-
ographical basis, between the rulers of Vietnam and Laos
Indochinese peninsula and occupies about 331,211.6 in the mid-seventeenth century with the Annamite Range
square kilometers, of which about 25% was under cul- as a reference, was formally defined by a delimitation
tivation in 1987. It borders the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of treaty signed in 1977 and ratified in 1986. The frontier
Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and with Cambodia, defined at the time of French annexa-

22
3.2. TERRAIN 23

3.2 Terrain
Vietnam is a country of tropical lowlands, hills, and
densely forested highlands, with level land covering no
more than 20% of the area.
The spectacular Bản Giốc Waterfall is 272 km north of
Hanoi and few tourists are seen there.[1]
See also: Provinces of Vietnam

3.2.1 Red River Delta

The Red River Delta (also known as the Sông Hồng), is
a flat, triangular region of 15,000 square kilometers,[2] is
smaller but more intensely developed and more densely
populated than the Mekong Delta. Once an inlet of the
Gulf of Tonkin, it has been filled in by the enormous
alluvial deposits of the rivers over a period of millennia,
and it advances one hundred meters into the Gulf annu-
ally. The ancestral home of the ethnic Vietnamese, the
delta accounted for almost 70% of the agriculture and
80% of the industry of North Vietnam before 1975.
The Red River, rising in China’s Yunnan Province, is
about 1,200 kilometers long. Its two main tributaries, the
Sông Lô (also called the Lo River, the Riviere Claire, or
the Clear River) and the Sông Đà (also called the Black
Topographic map of Vietnam River or Riviere Noire), contribute to its high water vol-
ume, which averages 4,300 cubic meters per second.[3]
The entire delta region, backed by the steep rises of the
tion of the western part of the Mekong Delta in 1867, re- forested highlands, is no more than three meters above sea
mained essentially unchanged, according to Hanoi, until level, and much of it is one meter or less. The area is sub-
some unresolved border issues were finally settled in the ject to frequent flooding; at some places the high-water
1982-85 period. The land and sea boundary with China, mark of floods is fourteen meters above the surrounding
delineated under the France-China treaties of 1887 and countryside. For centuries flood control has been an in-
1895, is “the frontier line” accepted by Hanoi that China tegral part of the delta’s culture and economy. An ex-
agreed in 1957- 58 to respect. However, in Febru- tensive system of dikes and canals has been built to con-
ary 1979, following China’s limited invasion of Viet- tain the Red River and to irrigate the rich rice-growing
nam, Hanoi complained that from 1957 onward China delta. Modeled on that of China’s, this ancient system has
had provoked numerous border incidents as part of its sustained a highly concentrated population and has made
anti-Vietnam policy and expansionist designs in South- double-cropping wet-rice cultivation possible throughout
east Asia. Among the territorial infringements cited was about half the region.
the Chinese occupation in January 1974 of the Paracel
Islands, claimed by both countries in a dispute left unre-
solved in the 1980s. 3.2.2 Highlands
Coordinates: 16°00′N 108°00′E / 16.000°N 108.000°E See also: Zomia (geography)
The highlands and mountain plateaus in the north and
northwest are inhabited mainly by tribal minority groups.
The Dãy Trường Sơn (Annamite Range) originates in
3.1 Physiography the Tibetan and Yunnan regions of southwest China and
forms Vietnam’s border with Laos. It terminates in the
The country is divided into the highlands and the Red Mekong River Delta north of Hồ Chí Minh City (formerly
River Delta in the north; and the Dãy Trường Sơn (Cen- Saigon).
tral mountains, or the Chaîne Annamitique, sometimes These central mountains, which have several high
referred to simply as “the Chaine.”), the coastal lowlands, plateaus, are irregular in elevation and form. The north-
and the Mekong Delta in the south. ern section is narrow and very rugged; the country’s high-
24 CHAPTER 3. GEOGRAPHY OF VIETNAM

3.2.5 Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta, covering about 40,000 square kilo-

meters, is a low-level plain not more than three meters
above sea level at any point and criss-crossed by a maze
of canals and rivers. So much sediment is carried by the
Mekong’s various branches and tributaries that the delta
advances sixty to eighty meters into the sea every year.
An official Vietnamese source estimates the amount of
sediment deposited annually to be about 1 billion cubic
meters, or nearly 13 times the amount deposited by the
Red River. About 10,000 square kilometers of the delta
are under rice cultivation, making the area one of the ma-
jor rice-growing regions of the world. The southern tip,
A valley in the north. known as the Cà Mau Peninsula is covered by dense jun-
gle and mangrove swamps.
The Mekong, which is 4,220 kilometers long, is one of
est peak, Fan Si Pan, rises to 3,142 meters in the extreme the 12 great rivers of the world. From its source in the
northwest. The southern portion has numerous spurs that Tibetan Plateau, it flows through the Tibetan and Yun-
divide the narrow coastal strip into a series of compart- nan regions of China, forms the boundary between Laos
ments. For centuries these topographical features not and Myanmar as well as between Laos and Thailand. At
only rendered north-south communication difficult but Phnom Penh it merges with the Tonlé Sap and divides into
also formed an effective natural barrier for the contain- two branches - the Sông Hậu Giang (Hậu Giang river)
ment of the people living in the Mekong basin. (known as the Bassac River on the Cambodian side) and
the Sông Tiền Giang (Tiền Giang river) - and continues
through Cambodia and the Mekong basin before draining
into the South China Sea through nine mouths known as
the Cửu Long (nine dragons). The river is heavily silted
3.2.3 Central Highlands
and is navigable by seagoing craft of shallow draft as far
as Kompong Cham in Cambodia. A tributary entering
See also: Zomia (geography) the river at Phnom Penh drains the Tonlé Sap, a shallow
freshwater lake that acts as a natural reservoir to stabilize
Within the southern portion of Vietnam is a plateau the flow of water through the lower Mekong. When the
known as the Central Highlands (Tây Nguyên), approx- river is in flood stage, its silted delta outlets are unable to
imately 51,800 square kilometers of rugged mountain carry off the high volume of water. Floodwaters back up
peaks, extensive forests, and rich soil. Comprising 5 rela- into the Tonlé Sap, causing the lake to inundate as much
tively flat plateaus of basalt soil spread over the provinces as 10,000 square kilometers. As the flood subsides, the
of Đắk Lắk (or “Dac Lac”), Gia Lai, and Kon Tum, the flow of water reverses and proceeds from the lake to the
highlands account for 16% of the country’s arable land sea. The effect is to reduce significantly the danger of
and 22% of its total forested land. Before 1975, North devastating floods in the Mekong delta, where the river
Vietnam had maintained that the Central Highlands and floods the surrounding fields each year to a level of one to
the Giai Truong Son were strategic areas of paramount two meters.
importance, essential to the domination not only of South
Vietnam but also of the southern part of Indochina. Since
1975, the highlands have provided an area in which to re-
locate people from the densely populated lowlands.
3.3 Climate
Vietnam in the northern regions have a humid subtropi-
cal climate, with humidity averaging 84% throughout the
year. However, because of differences in latitude and
3.2.4 Coastal lowlands the marked variety of topographical relief, the climate
tends to vary considerably from place to place. During
The narrow, flat coastal lowlands extend from south of the winter or dry season, extending roughly from Novem-
the Red River Delta to the Mekong River basin. On the ber to April, the monsoon winds usually blow from the
landward side, the Dãy Trường Sơn rises precipitously northeast along the China coast and across the Gulf of
above the coast, its spurs jutting into the sea at several Tonkin, picking up considerable moisture; consequently
places. Generally the coastal strip is fertile and rice is the winter season in most parts of the country is dry only
cultivated intensively. by comparison with the rainy or summer season. Dur-
3.5. RESOURCES AND LAND USE 25

slightly smaller than Newfoundland and

Labrador, Canada.
somewhat less than half as big as New South
Wales, Australia.
about 1⅓ times the United Kingdom’s size.

Land Boundaries:

total: 4 639 km
border countries: Cambodia (1 228 km),
Hundreds of active fires burning across the hills and valleys of China (1 281 km), Laos (2 130 km)
Myanmar Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam (labelled with red dots).

Coastline: 3 444 km (excludes islands)

ing the southwesterly summer monsoon, occurring from
May to October, the heated air of the Gobi Desert rises, Maritime Claims:
far to the north, inducing moist air to flow inland from the
sea and deposit heavy rainfall. The climate in the south- contiguous zone: 24 nmi (44.4 km; 27.6 mi)
ern regions especially Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding
Mekong Delta is predominantly Tropical savanna climate continental shelf: 200 nmi (370.4 km; 230.2
with high humidity and a distinct wet and dry season. mi) or to the edge of the continental margin

Annual rainfall is substantial in all regions and torrential exclusive economic zone: 200 nmi (370.4 km;
in some, ranging from 1,200 to 3,000 millimeters (47.2 to 230.2 mi)
118.1 in). Nearly 90% of the precipitation occurs during territorial sea: 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi)
the summer. The average annual temperature is generally
higher in the plains than in the mountains and plateaus.
Temperatures range from a low of 5 °C (41 °F) in De- Elevation extremes:
cember and January, the coolest months, to more than 37
°C (98.6 °F) in August, the hottest month. Seasonal divi- lowest point: South China Sea 0 m
sions are more clearly marked in the northern half than in
the southern half of the country, where, except in some highest point: Fansipan 3 144 m
of the highlands, seasonal temperatures vary only a few
degrees, usually in the 21–28 °C (69.8–82.4 °F) range.
People from the North, the Central, and the South will ex- 3.5 Resources and land use
perience different types of climate appropriately through-
out the year. While the North has a cold winter because Natural resources: phosphates, coal, manganese, rare
it is close to the Tropic of Cancer. The temperature can earth elements, bauxite, offshore oil and gas deposits,
drop to 10 °C (50 °F). [4] The Central of Vietnam experi- timber, hydropower
ences the hot and dry winter from mid January and mid
August while the South’s climate remaining hot and hu- Land use:
mid throughout the year.
arable land: 19.64%

3.4 Area and boundaries permanent crops: 11.18%

other: 69.18% (2011)
Area:
Irrigated land: 45,850 km² (2005)
total: 331,210 km²
land: 310,070 km² Total renewable water resources: 864.1 km3 (2011)
water: 21,140 km² Freshwater withdrawal (domes-
tic/industrial/agricultural):
Area - comparative:
total: 82.03 km3 /yr (1%/4%/95%)
slightly larger than the state of New Mexico in
the United States. per capita: 965 m3 /yr (2005)
26 CHAPTER 3. GEOGRAPHY OF VIETNAM

3.6 Environmental concerns

Natural hazards: occasional typhoons (May to January)
with extensive flooding, especially in the Mekong Delta.
Environment - current issues: Logging and slash-and-
burn agricultural practices contribute to deforestation and
soil degradation; water pollution and overfishing threaten
marine life populations; groundwater contamination lim-
its potable water supply; growing urbanization and human
migration are rapidly degrading environment in Hanoi
and Hồ Chí Minh City
Environment - international agreements: party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-
Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
(MARPOL 73/78), Wetlands

3.7 See also

• Vietnam

• Ha Long Bay
• List of endangered species in Vietnam

• Zomia (geography)

3.8 References
[1] “Vietnam Destinations: Ban Gioc (Cao Bang)". Retrieved
2007-02-12.

[2] Agroviet Newsletter September 2005

[3] “State of water: Vietnam.”. Water Environment Partner-

ship in Asia. Retrieved 2008-03-26.

[4] “Best time to visit Vietnam - weather by month - climate -

seasons”. www.selectiveasia.com. Retrieved 2015-11-18.

3.9 Sources
• This article incorporates public domain material
from websites or documents of the Library of
Congress Country Studies.
• This article incorporates public domain material
from websites or documents of the CIA World Fact-
book.
Chapter 4

List of cities in Vietnam

Hồ Chí Minh City

Hà Nội

Map of Vietnam

Hải Phòng

This article is an incomplete list of cities in Vietnam.

27
28 CHAPTER 4. LIST OF CITIES IN VIETNAM

4.3 See also

• Provinces of Vietnam

• Provincial city (Vietnam)

• District-level town in Viet Nam (thị xã)

4.4 References
Cần Thơ
[1] “List of cities in Vietnam”. Vietnam Tourism. Vietnam
Tourism Information. 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2012.

[2] Huong Giang (22 August 2012). “Ba Ria city estab-
lished”. VGP. Vietnam Government Web Portal. Re-
trieved 11 October 2012.

[3] http://thuvienphapluat.vn/archive/
Nghi-quyet-137-NQ-CP-nam-2013-thanh-lap-phuong-Khac-Niem-Khuc-X
aspx. Retrieved 20 October 2015. Missing or empty
|title= (help)

[4] Anh Hùng (26 December 2008). “Thành phố Bến Tre
sẽ phát triển mạnh theo hướng đô thị bền vững, đô thị
“xanh-sạch-đẹp-thân thiện"". www.bentre.gov.vn. Xã hội
tỉnh Bến Tre. Retrieved 11 October 2012.

[5] Nguyễn Tấn Dũng (21 February 2012). “Thông tin chi tiết
Văn bản chỉ đạo điều hành”. CỔNG THÔNG TIN ĐIỆN
TỬ CHÍNH PHỦ (in Vietnamese). CỔNG THÔNG TIN
ĐIỆN TỬ CHÍNH PHỦ. Retrieved 11 October 2012.

[6] Nguyễn Hương (12 August 2009). “Quảng Trị: Thành

lập thành phố Đông Hà". Dantri. Cơ quan của TW Hội
Khuyến học Việt Nam. Retrieved 11 October 2012.

[7] http://www.baoxaydung.com.vn/news/vn/thoi-su/
de-nghi-cong-nhan-thanh-pho-dong-hoi-la-do-thi-loai-ii.
html

[8] http://www.huecity.gov.vn/Index.aspx

[9] Establish the city of Cam Ranh

Đà Nẵng [10] Thái Nguyên trở thành đô thị loại I

[11] Thành lập thành phố Uông Bí, tỉnh Quảng Ninh

[12] http://www.viettri.gov.vn/vt/
4.1 Centrally controlled cities GIoI-THIeU-CHUNG-Ve-THaNH-PHo-VIeT-TRi-t15918-7777.
html

There are five centrally controlled cities, also known [13] http://baodientu.chinhphu.vn/Home/
as municipalities (thành phố trực thuộc trung ương) in Thanh-pho-Viet-Tri-duoc-cong-nhan-la-do-thi-loai-I/
Vietnam.[1] 20125/136926.vgp

[14] Vinh trở thành đô thị loại I

4.5 External links

4.2 Provincial cities
Media related to Cities in Vietnam at Wikimedia Com-
Here is a list of provincial cities (thành phố trực thuộc mons
tỉnh) in Vietnam.[1]
Chapter 5

Politics of Vietnam

The politics of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are Vietnamese citizens follow the law.
defined by a single-party socialist republic framework,
where the President of Vietnam is the head of state
and the Prime Minister of Vietnam is the head of gov- 5.1 Legal framework
ernment, in a one-party system led by the Communist
Party of Vietnam. Executive power is exercised by the
government and the President of Vietnam. Legislative Main article: Constitution of Vietnam
power is vested in the National Assembly of Vietnam
(Vietnamese: ốc hội). The Judiciary is independent Vietnam is a one-party socialist republic.[1] The cur-
of the executive. The parliament adopted the current rent Vietnamese state traces its direct linage back to the
Constitution of Vietnam; its fourth, on 15 April 1992, Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and
and it has been amended once since then. the 1945 August Revolution led by Hồ Chí Minh. The
The President (Chủ tịch nước) is elected by the National current constitution was adopted on 15 April 1992 by
Assembly for a five-year term and acts as the commander- the National Assembly of Vietnam. There have been
in-chief of the Vietnam People’s Armed Forces and three other constitutions in Vietnamese history: the 1946,
Chairman of the Council for Defence and Security. The 1959 and 1980 constitutions.[2] The current constitu-
government (Chính phủ), the main executive state power tion has been amended once, during the 10th session of
of Vietnam, is headed by the Prime Minister, who has the National Assembly on 25 December 2001.[1] The
several Deputy Prime Ministers and several ministers Communist Party of Vietnam, the leading non-State or-
in charge of particular activities. The executive branch gan, operates in accordance with the laws. Government
is responsible for the implementation of political, eco- powers in Vietnam are divided into legislative, execu-
nomic, cultural, social, national defence, security and ex- tive and judiciary powers. Vietnam’s legal system is
ternal activities of the state. The National Assembly is a based upon socialist legality according to Article 12 of
unicameral legislative body. The National Assembly has the constitution.[3]
500 members, elected by popular vote to serve four-year
terms. The legislature is, according to the constitution,
the highest organ of the state. Its powers includes the 5.2 State ideology
enactment and amendment of the constitution and laws;
the adoption of the government budget; supervising the Vietnam is a socialist republic with a one-party system led
Government of Vietnam and other holders of public pow- by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). The CPV es-
ers responsible to the National Assembly; and appointing pouses Marxism–Leninism and Hồ Chí Minh Thought,
members of the judiciary. The Vietnamese constitution the thoughts of the late Hồ Chí Minh. The two ide-
and legislation provide for regular elections for the office ologies function as a firm ideological basis and serve
of the President of the Socialist Republic, the National as guidance for the activities of the Party and state.[2]
Assembly and the People’s Councils. According to the Constitution, Vietnam is “in the pe-
Vietnam has, officially at least, an independent judicial riod of transition to socialism”.[1] Marxism–Leninism
system governed by the Constitution of Vietnam and na- was introduced to Vietnam in the 1920s and 1930s, and
tional legislation enacted by National Assembly. The Vietnamese culture has been led under the banner of
Supreme People’s Court (Tòa án Nhân dân Tối cao) is patriotism and Marxism–Leninism.[4] Hồ Chí Minh’s be-
the highest court of appeal in Vietnam. There are other liefs were not systematised during his life, nor quickly fol-
specialised courts in Vietnam, including the Central Mil- lowing his death. Trường Chinh's biography of “Chair-
itary Court, the Criminal Court, the Civil Court and the man Hồ" in 1973 emphasised his revolutionary policies.
Appeal Court. The Supreme People’s Procuracy observes The thoughts of Hồ Chí Minh were systematised in 1989,
the implementation of state organs and makes sure that under the leadership of Nguyễn Văn Linh.[5] Hồ Chí
Minh Thought, alongside Marxism–Leninism, became

29
30 CHAPTER 5. POLITICS OF VIETNAM

the official ideology of the CPV and the state in 1991.[6]

