Vietnam

1
Vietnam

• Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
• Jack D. Harris, Ph.D.
• Hobart and William Smith Colleges

2
Vietnam Today

• VN is a small country in SE Asia, approximately
  1200 miles long, with a coastline approximately
  2500 miles long
• Population now numbers over 80 million (12th
  largest in the world)
• 80 of the population is agricultural (wet rice
  cultivation)
• A Multi-ethnic nation 54 different ethnic
  groups

3
Varied Landscapes
4
1000 - 100 - 30

• Vietnam History
• Prehistoric Cultures
• Foundation of the first States
• Dong Son Culture Van Lang-Au Lac States
• Sa Huynh Culture Ancient Champa Kingdom
• Oc Eo Culture Phu Nam Kingdom
• Chinese domination (2nd century BC to 10th
  Century AD)
• Independence, dissension, and national
  development (10th to 19th centuries)
• French domination (1884-1945)
• Struggle for National Independence and
  Unification (1945 - 1975)
• Reconstruction (from 1975) and Renovation (from
  1986)

• 1000 Years of Chinese Domination
• 100 Years of French Colonialism
• 30 Year War for National Independence and Unity

5
A History of Resistance
The Trung Sisters
6
VIETNAMS STRUGGLE AGAINST FOREIGN INVASION

• Resistance against Tsin Invasion (214-208 BC)
• Resistance against Nan Yu (179 BC)
• Chinese domination and struggle for independence
  (179 BC - 905 AD)
• Resistance against Nan Han invasion
• 930
• 938
• Resistance against Song invasion
• 980-981
• 1074-1077
• Resistance against Mongol-Yuan invasion
• 1258
• 1285
• 1287-1288
• Resistance against Ming invasion (1406-1407)
• Ming domination and struggle for independence
  (1407-1427)
• Resistance against Siam invasion (1784-1785)
• Resistance against Qing invasion (1788-1789)
• Resistance against French invasion (1858-1884)
  Cochin China / Annam / Tonkin
• French domination and struggle for independence
  (1884-1945)

7
The Viets March South
8
Common Origin Myth

• 100 eggs, the product of a goddess and a fairy
  created all the ancestors, and each brother and
  sister (the Viet children, grand children of
  Hong). Later, they decided to split, the female
  taking 50 of the children to the mountains, the
  male taking 50 to the sea. In fact, there was a
  historical migration by the ancient mountain
  civilization to the valleys, deltas, and to the
  sea.

9
Confucian Values

• Confucianism -- an ordered and orderly society
  based on obligation, duty
• Family Hierarchy based on Filial Piety
• Parents
• Ancestors
• Clear hierarchy of positions
• Mandarin
• Farmer
• Craftsmen
• Merchant

10
Traditional Culture

• Counterbalance communal spirit with hierarchy
  (the individual as subordinate to the group)
• Accept political autocracy while tolerating
  religious diversity (animism, ancestor worship,
  Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Confucianism,
  Hinduism and so on)
• Women and Family Happiness
• Social Production All work and contribute to
  society
• Mutual Sacrifice (Gia Dinh, Dinh, Nuoc)
• Balance, Harmony and Reconciliation

11
The Concentric Circles of Village Life

• GIA DINH Language embeds familial relationships
  even among non-family members (Formal Ong
  Mr/Grandfather, Ba Mrs/Grandmother, Friendly
  Anh Mr./Older Brother, Chi Mrs./Older sister,
  Em younger sibling...) When speaking of myself
  Toi, later Anh (Toi se di an/Anh se di an.)
• DINH Village communal house, shared and private
  land, dedicated product
• NUOC Also means water which is a central part
  of VN life. Country means land (mountains,
  rivers and sea) and people the Vietnamese say
• Non song dat nuoc - Rivers and Mountains the
  whole country. The mountain spirit, Son Tinh
  joins with the water spirit, Thung Tinh, and
  creates completion.

