[Title Here, up to 12 Words, on One to Two Lines]

Theodore, D, Heiskell
University of Kentucky

[Title Here, up to 12 Words, on One to Two Lines]

History
In 42 B.C. China designated the northern part of what is modern day Vietnam
as its own land. China subsequently ruled the area for the next thousand years. In
the year 939 Ngo Quyen fought the Chinese back and took control of the land. For
the next thousand years Vietnam was ruled by a number of dynasties. During this
time the dynasties continued to expand south. It was not until the last dynasty, the
Nguyen Dynasty, that the name Vietnam was coined. In the year 1802 Nguyen Anh
defeated the Tay Son armies; uniting both the northern and southern parts of the
country. Nguyen Anh renamed the country Vietnam (Vietnam History in Brief,
Paragraph 7) Modern day Vietnam was created from French colonization
(Malarney, Paragraph 9). In 1882 France invaded Vietnam and forced the
government to accept French rule. Early on in the French colonization of Vietnam
resistance fighting was heavy. This heavy resistance died down for quite a long time,
only to be picked back up again in the late 1920s. Around this time the Vietnam
Nationalist Party was formed as well as the Indochinese Communist party. During
World War Two these resistance groups gained strength and on August 19 1945
they overthrew the Japanese administration in control of the country. Two weeks
after the overthrowing of the Japanese Ho Chi Minh declared the country the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam. France decided to try and take back Vietnam as its
colony in September of 1946. In 1954 the Vietnamese forces where able to defeat
the French. Vietnam, however, was not a unified country; it was divided into North
and South Vietnam. Beginning in 1959 North Vietnam began to attempt to forcibly

unify the country. This policy of forcibly trying to reunify the country led to the
American war in Vietnam. This war was over in 1975 after North Vietnamese
fighters took control of Saigon forcing the surrender of the South Vietnamese. Three
million people lost their lives due to this war. It is estimated that Vietnam lost two
million people to the war, in comparison the United States lost 58,000 soldiers.
(Vietnam War History, Paragraph 17) In 1986 Vietnam put into practice a renovation
program designed to increase foreign investment. (Vietnam History in Brief,
Paragraph 28) The United States ended its trade embargo on Vietnam in 1994 and
resumed full relations in 1995.
Family. The ideas of family are regarded extremely highly in Vietnamese
culture. It is not strange to find three or even four generations all living under the
same roof. Marriage is considered to be a right of passage into adulthood.
Vietnamese men and women often get married in their late teens or early twenties.
Marriage in Vietnam is not arranged and being in love is considered important in the
decision to marry someone. With that said what the family thinks is also considered
highly in the decision. Once married, sons will move back into their parents house
with their new wives. The eldest son and his wife will stay in the home and the
younger sons and their wives will sometimes leave after a few years and start their
own home. The eldest man in the home has the most authority and his wifes
opinion also matters a great deal. All of the women of the house work on the
household tasks, but the majority of the work tends to be left for the younger wives.
Older children will help their mothers with taking care of their younger siblings. The
majority of inheritance will go to the eldest son. The eldest son will receive the

parents home as well as the majority of the land. Younger sons will get smaller
portions of land and sometimes gold. Daughters will usually get something little so
that everyone gets something from their parents and friction is not caused in the
family. If there is no will in place then the Vietnamese law states that everything will
be divided up equally amongst the next of kin. (Malarney, Paragraph 43)
Religion. In Vietnam, originally, there where three main religions in Vietnam;
Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, and Confucianism. Today the government of Vietnam
recognizes these six different religious beliefs, Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam,
Taoism, Cao Dai, and Hoa Hoa. The last two religions Cao Dai and Hoa Hoa are both
indigenous religious beliefs. The majority of people in modern day Vietnam adhere
to Buddhist ideals. Seventy percent of the population says that they are Buddhist.
The Vietnamese constitution allows for religious freedom. With that said the
government will sometimes suppress religions if they believe that they are
detrimental to the countries safety and well-being. (Religion/Philosophy in Vietnam,
Paragraph 3) When Catholicism was first introduced to the country many Buddhist
monks protested the religion. They were not very successful in their attempts to
suppress Catholicism. Catholicism now has the second largest following in Southeast
Asia. (Religion/Philosophy in Vietnam, Paragraph 4) Each religion has its own set of
practitioners that are often consulted on matters such as curing illness or removing
misfortune from a person or family. Buddhism has monks and nuns; Catholicism has
priests, Cao Dai and Hoa Hoa priests. In addition to these main religious figures the
country also has astrologers and diviners. Many Vietnamese people consult
astrologers and diviners before traveling or starting other ventures. (Malarney,

Paragraph 52) Nearly all Vietnamese, regardless of religion, believe in the worship of
spirits, with the most important spirits that of their ancestors. (Malarney, Paragraph
51) The majority of families in Vietnam have altars in their house that pays homage
to the deceased family member. Some of the Vietnamese population believes that
spirits can bring good and bad fortune among you and your family. This belief is
more common amongst the Vietnamese women than it is amongst the men.

References
Malarney, Shawn, K (2014) Vietnam. Retrieved from
www.everyculture.com
Religion/Philosophy in Vietnam (2010) retrieved from
http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/vietnam/pro-religion.htm
Vietnam History in Brief (2014) retrieved from
http://www.vietnam-culture.com/articles-142-25/Vietnam-History-in-Brief.aspx
Vietnam War History (2014) retrieved from
http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history#