The CPV’s claim to legitimacy was retained following
the collapse of communism in 1989 and the dissolution
of the Soviet Union in 1991 by its commitment to the
thoughts of Hồ Chí Minh, according to Sophie Quinn-
Judge.[7] According to Pierre Brocheux, the author of Ho
Chi Minh: a Biography, the current state ideology is Hồ
Chí Minh Thought, with Marxism–Leninism playing a
secondary role.[8] While some claim that Hồ Chí Minh
Thought is used as a veil for the Party leadership since
they, according to this version, have stopped believing in
communism, however this is false when considering that
Hồ Chí Minh was an avid supporter of Vladimir Lenin
and the dictatorship of the proletariat. Others see Hồ Chí The flag of the Communist Party
Minh Thought as a political umbrella term whose main
function is to smuggle in non-socialist ideas and policies
supports the “struggle for peace, national independence,
without challenging socialist legality.[6]
democracy and social progress of the world’s people.”[2]
Since its foundation, the key ideology has been Marxism– The CPV acts as the vanguard of the working people
Leninism, but since the introduction of a mixed econ- and the whole nation by representing their interests. Its
omy in the late 1980s and 1990s, it has lost its mo- aim is to create “a strong, independent, prosperous and
nopolistic ideological and moral legitimacy.[9] Marxism– democratic country with an equitable and civilized so-
Leninism, which is a class-based ideology, lost its le- ciety, to realise socialism and ultimately, communism.”
gitimacy because of the mixed economy. As became The Party’s ideological foundation is Marxism–Leninism
clear because of the Đổi Mới reforms, the Party could and Hồ Chí Minh Thoughts. These ideologies guide the
not base its rule on defending only the workers and the activities of the Party, while promoting “the nation’s tra-
peasants, which was officially referred to as the “working ditions, and absorbing other nations’ essential ideas.”[2]
class-peasant alliance”.[10] In the constitution introduced
The CPV is organised on the principles of democratic
in 1992, the State represented the “workers, peasants and
centralism. It practices “criticism, self-criticism, and
intellectuals”.[9] In recent years, the Party has stopped
strict discipline” and pursues "collective leadership and
representing a specific class, but instead the “interests of
individual responsibility, and promoting comradeship
the entire people”, which includes entrepreneurs.[9] The
and solidarity in line with the Party’s political programs
final class barrier was removed in 2002, when party mem-
and statutes.”[2] The CPV is subject to Vietnamese laws
bers were allowed to engage in private activities. In the
and the Constitution. It is the country’s ruling party, and
face of de-emphasising the role of Marxism–Leninism,
promotes the "mastery of the people over the country".
the Party has acquired a broader ideology, laying more
The Party is under the supervision of the people. It is
emphasis on nationalism, developmentalism and becom-
dependent on having the people contributing the party,
ing the protector of tradition.[11]
by strengthening, uniting and leading the people in the
revolutionary cause. The political system in Vietnam is
led by the CPV, and it “leads, respects and promotes the
5.3 The Party role of the State, the Vietnamese Fatherland Front (VFF)
and other socio-political organisations.”[2]

Main article: Communist Party of Vietnam

According to the official version, the Communist Party
of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam) is
5.3.1 Congress
leading the Vietnamese people “in carrying out the coun-
try’s renovation, modernisation and industrialisation.”[2] Main article: National Congress of the Communist Party
According to the Party’s statute, amended at the 9th Na- of Vietnam
tional Congress on 22 April 2001, the CPV was “estab-
lished and trained by President Hồ Chí Minh, has led the The National Congress is the party’s highest organ.[12]
Vietnamese people to carry out successfully the August The direction of the Party and the Government is decided
Revolution, establishing the Democratic Republic of Việt at the National Congress, held every fifth year. The Cen-
Nam, now the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam, to de- tral Committee is elected by the National Congress.[13]
feat foreign invaders, to abolish the colonial and feudalist Delegates vote on policies and candidates posts within
regime, to liberate and reunify the country, and then carry the central party leadership. Following ratification of the
out the cause of renovation and socialist construction decisions taken at the National Congress, the National
and firmly defend national independence.”[2] It believes Congress dissolves itself. The Central Committee, which
in socialist internationalism of the working class, and is elected by the National Congress every fifth year, im-
5.4. VIETNAMESE FATHERLAND FRONT 31

plements the decisions of the National Congress in the the Central Committee voted against the Politburo’s mo-
five-year period. Since the Central Committee only meets tion and voted unanimously in favour of removing Lê Khả
twice a year, the Politburo implements the policies of the Phiêu from his post of General Secretary.[19] The Central
National Congress.[12] Committee did this because the majority of its members
were of provincial background, or were working in the
provinces; because of this, these members were the first
5.3.2 Central Committee to feel the pinch when the economy began to stagnate dur-
ing Lê Khả Phiêu’s rule.[20]
The Central Committee elects the Politburo in the after-
math of the Party Congress. Since the full Central Com-
mittee meets only once a year, the Politburo functions as
the Party’s leading collective decision-making body.[21]
The Secretariat is also elected by the Central Committee,
and is headed by the General Secretary. It is responsi-
ble for solving organisational problems and implement-
ing the demands of the Central Committee. The Secre-
tariat oversees the work of the Departments of the Central
Committee.[22]

5.4 Vietnamese Fatherland Front

Communist Party billboard marking the 30th Anniversary of the
reunification of the country in 1975. Main article: Vietnamese Fatherland Front

Main article: Central Committee of the Communist The Vietnamese Fatherland Front (VFF) is an umbrella
Party of Vietnam group of pro-communist movements. According to Ar-
ticle 9 of the Constitution, the VFF and its members
The Central Committee (CC) is the CPV’s most power- constitute “the political base of people’s power”.[24] The
ful institution.[14] It delegates some of its powers to the state must create a favorable environment for the VFF
Secretariat and the Politburo when it is not in session.[15] and its member organisations.[24] The VFF is a volun-
When the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the Vietnamese tary mass organisation of political, socio-political and so-
leadership, led by Lê Duẩn, began to centralise power. cial organisations and “individuals from all classes, so-
This policy continued until the 6th National Congress, cial strata, ethnic groups, and religions, including over-
when Nguyễn Văn Linh took power. Linh pursued a seas Vietnamese.”[2] Its main objectives are to gather and
policy of economic and political decentralisation.[16] The build a people unity bloc, “strengthen the people’s politi-
party and state bureaucracy opposed Linh’s reform ini- cal and spiritual consensus, encourage the people to pro-
tiatives; because of this, Linh tried to win the support mote their mastership, to implement the CPV’s guidelines
of provincial leaders. This caused the powers of the and policies, and to abide by the Constitution and laws.”[2]
provincial chapters of the CPV to increase in the 1990s. The VFF is governed on the principles of “democratic
The CPV lost its power to appoint or dismiss provincial- consensus, coordinated and united action.”[2] Its organi-
level officials in the 1990s; this is proven by the fact sation has been modelled after the state structure, and the
that Võ Văn Kiệt tried to wrestle this power back to VFF has its own independent statute.[2] Notable member
the centre during the 1990s without success. These de- organisations of the VFF include the General Confed-
velopments led to the provincialisation of the Central eration of Labour, the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth
Committee; for example, more and more CC members Union and the Veteran Association, among others.[25]
have a background in provincial party work. Because of
these changes, power in Vietnam has become increasingly
devolved.[17] The number of Central Committee mem- 5.5 Executive
bers with a provincial background increased from a low
of 15.6 percent in 1982 to a high of 41 percent in 2001.
The current President of the Socialist Republic, Trương Main articles: President of Vietnam, Prime Minister of
Tấn Sang, was directly elected from the provinces at the Vietnam and Government of Vietnam
8th Party Congress, held 1996.[18] Because of the devolu-
tion of power, the powers of the Central Committee have The President of the Republic (Vietnamese: Chủ tịch
increased substantially; for instance, when a two-thirds nước Việt Nam) is the head of state, elected to a five-
majority of the Politburo voted in favour of retaining Lê year term by the National Assembly, and is not limited
Khả Phiêu as General Secretary (the leader of Vietnam), by the Constitution to a maximum tenure.[26] In addition
32 CHAPTER 5. POLITICS OF VIETNAM

to being the Chairman of the Council for Defence and sentative organ and the highest state organ. The National
Security and commander-in-chief of the Vietnam Peo- Assembly is the only organ vested with constitutional and
ple’s Armed Forces, the president has the procedural duty legislative powers. It is responsible for fundamental do-
of appointing or proposing the appointment or dismissal mestic and foreign policies, socio-economic policies, de-
of the Vice Presidents, Prime Minister, Deputy Chief fence and security issues, and it exercises supreme con-
Judge of the Supreme People’s Court and Head of the trol over all state activities.[33] Deputies (members) of
Supreme People’s Procuracy,[2] with the consent of the the National Assembly are elected through secret bal-
National Assembly through a simple majority vote. The lots in democratic elections[34] which are held every fifth
President has some influence on foreign policy, and has year.[35] The National Assembly is convened twice a
the right to declare a state of emergency and to declare year,[35] and its Standing Committee represents it be-
war.[27] The most recent presidential elections were held tween sessions.[2]
on 25 July 2011, when Trương Tấn Sang, the incumbent, The membership of the Standing Committee consists
was re-elected by the deputies (members) of the National
of the chairman, deputy chairmen and other members;
Assembly.[28] these members are elected by the National Assembly.[36]
The government (Vietnamese: Chính phủ) is the exec- Standing Committee members cannot simultaneously be
utive arm of the National Assembly and the highest ad- members of the Government. Members work on a full-
ministrative body of the Vietnamese state. It is headed by time basis, and their terms of office correspond with the
the prime minister, and consists of deputy prime minis- term of the National Assembly. The Standing Commit-
ters, ministers and other members. The government is a tee continues to function until a new National Assem-
unified administration responsible for the implementation bly is elected. According to the constitution, the Stand-
of political, economic, cultural, social, national defence, ing Committee is responsible for 12 duties. Of these,
security and external activities of the state. It is also re- the most important are the powers to announce, convene
sponsible for the effectiveness of the state apparatus itself and chair the National Assembly sessions, to interpret the
from the top down, stabilisation in the country and the constitution, laws and ordinances, and to issue ordinances
observance of the constitution.[29] As with the President, on those matters assigned by the National Assembly. It
the government is elected by the deputies of the National supervises and guides the People’s Councils and their ac-
Assembly for a five-year term.[30] The Prime Minister of tivities, and directs, regulates and coordinates the activi-
the Socialist Republic is elected or dismissed by the Na- ties of the Ethnic Council and the committees of the Na-
tional Assembly, at the request of the president.[2] Since tional Assembly.[37]
27 June 2006, the prime minister of the government has
There are seven committees of the National Assembly.
been Nguyễn Tấn Dũng.[31] Committee membership is determined by the National
Assembly. They are responsible for the studying and
examination of bills, legislative initiatives, drafts of or-
5.6 Legislative dinances and other drafts of legal documents and re-
ports assigned by the National Assembly or the Stand-
Main articles: Standing Committee of the National As- ing Committee. The committees provide the National
sembly and National Assembly of Vietnam Assembly and its Standing Committee with their opin-
The National Assembly (Vietnamese: oc hoi) is a ions on the legislative programme. The committees su-
pervise and conduct investigations within their respective
competency and exercise powers which are stipulated by
law.[38] The National Assembly elects the Ethnic Coun-
cil, which consists of a Chairman, Deputy Chairmen and
other members. The Ethnic Council studies and recom-
mends actions to the National Assembly; the National As-
sembly has to consult with the Ethnic Council before issu-
ing any decisions on ethnic policy. The Chairman of the
Ethnic Council has to attend meetings of the Government
which concern ethnic policy. The powers of the Ethnic
Council are comparable to those of the committees.[39]

5.7 Elections
The National Assembly convened at the Ba Đình Hall until 2007,
when the building was demolished
Main article: Elections in Vietnam
unicameral legislative body, and is governed on the ba-
sis of democratic centralism.[32] It is the highest repre- Article 6 of the Constitution states that “The people make
5.8. JUDICIARY 33

use of state power through the agency of the National As- 5.7.1 Latest parliamentary election
sembly and the People’s Councils, which represent the
will and aspirations of the people, are elected by them Main article: Vietnamese parliamentary election, 2011
and responsible to them”.[32] Deputies (members) of the
National Assembly are directly elected on a democratic
basis through secret ballots. All citizens who are 18 or
older, regardless of ethnic group, gender, social position, 5.7.2 Latest presidential election
belief, religion, level of education, occupation or length
of residency have the right to vote, the exceptions being Main article: Vietnamese presidential election, 2011
the mentally disabled and those people who have been de-
prived of the right to vote by law. People aged 21 or older
have the right to stand as a candidate at elections. Three
election commissions have been established to manage
elections; at the central level is the Election Council, at 5.8 Judiciary
the provincial level and in centrally-run cities the Election
Committee is responsible for election monitoring and the Main article: Judiciary of Vietnam
Election Commission is responsible for election monitor- The Vietnamese judicial system is based upon Socialist
ing at constituencies.[40]
The current 500 members of the National Assembly were
elected during the 2011 parliamentary election, and they
have a five-year term. Despite foreign criticism, it is gen-
erally believed that the National Assembly has become
more powerful in recent years.[41] The last election was
held, according to the authorities, in a democratic, fair,
lawful and safe manner and was considered a success.
Voter turnout was 99.51 percent; nearly 62 million peo-
ple voted. In their respective constituencies, Nguyễn Phú
Trọng, the General Secretary, was elected to the National
Assembly with 85.63 percent of the votes, Prime Min-
ister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng was elected with 95.38 percent
and President Trương Tấn Sang was elected with 80.19
percent. Outside the ruling troika, it was Nguyễn Xuân
Phúc, the Chairman of the Government Office, who was
elected with the highest margin, with 94.59 percent of the
votes. The number of self-nominated candidates was four
times higher than the previous election.[42] Fifteen out of
the 182 candidates nominated by the central government
and the central party leadership were defeated in the elec- The emblem of the Vietnam People’s Army Military Court
tions. Lê Thị Thu Ba, a member of the Party’s Central
Committee and Chairman of the Committee of Law dur- legality. The country’s highest judicial organ is the
ing the 12th National Assembly (2007–2011), was not re- Supreme People’s Court (SPC). The composition of the
elected to the National Assembly. Several capitalists were SCP includes the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Judge, ju-
elected to the assembly, but due to the socialist ideology rors and court secretaries. The structure of the SCP
of the state, they are not allowed to sit on the assembly’s (from the top down) is as follows: Council of Judges,
Committee on Economy and Budget.[43] Commission of Judges, Central Military Court, Crimi-
Nguyễn Sinh Hùng, the Chairman of the Na- nal Court, Civil Court, Appeal Court, and assisting staff.
tional Assembly, nominated Trương Tấn Sang for The Chief Judge of the SCP is elected by the National
the Presidency.[44] 487 deputies of the National Assembly, while the President of the Socialist Republic
Assembly,[45] meaning 97.4 percent, voted in favour of has the power to nominate and dismiss the Deputy Chief
Trương Tấn Sang.[46] In his victory speech, Trương Tấn Judge and judges at the Chief Judge’s request. The Cen-
Sang said, “I pledge to improve my moral quality and tral Committee of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front intro-
study the example of the late President Hồ Chí Minh duces People’s Jurors, which are in turn appointed by the
to cooperate with the government to bring Vietnam to Standing Committee of the National Assembly. Accord-
become a fully industrialized country by 2015.”[47] ing to the Government Web Portal, the operating princi-
ples of the courts are, during hearings, that the “judges
and jurors are independent and only obey the laws.” Jus-
tice and democracy within the system is supposedly en-
sured because legal decision-making is an open process.
34 CHAPTER 5. POLITICS OF VIETNAM

Jurors play an essential role, and defenders have the right into towns, urban and rural districts. In turn, the district is
of defence and to hire a lawyer.[2] divided into communes and townlets. In the words of Ar-
The Supreme People’s Prosecutor (SPP), the Vietnamese ticle 118 of the Constitution, the “provincial city and the
equivalent to an attorney general, observes the implemen- town are divided into wards and [50]
communes; the urban
tation process of the Ministries, ministerial-level agen- district is divided into wards.” The establishment of
cies, government organs, local authorities, social and eco- People’s Council and People’s Committees is determined
[50]
nomic organisations, the armed forces, security forces by law.
and the Vietnamese citizens in general. The SPP respects In the provinces, the People’s Council is the “local organ
the Constitution and state laws, practices public prosecu- of State power”, and it represents the “aspirations, and
tion as stated by the law and ensures law enforcement. mastery of the people”. The People’s Council is demo-
The head of the SPP is elected, dismissed, or removed cratically elected, and is accountable to the people and to
from office by a proposal of the President. The Deputy superior organs of the state.[51] It must pass resolutions
Heads, prosecutors and inspectors appointed by the SPP which are formal orders of superior organs of state, and it
head can be dismissed by the President on the Head’s acts on behalf of the constitution. The People’s Council
request.[2] decides the plans for socio-economic development, de-
The SPC is the highest court for appeal and review, and cides the budget and is responsible for national defence
it reports to the National Assembly, which controls the and security at the local level.[52] The deputy (member) of
judiciary’s budget and confirms the president’s nominees the People’s Council acts on the behalf of the people,[53]
to the SPC and SPP. The SPP issues arrest warrants, and has the right to make proposals to the People’s Coun-
sometimes retroactively. Below the SPC are district and cil and other local State organs. In turn, officials of
provincial people’s courts, military tribunals, and admin- these local organs have the responsibility to receive and
istrative, economic and labor courts. The people’s courts to examine them.[54] The People’s Council have to elect a
are the courts of first instance. The Ministry of Defence People’s Committee, the executive organ of the People’s
(MOD) has military tribunals, which have the same rules Council. It is the People’s Committee which has the re-
as civil courts. Military judges and assessors are selected sponsibility to implement “the Constitution, the law, the
by the MOD and the SPC, but the SPC has supervisory formal written orders of superior State organs and the res-
responsibility. Although the constitution provides for in- olutions of the People’s Council.”[55] The People’s Com-
dependent judges and lay assessors (who lack adminis- mittee is headed by a Chairman, who acts as the body’s
trative training), the United States Department of State leader. All decisions of the People’s Committee are taken
through a collegial decision-making process, and have
maintains that Vietnam lacks an independent judiciary,
in part because the Communist Party selects judges and to “conform to the will of the majority.”[56] The chair-
man has the power to annul decisions of lower standing
vets them for political reliability. Moreover, the party
seeks to influence the outcome of cases involving per- organs.[56] Local officials of the Vietnamese Fatherland
Front, its local head, and officials from other mass organ-
ceived threats to the state or the party’s dominant posi-
tion. In an effort to increase judicial independence, the isations in the locality have the right to attend the meet-
ings of the People’s Council and the People’s Committee
government transferred local courts from the Ministry of
Justice to the SPC in September 2002. However, the De- if relevant problems are discussed.[56] According to Ar-
partment of State saw no evidence that the move actually ticle 125 of the constitution, “The People’s Council and
achieved the stated goal. Vietnam’s judiciary is also ham- the People’s Committee shall make regular reports on the
pered by a shortage of lawyers and by rudimentary trial local situation in all fields to the Fatherland Front and the
procedures. The death penalty often is imposed in cases mass organisations; shall listen to their opinions and pro-
of corruption and drug trafficking.[49] posals on local power building and socio-economic devel-
opment; shall cooperate with them in urging the people
to work together with the State for the implementation of
socio-economic, national-defence, and security tasks in
5.9 Local government the locality.”[57]

Main article: Provinces of Vietnam 5.9.1 List of provinces

Provinces and municipalities are subdivided into towns, 5.10 References

districts and villages. Provinces and municipalities are
centrally controlled by the national government. Towns,
[1] “Preamble of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic
districts and villages are locally accountable to some de-
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
gree through elected people’s councils.[49] Certain cities Vietnam. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
and provinces are under direct control of the central gov-
ernment. The provinces are divided into districts, provin- [2] “Political system”. Government of the Socialist Republic
cial cities and towns; cities under direct rule are divided of Vietnam. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
5.10. REFERENCES 35

[3] “Article 12 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic [27] “Article 103 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help); Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);

[4] “Vietnam culture overview”. Government of the Socialist [28] Staff writer (25 July 2011). “Truong Tan Sang elected
Republic of Vietnam. Retrieved 16 April 2012. Vietnamese state president”. People’s Daily. Communist
Party of China. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
[5] Quinn-Judge 2002, p. 2.
[29] “Article 110 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic
[6] Gillespie 2006, p. 90. of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);
[7] Quinn-Judge 2002, p. 256.
[30] “Article 113 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic
[8] Brocheux 2007, p. 186. of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);
[9] Gillespie 2006, p. 91.
[31] Central Intelligence Agency. “East & Southeast Asia:
[10] Gillespie 2006, p. 92.
Vietnam”. The World Factbook (Directorate of Intelli-
[11] Gillespie 2006, pp. 91–92. gence). Retrieved 10 April 2012.

