VIETNAM

Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia.

In 2014, it has an estimated 90.5 million inhabitants

it is the world's 13th-most-populous country, and the eighth-most-populous Asian country.

The name Vietnam translates as "Southern Viet" (synonymous with the much older term Nam Viet)

The country is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east.

Map of Vietnam

Official SymbolsFlag. The Vietnam flag was officially adopted on November 30, 1955. The gold five-pointed star symbolizes the five groups of workers in the building of socialism (intellectuals, peasants, soldiers, workers and youths), while the red symbolizes bloodshed, and

the revolutionary struggle.

Emblem. The emblem of Vietnam is circular, has red background and a

yellow star in the middle which represent the Communist Party of Vietnam, the revolutionary history

and bright future of Vietnam. The cog and crops represent the cooperation

of agriculture and industrial labor.

Basic facts about the country

Motto:  "Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc""Independence – Freedom – Happiness“

Anthem:  Tiến Quân Ca(English: "Army March")

Capital: HanoiLargest City: Ho Chi Minh CityOfficial Language: VietnameseOfficial script: VietnameseGovernment: Marxist-Leninist single party-stateLegislature: National Assembly

Ethnic GroupsKinh (Viet). They are the majority ethnic group of

Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population at the 1999

census.

Tay. There are about 1.7 million Tày people living in Vietnam

(based on the 2009 census and 5 years of population growth). This makes them the second

largest ethnic group in Vietnam

Tai. They comprised 1.7% of the population of Vietnam.

The Tais live along the banks of the Red and Black Rivers

in northern Vietnam.

Mường. The Muong people (1.5% population in Vietnam)

inhabit the mountainous region of northern Vietnam,

concentrated in Hòa Bình Province and the mountainous districts of Thanh Hóa Province.

Khơ me comprised 1.4% of the Vietnamese population. Kho me people in southern

Vietnam literally means "Khmer from below"

Hoa (Chinese people) has a total of 1.1% population in

Vietnam. It refers to a minority group living in

Vietnam consisting of persons considered ethnic Chinese

("Overseas Chinese")

The Nùng, comprising 1.1% of the Vietnam population, are

an ethnic minority in Vietnam whose language belongs to the Central Tai branch of the

Tai-Kadai language family

Hmong comprised 1% of Vietnam population. They

are an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of

China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.

Government and Politics The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, along with

China, Cuba, Laos, and North Korea, is one of the world's five remaining single-party socialist states officially espousing communism.

Its current state constitution, which replaced the 1975 constitution in April 1992, asserts the central role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in all organs of government, politics and society.

KEY POSITIONSCommunist Party General

Secretary: Nguyễn Phú Trọng The General Secretary of the

Communist Party performs numerous key administrative and executive functions, controlling the party's national organization and state appointments, as well as setting policy. Only political organizations affiliated with or endorsed by the Communist Party are permitted to contest elections in Vietnam.

Chairman of National Assembly: Nguyễn Sinh

Hùng The National Assembly of

Vietnam is the unicameral legislature of the state, composed of 498 members. Headed by a Chairman, it is superior to both the executive and judicial branches, with all government ministers being appointed from members of the National Assembly.

The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam, headed by a Chief Justice, is the country's highest court of appeal, though it is also answerable to the National Assembly. Beneath the Supreme People's Court stand the provincial municipal courts and numerous local courts.

Military courts possess special jurisdiction in matters of national security. Vietnam maintains the death penalty for numerous offences.

As of February 2014, there are around 700 inmates on death row in Vietnam.

President: Trương Tấn Sang

The President of Vietnam is the titular head of state and the nominal commander-in-chief of the military, serving as the Chairman of the Council of Supreme Defense and Security.

Prime Minister: Nguyễn Tấn Dũng

The Prime Minister of Vietnam is the head of government, presiding over a council of ministers composed of three deputy prime ministers and the heads of 26 ministries and commissions.

Viet Minh declare independence from France

2 September 1945

Fall of Saigon 30 April 1975

Reunification (Liberation)/ The end of Vietnam war

2 July 1976

Current constitution 28 November 2013 (in effect since 1 January 2014)

Formation

The Vietnamese became independent from Imperial China in 938, following the Vietnamese victory in the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. Successive Vietnamese royal dynasties flourished as the nation expanded geographically and politically into Southeast Asia, until the Indochina Peninsula was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century.

Following a Japanese occupation in the 1940s, the Vietnamese fought French rule in the First Indochina War, eventually expelling the French in 1954. Thereafter, Vietnam was divided politically into two rival states, North and South Vietnam.

Conflict between the two sides intensified, with heavy intervention from the United States, in what is known as the Vietnam War.

