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a Pepe Lea, ook ‘The Philip E.Lilenthal imprint ‘honors special books | in commemoration fa man whose work at the University of Calfenis Press from 1954 to 1979, "wa marked by dedication to young authors and to high standards inthe field of Asan Studies. Friends, family, author, and foundations have together ‘endowed the Lethal Fund, which enables the Press to publish under this imprint selected books ina way that reflects the taste and jdgment ‘ofa great and beloved editor Understanding Vietnam NEIL L. JAMIESON ¥ University of California Press 1 How the Vietnamese See the World tis not actions but opinions abou ations that distr Epictetus Throughout the twontcth century the Vietnamese have been in| upheaval, wracked by eondeing images ofthe pst, the present and the future. For moee than six decades now, the emphasis has been on change, even revaluation, During the 1930s many debates In Vieinam were expressed in terms of "the cl" versus "the new.” Modes of socal interaction, claims to status, dress styles, mariage customs, Iiterture, religious practices, medical treatment, even haircuts, were polarized. around this dichotomy. A Wester ‘educated, urban middle dass had developed, producing « vital new publishing industry te voice is aspirations and to serve as an arena where conflicting Visions of the future would compete for in- uence. Many young writers argued that a sentimental attachment to tradilonal clture was a major obstacle to progress. ‘The Communists, a tiny minority inthe 13s, had, ofcourse, @ blueprint that purported to provide them with insight into the fu- ture. But most young intellectual in Vietnam before World Wa I simply knew they were dissatisfied with the way things were and that Vieinam had to discover, or create, a viable modem identity. ‘As Nhat Linh the edioe ofa popular Vietnamese language news piper, argued in 1982: “When the old cilization is brought out nd pot into practice before our very eyes, we are disaistied with the results. We can only continue 19 hope in Westen cvilization. Where that civilization wil ead us to we not know, but ou destiny isto travel into the unknown, to keep changing and to progress” (Mores (Phong Hea), 20 October). But change to what? To become ‘what kind of people? What kind of society? This is what the subse a ree ee eee 21 Hew the Vietnamese Sethe World eologies conceened withthe issue of modernization abounded People Were divided in thei opinions, even within faes. To complicate things further, thre was considerable regional variation In Vietnam, dating back to ei tmes Both regional variation and debates betwoen advocates of om- petng ideologies in Vietnam ate best understood, I blew, a8 =pe- Sic outgrowths of, oF reactions to, the dominant traditional cl: ture. All major changes and variations are responses to particular ‘reumstanes (environmental, pols, soci) with which the old culture was not designed to cope. Despite all he variability an all the change, the culture of nincteenth-centry Vietnam is with and often constitutes an important part of—the vious twentith century innovations just as int filles development it contained all ofits predecessors. Memories of the past remain an important part ofall contemporary Vietnamese soccaltural systems fom {he politburo In Hano! to Lite Saigon in Los Angeles to Saigon surSeine in Pas. “Traditional Vietnam” in the folowing pages refers to this generalized picture of what has existed in the tinds of more recent fenerations. It is a brosd portrait gleaned mainly from widely Known literature, commonly used school texbooks, popularized historical and biographical writings, thousands of conversations with Vietnamese of diverse backgrounds, eminiscences exchanged ‘over teacups or bee, ina village home or in the back ofa josp, ina temple, a church, ofa Saigon nightpot, in offices and casstooms and refugee eamps. We must learn what people had in mind when they spoke of ‘he old” before we can understand ther debates over “the new” | that would replace it, All Vietnamese people ae today sla they were fifty years ago, interacting with that past in the process of ‘shaping their future, And so, in sense, ae we. Our experience in Vietnam i now part of us and we are pat of Vietnam. We cannot forget Vietnam, but nether can we Bt what we “know” about it ino our sense of self and counry. A grinding tension persists, generated by the dlscrepancy between our memories and our views of who we ae and ot proper plein the world. We have ted to zesolve this tension by fevising our views of ourselves, our society, and the larger wor, a by suppressing these memories or denying their importance, ut the disonance remains, and our functioning as individuals and as peoples si impaired. How the Viemase Sethe Werle 13 By pulling our old and partial perceptions into « new and broader context, we may’ transform them. By working to under stand the competing Vietnamese paradigms, we