[12] Van & Cooper 1983, p. 56. [32] “Article 6 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
[13] Ashwill & Thai 2005, p. 47. Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);

[14] East & Thomas 2003, p. 574. [33] “Article 83 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
[15] Rowley 2008, p. 187. Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);
[16] Abuza, Zachary (16 November 2001). “The Lessons of [34] “Article 7 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic
Le Kha Phieu: Changing Rules in Vietnamese politics”. of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnamese Professionals of America. The Catholic Uni- Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);
versity of America. p. 9.
[35] “Article 85 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic
[17] Abuza, Zachary (16 November 2001). “The Lessons of of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
Le Kha Phieu: Changing Rules in Vietnamese politics”. Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);
Vietnamese Professionals of America. The Catholic Uni-
versity of America. p. 10. [36] “Article 90 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
[18] Abuza, Zachary (16 November 2001). “The Lessons of Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);
Le Kha Phieu: Changing Rules in Vietnamese politics”.
Vietnamese Professionals of America. The Catholic Uni- [37] “Standing Committee”. National Assembly of the Social-
versity of America. p. 11. ist Republic of Vietnam. Retrieved 11 April 2012.

[38] “Committees”. National Assembly of the Socialist Re-

[19] Abuza, Zachary (16 November 2001). “The Lessons of
public of Vietnam. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
Le Kha Phieu: Changing Rules in Vietnamese politics”.
Vietnamese Professionals of America. The Catholic Uni- [39] “Ethnic council”. National Assembly of the Socialist Re-
versity of America. p. 12. public of Vietnam. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
[20] Abuza, Zachary (16 November 2001). “The Lessons of [40] “Election”. National Assembly of the Socialist Republic
Le Kha Phieu: Changing Rules in Vietnamese politics”. of Vietnam. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
Vietnamese Professionals of America. The Catholic Uni-
versity of America. pp. 11–12. [41] Timberlake, Ian (21 May 2011). “One-party Vietnam
votes in national election”. Associated Press. Retrieved
[21] Van & Cooper 1983, p. 69. 11 April 2012.

[22] Porter 1993, pp. 66–67. [42] “Election results for NA and People’s Council deputies an-
nounced”. Voice of Vietnam. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 11
[23] Nguyen Phu Trong re-elected Party General Secretary April 2011.
[24] Hasan & Onyx 2008, p. 42. [43] Ruwitch, John (4 June 2011). “Party wins big in Vietnam,
but with a few twists”. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
[25] Staff writer. “TIN HOẠT ĐỘNG CỦA CÁC TỔ CHỨC
THÀNH VIÊN” [Activities of member organisations] (in [44] Staff writer (25 July 2011). “Truong Tan Sang nominated
Vietnamese). Vietnamese Fatherland Front. Retrieved 8 as Vietnam’s State President”. Association of Southeast
May 2012. Asian Nations–China. Retrieved 11 April 2012.

[26] “Article 102 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic [45] Staff writer (25 July 2011). “National Assembly elects
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of new State President”. en.vietnamplus.vn. Retrieved 11
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help); April 2011.
36 CHAPTER 5. POLITICS OF VIETNAM

[46] Yang, Lina (25 July 2011). “Truong Tan Sang elected • Porter, Gareth (1993). Vietnam: The Politics of
Vietnamese state president”. Xinhua News Agency. Xin- Bureaucratic Socialism. Cornell University Press.
huanet. Retrieved 11 April 2011. ISBN 9780801421686.
[47] Staff writer (25 July 2011). “Truong Tan Sang elected • Gillespie, John Stanley (2006). Transplanting
Vietnamese state president”. People’s Daily. Communist
Commercial Law Reform: Developing a 'Rule of
Party of China. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
Law' in Vietnam. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN
[48] “Election results for NA and People’s Council deputies an- 9780754647041.
nounced”. Voice of Vietnam. 3 June 2011. Retrieved 11
April 2011. • Hasan, Samiul; Onyx, Jenny (2008). Compara-
tive Third Sector Governance in Asia: Structure,
[49] “Country Profile: Vietnam” (PDF). Federal Research Di- Process, and Political Economy. Springer. ISBN
vision of the Library of Congress. December 2005. p. 9780387755663.
16. Retrieved 12 April 2012.

[50] “Article 118 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic

• Napier, Nancy K.; Vuong, Quan Hoang (2013).
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of What We See, Why We Worry, Why We Hope: Viet-
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help); nam Going Forward. Boise State University CCI
Press. ISBN 9780985530587.
[51] “Article 119 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of • Quinn-Judge, Sophie (2002). Ho Chi Minh: The
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help); Missing Years, 1919–1941. University of California
Press. ISBN 9780520235335.
[52] “Article 120 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of • Rowley, Chris (2008). The Changing Face of Man-
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);
agement in South East Asia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN
[53] “Article 121 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic 9780415405447.
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help); • Van, Canh Nguyen; Cooper, Earle (1983). Viet-
nam under Communism, 1975–1982. Hoover Press.
[54] “Article 122 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic ISBN 9780817978518.
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);

[55] “Article 123 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic 5.12 External links
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);
• Active Citizens under Political Wraps: Experiences
[56] “Article 124 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic from Myanmar/Burma and Vietnam pub. by the
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of Heinrich Böll Vietnam Government Foundation,
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help); Chiang Mai, Thailand, November 2006, pp 201
[57] “Article 125 of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic • VUFO-NGO, Directory of Vietnam government
of Vietnam”. Government of the Socialist Republic of ministry and agency websites
Vietnam. Missing or empty |title= (help);

[58] “Report on completed census results: The 1/4/2009 Pop- This article incorporates public domain material from
ulation and Housing Census”. General Statistics Office of websites or documents of the Library of Congress Coun-
Vietnam. Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet- try Studies.
nam. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 11 April 2012.

5.11 Bibliography
• Ashwill, Mark; Thai, Ngoc Diep (2005). Vietnam
Today: A Guide To A Nation At A Crossroads. In-
tercultural Press. ISBN 9781931930093.
• Brocheux, Pierre (2007). Ho Chi Minh: a Bi-
ography. Cambridge University Press. ISBN
9780521850629.
• East, Roger; Thomas, Richard (2003). Profiles of
People in Power: The World’s Government Leaders.
Routledge. ISBN 9781857431261.
Chapter 6

Human rights in Vietnam

6.1 Vietnam’s report about human

rights in UN human rights
council

A report drafted by the Vietnamese government for on 18

June 2007 for the United Nations Human Rights Coun-
cil to review the implementation of human rights in the
territory of Viet Nam stated: For Viet Nam, the people
are both the ultimate objective and driving force of any
Vietnamese pro-democracy rally demanding for the release of social and economic development policy, and protecting
Nguyễn Quốc Quân on April 30, 2012 (Black April). and promoting human rights are always the Government’s
consistent policy. The 1992 Constitution, the supreme law
of the country, guarantees that all citizens enjoy equal po-
litical, economic, cultural and social rights, and are equal
before the law. Every citizen has the right to participate
in the management of the State and the society, the free-
doms of religion and belief, the right to free movement and
residence in the territory of Viet Nam, the right to com-
plaints and petitions, the right to employment, education
and healthcare etc. regardless of gender, race and reli-
gion. On that basis, Vietnamese laws enumerate the spe-
cific rights in accordance with international human rights
standards.[2]
The report argued that freedoms of expression, press and
information of the Vietnamese people were clearly il-
lustrated through the rapid and diverse development of
Việt Tân Party info booth at a pro-democracy, pro-human rights the mass media. As of 2008, there were over 700 press
rally agencies with 850 publications, nearly 15,000 licensed
journalists, 68 radio and television stations at central and
provincial levels and land-based digital TV stations, 80 e-
newspapers, thousands of news websites and 55 publish-
Human rights in Vietnam have long been a matter ers. The people of Viet Nam were provided with greater
of much controversy between the Government of Viet- access to advanced information technology, especially the
nam and some international human rights organizations internet, with about 20 million internet users, account-
and Western governments, particularly that of the United ing for 23.5% of the population, higher than Asia’s av-
States. Under the current constitution, the Communist erage rate of 18%. Apart from the domestic media,
Party of Vietnam is the only one allowed to rule, the the people of Viet Nam had access to dozens of foreign
operation of all other political parties being outlawed: press agencies and television channels, including Reuters,
this is the main problem in terms of political freedom. BBC, VOA, AP, AFP, CNN and many other major inter-
Other human rights issues concern freedom of associa- national papers and magazines.[2] The growing economy
tion, freedom of speech and freedom of the press. had enabled the Government to concentrate resources on
Since 1994, Vietnam Human Rights Day is celebrated such priorities as education, health, infrastructure devel-
each year on 11 May.[1] opment, human resource development, poverty reduction

37
38 CHAPTER 6. HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM

and assistance to underdeveloped areas.[2] The govern- and international human rights organizations that share
ment had promulgated and amended around 13,000 laws these views include Human Rights Watch[6] and the
and by-law documents, in which civil and political rights Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.[7] The
are elaborated. The 1992 Constitution recognized fully United Nations[8] has highlighted religious persecution.
all human rights (Articles 2 and 50).[2] In 2009, the European Parliament expressed concern
The report highlighted the rapid growth, diverse forms about “the growing climate of intolerance in Vietnam
of mass media, belief in the lively and diverse society in towards human rights defenders and members of offi-
Vietnam, as well as securing the rights of women, chil- cially unrecognized religious communities.” It called on
dren and the disabled. It argued that thanks to the protec- the government to end repression against freedom of ex-
tion and promotion of human rights, Vietnam’s economy, pression, belief, and assembly, and to release its “political
society, and culture have made great strides.[2] But the re- prisoners”.[9]
port also acknowledged that there are still inadequacies The government officially provides for freedom of
in the country, difficulties to be solved, in which the legal religion and recognizes Buddhist, Roman Catholic,
system lacks uniformity and spot overlapping conflicts, Protestant, Hòa Hảo, Cao Đài, and Muslim denomina-
not keep up with reality, leading to difficulties, misun- tions. However, the government supervises the clergies
derstandings and even affect the constitutional guarantee, of the sanctioned groups (by approving appointments, for
the feasibility and transparency in the process of ensuring example) in the interest of “national unity”.[10]
human rights.[2]
Freedom of expression remains a problem as the Viet-
According to the Vietnamese embassy, the UN rati- namese authorities continue to use tough national security
fied Vietnam’s human rights report.[3] The embassy also laws to punish critics of the regime. The official media re-
stated that many of these countries appreciated Vietnam’s mained tightly controlled by government censorship and
renewal, achievements and strong commitment to fos-
obstruction.[11]
tering human rights.[4] Also, there were some opinions
against the adoption but these were rejected. Restrictions on the freedom to assemble remain a prob-
lem in Vietnam. There is an effort of the government
According to a 1997 report by the China Internet Infor- to delay issuing a law for legalizing demonstration/strike
mation Center, Vietnam has made a number of changes to although demonstration is legal as written in Vietnam’s
its constitution, laws, and practical policies in the area of Constitution.
human rights since the Doi Moi, or the economic reform
in 1986. For instance, the Constitution was amended in At present, Vietnam continues to hold more than 160
1991 to enshrine the protection of “political, civil, eco- political prisoners, who have committed no “crimes” —
nomic, cultural and cultural rights” for the first time, and other than to peaceably voice their complaints that their
the penal code explicitly banned torture. Internationally, government is seen as becoming increasingly corrupt and
[12]
Vietnam was the second signatory of the Convention on unaccountable.
the Rights of the Child. Although Vietnam retains capital
punishment, the Constitution of 1992 reduced the num-
ber of eligible crimes from 44 to 29, and over 90% of the 6.3 Current human-rights related
population has access to health care. In women’s rights,
Vietnam ranks 2nd among Asia-Pacific countries and 9th dissidents
among 135 countries in percentage of Female Parliamen-
tarians.[5] In 2009, Le Cong Dinh, a lawyer who several years
previously had acted for the government in a success-
ful case against American catfish farmers, was arrested
and charged with the capital crime of subversion; several
6.2 Recent facts of human rights of his associates were also arrested.[13][14] Many West-
in Vietnam from international ern governments condemned the move, and human rights
groups alleged that the arrest was due to Le Cong Dinhs’
human rights organizations re- support for freedom of speech.[14] Amnesty International
named him and his arrested associates to be prisoners of
ports conscience.[14]
Vietnam currently holds several other individuals in de-
In its 2004 report on Human Rights Practices, the U.S.
tention that Amnesty International considers to be prison-
State Department characterized Vietnam’s human rights
ers of conscience: Cù Huy Hà Vũ, convicted of “conduct-
record as “poor” and cited the continuation of “serious
ing propaganda against the state” for giving interviews to
abuses.” According to the report, the government has im-
foreign press;[15] Nguyen Dan Que, convicted of “red-
posed restrictions on freedom of speech, freedom of the
handed keeping and distributing documents” calling for
press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of association.
the overthrow of the government;[16] and Roman Catholic
Recent US reports maintain the same observations priest Nguyen Van Ly (also known as Father Thaddeus)
6.5. RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION 39

detained for “spreading propaganda against the state.”[17] Song Luy in the 1832 invasion in history books and tourist
Amnesty International has called for the immediate and guides. The situation of Cham compared to ethnic Viet-
unconditional release of all three men. namese is substandard, lacking water and electricity and
living in houses made out of mud.[20]

6.4 Ethnic Minorities 6.5 Religious Discrimination

The Cham, Montagnard and Khmer Krom minorities Vietnamese police have beaten and arrested Falun Gong
joined together in the United Front for the Liberation of demonstrators outside the Chinese embassy in Ha Noi.
Oppressed Races, to wage war against the Vietnamese for They had been protesting against the trial of two local
independence in the Vietnam War. The last remaining Falun Gong broadcasters, Vu Duc Trung and Le Van
FULRO insurgents surrendered to the United Nations in Thanh. They were sentenced two days later to two and
1992. three years’ imprisonment respectively for broadcasting
Various ethnic minority organizations like the illegally into China where the Falun Gong is banned.
Montagnard Foundation, Inc., International Office Nguyen Van Lia and Tran Hoai An, members of the Hoa
of Champa, and Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation Hao Buddhist church, were sentenced to five and three
allege that the Vietnamese people and government years’ imprisonment respectively in December for “abus-
perpetuate human rights abuses against the Degar ing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of
(Montagnards), Cham, and Khmer Krom.Vietnam has the state”. Nguyen Van Lia, aged 72, and Tran Hoai An
settled over a million ethnic Vietnamese on Montagnard had briefed foreign diplomats about restrictions on free-
lands in the Central Highlands. The Montagnard staged dom of religion and other human rights violations.[21]
a massive protest against the Vietnamese in 2001, which
led to the Vietnamese to forcefully crush the uprising
and seal the entire area off to foreigners. 6.6 See also
The Cham in Vietnam are only recognized as a minor-
ity, and not as an indigenous people by the Vietnamese • LGBT rights in Vietnam
government despite being indigenous to the region. Both • Freedom of religion in Vietnam
Hindu and Muslim Chams have experienced religious
and ethnic persecution and restrictions on their faith un- • Vietnam Human Rights Network
der the current Vietnamese government, with the Viet-
namese state confisticating Cham property and forbid-
ding Cham from observing their religious beliefs. Hindu 6.7 References
temples were turned into tourist sites against the wishes
of the Cham Hindus. In 2010 and 2013 several incidents [1] Pressure Mounting on Vietnam to Improve Human
occurred in Thành Tín and Phươc Nhơn villages where Rights, Epoch Times, 20 May 2013
Cham were murdered by Vietnamese. In 2012, Viet-
namese police in Chau Giang village stormed into a Cham [2] National report of Vietnam under the universal periodic
Mosque, stole the electric generator, and also raped review of UN human rights council
Cham girls.[18] Cham Muslims in the Mekong Delta have [3] UN ratify Vietnam’s human rights report
also been economically marginalized and pushed into
poverty by Vietnamese policies, with ethnic Vietnamese [4] Vietnam adheres to human rights, says diplomat
Kinh settling on majority Cham land with state support, [5] “Human Rights in Vietnam During Renovation Process:
and religious practices of minorities have been targeted Achievements, Challenges and Prospects”. China Internet
for elimination by the Vietnamese government.[19] Information Center. 1997-08-19. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
The Vietnamese government fears that evidence of [6] Report of Human Rights Watch
Champa's influence over the disputed area in the South
China Sea would bring attention to human rights viola- [7] “UPR: Vietnam’s Human Rights Violations Exposed by”.
tions and killings of ethnic minorities in Vietnam such as UNPO. 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
in the 2001 and 2004 uprisings, and lead to the issue of [8] http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/
Cham autonomy being brought into the dispute, since the Session5/VN/A_HRC_WG6_5_VNM_3_E.pdf
Vietnamese conquered the Hindu and Muslim Cham peo-
ple in a war in 1832, and the Vietnamese continue to de- [9] “Motion for a resolution on human rights in Vietnam and
stroy evidence of Cham culture and artifacts left behind, Laos - B7-0157/2009”. Europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved
2010-12-20.
plundering or building on top of Cham temples, build-
ing farms over them, banning Cham religious practices, [10] “Reports - Christian Solidarity Worldwide”. Dy-
and omitting references to the destroyed Cham capital of namic.csw.org.uk. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
40 CHAPTER 6. HUMAN RIGHTS IN VIETNAM

[11] http://www.hrdreport.fco.gov.uk/ • Vietnam Human Rights Journal (blogspot)

human-rights-in-countries-of-concern/vietnam/
• www.rafto.no
[12] http://rushfordreport.com/?p=333
• Vietnam Human Rights Network
[13] Mydans, Seth (24 December 2009). “Vietnam Charges
Lawyer With Capital Crime”. The New York Times. Re- • [http://dynamic.csw.org.uk/article.asp?t=report&
trieved 4 May 2010. id=110>latest report]
[14] “Vietnam lawyer subversion charge”. BBC News. 24 De- • Vietnam: from “Vision” to Facts. Human Rights in
cember 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2010. Vietnam under its Chairmanship in ASEAN FIDH,
[15] “Prominent Vietnamese activist jailed over democracy 2010
calls”. Amnesty International. 5 April 2011. Retrieved
17 April 2011. • UNPO - Vietnam Human Rights Report 2009

[16] “VIETNAMESE AUTHORITIES MUST RELEASE • National report of Vietnam under the universal pe-
DR. NGUYEN DAN QUE”. Amnesty International. 28 riodic review of UN human rights council
February 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
• Indigenous People Face Deliberate Persecution in
[17] “VIET NAM: FURTHER INFORMATION: Vietnam
CATHOLIC PRIEST RISKS BEING RETURNED
TO PRISON: FATHER NGUYEN VAN LY”. Amnesty • Highlighting Vietnamese Government Human
International. 9 February 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011. Rights Violations In Advance of the U.S.-Vietnam
Dialogue: Hearing before the Subcommittee on
[18] “Mission to Vietnam Advocacy Day (Vietnamese-
Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and
American Meet up 2013) in the U.S. Capitol. A UPR
report By IOC-Campa”. Chamtoday.com. 2013-09-14.
International Organizations of the Committee on
Retrieved 2014-06-17. Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One
Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, 11
[19] Taylor, Philip (December 2006). “Economy in Mo- April 2013
tion: Cham Muslim Traders in the Mekong Delta”
(PDF). The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology • Continuing Repression by the Vietnamese Govern-
(The Australian National University) 7 (3): 238. ment: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Africa,
doi:10.1080/14442210600965174. ISSN 1444-2213. Global Health, Global Human Rights, and Interna-
Retrieved 3 September 2014. tional Organizations of the Committee on Foreign
[20] Bray, Adam (16 June 2014). “The Cham: Descendants Affairs, House of Representatives, One Hundred
of Ancient Rulers of South China Sea Watch Maritime Thirteenth Congress, First Session, 4 June 2013
Dispute From Sidelines”. National Geographic News (Na-
tional Geographic). Archived from the original on 2014.
Retrieved 3 September 2014.