12
Vietnam is a FOLK CULTURE

• Ancestor Altar in each home alive and
  consulted, visitors show respect (old Muong woman
  with casket below her house life continues)
• Dinh (Village Communal House) the repository of
  the local deities and spirits
• Den (Temples) the repository of Heroes (TRUNG
  SISTERS 40AD)
• Chua (Pagodas) the repository of Buddhism
• Tet Common ancestor anniversary, all VN has
  same birthday, everyone returns to Home (source
  village -- One who drinks the water should think
  of its source)
• Share the national anniversary of the Hung Kings
  pilgrimage to ancient site at least once in
  lifetime

13
A Strong Cultural and National Identity

• Ability to preserve and maintain cultural and
  national spirit and resist imposition and
  assimilation
• Adapt and integrate extraneous factors
  (Vietnamize them)
• Extreme tendency toward compromise and solidarity
• Holding the long view ( multi - generational)
  story of moving the mountain to open up the view
  of the house

• Unique cultural activities water puppets, Quan
  Ho, Tuong and Cheo theatre, and a rich literature
  (including Nguyen Zu, The Tale of Kieu)

14
Happiness, Prosperity, Longevity
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Tet The New Year
16
The Future and the Cosmos
17
Tet Wood Block Prints
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Tet and the Future

• Future directedness
• Embedded in ancestor worship and Buddhism
• Lunar Month new moon dark it can only get
  brighter
• Tet the knob where 2 pieces of bamboo meet
  the new
• Tet Kumquat, Peach Blossoms and buds
• First Footer
• Language of optimism the past doesnt matter
  (but matters in how it frames the future)
• Dont look back share common future -- The past
  as threat (putting it behind us)

19

• Very Vietnamese Setting
• Right relationship
• Respect
• Equal partnership
• Community
• Indirectness

• Foundations of Business
• Relationships
• Belonging
• Step-by-step path
• Comprehensive consultation
• Understanding yes, yes
• Listening for no

• Context for Business
• Development
• State structure
• Administrative bureaucracy
• Opening and closing seasons

Keys to Ten Working Principles

• Practical Business
• Considerations
• Business plans
• Levels of agreement
• Getting to agreement
• Involving government levels
• Hiring Vietnamese staff
• Dealing with market practices

From Lady Borton, To Be Sure
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Ho Chi Minh

• BAC/UNCLE very important designator/the arranger)
  
• An icon, the personification of unification and
  harmony, of dedication and sacrifice to
  Vietnamese Family
• Ego-lessness simplicity and sacrifice
• One wish -- independence, unity, happiness Be
  they Kinh or Tho, Muong or Man, Gia-rai or Ede,
  Xo-dang or Ba na and other ethnic minorities,
  fellow countrymen are all sons and daughters of
  Vietnam, blood brothers and sisters. Through
  thick and thin, we share together joy and
  hardship, and help mutually in any circumstance.
• The country and the Government are common to all
  of us. Therefore, our people of all
  nationalities must unite closely to defend our
  country and support our Government.
• Rivers may dry up and mountains may erode but our
  unity has never diminished.
• GOALS the people wealthy, the country
  powerful, the society equitable and civilized -
  the VN know what the good life looks like
  happiness is a baby in arms, prosperity is a bowl
  full of rice and some plumpness, old age is a
  bearded ancestor
• Stalin asked HCM if he was a communist or
  nationalist he replied PATRIOT liked the
  ideas of virtue from Confucianism, Christs
  embrace of universal fraternity, the serenity and
  care for the suffering of Buddha, and the belief
  in national freedom and human rights of
  Sun-Yat-Sen.

21
WWII and The American War

• WWII- Vichy French and Japanese cruelty HCM as
  US ally
• In 1945 HCM declared Vietnam unifed and
  independent in the square that now houses his
  mausoleum in Hanoi. He quoted from the American
  declaration of independence, and sitting behind
  him in support were members of US military
  intelligence.
• From 1946 to 1954, US supported the French in
  their efforts to recolonize Vietnam
• After Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the US refused to
  sign the Geneva Accords (promising
  non-interference). However
• Diem installed as President of South Vietnam in
  1956
• Vietnam divided at the 17th parallel and national
  elections concerning unification were set for
  1956. They never took place
• 300 day free movement, and 1 million Catholics
  moved south, and 100,000 Viet Minh moved north to
  regroup.

