Vietnam Geography, History, and Culture越南地理历史文化.ppt

Impacts of Geography and History on Vietnamese Culture.UIUC Oct. 26, 2005 Questions we will answerWhy Vietnamese alphabet is in Latin? Questions we will answerHow come southerners are dynamic and northerners have stronger traditions? Questions we will answerWhy Vietnam is small geographically, but so diverse in religions, traditions, ethnics… A satellite view of Vietnam GeographyChina in the NorthIndia not-too-far WestImpact: both Buddhism and Confucius flourish.Buddhism: popular in 10th, 11th.Confucius: from 12th, still very strong now. A natural map of Vietnam GeographyA very long coast, so commercial interactions with Westerners started very early. Impact: western missionaries came to Vietnam to propagate Catholic, Protestant, Muslim…Current Vietnamese alphabet was invented by missionaries to teach the Bible. GeographyNorth: Delta of the Red River: small and having regular floods almost every year.Hilly regions, surrounded by mountains.Impact:Hard to make a living, need a lot of past experiences.Hard to interact with outsiders: keep going with traditions. GeographySouth: Delta of the Mekong River: much better farms than the delta of the Red River.Surrounded by people from the North, Cambodia, Indonesia…Impact:Easy to make a living, can take risk.Immigrants: open-minded, dynamic… GeographyHilly in the South,Coast and plateau in the Central,(Mekong) Delta in the SouthImpact: diversity in geography results in diversity in religions, traditions, ethnics… History of Vietnam Vietnamese History in BriefKinh Duong Vuong, Lac Long Quan, Au Co, Vua Hung (?),Chinese control (111 BC – 938 AD),Ngo Quyen earned independence (938),Ly Dynasty chose Hanoi as capital (1010),Tran Dynasty fought against the Mongols 3 times,Quang Trung: unified Vietnam (1789),French control (1858-1945),Socialist Republic of Vietnam HistoryHanoi: Capital since 1010,Through almost all dynasties. Impact: strong Confucius cultureOrder in the family, school,…Strong traditions. HistoryHue: Capital of the