[21] “Amnesty International Annual Report 2012, Vietnam”.

Retrieved 1 October 2014.

• “Rafto Laureates”. Archived from the original on

2006-08-20. Retrieved 2006-12-09.
• This article incorporates public domain material
from websites or documents of the Library of
Congress Country Studies. - http://lcweb2.loc.gov/
frd/cs/profiles/Vietnam.pdf Vietnam profile

6.8 External links

• Vietnamese Human Rights Newspaper
• US Department of State Human Rights Report 2009
Vietnam
• Censorship in Vietnam - IFEX
• Human rights in Vietnam on websites of interna-
tional NGOs: Human Rights Watch and FIDH
Chapter 7

President of Vietnam

The President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Soviet. The Council of State, as with the Council of Min-
(Vietnamese: Chủ tịch nước Cộng hoà xã hội chủ nghĩa isters, was a collective decision-making body. Both the
Việt Nam) is, according to the constitution of the Social- Council of State and the Council of Ministers were part
ist Republic of Vietnam, the head of state of Vietnam. of the executive branch; the strengthening of these insti-
In this capacity, the President represents the government tutions weakened the role of the legislative branch.[2] The
both domestically and internationally, and maintains the duties, powers and responsibilities of the Council of State
regular and coordinated operation and stability of the na- were taken from the Standing Committee of the National
tional government and safeguards the independence and Assembly, which lost most of its powers and prestige in
territorial integrity of the country. The President ap- the 1980 Constitution.
points the Prime Minister, Vice President, Ministers and The members of the Council of State were elected by
other officials with the consent of the National Assembly. the National Assembly and consisted of a chairman,
The President is furthermore the commander-in-chief of deputy chairmen, a General Secretary and other mem-
the Vietnam People’s Armed Forces and Chairman of the bers. Council of State members could not concurrently
Council for Defense and Security. The tenure of the Pres- be members of the Council of Ministers. The Chair-
ident is five years, and a president can only serve three man of the Council of State was concurrently Chairman
terms. If the President becomes unable to discharge du- of the National Defense Council (later the National De-
ties of office, the Vice President or Prime Minister as- fense and Security Council) and commander-in-chief of
sumes the office of acting president until the President the Vietnam People’s Armed Forces. The Council of
resumes duty, or until the election of a new president. State supervised the works of other institutions, most no-
The powers and prestige of the office of President have tably the Council of Ministers, the Supreme People’s Or-
varied over the years. For instance, while the inaugural gan for Control and the People’s Councils at all levels. It
president, Hồ Chí Minh, was the first ranking member of also presided over the elections of the National Assem-
the Communist Party's Politburo, the highest decision- bly. The office of Chairman of the Council of State, the
making body in Vietnam, his successor, Tôn Đức Thắng, head of state, was abolished in the 1992 Constitution and
served as a symbolic figure. Since Trường Chinh's as- replaced by the office of President.
cension to the presidency, the President has been ranked
The importance of the President has not remained con-
1st or 2rd in the order of precedence of the Communist stant throughout Vietnamese history. For instance, while
Party’s Politburo.
Hồ Chí Minh was ranked as first member of the Politburo,
the highest decision-making body in Vietnam, his suc-
cessor, Tôn Đức Thắng, was a symbolic figure with little
7.1 History power.[3] The post of head of state was strengthened in the
1980 Constitution by the appointment of Trường Chinh
who was, by order of precedence, the second-highest-
Hồ Chí Minh was appointed Vietnam’s first president in ranking member in the Politburo, behind Lê Duẩn.[4] The
1946 by the National Assembly.[1] Both the 1946 and office of President retained the second highest rank in the
1959 Constitutions stated that the National Assembly had Politburo order of precedence until Nguyễn Minh Triết
the power to appoint and dismiss the President. The was appointed in 2006; he ranked fourth in the Polit-
President represented Vietnam both internally and exter- buro hierarchy. The Politburo elected in the aftermath
nally. The powers and responsibilities of the President of the 11th National Party Congress (held in January
remained unchanged in the 1959 constitution. The 1980 2011) by the Central Committee elected Trương Tấn
constitution transformed the office of head of state dra- Sang, the current President, the first-ranking member of
matically. The office of President was abolished and re- the Politburo.[5] This was the first time in Vietnamese his-
placed with the office of Chairman of the Council of State tory where the highest-ranking member of the Politburo
(CC). The CC chairmanship was modelled after the So- does not hold post of either General Secretary or Chair-
viet office of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme

41
42 CHAPTER 7. PRESIDENT OF VIETNAM

man (was in existence from 1951 to 1969) of the party.[6] • The President can appoint or dismiss Deputy Prime
[7]
Since Trương Tấn Sang is first-ranked member of the Ministers, Ministers and other members of govern-
Politburo, he is the body’s unofficial head. Politburo ment.
meetings are held regularly; decisions within the Polit-
buro are made through collective decision-making, and • The President can proclaim a state of war or
policies are only enacted if a majority of Politburo mem- amnesty.
bers supports them.[8]
• On the basis of a Standing Committee resolution,
the President can order a general or partial mobili-
sation, or can proclaim a state of emergency nation-
7.2 Duties, powers and responsibil- wide or in a particular region.
ities
• The President can propose that the Standing Com-
mittee review its decree-laws and resolutions on
matters stipulated in Points 8 and 9, Article 91,
within the space of ten days following their adoption;
if those decree-laws and resolutions are again passed
by the Standing Committee of the National Assem-
bly with the country’s President dissenting, the latter
shall report the matter to the National Assembly for
it to decide the issue at its nearest session.

• The President can appoint or dismiss the Deputy

Chief Judge and judges of the Supreme People’s
Court, Deputy Director of the Supreme People’s Of-
fice of Supervision and Control.

• The President can appoint or dismiss the Chief of

General Staff, Vice chief of General Staff, Director
Presidential Palace, Hanoi
of the General Department of Politics, Vice Direc-
tor of the General Department of Politics
The President is the head of state of Vietnam, and
his main priority is to represent Vietnam internally and • He confers titles and ranks on senior officers of
externally.[1] The officeholder is elected by the National the Vietnam People’s Armed Forces and bestows
Assembly of Vietnam, is responsible to it and reports to it. “diplomatic titles and ranks, and other State titles
The tenure of the President is five years, the same as that and ranks; to confer medals, badges and State hon-
of the National Assembly. The President continues to ours and distinctions”.
serve in his functions until the National Assembly elects
a successor. The President has the following executive • The President can appoint and recall ambassadors
and legislative powers: extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and can receive
foreign ambassadors extraordinary and plenipoten-
• He promulgates laws, decree-laws and the Constitu- tiary, to negotiate and sign international agreements
tion. on behalf of the Socialist Republic with the Heads
of other States; he can approve or join international
• He acts as the country’s commander-in-chief and agreements, except in cases where a decision by the
holds the office of Chairman of the National De- National Assembly is necessary.
fense and Security Council of Vietnam.
• He can grant Vietnamese nationality, release from
• He shall take measures to protect the sovereignty of Vietnamese nationality, or deprive of Vietnamese
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam its independence nationality.
and state integrity, and ensure concerted functioning
and interaction of all bodies of state power. • He holds Director of Steering Committee of the
Central Judicial Reform.
• He can propose to the National Assembly the elec-
tion or dismissal from office of the Vice President,
the Prime Minister, the Chief Judge of the Supreme The National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) is
People’s Court and the Head of the Supreme Peo- composed of the President, the Prime Minister and other
ple’s Office of Supervision and Control. members. The members of the NDSC are proposed by
the President and approved by the National Assembly.
• He has the right to preside over meetings of the Gov- NDSC members do not need to be members of the Na-
ernment of Vietnam. tional Assembly. The decision-making process of the
7.4. LIST OF PRESIDENTS 43

NDSC is that of a collective leadership. Among its pow- 7.4 List of presidents
ers is the right to mobilise all forces in the name of na-
tional defense, and in case of war the National Assembly Further information: List of Presidents of Vietnam
can entrust the NDSC with special duties and powers.

• 1st — Hồ Chí Minh

7.3 Order of succession 1st, 2nd & 3rd terms
(served: 1945–1969)
Article 93 of the Constitution of Vietnam. In the event • 2nd — Tôn Đức Thắng
of the president not being able to discharge the duties 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th terms
of his/her office, Vice President, the Prime Minister and (served: 1969–1980)
ministers in line of the order of succession shall be the
acting president • Acting — Nguyễn Hữu Thọ
6th term
(served: 1980–1981)
• Vice President
• 3rd — Trường Chinh
• Prime Minister 7th term
(served: 1981–1987)
• Minister of Defence
• 6th — Trần Đức Lương
• Minister of Public Security 10th & 11th terms
(served: 1997–2006)
• Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 7th — Nguyễn Minh Triết
• Minister of Justice 11th & 12th terms
(served: 2006–2011)
• Minister of Finance
• 8th — Trương Tấn Sang
• Minister of Transport 13th term (incumbent)
(served: 2011–2016)
• Minister of Construction

• Minister of Education and Training

7.5 Living former presidents
• Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

• Minister of Industry and Trade 7.6 See also

• Minister of Planning and Investment • Vice President of Vietnam
• Minister of Science and Technology • Prime Minister of Vietnam

• Minister of Natural Resources and Environment • Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam

• Minister of information and Communications • General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army
• List of central officeholders in the Communist Party
• Minister of Home Affairs of Vietnam
• Leaders of the Government Inspectorate • Air transports of heads of state and government
• Governor of the State Bank

• Leaders of the Committee on Ethnic Minority Af- 7.7 References

fairs
[1] “Political system”. Government of the Socialist Republic
• Leaders of the Government Office of Vietnam. Retrieved 20 April 2012.

• Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs [2] Ronald J. Cima. "Constitutional Evolution". Vietnam:
A country study (Ronald J. Cima, editor). Federal Re-
• Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism search Division of the Library of Congress of the USA
(December 1987). This article incorporates text from
• Minister of Health this source, which is in the public domain.
44 CHAPTER 7. PRESIDENT OF VIETNAM

[3] Duong 2008, p. 135.

[4] Porter 1993, p. 77.

[5] “Party Congress announces CPVCC Politburo members”.

Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 19 Jan-
uary 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

[6] Staff writer. “Political Bureau”. Ban chấp hành Trung

ương, Bộ Chính trị, Ban Bí thư [Central Committee, Polit-
buro, Secretariat] (in Vietnamese). Communist Party of
Vietnam. pp. I–X. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

[7] Staff writer. "Đồng chí Nguyễn Phú Trọng được bầu làm
Tổng Bí thư" [Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong is elected General
Secretary]. Bao Yen Bai (in Vietnamese). Communist
Party of Vietnam. Retrieved 13 January 2014.

[8] Staff writer. "Điều lệ Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam thông qua
tại Đại hội đại biểu toàn quốc lần thứ XI của Đảng” [The
Charter of the Communist Party of Vietnam which was
approved at the 11th National Congress]. 11th National
Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Retrieved
23 June 2012.

7.8 Bibliography
• Duong, Van Nguyen (2008). The Tragedy of the
Vietnam War: A South Vietnamese Officer’s Anal-
ysis. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786432851.

• Porter, Gareth (1993). Vietnam: The Politics of

Bureaucratic Socialism. Cornell University Press.
ISBN 978-0801421686.
Chapter 8

Economy of Vietnam

The economy of Vietnam is a developing planned econ- The feudal dynasties always considered agriculture as the
omy and market economy. Since the mid-1980s, through main economic base, and their economic thoughts have
the Đổi Mới reform period, Vietnam has made a shift been predicated on physiocracy. Land ownership was
from a highly centralized planned economy to a socialist- regulated, and such large-scale works as dykes were con-
oriented market economy which use both directive and structed in the Red River Delta to facilitate wet rice cul-
indicative planning (see Five-Year Plans of Vietnam). tivation. In peaceful times, soldiers were sent home to do
Over that period, the economy has experienced rapid farm work. Furthermore, the court prohibited slaughter-
growth. In the twenty-first century, Vietnam is in a period ing water buffalo and cattle and held many agriculture-
of being integrated into the global economy. Almost all related ceremonies. Handicrafts and art were valued, but
Vietnamese enterprises are small and medium enterprises commerce was deprecated, and businessmen were called
(SMEs). Vietnam has become a leading agricultural ex- by the derogatory term con buôn. The national economy
porter and served as an attractive destination for foreign was self-sufficient.
investment in Southeast Asia. In a similar fashion to other
From the 16th century, Confucianism was losing its influ-
Communist countries after the end of the Cold War the ence on Vietnamese society and a monetary economy be-
planned economy of Vietnam lost the momentum for pro- gan to develop. Early commercial ports, such as Hội An,
ductivity and sustainable growth. In the current period were constrained, and foreign countries with their differ-
the economy of Vietnam relies largely on foreign direct ent cultures and their invasion ambitions were seen as a
investment to attract the capital from overseas to supportthreat. This policy of closure led to a degree of stagnation
its continual economic rigorousness.[8] in the Vietnamese economy, and contributed to Vietnam
In 2013, the nominal GDP reached US$170.565 becoming a French colony.
billion,[1] with nominal GDP per capita of US$1,902. Until the French colonization in the mid-19th cen-
According to a forecast in December 2005 by Goldman tury, Vietnam’s economy had been mostly agrarian,
Sachs, the Vietnamese economy was expected to be-
subsistence-based and village-oriented. French coloniz-
come the 35th largest economy in the world with nominal ers, however, deliberately developed the regions differ-
GDP of US$436 billion and nominal GDP per capita
ently as the French needed raw materials and a market
of US$4,357 by 2020.[9] According to a forecast by the for French manufactured goods, designating the South
PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2008, Vietnam may be the
for agricultural production as it was better suited for agri-
fastest-growing of the world’s emerging economies by culture, and the North for manufacturing as it was nat-
2020, with a potential annual growth rate of about 10% in
urally wealthy in mineral resources. Though the plan
real terms, which would increase the size of the economy exaggerated regional divisions, the development of ex-
to 70% of the size of the UK economy by 2040.[10] ports — coal from the North, rice from the South —
Vietnam has been named among the Next Eleven and and the importation of French manufactured goods stim-
CIVETS countries. Despite economic achievement fol- ulated domestic commerce.[13] The separation distorted
lowing Doi Moi, there exist issues that cause many an- the basic Vietnamese economy by overly stressing re-
alysts and researchers to remain worried about the eco- gional economic differences. In the South, while irri-
nomic slowdown in the country in recent years.[11][12] gated rice remained the principal subsistence crop, the
French introduced plantation agriculture with products
such as tea, cotton, and tobacco. The colonial govern-
ment also developed some extractive industries, such as
8.1 History the mining of coal, iron, and nonferrous metals. A ship-
building industry was begun in Hanoi; railroads, roads,
Main article: Economic history of Vietnam power stations, and hydraulics works were constructed.
In the South, agricultural development concentrated on
rice cultivation, and, nationally, rice and rubber were the
Civilization in Vietnam had been built on agriculture.

45
46 CHAPTER 8. ECONOMY OF VIETNAM

main items of export. Domestic and foreign trade were lowing the dissolution of the Comecon and the loss of its
centered around the Saigon-Cholon area. Industry in the traditional trading partners, Vietnam was forced to liber-
South consisted mostly of food-processing plants and fac- alize trade, devalue its exchange rate to increase exports,
tories producing consumer goods.[14] and embark on a policy of economic development.[16]
The development of exports—coal from the North, rice In 1986, Vietnam launched a political and economic re-
from the South—and the importation of French manu- newal campaign (Đổi Mới) that introduced reforms to
factured goods, however, stimulated internal commerce. facilitate the transition from a centralized economy to
A pattern of trade developed whereby rice from the South a “socialist-oriented market economy”. Đổi Mới com-
was exchanged for coal and manufactured goods from the bined government planning with free-market incentives
North. and encouraged the establishment of private businesses
When the North and South were divided politically in and foreign investment, including foreign-owned enter-
1954, they also adopted different economic ideologies: prises. Furthermore, the Vietnam government stressed
communism in the North and capitalism in the South. the necessity to lower birth rates when developing the
Destruction caused by the Second Indochina War from economic and social rights of the population by imple-
1954 to 1975 seriously strained the economy. The situ- menting a policy which restricted the number of chil-
ation was worsened by the country’s 1.5 million military dren per household to two, called the two-child policy.[17]
and civilian deaths, and the subsequent exodus of 1 mil- By the late 1990s, the success of the business and agri-
lion refugees, including tens of thousands of profession- cultural reforms ushered in under Đổi Mới was evident.
als, intellectuals, technicians and skilled workers.[13] More than 30,000 private businesses had been created,
the economy was growing at an annual rate of more than
The government’s Second Five-Year Plan (1976–1981) 7%, and poverty was nearly halved.[16]
aimed for extraordinarily high annual growth rates in in-
Throughout the 1990s, exports increased significantly,
dustrial and agricultural sectors and national income and
sought to integrate the North and the South, but the growing by as much as 20% to 30% in some years. In
1999, exports accounted for 40% of GDP, an impressive
goals were not attained. The economy remained domi-
nated by small-scale production, low labor productivity, performance in the midst of the economic crisis which
hit other countries in Asia. Vietnam became a member
unemployment, material and technological shortfalls, and
insufficient food and consumer goods.[13] The more mod- of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007, which
freed Vietnam from textile quotas enacted worldwide as
est goals of the Third Five-Year Plan (1981–85) were a
compromise between ideological and pragmatic factions; part of the Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) in 1974.[18]
they emphasized the development of agriculture and in- The MFA placed restrictions on the import by industrial-
dustry. Efforts were also made to decentralize plan- ized countries of textiles from developing countries. For
ning and improve the managerial skills of government China and other WTO members, however, textile quotas
officials.[13] under the MFA expired at the end of 2004 as agreed in
the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations in 1994.[16]
Since reunification in 1975, the economy of Vietnam has
been plagued by enormous difficulties in production, im-
balances in supply and demand, inefficiencies in distri- 8.1.1 Development since 1997
bution and circulation, soaring inflation rates, and rising
debt problems. Vietnam is one of the few countries in Vietnam’s economic policy following the 1997 Asian
modern history to experience a sharp economic deteri- Financial Crisis has been a cautious one, emphasizing
oration in a postwar reconstruction period. Its peace- macroeconomic stability rather than growth. While the
time economy is one of the poorest in the world and has country shifted toward a more market-oriented economy,
shown a negative to very slow growth in total national out- the Vietnamese government still continues to hold a tight
put as well as in agricultural and industrial production. rein over major state sectors, such as the banking sys-
Vietnam’s gross domestic product ( GDP) in 1984 was tem, state-owned enterprises and foreign trade.[19] GDP
valued at US$18.1 billion with a per capita income es- growth fell to 6% in 1998 and 5% in 1999.
timated to be between US$200 and US$300 per year.
The signing of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) be-
Reasons for this mediocre economic performance have
tween the USA and Vietnam on July 13, 2000, was a sig-
included severe climatic conditions that afflicted agricul-
nificant milestone. The BTA provided for “normal trade
tural crops, bureaucratic mismanagement, elimination of
relations” (NTR) status of Vietnamese goods in the U.S.
private ownership, extinction of entrepreneurial classes in
market. It was expected that access to the U.S. market
the South, and military occupation of Cambodia (which
would allow Vietnam to hasten its transformation into
resulted in a cutoff of much-needed international aid for
a manufacturing-based, export-oriented economy. Fur-
reconstruction).[15]
thermore, it would attract foreign investment, not only
From the late 1970s until the early 1990s, Vietnam was a from the U.S., but also from Europe, Asia and other re-
member of the Comecon, and therefore was heavily de- gions.
pendent on trade with the Soviet Union and its allies. Fol-
In 2001, the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam ap-
8.2. ECONOMIC SECTORS 47

