VIETNAM 100 YEAR'S AGO
Tet Hanoi 1920
Table manners
Tet Hanoi 1920
When twilight deepens, the big saucepan of rice is brought to the fore and the contents divided into a number of little bowls, one for each member of the family. Other bowls contain broken-up fish, little pieces of roast pork, and one or two native vegetables.
Each person picks up from these common dishes with his chopsticks a little morsel here and there, and, after first dipping it into the nuoc-mam, without which no Annamese meal is complete, flavours his own little bowl to his liking.
The Annamese never eat with their fingers ; if they have no chopsticks at hand any slender pieces of wood picked up on the ground will do instead. They never drink while eating, but wait till the meal is finished.
Chewing the betel-nut
Tet Hanoi 1920
All the Annamese, rich and poor, chew the betel-nut, which makes a red saliva in the mouth, and this they spit out on floors and walls. The red stains are, of course, much more noticeable here than on the mud floors in the huts of the poorer classes, and give one a greater feeling of repugnance. Surely, if civilised enough to use whitewash, they ought to have learnt not to spit on it !
On the contrary, they are proud of the distance they can project their saliva, and one often sees small children competing with each other at this sport.
The habit of chewing destroys any claim to beauty which the women might be said to possess, for it discolours their lips, and, together with the black lacquer used to preserve their teeth, makes the mouth a most repulsive feature.
How to become a mandarin
This demand for efficiency should be of good omen for the future of the country, but it must be remembered that education in Annam is not progressive.
The examinations of to-day are identical with those of many centuries ago. The subjects are literature, language, the doctrines of Confucius. If they could be altered, and some of the energy now spent on letters could be devoted to science, the nation would make rapid progress.
The mandarin almost always lives in a brick-built house with verandahs running round, after the fashion of the European bungalow. The tiled roof is in many cases much ornamented, and the crest, instead of being a straight line, curves to form the profile of a dragon.
Butterflies, bats, or lotus flowers are frescoed into the lime above doors and windows. As on the tombs, this is done by means of broken fragments of blue and green porcelain, but it is only on close inspection that one can see the hundreds of chips which have been required to complete a single design. The house is generally whitewashed inside, but in spite of this the rooms do not have a clean appearance. /…/
All the mandarins of Annam are poor, or, if not, they pretend to be so. The native governors of a province are not entitled to any fixed official salary ; they are considered as the “father and mother ” of the population they govern, and the “children ” are supposed to provide the “parents” with all the necessaries of life. This arrangement is far from perfect, for the “parents” often take advantage of their position to extort large sums of money from their ” children.”
There is no permanent Annamese aristocracy, except in the Royal Family. Titles are not hereditary; they drop one degree with every generation, so that if the members of a family do nothing by personal effort to deserve a renewal of their former distinctions, the family soon loses its honourable estate. Any man in the kingdom may become a mandarin or high Government official, as all public offices are open to competition. This rule admits of a few exceptions. Those who render signal services to the country are entitled to similar honours. The citizen, for instance, who has succeeded in developing a certain amount of uncleared land, transforming jungle into rice-fields, is ennobled ; even in this land of literary examinations, agriculture is rightly honoured. But yet it is the ” literary ” mandarin who of the two is held in the higher esteem
Religion and superstitions
Tet Hanoi 1920
Europeans can hardly understand this attitude of mind, which makes no effort to reconcile conflicting theories. It is in a great measure this eclecticism which has enabled missionaries to convert such large numbers to Christianity.
Toleration, a good trait in a nation’s character, is here so wide as to lead to scepticism and apathy. The Annamese is often Buddhist, Taoist, Confucianist, all in one, while quite incapable of distinguishing the creed and ceremonials belonging to each faith.
The precepts of Confucius are those which make the strongest appeal to his intelligence, but none influence his daily actions or call forth anything beyond an ignorant veneration.
It is the worship of the various spirits and genii, which, as he believes, hover about him at work or in sleep, and still more ancestor-worship, which guide and control his whole life.
These two creeds embody all the hopes and fears of the mass of the population. The first regards the elements and all natural phenomena as endowed with a living spirit, and assigns not only to men and animals, but even to things and places, a rank and gender.
The spirits commonly worshipped in Annam may be divided into three classes : the Celestial, or those in space, from one of whom all the great dynasties declare themselves to be descended ; the Genii of the Waters (it is in the depth of the sea that the land of departed spirits is placed) ; and the Genii of the Earth, who protect certain portions of the country as well as the village and the home.
Every trade again, with the particular tools belonging to it, is under the protection of some supernatural power. The peasant makes a sacrifice not only to the Celestial Genii, but to the spirit of his buffaloes; the fisherman not only to the Genii of the Waters, but to those of his nets; the merchant to those of his baskets, etc.
Small shrines are erected in every conceivable corner to these spirits, so that, including the pagodas, where Buddha, Confucius, and Laotseu are promiscuously worshipped, it requires all the goodwill of the credulous Annamese to perform his religious duties properly.
