With more than 4000 year history, Vietnam history have passed up and down, since 178 to 938 dominated by China, then 1858 to 1954 by French after that American war when the country was divided into two parts, until 1975 Vietnam is an unification country.

Vietnam’s history has been one of resistance interspersed by periods of feudal communalism under dynastic rule. Many invaders have sought to conquer the country, including Kublai Khan's Mongol army, and a few have succeeded. However, in every case, the Vietnamese have ultimately triumphed.
The Confucian influence
Whilst religion has been a powerful influence, the strictures of Confucianism, the most successful instrument of large-scale social control ever devised, have probably been the defining factor in the evolution of the Vietnamese character. An outline of its philosophy and development is a prerequisite to an understanding of modern Vietnam.
Incorporation and transformation
Vietnam has experienced numerous incursions of foreign forces, and their subsequent expulsion, throughout its history. Rapidly alternating balances of power have been instrumental in shaping the remarkable pragmatism of its people, and underpinned their assimilation of foreign religions and philosophies: beliefs and ideas that were absorbed and transformed into something distinctly Vietnamese.
Colonial occupation and liberation

The impact of a hundred years of colonialism has also left its mark, but perhaps more upon the tangible infrastructure of the country, rather than its people. However, the French occupation earns its right to being a discrete theme by its galvanising effect upon Vietnam’s burning desire for liberation and the subsequent commitment of most of its people to all-out war against the forces of the United States and its allies.
Reunification and a new direction
After victory, re-unification and eventual international recognition of Vietnam as a free and sovereign state, all these themes combined to set the stage for Vietnam’s recovery, reconciliation and eventual emergence into the world community. As our country struggles to establish its relationships and roles in the emerging world order of the new millennium and prepares for entry to the World Trade Organisation, the current pages of Vietnam’s history are being written by the juggernaut of globalisation, and its impact upon a people who virtually bypassed the twentieth century.
Endowed with a long and rich heritage, the Vietnamese culture is deeply stamped with national pride. Typically, famous ancient cultures comprise the Do Mountain Culture, followed by the Son Vi Culture founded over 10,000 years ago, then by the Hoa Binh - Bac Son Culture. Besides, the Dong Son Culture also received the most brilliant development and was deeply connected with the Red River civilization.
In spite of historical contingencies, there are still approximately 7,300 preserved historic and cultural sites over Vietnam, from which 1,500 have been listed as national sites such as the relics of Hung King, Co Loa Citadel (Dong Anh – Hanoi), an ancient citadel of Hue, My Son Cultural Heritage Site, etc.
Additionally, specific features of Vietnamese culture are reflected in other forms such as legends, festivals, traditional theater, water puppetry, music, dances and custom practices (funerals, weddings, chewing betel and areca nut, smoking lao tobacco, etc.). For example, respecting the elderly and always announcing your presence when entering someone’s home are prominent cultural trait of Vietnam.
The Chinese legacy
The roots of Vietnam’s culture are firmly bedded in a thousand years of Chinese domination, but other influences have helped to shape Vietnam’s intellectual achievements and way of life.
The early Dong Son people, the original Viet people, brought sophisticated mining, smelting and casting skill from their Mongolian origins and left a legacy of magnificent bronze statues and drums.
The Champa Kingdom also left its mark in the form of ornately carved sculptures decorating their mysterious brick towers.
However, the impact of other races and nations is dwarfed by that of China. The Confucian code and Buddhism introduced during their occupation of the country have dominated Vietnamese life for two millennia, and will doubtless continue to do so for centuries to come.
Putting aside the differing cultures of Vietnam’s many smaller ethnic groups, most of which have migrated into Vietnam comparatively recently, the post-Chinese development of the culture of the majority ‘Kinh’ people that constitute 85% of the population can be divided into four phases. They are the long period of dynastic rule, the French occupation, the years between 1945 and 1986, and the post ‘doi moi’ period.
The Dynasties
The years of the Imperial Dynasties that ruled Vietnam from the 10th to the 19th century were marked by wars and feuds with neighbouring countries as the country expanded to the south and consolidated its territory.
Culturally, there was little change under the Confucian administrative structures inherited from the Chinese. The conservative nature of Confucianism limited technological and cultural progress, making the country highly vulnerable to the advanced military power of the French.
French domination
The French colonialists brought European-style administration, Christianity in the form of Catholicism, and implemented the written version of Vietnamese that had been ignored by the Vietnamese since its creation by a Jesuit monk in the 17th century.
They originated new forms of cultural expression, such as painting and prose, established a European-style theatrical tradition, transferred a different style of architecture and introduced European cuisine.
However, by their brutal suppression of the Vietnamese people, the colonialists also created the social conditions that led to the rise of communism and insurrection early in the twentieth century.
The USSR model
Ho Chi Minh’s declaration of independence in 1945 ushered in a new era of social realism in which the purpose of culture and all forms of artistic expression was to further the country's revolutionary aspirations. Many traditional and French-influenced artistic genres were suppressed.
The influence of the USSR was considerable during this period. Russian became the second language, large numbers of Vietnamese people went to the Soviet countries to study, and new administrative systems, economic structures, planning models and mass movements based on examples in the Soviet Union were introduced.
New directions
By the early 1980's it had become glaringly obvious that the USSR model of centralisation and collectivisation had brought Vietnam to the brink of economic collapse and pariah status among the international community.
In 1986, the Communist Party Congress introduced ‘doi moi’- a programme of national renewal involving opening up the country to the outside world and embracing the concept of a market economy.
Since then, the reins have been loosened, and several traditional and new forms of cultural expression are beginning to flourish. Tourism, television and the Internet have hastened the rate of change, but the brake of Confucianism has meant that economic and cultural development has been slower than expected.
However, Vietnam's Confucian traditions have helped to insulate the country from some of the more pernicious features of globalisation.
Nevertheless, change is moving ahead relentlessly and the culture of Vietnam is being reborn in a different guise. Vietnam’s large proportion of young people will mature into a social and cultural milieu completely unrecognisable to their elders.
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