proved a 10-year economic plan that enhanced the role construction booming that contributed a big part in eco-
of the private sector, while reaffirming the primacy of nomic growth but also caused “bubble” to the economy.
the state.[16] Growth then rose to 6% to 7% between 2000 Skyscrapers mushroomed in big cities. According to
and 2002 even in the midst of the global recession, mak- data of Skyscrapercity website, in 2013, the top three
ing it the world’s second fastest-growing economy. At the tallest buildings in Vietnam were the Hanoi Landmark 72
same time, investment grew threefold and domestic sav- (336m), the Hanoi Lotte Center (267m) and the Saigon
ings quintupled. Bitexco Financial Tower (263m).
In 2003, the private sector accounted for more than one- However, Vietnam’s current economic turmoil has given
quarter of all industrial output.[16] However, between rise to question of a new period of changing political
2003 and 2005, Vietnam fell dramatically in the World economy.[22]
Economic Forum's global competitiveness report rank-
ings, largely due to negative perceptions of the effective-
ness of government institutions.[16] Official corruption is 8.2 Economic sectors
endemic, and Vietnam lags in property rights, efficient
regulation of markets, and labor and financial market
reforms.[16] 8.2.1 Agriculture, fishery and forestry
Vietnam had an average GDP growth of 7.1% a year from In 2003, Vietnam produced an estimated 30.7 million
2000 to 2004. The GDP growth was 8.4% in 2005, the cubic meters of wood. Production of sawn wood was a
second-largest in Asia, trailing only China's. The govern- more modest 2,950 cubic meters. In 1992, in response to
ment estimated that GDP grew in 2006 by 8.17%. Ac- dwindling forests, Vietnam imposed a ban on the export
cording to the Minister of Planning and Investment, the of logs and raw timber. In 1997, the ban was extended to
government targeted a GDP growth of around 8.5% in all timber products except wooden artifacts. During the
2007.[20] 1990s, Vietnam began to reclaim land for forests with a
[16]
On November 7, 2006, the General Council at the World tree-planting program.
Trade Organization (WTO) approved Vietnam’s acces- Vietnam’s fishing industry, which has abundant resources
sion package. On January 11, 2007, Vietnam officially given the country’s long coastline and extensive network
became the WTO’s 149th member, after 11 years of of rivers and lakes, has generally experienced moderate
preparation, including eight years of negotiation.[18] The growth. In 2003, the total catch was about 2.6 million
country’s access to the WTO was intended to provide an tons. However, seafood exports increased fourfold be-
important boost to the economy, as it ensured that the lib- tween 1990 and 2002 to more than US$2 billion, driven
eralizing reforms continue and created options for trade in part by shrimp farms in the South and “catfish”, which
expansion. However, the WTO accession also brought are a different species from their American counterparts,
serious challenges, requiring the economy to open up to but are marketed in the United States under the same
increasing foreign competition. name. By selling vast quantities of shrimp and catfish to
Vietnam’s economy continues to expand at an annual rate the U.S., Vietnam triggered antidumping complaints by
in excess of 7%, one of the fastest-growing in the world, the U.S., which imposed tariffs in the case of catfish and
but it grew from an extremely low base, as it suffered the was considering doing the same for shrimp. In 2005, the
crippling effect of the Vietnam War from the 1950s to the seafood industry began to focus on domestic demand to
[16]
1970s, as well as the austerity measures introduced in its compensate for declining exports.
aftermath.[16] In 2012, the communist party was forced Vietnam is one of the top rice exporting countries in the
to apologise about the mismanagement of the economy world, but the limited sophistication of small-scale Viet-
after large numbers of SOEs went bankrupt and inflation namese farmers causes quality to suffer.[23]
rose. The main danger has been over the bad debt in the
banks totalling to 15% and forecast growth is 5.2% for Vietnam [24]
is the world’s second largest exporter of
2012 but this is also due to the global economic crisis.[21] coffee.
However the government has launched schemes to re-
form the economy such as lifting foreign ownership cap
8.2.2 Energy, mining and minerals
from 49% and partially privatizing the countries State
owned companies which have been responsible for the
Main article: Energy in Vietnam
recent economic downturn by the end of 2013 the gov-
ernment are expected to privatize 25–50 percent of most
SOEs only maintaining control on public services and Petroleum is the main source of energy, followed by coal,
military. The recent reforms have created a major boom which contributes about 25% of the country’s energy (ex-
in the Vietnamese stock market as confidence in the Viet- cluding biomass). Vietnam’s oil reserves are in the range
namese economy are returning. of 270–500 million tons. Oil production rose rapidly to
403,300 barrels per day (64,120 m3 /d) in 2004, but out-
Over the last 2 decades, Vietnam experienced a rapid
put is believed to have peaked and is expected to decline
48 CHAPTER 8. ECONOMY OF VIETNAM

gradually. In 2012, Vietnam welcomed 6.8 millions international

In 2003, mining and quarrying accounted for 9.4% of visitors and the number is expected to be more than 7
GDP, and the sector employed 0.7% of the workforce. millions in 2013. Vietnam keeps emerging as an attrac-
Petroleum and coal are the main mineral exports. Also tive destination. In Tripadvisor’s list of top 25 destina-
mined are antimony, bauxite, chromium, gold, iron, nat- tions Asia 2013 by travellers’ choice, there are four cities
ural phosphates, tin, and zinc.[16] of Vietnam, namely Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An
and Ha Long
Crude oil is Vietnam’s leading export, as it exported a
total of 17 million tons in 2002. In 2004, crude oil rep-
resented 22% of all export earnings. Petroleum exports 8.2.5 Banking and finance
are in the form of crude petroleum because Vietnam has a
very limited refining capacity. Vietnam’s only operational Banking
refinery, a facility at Cat Hai near Ho Chi Minh City, has
a capacity of only 800 barrels per day (130 m3 /d). Re- Most efficient and reliable banks are the largest
fined petroleum accounted for 10.2% of total imports in (also state-owned) ones: VietinBank, BIDV, and
2002. As of 2012, Vietnam had only one refinery, the Vietcombank. The banking sector is dominated by the
Dung Quat refinery, but a second one, the Nghi Son Re- three institutions. There is also a trend of foreign invest-
finery was planned and was scheduled for construction in ment into profitable banks. For example, VietinBank is
May 2013.[16][25] currently owned by Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (20%)
and International Finance Corporation (10%) while Viet-
Vietnam’s anthracite coal reserves are estimated at 3.7
combank is owned by Mizuho (15%).
billion tons. Coal production was almost 19 million tons
in 2003, compared with 9.6 million tons in 1999. Viet-
nam’s potential natural gas reserves are 1.3 trillion cubic
meters. In 2002, Vietnam brought ashore 2.26 billion cu-
bic meters of natural gas. Hydroelectric power is another
source of energy. In 2004, Vietnam confirmed plans to
build a nuclear power plant with Russian assistance,[16]
and a second by a Japanese group.

8.2.3 Industry and manufacturing

Main article: Manufacturing in Vietnam

Although the industrial sector contributed 40.1% of GDP

in 2004, it employed only 12.9% of the workforce. In VietinBank – Vietnam’s largest listed bank
2000, 22.4% of industrial production was attributable to
non-state activities. From 1994 to 2004, the industrial Vietnam’s top five banks by registered capital (as of May
sector grew at an average annual rate of 10.3%. Manu- 2013, USD/VND exchange rate = 21,000 VND)
facturing contributed 20.3% of GDP in 2004, while em-
1. VietinBank $1.56 billion (32,661 billion VND)
ploying 10.2% of the workforce. From 1994 to 2004,
manufacturing GDP grew at an average annual rate of 2. Agribank $1.39 billion (29,154 billion VND)
11.2%. The top manufacturing sectors — food process-
ing, cigarettes and tobacco, textiles, chemicals, and elec- 3. Vietcombank $1.10 billion (23,174 billion VND)
trical goods — experienced rapid growth. Almost a third 4. BIDV $1.10 billion (23,011 billion VND)
of manufacturing and retail activity is concentrated in Ho
Chi Minh City.[16] 5. Eximbank $0.59 billion (12,355 billion VND)

Finance
8.2.4 Services and tourism
See also: Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange
See also: Tourism in Vietnam
Vietnam currently has two stock trading centers, the Ho
In 2004, services accounted for 38.2% of gross domestic Chi Minh City Securities Trading Center and the Hanoi
product (GDP). From 1994 to 2004, GDP attributable Securities Trading Center, which run the Ho Chi Minh
to the service sector grew at an average annual rate of Stock Exchange (HOSE) and the Hanoi Stock Exchange
6.0%.[16] (HNX), respectively.
8.5. FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS 49

8.3 Currency, exchange rate and 8.5 Foreign economic relations

inflation
Economic relations with the United States are improv-
ing, but are not without challenges. Although the
8.3.1 Currency United States and Vietnam reached a landmark bilat-
eral agreement in December 2001, which helped in-
Main article: Vietnamese dong crease Vietnam’s exports to the United States, disagree-
ments over textile and catfish exports are hindering
Vietnam’s currency is the Vietnamese dong. full implementation of the agreement. Further disrupt-
ing the economic relations between the two countries
were efforts in Congress to link non-humanitarian aid
8.3.2 Exchange rate to Vietnam’s human rights record. Barriers to trade and
intellectual property are also within the purview of bilat-
The exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Viet- eral discussions.[16]
namese dong is important because the dong, although not Given neighboring China’s rapid economic ascendancy,
freely convertible, is loosely pegged to the dollar through Vietnam highly values its economic relationship with
an arrangement known as a "crawling peg". This mech- China. Following the resolution of most territorial dis-
anism allows the dollar–dong exchange rate to adjust putes, trade with China is growing rapidly, and in 2004,
gradually to changing market conditions.[16] As of June Vietnam imported more products from China than from
28, 2013, 1 U.S. dollar was equivalent to about 21,036 any other country. In November 2004, the Association of
Vietnamese dong. Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Vietnam is
Gold still maintains its position as a physical currency to a member, and China announced plans to establish the
a certain extent, although it has seen its economic role world’s largest free-trade area by 2010.[16]
declining in recent years.[26] Vietnam became a member of the World Trade Organi-
Latest foreign exchange rates can be found here. zation (WTO) on January 11, 2007.[16]
In December 2015, Vietnam will join the ASEAN Eco-
nomic Community along with the 9 other ASEAN mem-
8.3.3 Inflation bers. The community’s goal is to integrate the 10 mem-
bers of ASEAN and bring a freer flow of labor, invest-
Vietnam’s economy experienced a hyperinflation period
ment and trade to the region.[35]
in its early years of the extensive reform program, espe-
cially from 1987 to 1992.[27]
In 2008, inflation was tracking at 20.3% for the first half 8.5.1 Foreign trade
of the year,[28] higher than the 3.4% in 2000, but down
significantly from 160% in 1988.[16] Main article: Foreign trade of Vietnam
In 2010, inflation stood at 11.5%, and 18.58% in
2011.[29]
At the end of 2012, inflation stood at 7.5%, a substantial
decrease from 2011.[30] Trades and balance of trade

In 2013, inflation stood at 6%,[31] and 4.09% in 2014.[32] After Đổi Mới in 1986, Vietnam has increased trading
exponentially, growing both exports and imports in dou-
ble digits ever since. More recently, alarms on trade ac-
8.4 Mergers and acquisitions count deficits have been raised domestically, especially
after joining the WTO in 2007. Throughout the next 5
From 1999 to 2010, Vietnamese companies have been years after 2007, Vietnam ran trade deficit with the rest
involved as either an acquiror or an acquired company of the world in the tens of billions of dollars,[28] with the
in 1,320 mergers and acquisitions with a total value of record trade deficit in 2008 of US$18.0 billion.
US$7.7 billion. The number and value of deals hit Account deficit has since decreased. In 2012, Vietnam
US$2.0 billion in 2010, nearly US$3.5 billion in 2011, recorded a trade surplus of US$780 million, the first trade
and US$3.7 billion in 2012.[33] The number of deals rose surplus since 1993. Total trade reached US$228.13 bil-
from 50 in 2006 to nearly 200 in 2008 and almost 400 by lion, an increase of 12.1% from 2011.[36] In 2013, Viet-
2011. The mergers and acquisitions activities faced many nam recorded the second year of trade surplus of US$863
obstacles, lowering the rate of success of the transaction. million. In 2014, Vietnam recorded the third year of
Common obstacles come from culture, transparency and trade surplus of US$2.14 billion, the largest trade surplus
legal aspects.[34] ever in history.[37]
50 CHAPTER 8. ECONOMY OF VIETNAM

The EU is second with US$27.9 billion, ASEAN is third,

China is fourth and Japan is the fifth largest export market
of Vietnam.

Import

In 2004 Vietnam’s merchandise imports were valued at

US$31.5 billion, and growing rapidly. Vietnam’s princi-
pal imports were machinery (17.5%), refined petroleum
(11.5%), steel (8.3%), material for the textile industry
(7.2%), and cloth (6.0%). The main origins of Vietnam’s
imports were China (13.9%), Taiwan (11.6%), Singapore
(11.3%), Japan (11.1%), South Korea (10.4%), Thailand
(5.8%), and Malaysia (3.8%).[16]
Graphical depiction of Viet Nam’s product exports in 28 color-
coded categories. Vietnam import rose 6.6% in 2012, valued at US$113.79
billion.[36] Major import countries were China US$29.2
billion, ASEAN with US$22.3 billion, South Korea with
US$16.2 billion, Japan with US$13.7 billion, EU with
US$10 billion, and USA with US$6.3 billion.[40]
China
$2899.1 million

United States
$5024.8 million Japan
$3542.1 million

In 2014, imports rose 12.1%, reaching US$148 billion,

Singapo
$1485.3 million
re
most of which are materials and machinery needed for
Australia
$1884.7 million
export. China continued to be Vietnam’s largest im-
port partner, with US$43.7 billion. The ASEAN is sec-
ietnamese Exports, 2004.
V
ond with US$23.1 billion, South Korea is third, Japan is
fourth and the EU is the fifth largest import partner of
Vietnam.
Vietnamese exports in 2004

8.5.2 External debt, foreign aid, and for-

Export
eign investment
In 2004, Vietnam’s exports of merchandise were val- See also: Foreign aid to Vietnam
ued at US$26.5 billion, and, were growing rapidly along
with imports. Vietnam’s principal exports were crude
oil (22.1%), textiles and garments (17.1%), footwear In 2004, external debt amounted to US$16.6 billion, or
(10.5%), fisheries products (9.4%) and electronics 37%, of GDP.[16]
(4.1%). The main destinations of Vietnam’s exports From 1988 to December 2004, cumulative foreign di-
were the United States (18.8%), Japan (13.2%), China rect investment (FDI) commitments totaled US$46 bil-
(10.3%), Australia (6.9%), Singapore (5.2%), Germany lion. By December 2004, about 58% had been dispersed.
(4.0%), and the United Kingdom (3.8%).[16] About half of FDI has been directed at the two major
In 2012, export rose 18.2%, valued at US$114.57 cities (and environs) of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. In
billion.[36] Vietnam’s main export market included the 2003 new foreign direct investment commitments were
EU with US$20 billion, USA with US$19 billion, US$1.5 billion. The largest sector by far for licensed FDI
ASEAN with $US 17.8 billion, Japan with US$13.9 bil- is industry and construction. Other sectors attracting FDI
lion, China with US$14.2 billion, and South Korea with are oil and gas, fisheries, construction, agriculture and
US$7 billion.[40] forestry, transportation and communications, and hotels
and tourism. From 2006 to 2010, Vietnam hoped to re-
In 2013, export rose 15.4%, valued at US$132.17 billion, ceive US$18 billion of FDI to support a targeted growth
of which export of electronics now comprised 24.5% of rate in excess of 7%. Despite rising investments, foreign
total export, compared with a 4.4% in 2008. Textiles and investors still regard Vietnam as a risky destination, as
garments are still an important part in Vietnam’s export, confirmed by recent survey by the Japan External Trade
valued about US$17.9 billion in 2013. Organization of Japanese companies operating in Viet-
In 2014, exports rose 13.6%, reaching US$150.1 billion. nam. Many of the respondents complained about high
Electronics and electronics parts, textiles and garments, costs of utilities, office rentals and skilled labor. Corrup-
computers and computer parts are the three main export tion, bureaucracy, lack of transparent regulations and the
groups of Vietnam. The United States continued to be failure to enforce investor rights are additional obstacles
Vietnam’s largest export market, with US$28.5 billion. to investment, according to the U.S. State Department.
8.6. MAJOR ECONOMIC AREAS 51

Vietnam tied with several nations for the 102nd place 8.6 Major economic areas
in Transparencies International’s Corruption Perceptions
Index in 2004.[16] Vietnam’s major economic regions include Ho Chi Minh
The World Bank's assistance program for Vietnam has city and Hanoi.
three objectives: to support Vietnam’s transition to a mar-
ket economy, to enhance equitable and sustainable devel-
opment and to promote good governance. From 1993 8.7 Economic indicators and inter-
through 2004, Vietnam received pledges of US$29 bil-
lion of official development assistance (ODA), of which
national rankings
about US$14 billion, or 49%, has been disbursed. In
2004, international donors pledged ODA of US$2.25 bil- 8.8 Literature
lion, of which US$1.65 billion actually was disbursed.
Three donors accounted for 80% of disbursements in
• Jandl, Thomas (2013). Vietnam in the Global Econ-
2004: Japan, the World Bank, and the Asian Develop-
omy. Lexington Books.
ment Bank. From 2006 to 2010, Vietnam hopes to re-
[16]
ceive US$14 billion to US$15 billion of ODA.
Pledged foreign direct investment US$21.3 billion for 8.9 References
2007 and a record US$31.6 billion for the first half of
2008.[28] Mergers and acquisitions have gradually be-
[1] “Report for Selected Countries and Subjects”. World Eco-
come an important channel of investments in the econ- nomic Outlook Database. International Monetary Fund.
omy, especially after 2005. October 2014. Retrieved October 2014.

[2] “GDP Growth Rate of 2015”. GSO.

8.5.3 Free trade agreement [3] “Export Partners of Vietnam”. CIA World Factbook.
2012. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
Vietnam signed most of the free trade agreements under
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), [4] “Import Partners of Vietnam”. CIA World Factbook.
which currently include: 2012. Retrieved 2013-07-23.

[5] “COUNTRY COMPARISON :: STOCK OF DIRECT

• ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) FOREIGN INVESTMENT - AT HOME”. The World
Factbook. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
• ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand Free Trade Area
[6] “Sovereigns rating list”. Standard & Poor’s. Retrieved
(AANZFTA) is a free trade area between ASEAN February 18, 2013.
and ANZCERTA, signed on 27 February 2009[41]
and coming into effect on 1 January 2010.[42] De- [7] Rogers, Simon; Sedghi, Ami (15 April 2011). “How
tails of the AANZFTA agreement are available Fitch, Moody’s and S&P rate each country’s credit rat-
online.[43] ing”. Reuters. Retrieved 28 September 2012.

