Vietnam Open Touris: culture

Vietnamese Family

Traditional Vietnamese Family

There are a lot of differences between Vietnamese family to the European family: From the family size to the role of each member of the family and it's also different from the past to now.

Vietnamese family in the past

More than 30 years ago, Vietnamese family was very big. A couple could have about 5 to 10 children!!! Five kids were not really big. Eight kids were very normal. Take an example, my parents ( more than 60 years old) have 10 children. And most of my aunts and uncles also have from 5 to 10 children. Moreover, some of my parents' neighbors have even 12 children. Especially, in the center of Vietnam the family's size is bigger than the other places. In a typical family,there were three generations: grand parents - parents - children. The roles of family's members were also different. Still keeping the tradition: the man had the main role, the family didn't have the balance. Any decision just could be made by the grandfather or father. The children didn't have the power to make their own decision. The women always listened to the men.

Reason

Vietnam had independence in 1975. We were invaded by the Chinese for a very long time. After that the French and then the American. In the war, we couldn't develop our country. When the war finished, Vietnam was a very poor country. In addition, Vietnam had to build the country from nothing. The country faced with hunger, illiteracy and poverty. With all the difficulties, we didn't have a good health care or pregnancy care. The government had some strategies to reduce the amount of children in a family. However, it wasn't popular to all the villages or countryside areas.
One more reason was people's thinking. Most of old people thought that having more kid was having more happiness. And another thinking was: "every kid was a child of God. God gave birth, so God would take care of the kid." In addition, they preferred boys to girls.

Vietnamese family at Saigon

Result

The country was not developed, so the family couldn't have enough condition for a big family. The economic at that time was agriculture. Most people were farmers or the husband could work something else and the wife was housewife. The income that a couple made weren't enough to raise 5 to 10 kids. The clearly result was the living condition was really bad. Serious result was the children couldn't go to school. The children didn't come to school, or they went to school for the primary and stopped. There were not a lot of people could come to high school or university. Preferring boys to girls made some family have many kids. Women didn't have any voice. Therefore, the men in the past used to drink, smoke a lot and behave badly.

Vietnamese family in present day

With a lot of campaigns and changes in the social life after the war until now,Vietnamese family has changed.

Modern Vietnamese family size

Unlike a big family as in the past 30 years. Now, the family just has 4 to 5 members including parents. A couple has about 2 or 3 kids. They don't even care too much if they only have all boys, or all girls. Rarely, we can see a family with 3 generations.

Modern Vietnamese family member's role

Women have their own voice. They had fought for their equality. Women can make their decision together with men. They also find jobs to work. The husband will try to help his wife with housework or taking care of the baby. It's equal in the family's life. The wife tries to balance her work and her family.
However, there is still violence in family. The man drinks and hits his wife sometimes. Some couples end with divorce but some try to keep the family, even they are not happy. The excuse is: because of the kids. They don't want the kids don't have father, or mother.

Modern Vietnamese family: Better result

More and more children can go to school and finish university or college. The family's life is better. It makes the country develop because each family is a cell of the society.

More about family and culture in Vietnam

Vietnamese Dress Ao Dai Vietnam National costume
Vietnamese Hat Asian conical hat known as Non La

The Vietnamese Hat, its name is Non La

The Vietnamese Hat known as Non La (Nón Lá written in Vietnamese) in Vietnam but also called Asian Hat or Conical Hat, is together with Vietnamese dress (Ao dai), one of the most notorious and visible symbols of Vietnam.
The literal translation of Non La into English is Conical Hat, but many people also called it Asian Hat because many other countries use this kind of hat (ex: Cambodia).

Pictures of the Vietnamese Hat (Non la)

When we talk about the Vietnamese Hat, everyone thinks in a conical hat, made of straw. However, few people know that this type of hat is used almost entirely by women, although in the central and southern Vietnam, you can see men using it.

There is man version of the Vietnamese Hat, his appearance is very similar to an African Safari hat. It is easy to see, especially in the north. In Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam is quite common to find men on the streets wearing the Vietnamese Hat.
This is the appearance of the Vietnamese Hat for men.

Man riding a bicycle wearing Vietnamese Hat for men. Hanoi, Vietnam.

Men version of Vietnamese Hat. Hanoi (Vietnam)

Uses of the Vietnamese Hat

Women on a bicycle wearing Vietnamese Hat. Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

The main use of the Vietnamese Hat is to protect oneself from the sun. We should not forget that the climate in Vietnam, because Vietnam is a tropical country, is very hot. The Weather in Hanoi Vietnam, is more pleasant then other points of Vietnam geography. For instance, the Weather in Ho Chi Minh City is hotter, the average is about 5ºC more, because Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City) is located on the south of Vietnam.

Taditionally Vietnam has been a rural country, where cultivation of paddy rice was widespread. Every single Vietnamese farmer use the Vietnamese Hat in their daily tasks, because the Vietnamese Hat not only protects from the sun but protects from the rain too.

Vietnam climate is tropical, it means there are only 2 seasons: dry season and rainy season. In addition to the fact the ideal feminine beauty standard is white skin, Vietnamese Hat (Non La) is the best ally during the hottest months to protect the white skin against the sun and during the rainy season, to protect from the rain.

Vietnamese Hat is made of leaves or bark held together by thread. The outside part of the Non La is covered with varnish or a protective layer to keep the Vietnamese Hat in optimal condition as long as possible.
In the next set of pictures, you can appreciate the Vietnamese Hat in detail.
As a fact of curiosity we will say that Vietnamese people use the Vietnamese Hat to collect rainwater.

Hoi An Vietnamese fishermen wearing Vietnamese Hat.

Vietnamese Hat in rice paddy.

Picture gallery of the Vietnamese Hat

On a tourist visit around Vietnam you can say thousand of Vietnamese Hat in many places used by a variety of picturesque characters. Fisherman, farmers, country people, boatman, sellers and much more. Improvised models on the streets of Vietnam.

Women wearing Vietnamese Hat on a biclycle. Hanoi.

Vietnamese woman on a bicycle with Vietnamese Hat.

Street seller with Vietnamese Hat in Hoi An (Vietnam)

Boatman with Vietnamese Hat.

Vietnamese country people with Vietnamese Hat. Ricefields in the north of Vietnam.

Rain and the Vietnamese Hat. Market of Halong bay.

Vietnamese women riding bicycles with Vietnamese Hat. Hanoi.

Vietnamese fishermen with Vietnamese Hat (Hoi An).

Vietnamese girl with conical hat

Funny old man with Vietnamese Hat in Hoi An.

The use of Vietnamese and Non hat has been relegated to the rural environment and the working class. In big cities like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), there aren't many of these hats. Partly because of the evolution of the country, and also because a Vietnamese Non La or hat is not very suitable for riding motorcycles in Vietnam (the Vietnam Bikes are the favorite means of transport).
Young people do not usually use the hat, not even the children who attend school daily.

Related to the Vietnamese Hat

Sombrero Vietnamita (versión en Español)
Shopping in Vietnam
Street Markets in Vietnam
Vietnamese dress Vietnam National Costume Ao Dai