What Vietnam teaches us

Two hundred years of colonial oppression, thirty years of destructive wars and another decade of post-war famine – all this, it would seem, is enough not only to destroy the country’s economy, but also hopelessly cripple the souls of its inhabitants. The British historian Arnold Toynbee, in his book Understanding History, argued that significant social upheavals continue to affect the emotional life of people, even long after the generations who lived through them have left the historical stage. However, today’s Vietnam refutes this axiom: like the fabulous bird Phoenix, less than thirty years after the end of the war and only eighteen after the beginning of the Doi Moi (Vietnamese “perestroika”) era, this country gives the impression not only material, but also – which is much more important ! – spiritual well-being. Based on its ancient traditions, Vietnam has managed to accomplish the impossible: today, the consequences of recent disasters are visible only at the demographic level: almost two-thirds of the Vietnamese have not yet crossed the threshold of thirty years. The secret of such a rapid regeneration of society lies in the amazing ideological unity, religious and human tolerance, as well as in the unique ability to maintain originality, while at the same time borrowing the best from the surrounding world. These properties, rooted in the very Vietnamese world view, make the experience of this poor Asian country truly invaluable for Europeans who live in an atmosphere of constant conflict and often have lost the ability to distinguish living people behind abstract labels.

Protect your roots

Miniature women in conical non-straw hats, endless rice fields, cozy Buddhist temples, measured patriarchal life and a portrait of Ho Chi Minh in every home – this is how Vietnam is seen from afar. However, this lubok picture is only partly true. Lying at the crossroads of various civilizations and trade routes, the country is a multinational, multicultural community. In addition to the Vietnamese proper, representatives of 53 nationalities live on its territory, speaking more than a hundred languages: Chinese Confucians, Hmong and Yao pagan highlanders, Cham Hindus (the heirs of the powerful Champa empire, which disappeared from the political map of the world in the XNUMXth century) and many others. . Moreover, the Vietnamese themselves are also far from religious unity: among them are Buddhists and Zen Buddhists, Christians (Catholics and Protestants), Muslims and followers of relatively new syncretic religions – Hoa Hao and Cao Dai. Even communism (formally Vietnam is still a communist-led socialist republic) has evolved over time from a state ideology to a form of religious identity of sorts, the result of the free choice of the individual.

However, it is hardly possible to confidently draw a line separating representatives of one religion from another in Vietnam today. Here is how the American anthropologist Oscar Salemink draws a portrait of a modern Vietnamese: “A middle-aged employee lays gifts on the altar of ancestors in the morning, and in communication with relatives and colleagues tries to observe Confucian values. To determine a good day to start a new business, he consults with a fortuneteller, and in order to choose a place for the house – with a feng shui specialist. On the fifteenth day of the lunar month, he visits the local Buddhist pagoda, and on the table he has a small bust of Ho Chi Minh. Seeing the bride in a white dress and the groom in a black tuxedo leaving the Christian church, one should not rush to conclusions: most likely, the day before they had already managed to celebrate the wedding according to the traditional Vietnamese rite, and the Catholic wedding is nothing more than a tribute to the fascination with Western culture. A woman burning incense in a Buddhist temple, in fact, may well be a communist. “I myself do not share Buddhist beliefs,” says Lam Thi An, a foreign language teacher at Da Nang University, “but by performing the rites, I show respect to many generations of my ancestors, for whom they were sacred.”

It is this reverence for ancestors – both one’s own and others – that largely determines the emotional climate of today’s Vietnam – for all the inhabitants of this country it has become a kind of ethical dominant. A small altar dedicated to the souls of departed relatives is sure to be in any home, and caring for the dead, who have no living descendants left on earth, is considered a national affair: an important Buddhist holiday is dedicated to them, in which representatives of other faiths readily take part. Very many family shrines are equally revered by the Vietnamese Buddhists, and the Muslim Vietnamese, and their foreign neighbors. “Our ancestors lived in peace and harmony for so long that if today we started to quarrel among ourselves, it would be insulting to their souls,” continues Lam Thi An. “Of course, to a modern person, such an explanation may seem very naive, but it is precisely in this view that the reason for Vietnamese religious and national tolerance lies.”