[8] http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/seminar/2002/fdi/
• ASEAN–China Free Trade Area (ACFTA), in ef- eng/pdf/doanh.pdf
fect as of 1 January 2010[44]
[9] “The Vietnamese Stock Market” (PDF). fwa.org. Re-
• ASEAN–India Free Trade Area (AIFTA), in effect trieved 2010-05-07.
as of 1 January 2010[44]
[10] “China to overtake US by 2025, but Vietnam may be
• ASEAN–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partner- fastest growing of emerging economies”. Pricewater-
houseCoopers. 2008-03-04. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
ship (AJCEP)
[11] http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/AWP%
• ASEAN–Korea Free Trade Area (AKFTA), in ef- 20No.%20102.pdf
fect as of 1 January 2010[44]
[12] http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTVIETNAM/
• Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia Resources/VDR.pdf

[13] Vietnam country study. Library of Congress Federal Re-

• Vietnam is negotiating to join the Trans-Pacific search Division (December 1987). This article incorpo-
Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement. rates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[14] “Vietnam - The Economy - Historical Background”. Re-

• On 2 December 2015, the EU and Vietnam an-
trieved 3 March 2015.
nounced the conclusion of the negotiations for an
EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA).[45] [15] “Vietnam - The Economy”. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
52 CHAPTER 8. ECONOMY OF VIETNAM

[16] Vietnam country profile. Library of Congress Federal Re- [37] http://www.customs.gov.vn/Lists/ThongKeHaiQuan/
search Division (December 2005). This article incorpo- ViewDetails.aspx?ID=795&Category=Tin%20v%E1%
rates text from this source, which is in the public domain. BA%AFn%20th%E1%BB%91ng%20k%C3%AA&
Group=Ph%C3%A2n%20t%C3%ADch. Missing or
[17] “Vietnam’s New Fertility Policy”. Population and De- empty |title= (help)
velopment Review 15 (1): 169–172. Mar 1989.
doi:10.2307/1973424. [38] “TÌNH HÌNH XUẤT KHẨU, NHẬP KHẨU HÀNG
HÓA CỦA VIỆT NAM THÁNG 12 VÀ 12 THÁNG
[18] World Trade Organization: Accession status: Vietnam NĂM 2011 - TinHoatDong : Hải Quan Việt Nam”. Re-
[19] Vuong, Quan-Hoang, Financial Markets in Vietnam’s trieved 3 March 2015. horizontal tab character in |title=
Transition Economy: Facts, Insights, Implications. ISBN at position 84 (help)
978-3-639-23383-4, VDM Verlag, Feb. 2010 Saar-
[39] http://vneconomy.vn/20130117054115934P0C9920/
brücken, Germany.
chot-con-so-xuat-sieu-780-trieu-usd-nam-2012.htm
[20] SSRN.com Vuong Quan Hoang and Tran Tri Dung, 2009 author=vneconomy |year=2013

[21] vietnam will struggle to meet 2012 growth target southeast [40] “Tạp chí Cộng Sản - Xuất, nhập khẩu của Việt Nam năm
asia, Bloomberg. Retrieved November 4, 2012 2012 - kết quả và những vấn đề đặt ra”. Retrieved 3 March
2015.
[22] Vuong Quan Hoang (2014). Vietnam’s Political Econ-
omy: A Discussion on the 1986-2014 Period. ULB Cen- [41] Joint Media Statement on the Signing of the Agreement
tre Emile Bernheim WP N°14-010. Brussels, Belgium Establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free
Université libre de Bruxelles, May 2014. Trade Area, Thailand, 27 February 2009

[23] Rosen, Elisabeth (24 April 2014). “Why Can’t Vietnam [42] “ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand Leaders’ State-
Grow Better Rice?". thediplomat.com (The Diplomat). ment: Entry into Force of the Agreement Establishing the
Retrieved 26 April 2014. ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area 25 Oc-
tober 2009, Cha am Hua Hin, Thailand” (PDF). Retrieved
[24] “BBC News - How Vietnam became a coffee giant”. BBC 3 March 2015.
News. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
[43] “ASEAN - Australia - New Zealand Free Trade Agree-
[25] http://cafef.vn/kinh-te-vi-mo-dau-tu/ ment (AANZFTA) - ASEAN - Australia - New Zealand
se-khoi-cong-xay-dung-nha-may-loc-dau-nghi-son-vao-thang-52013-20121117033122340ca33.
Free Trade Agreement”. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
chn
[44] Pushpanathan, Sundram (22 December 2009). “ASEAN
[26] Vuong Quan Hoang (2003). “Essays on Vietnam’s Finan-
Charter: One year and going strong”. The Jakarta Post.
cial Reforms: Foreign Exchange Statistics and Evidence
Retrieved 1 January 2010.
of Long-Run Equilibrium”. Economic Studies Review 43
(6–8). doi:10.2139/ssrn.445080. [45] “Vietnam”. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
[27] Napier, Nancy K.; and Vuong, Quan-Hoang. What we [46] Resilience amid turmoil Bechmarking IT industry com-
see, why we worry, why we hope: Vietnam going forward. petitiveness 2009 BAS.org
Boise, ID, USA: Boise State University CCI Press, Octo-
ber 2013. ISBN 978-0985530587. [47] “The Global Competitiveness Report 2012 - 2013”.
Africa Competitiveness 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
[28] “Vietnam’s economy expands 6.5 percent in first half”.
[48] “Country Rankings”. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
[29] “BBC Vietnamese - Kinh tế - Việt Nam: lạm phát 2011
ở mức 18,6%". Retrieved 3 March 2015.

[30] "‘Lạm phát cả năm 2012 khoảng 7,5%’". VnExpress. Re-

trieved 3 March 2015.
8.10 External links
[31] “Vietnam’s top 10 economic events of 2013”. Retrieved • Vietnam economy
19 December 2015.
• National Securities Center
[32] “Vietnam’s inflation rate to hit over 4 percent in 2014”.
Retrieved 19 December 2015. • Securities
[33] “Statistics”. Retrieved 3 March 2015. • FPTS.com.vn, live price of stock
[34] “Barriers to mergers and acquisitions business in Viet-
• World Bank Trade Summary Statistics Vietnam
nam”. 108x. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
2012
[35] “The ASEAN Economic Community’s Progress”. - Inves-
tAsian. Retrieved 3 March 2015. • Vietnam : “Doi moi” and the World Crisis (article)

[36] “The page you are looking for is not available at this • Mergers and Acquisitions in Vietnam’s Emerging
URL.”. Daily Times. Retrieved 3 March 2015. Market Economy: 1990-2009
8.10. EXTERNAL LINKS 53

• Tariffs applied by Vietnam as provided by ITC’s

Market Access Map, an online database of customs
tariffs and market requirements.
Chapter 9

Culture of Vietnam

A group of men play traditional musical instruments at a village

festival in Bắc Ninh Province.

A betrothal ceremony at a family home in Quảng Nam Province.

Young women wear áo dài at Hoan Kiem Lake.

During the French colonial period, Vietnamese culture
The culture of Vietnam is one of the oldest in Southeast absorbed various influences from the Europeans, includ-
Asia, with the ancient Bronze age Dong Son culture ing the spread of Catholicism and the adoption of the
being widely considered one of its most important Latin alphabet. Prior to this, Vietnamese had used both
progenitors.[1] Due to 1000 years of Chinese rule, Viet- Chinese characters and a script called Chữ nôm which
nam was heavily influenced by Chinese culture in terms of was based on Chinese but included newly invented char-
politics, government, Confucian social and moral ethics, acters meant to represent native Vietnamese words.
and art. Vietnam is considered to be part of the East In the socialist era, the cultural life of Vietnam has been
Asian cultural sphere.[2] deeply influenced by government-controlled media and
Following independence from China in the 10th cen- the cultural influences of socialist programs. For many
tury, Vietnam began a southward expansion that saw decades, foreign cultural influences were shunned and
the annexation of territories formerly belonging to the emphasis placed on appreciating and sharing the culture
Champa civilization (now Central Vietnam) and parts of of communist nations such as the Soviet Union, China,
the Khmer empire (modern southern Vietnam), which re- Cuba and others. Since the 1990s, Vietnam has seen
sulted in minor regional variances in Vietnam’s culture a greater re-exposure to Asian, European and American
due to exposure to these different groups. culture and media.

54
9.4. FUNERAL CEREMONY 55

Some elements generally considered to be characteristic

of Vietnamese culture include ancestor veneration, re-
spect for community and family values, handicrafts and
manual labour, and devotion to study. Important symbols
present in Vietnamese culture include dragons, turtles,
lotuses and bamboo.

9.1 Organization
In terms of societal levels of organization, the two most
important units are làng (village) and nước (country).
The Vietnamese usually say that "làng goes hand in hand
with nước.” Intermediate organizational units are quận
The family of a Vietnamese bride line up to welcome her groom
(district), “xã" (sub-district) and tỉnh
at their betrothal ceremony.

9.2 Kinship fore the wedding, the groom and his family visit
the bride and her family with round lacquered boxes
Main article: Vietnamese family known as betrothal presents. The quantity of boxes
must be an odd number. The presents include areca
nuts, betel leaves, tea, cake, fruits, wine, other vari-
Kinship plays an important role in Vietnam. Unlike West- ous delicacies and money. The presents are covered
ern culture’s emphasis on individualism, Eastern culture with red paper or cloth, and they are carried by un-
values the roles of family and clanship. Comparing with married girls or boys. Both families agree to pick a
Eastern cultures, Chinese culture values family over clan good date for the wedding.
while Vietnamese culture values clan over family. Each
clan has a patriarch, clan altar, and death commemora- • Lễ Cưới (wedding ceremony): On the wedding day,
tions attended by the whole clan. the groom’s family and relatives go to the bride’s
house to ask permission for the groom to marry and
Most inhabitants are related by blood. That fact is still
take his bride to his house. Guests would be invited
seen in village names such as Đặng Xá (place for the Đặng
to come and celebrate the couple’s marriage. The
clan), Châu Xá, Lê Xá, so on so forth. In the Western
couple pray before the altar asking their ancestors
highlands the tradition of many families in a clan residing
for permission for their marriage, then to express
in a longhouse is still popular. In the majority of rural
their gratitude to both groom’s and bride’s parents
Vietnam today, one can still see three or four generations
for raising and protecting them.
living under one roof.

9.3 Marriage 9.4 Funeral ceremony

Main article: Traditional Vietnamese wedding

The traditional Vietnamese wedding is one of the most
important of traditional Vietnamese occasions. Regard-
less of Westernization, many of the age-old customs prac-
ticed in a traditional Vietnamese wedding continue to be
celebrated by both Vietnamese in Vietnam and overseas,
often combining both Western and Eastern elements.
In the past, both men and women were expected to be
married at young ages. Marriages were generally ar-
ranged by the parents and extended family, with the chil-
dren having limited say in the matter. In modern Viet-
nam, this has changed as people freely choose their own
marriage partners.[3]
Generally there are two main ceremonies:[3]
Decorations placed around a coffin at a home funeral in Da
Nang.
• Lễ Đám Hỏi (betrothal ceremony): Some time be-
56 CHAPTER 9. CULTURE OF VIETNAM

neral procession to accompany the dead along the

way to the burial ground. Votives are dropped along
the way. At the grave site, the coffin is lowered and
buried. After three days of mourning, the family
visits the tomb again, le mo cua ma, or worship the
opening the grave. After 49 days, le chung that, the
family stops bringing rice for the dead to the altar.
And finally, after 100 days, the family celebrates tot
khoc, or the end of the tears. After one year is the
ceremony of the first anniversary of the relative’s
death and after two years is the ceremony of the end
of mourning.

• Modern: Nowadays, mourning ceremonies follow

A funeral procession in Sa Pa. new rituals which are simplified; they consist of cov-
ering and putting the dead body into the coffin, the
funeral procession, the burial of the sike into the
grave, and the visits to the tomb.

In Vietnam, the family of the deceased undergo a ritual

after 100 days of them passing away, where the whole
family sits in pairs in a long line up to a single member of
the family. A monk (Thay Cung) will place a thin piece
of cotton over the family member’s head and ring a bell
and chant while rotating the bell around the deceased’s
head, sending them in to a trance and open a way for the
deceased to return to the living. A bamboo tree with only
leaves on the top with small pieces of paper with the de-
ceased’s name written on them will start to wave when
the deceased is coming. They believe that after 100 days
An old man in traditional dress on the occasion of New Year the deceased may return to this realm and “possess” the
offering body of the member of the family undergoing the ritual
and once it is completed the other members of the family
can communicate with the spirit of the deceased through
9.4.1 Wake the tranced family member.
When a person passes away in Vietnam, the surviving Normally this ritual will take all day to prepare and then as
family holds a wake or vigil that typically lasts about five long as 6 hours praying and chanting, changing the fam-
to six days, but may last longer if the surviving family is ily member at the front of the line. Afterwards they will
waiting for other traveling relatives. The body is washed then burn a paper house and paper made possessions (that
and dressed. A le ngam ham, or chopstick, is laid between which the deceased would have loved during his/her life)
the teeth and a pinch of rice and three coins are placed so that they may take it through to their next life with
in the mouth. The body is put on a grass mat laid on them.
the ground according to the saying, “being born from the
earth, one must return back to the earth.” The dead body
is enveloped with white cloth, le kham niem, and placed 9.5 Religion and philosophy
in a coffin, le nhap quan. Finally, the funeral ceremony,
le thanh phuc, is officially performed.
Main article: Religion in Vietnam
Religion in Vietnam has historically been largely defined
9.4.2 Funeral by the East Asian mix of Buddhism, Confucianism, and
Taoism, known locally as the Tam Giáo, or “triple reli-
The surviving family wear coarse gauze turbans and gion.” Beyond Tam Giáo, Catholicism is also practiced
tunics for the funeral. There are two types of funeral pro- in modern Vietnam. Vietnamese Buddhism has typically
cessions: been the most popular. This fits perfectly with the “triple
religion” concept, making it difficult for many Viet-
[4]
• Traditional: The date and time for the funeral pro- namese to identify exactly which religion they practice.
cession, le dua tang, must be carefully selected. Rel- Besides the “triple religion”, Vietnamese life was also
atives, friends, and descendants take part in the fu- profoundly influenced by the practice of ancestor wor-
9.7. VISUAL ARTS 57

Vietnamese folk literature came into being very early and

had a profound effect on the spiritual life of the Viet. The
folk literature contributed to the formation of Vietnam’s
national identity with praising beauty, humanism, and the
love of goodness. Legends, fairy tales, humorous stories,
folk songs, epic poems have a tremendous vitality and
have lived on until today.
Written literature was born roughly in the 10th century.
Up until the 21st century, there had been two compo-
nents existing at the same time: works written in the Han
characters (with poems and prose demonstrating the Viet-
namese soul and realities; thus, they were still regarded
Hanoi’s One Pillar Pagoda, a historic Buddhist temple as Vietnamese literature) and works written in the Nom
character (mostly poems; many great works were handed
down to the later generations).
ship, as well as native animism. Most Vietnamese,
Since the 1920s, written literature has been mainly com-
regardless of religious denomination, practice ancestor
posed in the National language with profound renovations
worship and have an ancestor altar at their home or busi-
in form and category such as novels, new-style poems,
ness, a testament to the emphasis Vietnamese culture
short stories and dramas, and with diversity in artistic
places on filial duty.
tendency. Written literature attained speedy development
Along with obligations to clan and family, education has after the August Revolution, when it was directed by the
always played a vital role in Vietnamese culture. In an- Vietnamese Communist Party’s guideline and focused on
cient times, scholars were placed at the top of society. the people’s fighting and work life.
Men not born of noble blood could only elevate their sta-
Modern Vietnamese literature has developed from ro-
tus by studying for the rigorous Imperial examination.
manticism to realism, from heroism in wartime to all as-
Similar to Mandarin officials, passing the examination
pects of life, and soared into ordinary life to discover the
could potentially open doors to a government position,
genuine values of the Vietnamese.
granting them power and prestige.
Classical literature generated such masterpieces as
Truyen Kieu (Nguyễn Du), Cung Oán Ngâm Khúc
(Nguyễn Gia Thiều), Chinh Phu Ngam (Dang Tran Con),
9.6 Literature and Quoc Am Thi Tap (Nguyễn Trãi). Some brilliant fe-
male poets are Hồ Xuân Hương, Doan Thi Diem, and Bà
Main article: Vietnamese literature Huyện Thanh Quan.
Vietnamese literature includes two major components:
In Vietnamese modern prose, there were authors who
could emulate whomever in the world , namely, Nguyen
Cong Hoan, Vu Trong Phung, Ngô Tất Tố, Nguyen Hong,
Nguyen Tuan, Karen Huynh and Nam Cao. They were
joined by excellent poets: Xuân Diệu, Huy Cận, Han Mac
Tu, and Nguyen Binh. Regrettably, their great works that
faithfully reflected the country and the times have yet to
appear.

9.7 Visual arts

Main articles: Vietnamese art and List of traditional
Vietnamese handicraft villages

Traditional Vietnamese art is art practiced in Vietnam

or by Vietnamese artists, from ancient times (including
“Mysterious tales of the Southern Realm” (Vietnamese: Lĩnh the elaborate Dong Son drums) to post-Chinese dom-
Nam chích quái), dated from Vietnam’s Later Lê dynasty. ination art which was strongly influenced by Chinese
Buddhist art, among other philosophies such as Taoism
folk literature and written literature. The two forms de- and Confucianism. The art of Champa and France also
veloped simultaneously and are profoundly interrelated. played a smaller role later on.
58 CHAPTER 9. CULTURE OF VIETNAM

The Chinese influence on Vietnamese art extends into Vietnamese silk painting is one of the most popular
Vietnamese pottery and ceramics, calligraphy, and tradi- forms of art in Vietnam, favored for the mystical at-
tional architecture. Currently, Vietnamese lacquer paint- mosphere that can be achieved with the medium. Dur-
ings have proven to be quite popular. ing the 19th and 20th centuries, French influence was
absorbed into Vietnamese art and the liberal and mod-
ern use of color especially began to differentiate Viet-
9.7.1 Calligraphy namese silk paintings from their Chinese, Japanese and
Korean counterparts.[5] Vietnamese silk paintings typi-
Calligraphy has had a long history in Vietnam, previously cally showcase the countryside, landscapes, pagodas, his-
using Chinese characters along with Chữ Nôm. How- torical events or scenes of daily life.
ever, most modern Vietnamese calligraphy instead uses
the Roman-character based Quốc Ngữ, which has proven
to be very popular.
9.7.3 Woodblock prints
In the past, with literacy in the old character-based writ-
ing systems of Vietnam being restricted to scholars and
elites, calligraphy nevertheless still played an important
part in Vietnamese life. On special occasions such as the
Lunar New Year, people would go to the village teacher or
scholar to make them a calligraphy hanging (often poetry,
folk sayings or even single words). People who could not
read or write also often commissioned at temple shrines.