22
The Issues in South Vietnam

• 1956-1963 Ngo Dinh Diem
• US POLICY There is no place left to go
• Family insularity, mandarinism, Madame Nhu,
  brothers and autocracy and corruption
• Strategic Hamlets
• Pro-Catholic and Anti-Buddhist
• American distortion of the VN economy leads to
  inflation and middle class disaffection

23
The Domino Theory

• Dominoes From Russia with love
• The Truman Doctrine
• Support for the French (Americas proxy)
• JFK continues with advisors
• Gulf of Tonkin 1964
• The Situation faced by the US in 1965

24
Hearts and Minds

• Themes from the past
• Resistance to outside invasion
• Cultural divisions of the country, historic
  divisions of the country
• Sanctity of Village, of Ancestors
• Failure of the Southern Army
• Viet Cong own the night
• Failures to engage the enemy, and lying about it
• Generals as Mandarins - distant leaders and poor
  models
• Arming the north through abandonment

• The Quagmire
• Villagers caught in the middle
• Horror on both sides
• My Lai
• Hue at Tet
• Errors on both sides
• Military Strategy Conventional war
• Soviet Style Agricultural Reform
• Killing of landlords
• The failure of Vietnamization

25
Failures and Wars after 1975

• The American embargo begins
• The invasion of (by?) Cambodia 1975-1979-1989
• Border skirmishes or domino effect?
• The US supports Pol Pot
• The invasion by the Chinese in 1979
• In defense of Cambodia
• The three week war
• New boat people the ethnic Chinese migration

26
Post War Tension

• Deep suffering in Vietnam as a result of 30 years
  of war
• Estimated 3 million dead, 300,000 missing, every
  family touched by pain
• The North carpetbags the south
• No reconciliation or healing
• Increased divisiveness after a long history of
  struggle
• Divided family, region
• Soviet-style command economy fails

27
Current Conditions

• By 1986 the Country is in turmoil and great
  suffering
• The failure of its patron, the Soviet Union
• Widening economic gap between rich and poor,
  south and north
• Over 80 of the population near starvation!
• The Communist Party feels the peoples agitation
• (Doi Moi) The New Creativity, the New Awakening
• Repudiation of Command and Control (even while
  continuing to embrace communism/socialism) as
  violation of Vietnamese national character and
  culture (harmony of village, linkage to
  ancestors, destruction of family integrity)
• American War language revised to blame US
  government, not the people
• Want to friends with everybody

28
Rewriting the Future

• Avoid Viet-Viet, blame external forces
• The claim of puppetry
• The Civil War that didnt happen dont blame
  all southerners
• The victors tell the story no torture
• Rewriting of Vietnamese history
• Simultaneous merger of the three Viet cultures
• Declarations of Ethnic Unity
• National Unity under the umbrella idea of an
  idealized kinship

29
Engineering Consensus

• Is there a cultural basis for consensus?
• Ethnicity (54 ethnic groups)
• Vietnamization from 1975-1986, now cultural
  protectionism
• Loyalty still doubtful, borders to Laos quite
  permeable
• Groups too small to build effective movements
• Against Identity Politics socialism must become
  more inclusive or groups (gender, ethnic,
  regional) may assert that their interests are not
  being met

30
Engineering Consensus

• Is there an political basis for consensus?
• The One Party System and Political Repression
• Censorship and 900 political prisoners
• Corruption and power
• National Assembly
• Woman VP
• Ethnic representation

31
Communist Party (Policy)
Politburo
Secretariat
Central Committee
Government (Executive )
Courts (Judicial)
Fatherland Front (Peoples Organizations)
National Assembly (Legislative)
Ministries State Committees
Peoples Councils
Ministry of Planning Investment
Trade Unions

• Farmers Union
• Womens Union
• Youth League
• Red Cross
• Journalists
• ... others

Province City Level state and large city
Major Enterprise Level
Province City Level
All levels
All levels
District Level county and small city
Note Some Ministries and Peoples Organizations
will have active sections all the way to the
commune (rural township or urban borough) and
village levels.
32
Engineering Consensus

• Is there an economic basis for consensus?
• World Bank, the IMF, and the new economy
• Class Stratification
• Free market and individualism, in the context of
  SOCIALISM
• Ambivalence and go slow especially the embrace
  of the West
• Regionalization
• Widening issues of class
• Rural/urban differences
• North/South differences

33
Toward a Dynamic Society

• Finally, not at War
• Wealth building and Global Participation
• Political Reform
• Modernization
• Resource management
• Environment
• Infrastructure
• People

34
Vietnam is ready to be a country on the move!
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Chuc Mung Nam Moi!