Religion and superstition are so intermingled in the mind of the Annamese and in his performance of all rites and ceremonies, that it is impossible to speak of one without the other.
Different religions are recognised in the country, but none has a distinct body of adherents : an Annamese will worship indifferently at a Buddhist or Taoist pagoda, the distance or a pecuniary consideration alone guiding him in his choice. It is not, indeed, rare to find on the same altar, side by side with the image of Buddha, a statue of Confucius and of Laotseu, the founder of the Taoist religion. This illustrates the confusion which reigns in the religious systems of Annam ; their original distinctiveness lost, superstition and sorcery have had no difficulty in introducing themselves.
Worshipping ancestors
Tet Hanoi 1920
It is not only in the family that this devotion and submission are noticeable. Any individual on the road with grey hair or other indication of age is addressed by a title denoting great respect.
Another result of ancestor-worship is a love of children. The Annamese are most devoted parents, and if it were not for their ignorance of hygiene, they would be model fathers and mothers.
Children are brought up not only with the idea of what is due to their parents in old age, but of what is due to them after death. They must strictly observe all the rites of ancestor-worship when, on the days, their father performs the ceremonies, for later one of them will take his place.
The chief ceremonies are held just before the Tet (the Annamese New Year) and on the anniversaries of the deaths of the parents. No member of the family must be absent on this occasion; punishments can even be inflicted by law for such an offence. The offerings placed on the altar at this time are more important than at any other season during the year, and in rich families they are increased daily.
All this worship of gods and spirits holds, however, a subordinate place in comparison with ancestor worship, upon which is concentrated all the real religious fervour of the people. This is the basis upon which all morals and customs are founded, and it governs all social and domestic life.
In the East it is said that “the dead rule the living,” and there is much truth in the statement. Happily the influence of this religion is almost entirely good. One of its chief dogmas is the care, consideration, and respect due to the older members of a family.
However old and feeble the head of the household may he, he rules with a rod of iron. His wish is law. The woman, even, as soon as she becomes a ba-gia, enjoys an influence far greater than in her youth. A man takes advice from his mother more readily than from his wife.
Practice of polygamy
Tet Hanoi 1920
The legal wife is called the wife of the first degree: “vo chinh.” She takes an important position in the household. She is the queen of the hearth. All the secondary wives, servants, etc., owe her obedience; all the children respect and honour her.
At her death mourning is worn for three years, while for the death of any of the other wives it is only worn for one year, and then only by her own children.
At the death of the father all the children of the different wives receive the same amount. The first legal wife retains a life interest in her husband’s property. The possessions of each mother are divided among her own children.
It may be observed that the social condition of the Annamese woman has attained a high standard. Many Western civilisations have not recognised the rights of women to a greater extent. /…/
The wives of artisans are noted for being as keen and clever in business as their husbands, and it is for this reason that it is no uncommon thing for Chinese merchants to choose Annamese wives.
The practice of polygamy among the Annamese differs widely. The King of Annam has a great number of wives, but even the greatest mandarins rarely have more than four or five. The poor of necessity possess only one, for it is mere worldly fortune that regulates the number of wives. A travelling merchant or official generally has a family in each of his principal business centres, the wife acting as his commercial agent and steward. Some authors say that polygamy is due to the preponderance of female births, but it is also on account of the desire to secure to the richest and most gifted the largest posterity.
Chief wives of the mandarins
Tet Hanoi 1920
The chief wives of the mandarins do no manual labour, as that would be considered below their dignity. They occasionally make cakes or sweets for amusement, but the daily duties of the household, such as the preparation of meals, sewing and cleaning, are all left to the other women of the harem. They never weave or embroider, in fact, how could they possibly do it ? for their nails are allowed to grow to ten or fifteen centimetres in length! They spend a good deal of time in music and singing.
It is rather surprising to find that among the Annamese women, who are naturally such good and healthy mothers, those of the richer classes never nurse their own babies, but allow them to be reared by a paid wet-nurse. A mandarin told me that only one in a thousand nursed her own baby.
The flowers are arranged by the mistress of the house, who is also responsible for the dwarf trees and miniature artificial gardens. Another of her principal duties is to fill and arrange the box of betel-nuts.
Much time is also devoted to her toilet, and there seems no end to all its details ; her ablutions and all sorts of massage, her lips and eyebrows to paint, her nails to polish, different costumes to try on, her head-dress to change, the different perfumed pomades to choose for her hands, and last but not least, the smiles to practise in the glass. She smokes numbers of tiny thin cigarettes.
The wife of a mandarin is by no means a recluse, and she often pays visits to the wives of other mandarins. But her principal pastime is cards, and it is no exaggeration to say that more than half her life is spent in games.
Numerous wives of the Emperor
King Khai Dinh
The numerous wives of the Emperor of Annam employ their time in much the same way. These all-powerful monarchs have always liked to surround themselves with a Court in which the feminine element predominates.