The war ended with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975.

Vietnam was then unified under a communist government but remained impoverished and politically isolated. In 1986, the government initiated a series of economic and political reforms which began Vietnam's path towards integration into the world economy.

By 2000, it had established diplomatic relations with all nations. From that year, Vietnam's economic growth rate has been among the highest in the world, and, in 2011, it had the highest Global Growth Generators Index among 11 major economies.

Its successful economic reforms resulted in its joining the World Trade Organization in 2007.

However, regardless of the advancements that have been made in recent years, the country still experiences disparities in access to healthcare and a lack of gender equality.

*Throughout its history, Vietnam's key foreign relationship has been with its largest neighbor and one-time imperial master, China

Vietnam's sovereign principles and insistence on cultural independence have been laid down in numerous documents over the centuries, such as the 11th-century patriotic poem Nam quốc sơn hà and the 1428 proclamation of independence Bình Ngô đại cáo.

Though China and Vietnam are now formally at peace, significant territorial tensions remain between the two countries.

Currently, the formal mission statement of Vietnamese foreign policy is to: "Implement consistently the foreign policy line of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development; the foreign policy of openness and diversification and multi-lateralization of international relations.

International Relations

Vietnam declares itself to be "a friend and reliable partner of all countries in the international community, actively taking part in international and regional cooperation processes."

By December 2007, Vietnam had established diplomatic relations with 172 countries, including the United States, which normalized relations in 1995.

Vietnam holds membership of 63 international organizations, including the United Nations, ASEAN, NAM (non-aligned movement), Francophonie and WTO.

It is furthermore a member of around 650 non-government organizations.

ReligionBell Tower of Bái Đính Temple in Ninh Bình

Province In 2010 about 45.3% of the Vietnamese adhere to indigenous religions, 16.

4% to Buddhism, 8.2% to Christianity, 0.4% to other faiths, and 29.6% of the population isn't religious.

(reference: Pew Research Center)

According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam's report for 1 April 2009, 6.8 million (or 7.9% of the total population) are practicing Buddhists, 5.7 million (6.6%) are Catholics, 1.4 million (1.7%) are adherents of Hòa Hảo, 0.8 million (0.9%) practice Caodaism, and 0.7 million (0.9%) are Protestants.

According to the 2009 census, while over 10 million people have taken refuge in the Three Jewels of Buddhism, the vast majority of Vietnamese people practice ancestor worship in some form. According to a 2007 report, 81% of Vietnamese people do not believe in God.

About 8% of the population are Christians, totaling around six million Roman Catholics and fewer than one million Protestants.

The Vietnamese government is widely seen as suspicious of Roman Catholicism. This mistrust originated during the 19th century, when some Catholics collaborated with the French colonists in conquering and ruling the country and in helping French attempts to install Catholic emperors.

Furthermore, the Catholic Church's strongly anti-communist stance has made it an enemy of the Vietnamese state.

The Vatican Church is officially banned, and only government-controlled Catholic organizations are permitted.

Several other minority faiths exist in Vietnam. A significant number of people are adherents of Caodaism, an indigenous folk religion which has structured itself on the model of the Catholic Church.

The Vietnamese government rejects allegations that it does not allow religious freedom. The state's official position on religion is that all citizens are free to their belief, and that all religions are equal before the law.

Nevertheless, only government-approved religious organizations are allowed.

Some elements of the national culture have Chinese origins, drawing on elements of Confucianism and Taoism in its traditional political system and philosophy.

Vietnamese society is structured around làng (ancestral villages);

all Vietnamese mark a common ancestral anniversary on the tenth day of the third lunar month.

The traditional focuses of Vietnamese culture are humanity (nhân nghĩa) and harmony (hòa); family and community values are highly regarded.

Vietnam reveres a number of key cultural symbols, such as the Vietnamese dragon, which is derived from crocodile and snake imagery; The lạc – a holy bird representing Vietnam's National Mother, Âu Cơ – is another prominent symbol, while turtle and horse images are also revered.

Culture of Vietnam

In the modern era, the cultural life of Vietnam has been deeply influenced by government-controlled media and cultural programs. For many decades, foreign cultural influences – especially those of Western origin – were shunned. However, since the 1990s, Vietnam has seen a greater exposure to Southeast Asian, European and American culture and media

Literature

The Temple of Literature in Hanoi.

The country has a rich tradition of folk literature, based around the typical 6–to-8-verse poetic form named ca dao, which usually focuses on village ancestors and heroes.

Written literature has been found dating back to the 10th-century Ngô dynasty, with notable ancient authors including Nguyễn Trãi, Trần Hưng Đạo, Nguyễn Du and Nguyễn Đình Chiểu.

