an attitude is a mistake, not only for the sake of the individual himself but also for the sake of his work.
Customs and Culture of Vietnam is a book which will prevent an American from having the feeling that there is an unbridgeable gap between himself and his Southeast Asian surroundings. Even in the midst of war those of us who have the privilege of working and living with the Vietnamese can find an opportunity to learn about the many rich and interesting traditions of this country as well as to admire the courage of people who have survived in spite of so many attempts to conquer them.
Ann Crawford's excellent guide is a good place for an American to start his Vietnamese education.
Henry Cabot Lodge
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Hardly a day goes by that we do not hear of the war in Vietnam and the debate that it has brought forth throughout the world. The things we hear little about, however, are the people, their heritage, and their daily life.
Before I went to Vietnam, I searched the public libraries for information and found very little available. This book is a result of that frustration. I hope that it will be of use to others, especially to students who are asked to write term papers on the country.
After studying Vietnam and its people first-hand for two years, I have attempted to choose a sampling of things which I hope will help the reader to understand the people of that country better. It is impossible to include everything of importance that I gathered in my research in a book of this nature; therefore, for the avid student of Vietnam, a selected list of references are included in the Appendices.
Limited information is included on North Vietnam today and many statistics quoted are for South Vietnam only. The majority of the information about customs and culture applies to all Vietnamese living on both sides of the 17th parallel. The government of North Vietnam did not reply to my queries on the country, and little printed documentation can be found about it in the free world.
Numerous people have helped me obtain information for this book. First of all, I would like to thank all of those people in Vietnam who were so anxious to see that their country be known to others in lands far away. They include my students in Vietnam, the Vietnamese librarians, Vietnamese personnel working for the United States Information Service, employees of the Vietnamese Ministry of Information, especially Mr. Doan Bich, and our foster daughter, Miss Hau Dinh Cam, who worked very hard typing borrowed copies of single documents, before and after translations, and for illustrating this book.
Next, my thanks is extended to Americans who encouraged me in my efforts and who made comprehensive statistics available to me from official U.S. agencies in Vietnam. Whenever I travelled outside of Saigon, there were numerous Americans in the armed services and other officials agencies who went out of their way to introduce me to Vietnamese who were knowledgeable about the area and its customs.
Appreciation is also extended to Major Grace Johancen, Public Information Officer, Fort Lee, Virginia, for her valuable proof-reading and editorial assistance which was freely given in her off-duty hours.
A special thanks goes to the numerous missionaries stationed in Vietnam, who have perhaps the best understanding of the people and their customs of any foreigners living there.
Last, but not least, I would like to thank my husband and my children for their interest and proddings, without which I might have given up on numerous perplexing occasions. For my children, I am grateful for their innate curiosity and their facility for getting me into numerous conversations with the Vietnamese. To my husband, Roy, goes a special thanks for never holding me back even when some of the things I did in Vietnam might have seemed to be a little crazy or even dangerous. I am thankful for his unselfishness and understanding.
I am also grateful to the United States Army who sent my husband to Vietnam and later allowed the children and me to join him. What at first seemed to be a disappointment (we had orders to go to Arizona which were cancelled) turned out to be one of the most interesting and challenging experiences in our life and one that we will never forget.
Ann Caddell Crawford
Fort Lee, Virginia
CHAPTER 1
WILL THE TWAIN MEET?
"East is East and West is West
and never the twain shall meet."
Rudyard Kipling
Nearly all of the first Western ventures in Vietnam ended in failure or disappointment. For the most part, the reasons for these misfortunes could well be attributed to the desire of one foreign power to enforce its domination on the country, or a lack of understanding in the case of individual events.
Today, the West is no longer interested in colonization. The French and their power in Vietnam has almost disappeared.
The Vietnamese, a fiercely independent race, have thrown out one foreign power after another; including Chinese, Mongols, and French. In addition, they pushed the Cambodians and the Chams out of territory that they occupied.
These events have been accomplished despite the fact that the Vietnamese were outnumbered on many occasions.
The North Vietnamese Communists prey on this past history in their propaganda today, and try to identify the Americans and other foreigners working in South Vietnam with the former ruling powers. They tell the Vietnamese that these foreigners must be driven out, just as the French and the Chinese were expelled—by force.
Time will tell if the Western powers can prove to these people, as well as others watching in underdeveloped nations around the world, that they are not interested in anything in the country except keeping it from falling under Communist domination. This problem, though sticky, may be far easier to reckon with than the other problem; that of a lack of understanding, which like a cancer, slowly eats away at the heart of a nation until all vital points are rendered useless.
Lack of understanding can occur in numerous ways. The first problem results from a powerful government action; the second may result from individuals of various stations in life, from the lowest private in the armed forces to the highest ranking government officers.
It may be caused unintentionally such as in a theme written by one of my Vietnamese students. He wrote of an American who had visited a local Buddhist pagoda. While there, he became surrounded by little children, all holding out their hands asking for money or candy. The American GI wanted to give them something, but how do you give something to a hundred kids? He returned to his Special Services chartered bus and waved goodbye to the children. They all pressed around the window shouting the few words of English they knew. Smiling, the GI reached into his pocket and pulled out a whole handful of Vietnamese coins and as the bus pulled off threw them out the window to the children. This resulted in a stampede with the children fighting each other for the coins. The older Vietnamese standing by looked on in disgust as if to say, "Who do those Americans think they are, making beggars of our children?"
The First American in Vietnam
The first American to venture to Vietnam was John White of Marblehead, Massachusetts. He failed to reach an understanding with the Vietnamese and returned home disgusted. White arrived in Vietnam in 1819 on a ship named the franklin. He was delayed in accomplishing his