9.7.2 Silk painting

Typical Đông Hồ folk woodblock print of a carp

A folk art with a long history in Vietnam, Vietnamese

woodblock prints have reached a level of popularity out-
side of Vietnam.[6] Organic materials are used to make
Silk painting of Trịnh Đình Kiên (1715 - 1786) in 18th century, the paint, which is applied to wood and pressed on paper.
exhibited in Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts. The process is repeated with different colors.
9.8. PERFORMING ARTS 59

9.8 Performing arts and powerful men, often scholars and bureaucrats
who most enjoyed the genre. It was condemned
in the 20th century by the government, being tied
9.8.1 Music
falsely with prostitution, but recently it has seen a re-
vival as appreciation for its cultural significance has
Main article: Music of Vietnam
grown. Ca trù has been recognized by UNESCO as
Vietnamese music varies slightly in the three regions:
a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage
of Humanity since 2005.

In the 20th century, in contact with the Western cul-

ture, especially after the national independence, many
new categories of arts like plays, photography, cinemas,
and modern art had taken shape and developed strongly,
obtaining huge achievements with the contents reflecting
the social and revolutionary realities. Up to 1997, there
have been 44 people operating in cultural and artistic
fields honored with the Ho Chi Minh Award, 130 others
conferred with People’s Artist Honor, and 1011 people
awarded with the Excellent Artist Honor. At the start of
1997, there were 191 professional artistic organizations
A trio of Vietnamese musicians perform together. The man at and 26 film studios (including central and local ones).
centre plays a đàn nhị. There have been 28 movies, 49 scientific and documen-
tary films receiving international motion picture awards
Bắc or North, Trung or Central, and Nam or South. in many countries.
Northern classical music is Vietnam’s oldest and is tra-
ditionally more formal. Vietnamese classical music can
be traced to the Mongol invasions, when the Vietnamese 9.8.2 Theatre
captured a Chinese opera troupe. Central classical music
shows the influences of Champa culture with its melan- Main article: Vietnamese theatre
cholic melodies. Southern music exudes a lively laissez-
faire attitude.
Vietnam has some 50 national music instruments, in • Hát tuồng (also known as Hát bội): A theatre form
which the set of percussion instruments is the most pop- strongly influenced by Chinese opera, it transitioned
ular, diverse and long-lasting such as đàn đáy, đàn tranh, from being entertainment for the royal court to trav-
đàn nhị, đàn bầu... The set of blowing instruments is rep- elling troupes who performed for commoners and
resented by flutes and pan-pipes, while the set of string peasants, featuring many well-known stock charac-
instruments is specified by dan bau and dan day. ters.
The Vietnamese folksongs are rich in forms and melodies • Cải lương: A kind of modern folk opera originating
of regions across the country, ranging from ngâm thơ in South Vietnam, which utilizes extensive vibrato
(reciting poems), hát ru (lullaby), hò (chanty) to hát quan techniques. It remains very popular in modern Viet-
họ, trong quan, xoan, dum, ví giặm, ca Huế, bài chòi, ly. nam when compared to other folk styles.
Apart from this, there are also other forms like hát xẩm,
chầu văn, and ca trù. • Hát chèo: Chèo is a form of generally satirical mu-
sical theatre, often encompassing dance, tradition-
Two of the most widely known genres are:
ally performed by Vietnamese peasants in northern
Vietnam. It is usually performed outdoors by semi-
• Imperial Court music: When referring specifically amateur touring groups, stereotypically in a village
to the "Nhã nhạc" form it includes court music from square or the courtyard of a public building, al-
the Trần dynasty on to the Nguyễn dynasty. It is an though it is today increasingly also performed in-
elaborate form of music which features an extensive doors and by professional performers
array of musicians and dancers, dressed in extrava-
gant costumes. It was an integral part of the rituals
of the Imperial court. Water puppetry

• Ca trù: An ancient form of chamber music which Water puppetry is a distinct Vietnamese art which had
originated in the imperial court. It gradually came its origins in the 10th century and very popular in north-
to be associated with a geisha-type of entertainment ern region. In Water puppetry a split-bamboo screen ob-
where talented female musicians entertained rich scures puppets which stand in water, and are manipulated
60 CHAPTER 9. CULTURE OF VIETNAM

Breaking this rapport or disagreeing is deemed disre-

spectful. Children are unable to disagree with elders.
Smiling is often used as an apology. Eye contact is usu-
ally avoided. Taboo things in western culture, such as
asking about one’s age or salary during an initial meet-
ing, is normal. Storytelling is often used as a form of
communication.[7][8][9]

9.10 Cuisine
Main article: Vietnamese cuisine
See also: Vietnamese wine
Vietnamese cuisine is extremely diverse, often divided
Water puppet theatre in Hanoi.

using long poles hidden beneath the water. Epic story

lines are played out with many different puppets, often
using traditional scenes of Vietnamese life. The puppets
are made from quality wood, such as the South East Asian
Jackfruit tree. Each puppet is carefully carved, and then
painted with numerous successive layers of paint to pro-
tect the puppets.
Despite nearly dying out in the 20th century, water pup-
petry has been recognised by the Vietnamese government
as an important part of Vietnam’s cultural heritage. To-
day, puppetry is commonly performed by professional
puppeteers, who typically are taught by their elders in ru-
ral areas of Vietnam.
Vietnamese phở, noodle soup with sliced rare beef and well done
beef brisket.
9.8.3 Dance
into three main categories, each pertaining to Vietnam’s
Main article: Traditional Vietnamese dance three main regions (north, central and south). It uses very
little oil and many vegetables, and is mainly based on rice,
soy sauce, and fish sauce. Its characteristic flavors are
Vietnam has 47 different ethnicities, each with their own sweet (sugar), spicy (serrano pepper), sour (lime), nuoc
traditional dance. Among the ethnic Vietnamese major- mam (fish sauce), and flavored by a variety of mint and
ity, there are several traditional dances performed widely basil.
at festivals and other special occasions, such as the lion
dance. Vietnam also has a large variety of noodles and noo-
dle soups. Different regions invented different types of
In the imperial court there also developed throughout the noodles, varying in shapes, tastes, colors, etc. One of
centuries a series of complex court dances which require the nation’s most famous type of noodles is phở (pro-
great skill. Some of the more widely known are the im- nounced “fuh”), a type of noodle soup originating in
perial lantern dance, fan dance, and platter dance, among North Vietnam, which consists of rice noodles and beef
others. soup (sometimes chicken soup) with several other ingre-
dients such as bean sprouts and scallions (spring onions).
It is often eaten for breakfast, but also makes a satisfy-
9.9 Communication ing lunch or light dinner. The boiling stock, fragrant with
spices and sauces, is poured over the noodles and veg-
Communication in Vietnam, like other countries in the etables, poaching the paper-thin slices of raw beef just
region, is indirect, based upon rapport and respect, and before serving. Phở is meant to be savored, incorporat-
relies heavily on body language. Showing agreement by ing several different flavors: the sweet flavor of beef, sour
saying “yes” shows respect even if the person does not lemons, salty fish sauce, and fresh vegetables.
agree with what’s being said. For example, one would Currently, Vietnamese cuisine has been gaining popu-
say “yes” to an invitation even if one does not intend larity and can be found widely in many other countries
on attending. The individual would simply not attend. such as Singapore, the United States, Australia, Canada,
9.12. MARTIAL ARTS 61

South Korea, Laos, Japan, China, Malaysia, and France. along with the Áo yếm bodice which accompanied it.
Vietnamese cuisine is recognized for its strict, sometimes Peasants across the country also gradually came to wear
choosy selection of ingredients. A chef preparing authen- silk pajama-like costumes, known as "Áo cánh” in the
tic Vietnamese cuisine may incorporate the ingredients north and Áo bà ba in the south.
provided in these countries, but generally will prefer in-
The headgear differed from time to time. People of the
gredients native to Vietnam. Lý dynasty and Nguyễn dynasty often put on a plain piece
of cloth wrapped around the head (generally called Khăn
đóng), while in Trần dynasty and Lê dynasty leaving the
9.11 Clothing head bare was more common. Beside the popular Nón
Lá (conical hat), a vast array of other hats and caps were
Main article: Vietnamese clothing available, constructed from numerous different types of
In feudal Vietnam, clothing was one of the most impor- materials, ranging from silk to bamboo and horse hair.
Even the Nón Lá (conical hat) used to take several dif-
ferent shapes and sizes, now only two styles still persist.
For footwear peasants would often go barefoot, whereas
sandals and shoes were reserved for the aristocracy and
royalty.
Nguyễn Monarchs had the exclusive right to wear the
color gold, while nobles wore red or purple. In the past
the situation was different, Đinh dynasty and Lý dynasty
rulers wore red, and Trần dynasty emperors wore white.
Each member of the royal court had an assortment of dif-
ferent formal gowns they would wear at a particular cer-
emony, or for a particular occasion. The rules governing
the fashion of the royal court could change dynasty by dy-
nasty, thus Costumes of the Vietnamese court were quite
diverse. However certain fundamental concepts applied.
The most popular and widely recognized Vietnamese
national costume is the Áo Dài. Áo Dài was once worn by
both genders but today it is worn mainly by women, ex-
cept for certain important traditional culture-related oc-
casions where some men do wear it. Áo Dài consists of
a long gown with a slit on both sides, worn over cotton
or silk trousers. Adoption and enforcement of Aó Dài
took place in the mid 18th century by the rulers of Huế.
They decided that their garments had to be distinctive to
set themselves apart from the people of Tonkin where áo
The plain white áo dài is worn as a uniform in Vietnamese high giao lĩnh and nhu quần were worn. White Áo dài is the
schools.
required uniform for girls in many high schools across
Vietnam. In some types of offices (e.g. receptionists,
tant marks of social status and strict dress codes were en-
secretaries, tour guides), women are also required to wear
forced.
Áo Dài.
Prior to the Nguyễn dynasty, people not of noble birth
In daily life, the traditional Vietnamese styles are now re-
could dress quite liberally with only few restrictions on
placed by Western styles. Traditional clothing is worn
styles. For example, wearing yellow color in the Lý dy-
instead on special occasions, with the exception of the
nasty was tolerable since the Imperial clan wore red and
white Áo Dài commonly seen with high school girls in
white color. However things changed at the beginning
Vietnam.
of the Nguyễn dynasty. Commoners now had a limited
choice of similarly plain and simple clothes for every day
use, as well as being limited in the colors they were al-
lowed to use. For instance, commoners were not allowed 9.12 Martial arts
to wear clothes with dyes other than black, brown or white
(with the exception of special occasions such as festivals), Main article: Vietnamese martial arts
but in actuality these rules could change often based upon Vietnamese martial arts are highly developed from the
the whims of the current ruler. country’s very long history of warfare and attempts to de-
The Áo Tứ Thân or “four-part dress” is one such example fend itself from foreign occupation. Although most heav-
of an ancient dress widely worn by commoner women, ily influenced by Chinese martial arts, it has developed
62 CHAPTER 9. CULTURE OF VIETNAM

Thu), although the latter has been losing ground in recent

years.

9.13.1 Public holidays

9.13.2 Other holidays

Vovinam demonstration in Germany.

its own characteristics throughout the millennia in com-

bination with other influences from its neighbours. Viet-
namese martial arts is deeply spiritual due to the influence
of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and is strongly
reliant on the "Viet Vo Dao" (philosophy of Vietnamese
martial arts). It is probably most famous for its scissor
kicks. A traditional lantern procession during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The general Vietnamese term for martial arts is “Võ-
Thuật.” Some of the more popular include:

• Vo Co Truyen Viet Nam (Vo Thuat Co Truyen Viet

9.14 World and intangible cultural
Nam) heritage
• Vovinam Vietvodao
Vietnam has a number of UNESCO-listed World Her-
• Vo Thuat Van Vo Dao itage Sites, as well as cultural relics deemed as intangible
heritage. These are split into specific categories:
• Vo Thuat Binh Dinh
• Vo Bac Ninh
9.14.1 Cultural heritage sites
Vietnamese martial arts remains relatively unknown in
• Hội An: An ancient city and trading center.
the world today when compared to its counterparts from
China, Japan, Korea or Thailand. However, this is see- • Imperial city of Huế: Complex of monuments in the
ing a definite change as schools teaching various styles of former imperial capital.
Vietnamese martial arts are starting to pop up all over the
world, notably in countries such as Spain. • Mỹ Sơn: Ancient temple complex of the former
Champa civilization in Quảng Nam Province.

9.13 Holidays and other important

9.14.2 Natural heritage sites
days
• Phong Nha Cave located in Quảng Bình Province
Main article: List of festivals in Vietnam
• Hạ Long Bay

Vietnam celebrates many holidays, including traditional

holidays which have been celebrated in Vietnam for thou- 9.14.3 Intangible cultural heritage
sands of years, along with modern holidays imported pre-
dominantly from western countries. • Nhã nhạc: A form of Vietnamese court music.
Among the traditional holidays, the two most important • Space of gong culture
and widely celebrated are the Lunar new year (Tết), fol-
lowed by the Mid-autumn lantern festival (Tết Trung • Ca trù
9.17. EXTERNAL LINKS 63

• Quan họ 9.17 External links

There are a number of other potential world heritage sites, • Viettouch. This site is dedicated to the promotion of
as well as intangible cultural heritages which Vietnam has Vietnamese history and culture; see reviews of the
completed documents on for UNESCO’s recognition in site.
the future.
• Vietnamese Culture

• Vietnamese culture and society. Embassy of Viet-

9.15 See also nam in the USA.

• Vietnamese Culture and History. Vietspring.org.

• History of Vietnam
• Cinema of Vietnam • Vietnam Cultural Profile

• Communications in Vietnam • Vietnamese Culture and Traditions

• Media of Vietnam • Vietnamese Poetry

• List of museums in Vietnam • Vietnamese Culture and Traditions

• Politics of Vietnam • Vietnamese culture index – Vietnam Online

• Vietnamese name • Vietnam in photo

• Vietnamese language
• Baiyue
• Vietnamese studies

9.16 References
[1] Embassy of Vietnam in the United States of America.
“Evolution of culture”. Archived from the original on Au-
gust 9, 2011. Retrieved 2010-05-16.

[2] Columbia University East Asian Cultural Sphere

[3] Peter C. Phan (2005). Vietnamese-American Catholics.

Ethnic American pastoral spirituality series. Paulist Press.
ISBN 0-8091-4352-6.

[4] Vietnam Culture - Ruba

[5] Art of Vietnam

[6] Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David: Vietnam Past and

Present: The North (History and culture of Hanoi and
Tonkin). Chiang Mai. Cognoscenti Books, 2012. ASIN:
B006DCCM9Q.

[7] “Nonverbal”. Retrieved 22 November 2015.

[8] “Communication/Values”. Retrieved 22 November 2015.

[9] “Communicating with Vietnamese people”. Retrieved 22

November 2015.

• Releasing the 2009 Population & Housing Census

Preliminary Results. People’s Committee of Ho Chi
Minh City.
• Vietnamese culture and society. Embassy of Viet-
nam in the USA.
64 CHAPTER 9. CULTURE OF VIETNAM

9.18 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

9.18.1 Text
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Ellywa, Pratyeka, Jiang, CarlKenner, Eirik (usurped), Mxn, Donio, Reddi, David Thrale, Zoicon5, Haukurth, Jose Ramos, Warof-
dreams, Frazzydee, Shantavira, Robbot, Rholton, Ojigiri~enwiki, Timrollpickering, DHN, Nat Krause, Halda, Ferkelparade, Zuxy, Ev-
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top, Arzachel, John Hill, Trigor, Waldir, Mekong Bluesman, Graham87, Deltabeignet, Qwertyus, Unfortunate, Canderson7, Rjwilmsi,
Commander, Yamamoto Ichiro, Rui Silva, Skyfiler, Ground Zero, Margosbot~enwiki, Krueschan, GagHalfrunt, Malhonen, Le Anh-Huy,
CJLL Wright, Chobot, Shauni, DVdm, Retval~enwiki, Sus scrofa, RussBot, Kauffner, John Smith’s, Pigman, DanMS, Gaius Cornelius,
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Piriczki, Johnbpe, Niceguyedc, VegetarianPaulp3, Puchiko, Dr. B. R. Lang, Viva69, Ktr101, Jusdafax, Ottre, Ontopofthewall, Beengreat4,
Nxdat, Enerelt, Smokedoctor, Wakablogger~enwiki, Anon126, Dacquirel Kenslington, Gaconc1~enwiki, Protontis, Stickee, Dthomsen8,
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terialscientist, Sea888, Citation bot, Ngtrdon, Mlpearc, J04n, GrouchoBot, ProtectionTaggingBot, SassoBot, Jean-Jacques Georges, Lo-
cobot, Pwordissony, Pwordisony, Legobot III, André de StCoeur, Tobby72, Trust Is All You Need, Tetraedycal, Biker Biker, Pinethicket,
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bunik, MrGachapon, Dewritech, Carlo58s, Smallchief, Dcirovic, TalkToVu, ZéroBot, Wayne Slam, Labnoor, TyA, Kirothereaper, Dante8,
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trel, BG19bot, Scarfaced Charley, MusikAnimal, Cold Season, BML0309, Sgnpkd, Earth Wikipedian, Snow Blizzard, Bbippy, BattyBot,
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SimonP, Olivier, Ahoerstemeier, Jiang, Jeandré du Toit, Timwi, Jason M, Robbot, Vardion, Baldhur, Altenmann, MaXim, DHN,
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Woohookitty, Bokpasa, CalJW, Le Anh-Huy, YurikBot, Lt2hieu2004~enwiki, Gaius Cornelius, Badagnani, Vizjim, CaliforniaAliBaba,
SmackBot, Saimdusan, Paxse, Gaff, Koryakov Yuri, DHN-bot~enwiki, Colonies Chris, AussieLegend, Aaker, DabMachine, JYi, Iri-
descent, Joseph Solis in Australia, Jsorens, Lahiru k, Virgule82, Neelix, Bridgecross, 23prootie, Xeno, Kidam, Dragfyre, Edward321,
MartinBot, Mermaid from the Baltic Sea, Iarescientists, Uncle Dick, Omega Archdoom, Tridungvo, CanCanDuo, VolkovBot, Chitrapa,
TXiKiBoT, Alex rosenberg35, Tennisdude92, Falcon8765, SieBot, Paulinho28, EmanWilm, Angelo De La Paz, ClueBot, Tmol42, Jus-
dafax, Kanguole, NuclearWarfare, Esimal, SchreiberBike, Thehelpfulone, Certes, Addbot, Narayansg, Download, Yobot, Kakaman99,
AnomieBOT, Archon 2488, Csigabi, Materialscientist, Xqbot, Amore Mio, FrescoBot, Tetraedycal, Pthhieubilly, Updatehelper, Otvis,
ZéroBot, AchilleZZ, Pioneeranomoly, ClueBot NG, , Mightymights, Greenknight dv, Adnan bogi, Ssbbplayer, TheNano7474, Rajmaan,
Howicus, Wikiobis, Nguyen QuocTrung, Beyond234, Twinklebut1234, Appleangel11, Wikiaccount2015, Jvcuti, Ameteurdemographer
and Anonymous: 102
• Geography of Vietnam Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Vietnam?oldid=699998282 Contributors: AxelBoldt,
Olivier, Edward, RTC, Zocky, Earth, Menchi, Ahoerstemeier, Docu, Angela, Jebba, Darkwind, Pratyeka, David Stewart, Mxn, Pascal,
Crissov, Warofdreams, Bkell, Alan Liefting, Lcgarcia, Tom Radulovich, Henry Flower, DO'Neil, Bobblewik, Hob, Andycjp, Kusunose,
Domino theory, Cglassey, D6, CALR, Guanabot, Invictus~enwiki, Vsmith, Brian0918, Darwinek, Sam Korn, Grutness, Alansohn, HERB,
Bathrobe, Woohookitty, Kelisi, Turnstep, Graham87, Eubot, Le Anh-Huy, Crazytales, Stephenb, RayaruB, Bruxism, Mkill, Leonar-
doRob0t, Curpsbot-unicodify, SmackBot, YellowMonkey, Paxse, BertholdD, Sadads, DHN-bot~enwiki, Colonies Chris, Rama’s Arrow,
Rrburke, Khoikhoi, The undertow, Peter Horn, Bob101, DabMachine, Thricecube, Eastlaw, Sadalmelik, Lavateraguy, Van helsing, Gogo
Dodo, Travelbird, Mattisse, Epbr123, Visik, RapidR, Urmfest, Magioladitis, VoABot II, The Anomebot2, Dragfyre, Efansay, Rskoly,
PrestonH, Erkan Yilmaz, VolkovBot, Hranco, 01158l86, Vgranucci, JukoFF, VietFire, Flyer22 Reborn, HkCaGu, Pinkadelica, Clue-
Bot, Boing! said Zebedee, ChandlerMapBot, Jusdafax, Ottre, Thingg, Kyslyi, Coraroidman, Addbot, Uskill, Tide rolls, Lightbot, Walt-
loc, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Ptbotgourou, Vrinan, Materialscientist, Xqbot, FrescoBot, Kingly62, Originalwana, 2toy mora, Rushbugled13,
9.18. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 65