Men writing on Annam have attributed hundreds of wives to the king. As a monarch has only right to three wives of the first-class rank, princesses of the second rank are numerous, for all the powerful mandarins wish to have one of their daughters in the royal harem.
But it would be an error to count among the Imperial favourites the dancers, actresses, singers, and mimics who frequent the Court. The monarch is served by his wives on their knees.
An Annamese proverb says, “Where is the pimento that is not peppered? Where is the woman who is not jealous?” The competition and rivalry among
the women of the harem is sometimes unbelievable.
Many are the plots formed, the deceits and tricks practised within the Court. In this bevy of young women reputed to be the most beautiful in Annam, all the resources of intelligence and craft, all the artifices of attire, come into play.
A certain woman is confident of her beauty and charm, for she has been chosen out from among her companions for months. Efforts, however, are not relaxed, the aim of every woman being to please the royal master, to please at any price.
In order to appear in Court ceremonies, costume is by no means left to chance. Ancient edicts regulate the colour of the silks and the richness of the brocades. There is room, all the same, for personal ingenuity.
When the toilet is finished, cards are brought out, or the more intelligent among them ask for the palace readers and listen enraptured to tales of adventure or love-stories.
Cigarettes are smoked continually, while at the same time they drink tea and feast on cakes and sweetened ginger. The wives of the king arrange
the flowers in the royal apartments and replenish the betel-box. The Imperial favourites are hardly ever seen outside the palace gates, or in public.
Beauty standards
Tet Hanoi 1920
Before describing to me the general characteristics of beauty peculiar to this country, a mandarin was very careful to explain that “moral qualities and virtues are of far greater importance than physical beauty when it becomes a question of choosing a wife.”
These were his own words. ” Besides,” he added, “it is not the young man who has the most to say in the matter.”
All the same, the poets and lovers of this country have evolved an ideal somewhat as follows: The size of waist must not be conspicuous, for if it is too large or too small there will be a lack of harmony. The blackest and the longest hair is the most beautiful.
The face should be a long oval, and must have complete regularity of feature. The Chinese prefer a round face. For masculine beauty the Annamese demand angular features and projecting cheek-bones.
To quote, or rather paraphrase, a native poet, “The eyes of the beloved one are as brilliant as those of an eagle, her eyelashes with their beautiful fine curves spring forth like a silkworm’s. Her heel is as red as ink.”
This has become a popular proverb, perhaps one of the best known among the Annamese. No great imagination is needed to gauge the beauty of a deep dominating glance, powerful as the eagle’s; but Asiatics alone thoroughly appreciate the ideal curve of an eyelash!
And what shall we say of the pink heel, the carmine heel, the little foot red-tinted by the light brush of a fairy! This admiration, so typically Annamese, is somewhat surprising to us.
Such a point in aesthetics would have escaped a European, whereas to this whole race it is a characteristic of first-rate importance. This is the reason why the Annamese woman who can afford shoes goes barefoot, or wears so tiny a sandal that it only just covers the tips of her toes.
Can there possibly be any connection between this peculiar taste of the Annamese and that which has urged the Chinese to deform the feet of their women? But it is noteworthy that in China women are extremely particular as to the foot. It would be considered indelicate for the women of the Celestial Empire to show their feet, and artists always represent them as hidden beneath the dress. The Annamese do not possess this particular kind of modesty, and, as I said before, frankly admire the red heel.
The hand should be small, the fingers thin and long. A round and white wrist is essential. The Annamese are critical, too, as to the voice they admire soft and harmonious tones.
The walk and bearing of the Annamese woman is most graceful. From an early age she practises walking, head up, chest out, without stiffness or ostentation, and the arms swinging freely with a rhythmic motion.
The smiles which bring dimples into play are as attractive to these people as they are to us.
Emperor and aristocracy
Tet Hanoi 1920
There is no national representation in Annam. The Commune, so powerful in itself, appoints its chiefs of the canton, it is true, but these pass into the pay of the provinces, and owe their promotion to the State alone.
Between the Emperor and the people there are only the mandarins. Otherwise no aristocracy exists. Titles of nobility are sometimes granted for some brilliant action or distinguished service, but these are no longer hereditary. As in each generation the degree of nobility is lowered, the privileges conferred are of very short duration.
The Emperor is at the same time supreme head in religion, supreme judge, and chief of all civil and military powers. He is the only being who has the right to offer sacrifices to Heaven and to Earth.
He must be addressed by his people on their knees, and no one may look at him.
At one time the Emperor only left his palace for purposes of ceremonial ritual, and heralds went before to announce his coming, so that the inhabitants might go home and shut their doors.
It is needless to add that these practices have for many years fallen into disuse. It would be difficult to bring them into harmony with the present government of Annam, which is a Protectorate.
The monarch bears the title of Hoang de (emperor), but he is usually called vua (king). It is also the title he employed in his relations as vassal to China.
Next to him in authority come the “four pillars of the Empire” that is to say, the high chancellors ; and the six Ministers of State i.e., of Home Affairs, Finance, Rites and Ceremonies, War, Justice, and Public Affairs.