Religious International

Today, the Cao Dai religion, which originated in the early twentieth century in southern Vietnam, has more than three million followers. The centers of this creed, the motto of which was the phrase “Every religion has its own truth”, are located in America, Canada, Australia, France, China. “We believe that all confessions – Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Confucianism – are equally true and equally lead to the same good goal,” says the senior monk of the Caoda Temple in Da Nang Dang Quang Thu. – God does not have a physical body, he is everywhere around us and appears to man in a variety of images, each of which carries a certain meaning. In Kaodaism, we depict the Deity as an all-seeing eye – the left one, because it is closer to the heart, suspended in the middle of the sacred air – the focus of the divine presence. We also highly honor the great sons and daughters of various nations – Victor Hugo, Sun Yat-sen, Ho Chi Minh, Joan of Arc, Leo Tolstoy, because we are convinced that the will of God was most clearly expressed in their deeds and creations. Today, all faiths are divided, but we have no doubt: the day will come, the barriers between different religions will fall, and humanity will be able to know the divine truth in all its fullness and diversity.

Think openly

The tomb of the penultimate Vietnamese emperor Khai Dinh in the vicinity of the city of Hue delights not only with magnificent sculpture, but also with amazing mosaics. From a distance, they give the impression of exceptional originality – ornaments that are unlike anything else, original mythological plots. However, coming closer, you notice: the source material for them was … fragments of Chinese vases, carefully selected in shape and color. The Khai Dinh tomb mosaics are an excellent metaphor for Vietnamese culture as such: incorporating the best of what mankind has to offer, it has retained its uniqueness throughout its history.

The European name of Vietnam – Indochina – accurately describes its position between the two great civilizations of antiquity. In the XNUMXth century, a third one was added to these two sources of influence: Europeans appeared in Vietnam, who began with the preaching of Christianity and ended by the turn of the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries with full-scale exploitation of the country and its population. However, despite the impact of all these factors, the foundations of Vietnamese culture have remained unchanged for many centuries (the first archaeological sites date back to the Dong Son period, I millennium BC).

Outwardly, the life of a modern Vietnamese city dweller, a resident of Hanoi or Saigon, is very similar to the life of a Muscovite, Petersburger or Parisian: the same work, family, entertainment. The differences are quite arbitrary: instead of cars that are uncomfortable on narrow streets, they are maneuverable mopeds; instead of suits and ties that are unbearable in a tropical climate, short-sleeved shirts and sandals; instead of apartments in high-rise buildings, there are small houses for one or two families (the Vietnamese do not like to settle in apartment buildings ). However, after leaving the office, looking away from the computer and TV, a successful entrepreneur or a modest clerk turns into a XNUMX% Vietnamese. In the evenings, he always brings chairs, tables and braziers to the sidewalk in front of his house and, sitting right on the street, dine with family and friends, watching the bustling flow of city life just like his ancestors did. Children, indistinguishable in manner from their peers in Russia or Europe, retain an attachment to national traditions. Among the favorite gifts for the main children’s holiday – Mid-Autumn Day – along with game consoles and plastic imported consumer goods, classic painted papier-mâché masks, kites and small hand drums invariably appear, and folklore festive games and processions bring the same pleasure to small participants. like their great-grandparents a century ago. Having gathered in a restaurant, the Vietnamese always invite performers of national melodies – listening to Western music in a friendly circle is not customary even among young people. Benevolent openness to the world, combined with attachment to one’s own roots, creates a special, comfortable and natural emotional background in Vietnam.

Believe in yourself and wish good

A European who first came to Vietnam is struck by the lack of aggressiveness in the locals: an accident involving two motorcyclists, one of whom openly violated the rules, at worst becomes an occasion for good-natured grumbling. Despite the fact that people who remember the war well are still quite young and active, there is absolutely no hostility in society towards recent enemies – the Americans or the French. On the contrary, speaking about the events of thirty years ago, many Vietnamese sympathize with American youths who are forced to fight and die on a land foreign to them. According to statistics, Vietnam has the lowest murder rate in Asia. “We are a cowardly people,” the Vietnamese themselves joke, thereby refuting the popular belief that all the inhabitants of this country are born warriors. However, such an explanation is hardly worth taking seriously: rather, amazing benevolence, combined with resistance to external influences, should be attributed to the internal strength inherent in the Vietnamese people and confidence in their cultural and ethical viability.

The consequence of this deep belief in one’s own strength is a peculiar, not much similar manner of communicating with visitors. Finding himself in Vietnam, the tourist feels welcome in a large and friendly house. Friendly and sociable, ready to show guests all the riches and beauties of their country, the Vietnamese are at the same time far from obsequiousness and obtrusiveness – as befits the owners, they behave with dignity, rightly believing that guests should appreciate their ability to maintain equal, full of mutual respect relationship. And therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that, after leaving Vietnam, many Europeans suddenly discover that it is this principle of communication – open and friendly, full of self-esteem and tolerance for other people’s principles and views, that turns out to be the strongest impression and, moreover, the main acquisition from a trip to this unusual country.

*Vietnam: Journeys of Body, Mind and Spirit. University of California Press, 2003.

We thank the company “Kvinta-Tour” for help in organizing the trip.