Samuel745, SeoMac, Dewritech, Tommy2010, Wikipelli, ZéroBot, Wayne Slam, Grekham, ClueBot NG, Helpful Pixie Bot, Phambay,
BG19bot, Chess, AvocatoBot, Nguyenky0101, FoCuSandLeArN, Lugia2453, Hillbillyholiday, Moony22, 23flipflop, Rockhard755, Cam-
dak2, Vader80001, Vieque, Darth7777775, Declanintindola, TranquilHope, Justateeph and Anonymous: 90
• List of cities in Vietnam Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Vietnam?oldid=700858301 Contributors: Docu, Mxn,
Morwen, Egon, DHN, DocWatson42, Ascánder, Sl, Avia, CalJW, YurikBot, Tdangkhoa, Josh3580, SmackBot, Yuriy75, Gilliam, Hmains,
Vunhe~enwiki, Vietlong, DHN-bot~enwiki, Colonies Chris, Rarelibra, Kasukei, MrPMonday, Hoangthethang, Ser Amantio di Nicolao,
BrownHairedGirl, Monni95, KJS77, Neelix, Cydebot, Thijs!bot, Dr. Blofeld, Dhn610, Mack2, Hungtheduong, CommonsDelinker, AS-
DFGH, TXiKiBoT, Phe-bot, Orrmaster, Da Joe, ClueBot, DFRussia, Vanhoabui, Tran The Vinh, DerBorg, Addbot, Luckas-bot, Pt-
botgourou, Materialscientist, Tosepica, Abce2, FrescoBot, LucienBOT, Ashitagaarusa, Alan4753, Đa Tình Đa Cảm, Reaper Eternal, Give
Your Heart a Break, EmausBot, VanillaBear23, Namnguyenvn, Karlos87, San Min Zhu Yi, ZéroBot, Minhminh284, ClueBot NG, Cheers!,
Tran Ai Quoc Vietnam, Hanh mad, BattyBot, Iostream01, Soulparadox, Makecat-bot, Mongolophyle, Wikiobis, Lvdvt, K9re11, Nmdcota,
Nguyễn Đức Ninh, 12345678901234567890jackson, Minh Đức 96 and Anonymous: 49
• Politics of Vietnam Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Vietnam?oldid=702256455 Contributors: Danny, Olivier, Menchi,
Gerhard, Jiang, Tobias Conradi, Colipon, Jimbreed, Vardion, Kizor, RedWolf, RossA, DHN, Davidcannon, Dave6, Nikodemos, Wil-
fried Derksen, Everyking, Michael Devore, Hob, MSTCrow, PFHLai, Ultrarob, Squash, Rich Farmbrough, Dave souza, CanisRufus,
Circeus, Smalljim, Acntx, Alainprost, Alansohn, Ricky81682, Woohookitty, Bkwillwm, Electionworld, Koavf, Avia, Trlovejoy, RobertG,
CalJW, Le Anh-Huy, Wisekwai, Kauffner, RadioFan, Trainra, Nlu, Takethemud, BonsaiViking, SmackBot, YellowMonkey, David Ker-
now, Skizzik, BertholdD, Chris the speller, Rampart, Johannjs, DHN-bot~enwiki, Colonies Chris, Wizardman, Filpaul, LDHan, Brown-
HairedGirl, Phuzion, DabMachine, BranStark, Briancua, Southleft, Janymeo, Neelix, RevolverOcelotX, Obiwankenobi, Dhn610, FaerieIn-
Grey, Dragfyre, Clarin, CommonsDelinker, Johnluisocasio, J.delanoy, Rgoodermote, Hendrca, Haiauphixu, KylieTastic, Tridungvo, Spiesr,
Hbfint, VolkovBot, Chitrapa, Caytruc, SieBot, RJaguar3, Stfg, ClueBot, The Thing That Should Not Be, Highwind65, Mr Accountable,
Wprlh, 101leo101, Addbot, Proofreader77, Bostit, Nishanth Pathy, Equilibrium007, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Ptbotgourou, 1exec1, Materi-
alscientist, Ngtrdon, Shadowjams, Eugene-elgato, FrescoBot, Trust Is All You Need, Tuantintuc17, Quocviet89, Diannaa, EmausBot,
GoingBatty, Wikipelli, K6ka, Leminh91, Mjbmrbot, ClueBot NG, This lousy T-shirt, Oakley77, Widr, QuentinObis, Anthonyn31, Trần
Ái Quốc, Ejamison111, Epicgenius, NicktheBr0105, Nariko92, Mindsponger, Williamlowe248 and Anonymous: 97
• Human rights in Vietnam Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Vietnam?oldid=675386726 Contributors: Mxn, Fur-
rykef, MacGyverMagic, Micpp, Bkwillwm, Electionworld, Pmj, TheRingess, Nightngle, CalJW, DVdm, MMuzammils, RussBot, Wikiped-
itor, Tom Morris, SmackBot, Jab843, Gilliam, Hmains, Bluebot, Colonies Chris, Zazpot, Ohconfucius, Khazar, Dl2000, Yellowtailshark,
Epbr123, Fayenatic london, Simonxag, MartinBot, Cowguru2000, Tkn20, Radomir Tylecote, Elkouaisk, Mangostar, Langtucodoc, Ufinne,
Susan118, Someone111111, WikHead, Addbot, Battleofalma, Yobot, Librsh, Xqbot, Wikignome0529, Moby-Dick3000, Christian Solidar-
ity Worldwide, Jonesey95, Full-date unlinking bot, Kolobochek, RjwilmsiBot, Tnt1984, Dinhtuydzao, Trananh1980, H3llBot, Ylight42,
Shrigley, TheTimesAreAChanging, Fisherprice123, QuentinObis, BattyBot, DaltonCastle, Rajmaan, HNN12, Magicloveisintheair, ,
KaknikaLap, Buckeyefan25 and Anonymous: 34
• President of Vietnam Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Vietnam?oldid=702720853 Contributors: Mxn, EdwinHJ,
Vardion, DHN, Herr Klugbeisser, Sh~enwiki, PFHLai, Shanes, WibblyLeMoende, Art LaPella, Alansohn, PaulHanson, Electionworld,
Rjwilmsi, Koavf, Avia, CalJW, Gurch, Chobot, YurikBot, Tony1, Pegship, SmackBot, Vietlong, Colonies Chris, Thomas Gilling, Makyen,
Shoeofdeath, Picaroon, Thijs!bot, 23prootie, Mrodowicz, Fayenatic london, Magioladitis, Zhanzhao, McSly, Ja 62, Hammersoft, GM-
Marques, TXiKiBoT, Broadbot, Insanity Incarnate, AlleborgoBot, W4chris, Stfg, TaerkastUA, Iamwisesun, ImageRemovalBot, RS1900,
Qweqweqweqweqweqweqweqweqweqwe, Joao Xavier, Snocrates, PixelBot, MystBot, Addbot, Tide rolls, Lightbot, -iNu-, Luckas-bot, Meo
Hav, AnomieBOT, Cristiano Toàn, Pepo13, Sionus, Ngtrdon, RibotBOT, Иван Богданов~enwiki, Fiddle and herman, Erik9bot, Thehelp-
fulbot, Anirishwoman, LucienBOT, Trust Is All You Need, BenzolBot, Tuantintuc17, Full-date unlinking bot, Bgpaulus, Theone1993, Big
Axe, Diannaa, Fry1989, GoingBatty, Stevenrbaileytx, TuHan-Bot, ZéroBot, Leminh91, Sundostund, MooseOntheLoose, Vuhoangsonhn,
Hpfleger, ClueBot NG, Akuindo, Labranewf, Anthonyn31, Osiris, Adnan bogi, Kmzayeem, WikiBuilder1147, Nariko92, Phuchoang92,
Filedelinkerbot, Kimura92, Nguyenduc20005, Ducnguyen89, SummerPhDv2.0, Quyennguyen93, Neve-selbert, Nguyentuongan, David
Susan, Nariko Jusisaki and Anonymous: 63
• Economy of Vietnam Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Vietnam?oldid=701401814 Contributors: Bryan Derksen, Ed
Poor, Youssefsan, Olivier, TimShell, Ahoerstemeier, LittleDan, Jiang, Mydogategodshat, Gamera2, Hemanshu, SchmuckyTheCat, Silver-
mane, Nikodemos, Everyking, Bobblewik, Hob, Andycjp, Beland, Evertype, Piotrus, Huaiwei, D6, Rich Farmbrough, NrDg, Bender235,
MBisanz, Smalljim, Jerryseinfeld, Roadwarrior52, HasharBot~enwiki, Alansohn, Cdc, Siddheshk, Bookandcoffee, Woohookitty, SDC,
Lusitana, BD2412, Kbdank71, Rjwilmsi, Avia, Paj.meister, CalJW, JdforresterBot, Nivix, Wongm, McDogm, NGerda~enwiki, Jaraalbe,
Bgwhite, RussBot, Arado, UCaetano, Bertholdd, Mrdungx, Taco325i, THB, Tony1, Ospalh, Shawnc, Saikiri, Heavyrain2408, SmackBot,
Hmains, BertholdD, Anwar saadat, Teemu Ruskeepää, Chris the speller, Bluebot, Ottawakismet, Hibernian, Colonies Chris, Egsan Bacon,
Shalom Yechiel, Battlecry, Huon, RJN, Kuru, Shadowlynk, Saigon punkid, Cotixan, Tasfan, Joseph Solis in Australia, Newone, Tawker-
bot2, Antman102, Cydebot, Marletbadeo, Shirulashem, JamesAM, Epbr123, Itsmejudith, Hcobb, Mentifisto, Seaphoto, Dr. Blofeld, Al-
phachimpbot, MER-C, Swordhunter0690, Tim333, Magioladitis, VoABot II, Meredyth, Appraiser, Avicennasis, Midgrid, Neweco, Drag-
fyre, Zagubov, Gjahn, Zenshine, JaGa, STBot, CommonsDelinker, Erkan Yilmaz, J.delanoy, Flatterworld, Quogud, KylieTastic, Hfds,
Tridungvo, Bonadea, VolkovBot, Masaruemoto, Philip Trueman, Flyte35, A4bot, Anawrahta, Wingedsubmariner, Billinghurst, @pple,
The Last Melon, Biodin, Whatthefck, Pill65478, Mangostar, Pokedork7876, Lightmouse, Vietsmall, Int21h, Dungtrq, ClueBot, Ideal
gas equation, Alooney87, Rndman3, Joao Xavier, Quercus basaseachicensis, Steamroller Assault, Cenarium, SchreiberBike, BOTarate,
Rswarbrick, DumZiBoT, Ashtonsim, Spitfire, Jovianeye, Eug.galeotti, Coraroidman, Kbdankbot, Addbot, Willking1979, CanadianLin-
uxUser, Download, Dwaynydelights, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Vltava 68, AnomieBOT, DemocraticLuntz, Archon 2488, Aff123a, Setawut,
Teeninvestor, Xqbot, АлександрВв, FrescoBot, Trust Is All You Need, Ooooh45, Elockid, Jonkerz, Banhtrung1, DexDor, Deagle AP,
NguyenVietHa, EmausBot, John of Reading, Tnt1984, Dewritech, Tomdoan, Playmobilonhishorse, Namnguyenvn, Wikipelli, Ecko1o1,
Kkm010, ZéroBot, The Nut, H3llBot, Win.monroe, L Kensington, Ready, Scarletthao, Franperu21, EdoBot, ClueBot NG, Catlemur,
Dennis97519, RJFF, Pepsi132, Vietnamboom, WPSamson, 99econ, Divoc, BG19bot, PhnomPencil, HIDECCHI001, Jojo11111, Michael
Cockrell, Weapon2455, Maurice Flesier, Hashimzia, Mvieiro, Anbu121, Nguyễn Quốc Việt, The Elixir Of Life, ChrisGualtieri, HotdogPi,
Mediran, Khazar2, Miguel raul, Treemapper, Ssbbplayer, Menginee, Nomian, TheBlueCanoe, Sandymothertree090, Faizan, Epicgenius,
Zotezangu, Schwobator, Thaitran121085, Vttl97, SantiLak, Appleangel11, Zackbao1011, Bqn1996 and Anonymous: 246
• Culture of Vietnam Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Vietnam?oldid=702766473 Contributors: Mxn, DJ Clayworth,
Hyacinth, Nv8200pa, Warofdreams, MaXim, DHN, DocWatson42, MaGioZal, Siroxo, Bobblewik, Huaiwei, Adashiel, D6, Discospinster,
Rich Farmbrough, MuDavid, ESkog, Phoenix Hacker, Shanes, Alansohn, AzaToth, Lectonar, DorisAntony, Cmapm, Weyes, Woohookitty,
66 CHAPTER 9. CULTURE OF VIETNAM

BD2412, Dpr, Rjwilmsi, Nhk9, Gjmulder, WCFrancis, Avia, Bhadani, FayssalF, Falphin, Le Anh-Huy, Sharkface217, DVdm, Adonis-
cik, Brightc, YurikBot, RussBot, Wisekwai, Kauffner, Peoplesunionpro, Jtkiefer, Madkayaker, CambridgeBayWeather, The Mu, Pyrotec,
PS2pcGAMER, Theodolite, Chery, GraemeL, T. Anthony, Malcolm Morley, SmackBot, YellowMonkey, Olorin28, Hydrogen Iodide,
Paxse, Frymaster, SmartGuy Old, Gilliam, Ohnoitsjamie, Hmains, BertholdD, Durova, Bluebot, KissFist, Colonies Chris, Can't sleep, clown
will eat me, Addshore, Khoikhoi, Fuhghettaboutit, Decltype, Caniago, Witchbaby, Seibzehn, Sambot, Loodog, Saigon punkid, ShAd0w
N1nJa, Noah Salzman, Hu12, BananaFiend, Iridescent, Tawkerbot2, CmdrObot, Van helsing, Yellowtailshark, Agne27, DumbBOT, Re-
volverOcelotX, Marek69, Itsmejudith, Zachary, Nick Number, Hmrox, AntiVandalBot, Mmyers1976, MECU, MikeLynch, Lhagiang,
Hello32020, Jaysweet, Bongwarrior, VoABot II, Aleang, Neweco, Dragfyre, 28421u2232nfenfcenc, Momili000, STBot, Boobooaboo,
ScooterDe, Tgeairn, J.delanoy, AAA!, Duyphd, LOC85, Anthonyjin, Sjharten, AntiSpamBot, Kit Cloudkicker, Uhai, Tridungvo, Lilevil-
brian, RJASE1, Kitchawan, Flyingidiot, Haddiscoe, Wolfnix, Philip Trueman, Vipinhari, Doctor447, Bleaney, DeathbyChiasmus, Bearian,
Meters, Annamite tonkinese, Cnilep, Insanity Incarnate, SieBot, Liliesofthemist, Yohlanduh, Legion fi, Keilana, Flyer22 Reborn, Baseball
Bugs, YellowFlag, Angelo De La Paz, ImageRemovalBot, Elassint, ClueBot, Snigbrook, The Thing That Should Not Be, Leoenie, Chief-
reallord, Sweet12, Excirial, Sisterdetestai, Resoru, Kanguole, Ottre, Bennopia, SchreiberBike, 7, Versus22, Username3105, XLinkBot,
Rror, Addbot, Landon1980, Ronhjones, Cst17, LaaknorBot, Debresser, RegionalAssclown, IseeURsmallmind, LarryJeff, Webster121,
Lightbot, Dwaynydelights, JoshuaD1991, IW.HG, AnomieBOT, Trendrunso, Piano non troppo, Materialscientist, Aiko30566, LilHelpa,
Xqbot, Sionus, Vietnam facts, Anna Frodesiak, MGA73, Yomamastetasinmyvoca, Shadowjams, Kingly62, MGA73bot, Ooooh45, Jeff
cougsfan, Pinethicket, A8UDI, FoxBot, Hangntt, Slingstorangoyam, Begoon, Diannaa, Stroppolo, EmausBot, Gfoley4, Shining.Star, So-
larra, Dcirovic, K6ka, Pi 16 7, TalkToVu, Érico, Anir1uph, Hoangkid, A930913, Hiraki, Tolly4bolly, Sialthuong, Donner60, Ngokimn-
hat, Chu Hoang An, ClueBot NG, Mechanical digger, Vuonggialong, Gilderien, Ptdtch, Widr, Helpful Pixie Bot, HIDECCHI001, Earth
Wikipedian, Supportvn, Muffin Wizard, BattyBot, Ejamison111, Kmzayeem, Willwolf, Jamesx12345, Vegetarianve2975, Michiganisnot-
sopretty, I Love Triệu Đà, Xuanmai19, CerealKillerYum, Wudameng, Mr Leggett and Anonymous: 336

9.18.2 Images
• File:07-HAIPHONG_PORT.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/07-HAIPHONG_PORT.jpg License:
CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: HoangTuanAnh
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• File:Ba_Dinh_Hall_1462359227_71b04ee08a.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Ba_Dinh_Hall_
1462359227_71b04ee08a.jpg License: CC BY-SA 2.0 Contributors: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joxeankoret/1462359227/ Original
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License: Public domain Contributors: Vẽ dựa vào tài liệu “Tìm hiểu các văn bản pháp luật về nghi lễ, nghi thức, trang phục áp dụng
trong cơ quan nhà nước và doanh nghiệp”, NXB Lao động Xã hội đen 2003, trang 12. Source: Drew based on “Q&A law documents on
ceremonies, protocols, uniforms applied to national authority and company”, Lao dong va xa hoi đen Publisher 2003, p. 12 Original artist:
Various
• File:Combat_of_Nam_Dinh_19_July_1883.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Combat_of_Nam_
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9.18. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 67

• File:Dong_Ho_painting_-_Ly_Ngu_vong_nguyet.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/

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nal artist: ?
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domain Contributors: Create based on the Malaysian Government Website (archive version)
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nal artist: ?
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• File:Flag_of_Thailand.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Flag_of_Thailand.svg License: Public do-
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68 CHAPTER 9. CULTURE OF VIETNAM

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cense: Public domain Contributors: The design was taken from [1] and the colors were also taken from a Government website Original
artist: User:Achim1999
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9.18. TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES 69

• File:Portrait_of_Mr._Trinh_Dinh_Kien,_18th_century,_Vietnam_National_Museum_of_Fine_Arts_-_Hanoi,_Vietnam.jpg
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JPG License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Ottre
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cense: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
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70 CHAPTER 9. CULTURE OF VIETNAM

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