Some literary genres play an important role in theatrical performance, such as hát nói in ca trù.

Some poetic unions have also been formed in Vietnam, such as the Tao Đàn.

Vietnamese literature has in recent times been influenced by Western styles, with the first literary transformation movement – Thơ Mới – emerging in 1932.

The earliest surviving literature by Vietnamese writers are written in Classical Chinese (called Hán Văn 漢文 ).

works must be translated into colloquial Vietnamese since Chinese script is foreign to modern Vietnamese speakers (these works are mostly unintelligible)

In chronological order notable works include: - Chiếu dời đô or Thiên đô chiếu ( 遷都詔 ) 1010, Edict on transfer the capital of Đại Cồ Việt from Hoa Lư (modern Ninh Bình) to Đại La (modern Hanoi). - Nam quốc sơn hà ( 南國山河 ) 1077, Mountains and rivers of the Southern country, poem by general Lý Thường Kiệt - Đại Việt sử ký ( 大越史記 ) Annals of Đại Việt by Lê Văn Hưu, 1272 - Hịch tướng sĩ (Dụ chư tỳ tướng hịch văn 諭諸裨將檄文 ), Proclamation to the Officers, general Trần Hưng Đạo, 1284 - An Nam chí lược ( 安南志略 ) Abbreviated Records of An Nam, anon. 1335 - Gia huấn ca ( 家訓歌 The Family Training Ode), a 976-line Confucian morality poem attributed to Nguyễn Trãi 1420s - Lĩnh Nam chích quái ( 嶺南摭怪 ) "The wonderful tales of Lĩnh Nam" 14th Century, edited Vũ Quỳnh (1452-1516) - Đại Việt sử lược ( 大越史略 ) Abbreviated History of Đại Việt, anon. 1377 - Việt Điện U Linh Tập ( 越甸幽靈集 ) Spirits of the Departed in the Viet Realm, Lý Tế Xuyên 1400 -Bình Ngô đại cáo ( 平吳大誥 ) or Cáo bình Ngô, Great Proclamation upon the Pacification of the Ming dynasty, Nguyễn Trãi 1428 -

Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư ( 大越史記全書 ) Complete Annals of Đại Việt, Ngô Sĩ Liên 1479.

- Truyền kỳ mạn lục ( 傳奇漫錄 , Collection of Strange Tales, partly by Nguyễn Dữ, 16th century

- Hoàng Lê nhất thống chí ( 皇黎一統志 ) Unification Records of the Le Emperor, historical novel ending with Gia Long. anon.

- Chinh phụ ngâm ( 征婦吟 ) "Lament of the soldier's wife", the original Chinese version by Đặng Trần Côn d.1745

- Đại Việt thông sử ( 大越通史 ) history by Lê Quý Đôn 1749

- Vân đài loại ngữ ( 芸臺類語 ) encyclopedia Lê Quý Đôn 1773

- Phủ biên tạp lục ( 撫邊雜錄 ) Frontier Chronicles Lê Quý Đôn 1776

- History of the Loss of Vietnam ( 越南亡國史 Việt Nam vong quốc sử), by Phan Bội Châu in Japan in 1905

Works in modern Vietnamese include: Việt Nam sử lược History of Vietnam by Trần

Trọng Kim 1921 Số đỏ by Vũ Trọng Phụng

Folk literature *Unlike written literature, early oral literature was composed in Vietnamese and is still accessible to ordinary Vietnamese today. *It is not only an oral tradition, but a mixing of three media: hidden (only retained in the memory of folk authors),

fixed (written), and shown (performed)

*Folk literature usually exist in many versions, passed down orally, and have unknown authors.

Vietnamese folk literature came into being very early and had a profound effect on the spiritual life of the Viets.

The folk literature always praised beauty, humanism, and the love of goodness, and contributed to the formation of a national sense.

Legends, fairy tales,humorous stories, folk songs, epics and so on have a tremendous vitality and have lived on today.

Myths and legends Myths consist of stories about supernatural

beings, heroes, creator gods, and reflect the viewpoint of ancient people about human life.

They consist of creation stories, stories about their origins(Lạc Long Quân, Âu Cơ), culture heroes (Sơn Tinh or Mountain Spirit- Thủy Tinh or Water Spirit).

Notable writers in VietnamAimee Phan

Aimee Phan is a Vietnamese-American author. She was born and raised in Orange County, California. She

received her MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she won a Maytag Fellowship. Her first novel,

We Should Never Meet, was named a Notable Book by the Kiriyama Prize in fiction and a finalist for the 2005

Asian American Literary Awards. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Virginia Quarterly

Review, USA Today and The Oregonian.

