Vietnamese Daily Life
Explores the historic foods, clothing, and housing of Vietnamese people.
Traditional Lifestyles of Vietnam
Historically, the vast majority of Vietnam’s population lived and worked as farmers. For thousands of years, they grew their staple crop of rice in paddy fields around the Red River Delta. Families moved on seasonal timeframes. They planted rice twice per year, during the dry seasons, and transplanted the shoots to flooded paddies. In addition to rice, families fed themselves by fishing and hunting. They might also grow crops between the main rice seasons, raise fish in ponds, tend to livestock, and cultivate fruit trees. In keeping with Confucian philosophy, family played a major role in traditional Vietnamese lifestyles. Grandparents typically lived with their children, caring for their grandchildren while younger adults worked.
Cuisine of Vietnam
Vietnamese cuisine is known for its rich flavors, fresh ingredients, and fusion of East Asian and European customs. From China came a northern fondness for wheat, noodle dishes, and stir fries, while the southern regions see a greater use of rice and flavors like coconut and sugar. The French, meanwhile, contributed a wider use of broths, sandwiches, and newer staples like the potato and corn. All of these have come together, alongside ancient Vietnamese traditions, to form the modern cuisine of Vietnam. Additionally, as families left the nation in search of stability, they adapted their recipes from home to new ingredients. Vietnamese cuisine has since become popular around the world.
The two major staples of Vietnamese cooking are rice and fish sauce, often paired with ingredients like cilantro, mint, peanuts, basil, chili peppers, caramelized sugar, and meats such as beef, chicken, and pork. Some of the most well known Vietnamese dishes are pho, a broth soup made with rice noodles, meats, and vegetables, and bánh mì, a Vietnamese sandwich served on a baguette. Beyond these iconic meals, the country is home to a wide variety of regional and national favorites.
Vietnamese Clothing
Modern Vietnamese people typically wear Western-style clothing, except on formal occasions. In the past, the independent dynasties of Vietnam primarily followed Chinese fashions. The most distinctive outfit of Vietnam is the ao dai, or ao the for men. It consists of a long tunic, reaching nearly to the ground, over baggy trousers. Women’s outfits are tighter fitting in the top. In the past, the colors a person wore denoted his or her status. Brown, black, and white were the common colors of the peasantry. Young women in Vietnam, particularly high school students, may still wear white ao dai as a uniform. Conical, woven palm-leaf hats provide shelter from the elements.
Historic Housing in Vietnam
The traditional houses of Vietnam use locally available materials and are designed with the climate in mind. They may be built on stilts to accommodate annual floods or mountainous terrain. Timber beams support walls of bamboo, clay, straw, and more recently concrete. Steep roofs were traditionally made with elephant grass, palm leaves, or tiles, though sheet metal is growing more common. Most houses contain an odd number of rooms, which is considered auspicious. There are minor variations between the stilt houses of the Viet majority and other ethnic groups within Vietnam. One common theme within the home is ancestor veneration; most houses still contain shrines to deceased members of the family.
Modern Lifestyles of Vietnam
Today, about 35 percent of Vietnam’s population live in cities. There they follow typical urban lifestyles, living in apartment buildings and shopping for food and clothing. The majority still in rural areas lead lifestyles similar to those practiced for thousands of years. They may, however, enjoy modern amenities like cell phones and television. Family remains central to the Vietnamese no matter where they live. Work days tend to be long and begin at the crack of dawn. Elders are still needed to watch children after school while parents work at jobs or in the fields.
References
Crawford, Ann Caddell. Customs and Culture of Vietnam. Tuttle Publishing. 2012.
Goscha, Christopher. Vietnam: A New History. Basic Books. 2016.
Hoyer, Daniel. Culinary Vietnam. Gibbs Smith. 2009.
McLeod, Mark W and Thi Dieu Nguyen. Culture and Customs of Vietnam. Greenwood Publishing. 2001.
Seah, Audrey and Charissa Nair. Vietnam. Benchmark Books. 1996.
Taylor, K.W. A History of the Vietnamese. Cambridge University Press. 2013.
“The World Factbook: Vietnam.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 12 July 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/vm.html.
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