Vietnam+Culture

Culture


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A country on the move – Vietnam is a vibrant and industrious country. Its people are building their economy for the new century and striving to leave behind a troubled, impoverished past for hopes of a promising future. Many people still live and work in rural areas where little has changed for generations. Vietnam is embracing industry and technology and is trying to become an economic leader in its part of the world.

In America, when we hear the word “Vietnam”, we think of the war that left an ugly mark in American history. The involvement of America in the Vietnam War didn’t even play a major part in the whole of that country’s centuries of history. Vietnam’s history goes back thousands of years. The war that we in North America refer to as the Vietnam War to the Vietnamese, it’s the American War is just a short part of the nation’s long story. After the Vietnam War, very serious environmental damage was done to its land. But Vietnam has worked hard to overcome its problems in the last two decades, and it has a new face to show to the world.

Tet Nguyen Dan is Vietnam's most important holiday. It is a week long New Year celebration held in late January that also marks the start of spring. Families pray for good luck and blessings for the new year. There are elaborate, colorful parades and games. People spend time with relatives and friends and exchange gifts. Flower shows are popular during Tet as well as dragon dancing celebrated with loud fireworks. Many children enjoy hat doi, a fun time where groups of children sing to each other.

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Other local festivals concern the farming season, highlighting the desire for fair weather and good crops. These are often times when the strict guidelines of proper behavior under Confucianism are relaxed. People are free to celebrate joyously and forget for a little while the difficulties of normal life.

Music is an important aspect of the Vietnam and the world's oldest known musical instruments are found in Vietnam. Even the Vietnamese language can be considered music for its dependence on notes and tones. It is often a language expressed in poetry.

Another activity that was credited with starting in Vietnam was the unusual form of puppetry that is performed in water. Vietnam is rich in music and tradition such as the arts.

Gongs are the most common musical instruments in Vietnam, drums and xylophones are known as the oldest musical instruments which originated from Vietnam's Central Highlands. A slate quarry in the region produced special rock with a nice ringing tone, a set of six or more rocks, in varying sized, along with a wooden mallet for hitting them, comprise the dan da.

Vietnam has few popular singing stars. The music industry in the country is not well established enough to promote performers. The country is full of people that love to sing, and tehre are many performers who are quite popular at local levels. Karaoke is a popular form of entertainment.

Vietnam also has a long history of theater, but because much of the dialogue is sung rather than spoken, the performances are often more similar to opera than drama. The two oldest forms are Hat Cheo and Hat Truong, while a more modern form is Hat Cai Luong. Hat Cheo is at least 1,000 years old. It began in the Red River Delta, it's a staging of well known legends and common events set to tunes. Hat Truong was introduced about 800 years ago and was first presented to royalty. The stories are mostly epic historical tales. Hat Cai Luong, was originated less than 100 years ago and is primarily a drama. It is heavily influenced by the French and contains spoken parts and contemporary themes.

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Vietnam, just as it is in many parts of the world. Many of the young people throughout the country play the sport.

Bicycling, Tennis, Volleyball and Badminton are common games that the people play for entertainment and relaxation.

(Willis, 2002)