may clarify the rmudled debates about our involvement in Vieina, and pethaps in the process tansform the lingering pain and doubt into more positive insights. In trying to understand the Vieinamese we may Tear something enportant about ourselves, The Land of Vietnam: Ezoogy as History ‘The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the twelith most popelous no tion inthe world. Although it has one ofthe world’s lanest and ‘most batl-hardened armies, itis also one of the poorest nations in ‘the world. The territory of Vietnam ie slighty smaller than the state ‘of California, but its population, about seventy milion, is more than a quarter as large as that of the United States, Vietnam is elongated slong a north-south aus that extends from Chinato the Gulf of Siam. Iis evident that Vietnam ie 3 crowded county, and the population is stretched along a faitly narrow band of ld. But the topography of Vietum exaggerates thie phenomenon. Most of he people lve in a relatively small porion ofthe land ares (see maponp. 4), ‘nly sbout a quater of Vietnamese terior Is good farmland (ie, suitable for wet ie cultvation), and that where most ofthe ethnic Vietnamese, who make up roughly 85 percent of the population, lve. Wet rcefiels, people, and political power have always been assodated and concentated in felaively small core areas, Even today, most ofthe paddy feds, most ofthe people, ‘most of the wealth, most ofthe Industry, and most ofthe ear. ‘nomic, politcal, and cultural activity are in one of two core areas ‘One core ares consists ofthe Res River delta and the City of anol in the north; the other consists ofthe Mekong River delta and Ho ‘Chi Minh City formerly Saigon) inthe south. These two concen- trations of people are joined by a long thin band of costal plains along the South China Sea. The balk of the central portion of Vit- znam is mountainous and has been traditionally inhabited by ethnic minorities, tribal peoples who have Been seen by alinot all Vit ‘namese as “backward.” Ecological and historia factors have combined to produce very significant regional differences between the two core areas that omit the county. The Red River is subject to rapid and ew ‘teme variation in water level, and both flocd and drought heve THAILAND e south Sine a lover ini pr ue ‘Signleant Veta setlement areas, cay tenth century How the Veruamese So the World 5 always occurred with ominous reguasity Epidemics and pest in festation have also been comma. The Red River delta hat sil taneously been one of the most densely populated and leat safe ‘regions in the word. In an uncertain and dangerous envionment, hunger and social uneest have been constant thes. As a result the loca culture has emphasized the subordination ofthe indi vidual to collective disipline of family and village. Both the family and the village have been relatively csed, corporate entities, sl reliant, and responsible forthe action of ther individual members, In the south, the flow of the Mekong River is regulated by is link to the Tonle Sap, a large inland lake in Cambodia, which absorbs any excess flow of Water and supplements a eduction in ow from its large reserve storage. The Mekong environment i more predictable and more benign than that of the Red River ‘These ecological diferences etween the Red. River and the “Mekong delta have been of immense significance in generating di ferences in cultural emphases and socal organization Between the two core regions of Vietnam. But historical factors have exacer: bated these differences. The Mekong delta has been the recent frontier area. Not unt the sevententh century did Vietnamese seriously begin to sete the sonthem delta region, and the lower “Mekong delta was not heavily settled until the nineteenth century Life has been easier and more secure in the southern third of ‘Vietnam, and the hash discipline found in the north has always been considerably moderated there. Southern villages have always been more open, less corporate, more tolerant of indivi nto tive and cultural heterodoxy. Then, under the Pench, who began clonizing Vietnam in 1889, the southern thitd of Vietnam, knows, 88 Cochinchina, was the fet part to be colonized, and i was Aiectty administered by the French authorities as 8 colony. The south thus experienced relatively greater Westen influence and ‘more politcal eedom than di the rest ofthe country, which was ‘ministered as “protectorate” (Annatn in central Vietnam and Tonkin in the north) The protectorates came under French rule later and were administered indnecy, through local Vietnamese sdministatos There ae, then two common ways of talking about Vietnamese seography We think of the noth and the south, divided by the Seventeenth parallel, This makes sense in recent politcal terms. It ko makes sense histrialy, beeaue Vietnam was divided not too differently for most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,

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