Đặng ThânĐặng Thân is a notable bilingual poet, fiction writer

and essayist, based in Vietnam. In the feature article, "Demilitarized Zone: Report From Literary Vietnam", the New York-based Poets & Writers wrote of Than: "In the literary circles he runs in, Dang is praised for his idiosyncratic prose and rebellious style." He is, of course, highly appreciated by the Vietnamese elite. There he is regarded "the typical figure of Post-Doi

Moi

Dương Thu HươngDương Thu Hương is a Vietnamese author and political dissident. Formerly a member

of Vietnam's Communist party, she was expelled from the party in 1989, and has been denied the right to travel abroad, and was temporarily imprisoned for her

writings and outspoken criticism of corruption in the Vietnamese government.

Hàn Mặc TửNguyễn Trọng Trí, penname Hàn Mặc Tử

was a Vietnamese poet. He was the most celebrated Vietnamese Catholic literary figure during the colonial era. He was

born Nguyễn Trọng Trí, at Lệ Mỹ Village, Đồng Hới District, Quảng Bình Province.

His pen names included: Minh Duệ, Phong Trần, Lệ Thanh, and finally Hàn

Mặc Tử, by which name is known today.

Nguyễn Quốc ChánhNguyễn Quốc Chánh is a Vietnamese

poet. He was born in Bạc Liêu, and now lives in Ho Chi Minh City. He is the

author of four collections of poems, Night of the Rising Sun, Inanimate

Weather, the e-book Coded Personal Info and the samizdat Hey, I'm Here. His

poems have been translated into English by Linh Dinh and published in the

journals The Literary Review and Filling Station, and in “Of Vietnam: Identities in

Dialogues”.

Linh DinhLinh Dinh is a Vietnamese-

American poet, fiction writer, translator, and photographer.

He was a 1993 Pew Fellow.

Vu Trong PhungVũ Trọng Phụng was a popular Vietnamese author and journalist, who is considered to be one of the most influential figures of the Vietnamese literature in the 20th century. Today, several of his works are taught in Vietnamese schools. Vũ Trọng Phụng's

ancestral village was Hảo village, Mỹ Hào District, Hưng Yên Province, yet he was born,

grew up, and died in Hanoi.

Xuan DieuNgô Xuân Diệu more commonly known

by the pen name Xuân Diệu, was a prominent Vietnamese poet. A colossal figure in modern Vietnamese literature, he wrote about 450 poems especially love poems, several short stories, and

many notes, essays, and literary criticisms.

Quang Nhuong Huynh

Quang Nhuong Huynh is a Vietnamese author. He has written two books, and has received several awards for his autobiographical work The Land I Lost. Huynh is credited as being the first Vietnamese author to write fiction and non-fiction in English.

Nguyễn Chí ThiệnNguyễn Chí Thiện Vietnamese-

born American dissident, activist and poet who spent a total of twenty-seven years in prison

The Power of Poetry

To me life by day is artificial.Labouring in shame, usually faint with hunger,In trivial chatter, I tease away everything.My release seems unnecessary,It's only with the coming of the night that I fullyLive, bitterly, past, present and future.My heart, my brain, tense and intensifiedBearing the blossoming buds and poetry.My poems, though they may have the shape of flowers,Explode with a power that is ten thousandfold.

1972

Three poems by Nguyen Chi Thien

I Kept Silent

I kept silent when I was tortured by my enemy:With iron and with steel, soul faint in agony —The heroic stories are for children to believe.I kept silent because I kept telling myself:Has anyone, who entered the jungle and who was run over by the wild beastBeen stupid enough to open his mouth and ask for mercy?

1974

Planting Peanuts

Peanut seeds were sown, mixed with ash and dung.To keep prisoners from tasting them DDT was added.And did the prisoners touch them?In the end, tons of peanut seeds were secretly eaten.Though peanut seeds in the ground

could not sproutthanks to the 'fertiliser'the Party announcedthat its Winter-Spring projectwas successfully completed all the same.

1962

http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-writers-from-vietnam/reference

http://www.vietnamemb.se/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=62

http://nofixedpie.blogspot.com/2012/10/three-poems-by-nguyen-chi-thien.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_literature http://

www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/628557/Vietnamese-literature

http://diacritics.org/2012/c%E1%BB%95-tich-story-toad-is-the-uncle-of-heaven

https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=kinh+vietnam&biw=1024&bih=489&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=iqw-VYiKGZCpuwSsj4DQAQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#tbm=isch&q=Hoa+vietnamese+national+costume

References