1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

2 have been t r a i n e d a t f i n e a r t s s c h o o ls and eve ry V ietnamese a r t i s t c o n s id e r s th e a g g r e g a te c u l t u r a l h e r i t a g e o f th e e th n i c g roup s i n Vietnam as h i s (o r h e r ) own, as th e whole p e o p l e 's n a t i o n a l t r a d i t i o n s • 2 / - V ietnam ’ s h i s t o r y i s one o f# c o n t in u a l s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t f o r e i g n a g g r e s s io n and sou thw a rd land ex p an s io n . The r e a d i n e s s to s e l f - d e f e n c e makes t h e V ietnamese wary i n a c c e p t ­ ing w ha teve r comes from o u t s i d e , e s p e c i a l l y when i t i s im­ posed by f o r e i g n e r s . E x traneou s i n f l u e n c e s always g e t th ro u g h by o sm o s is , a r e a s s im i l a t e d s u b t l y and i n th e long r u n , merged i n th e e x i s t i n g n a t i v e c u l t u r e . Opposing w h ile a c c e p t ­ in g , t h a t was th e b e h a v io u r a l psycho logy o f Vietnamese i n t e l l e c t u a l toward f o r e i g n c u l t u r e , which l a s t e d t i l l th e l a s t war . 3 / - L o ca ted a t th e c r o s s in g o f N o rth -S ou th and E a s t - . West a x e s , V ietnamese a r t i s in f lu e n c e d by th r e e main c u r ­ r e n t s . ' a)«* ito s t com prehensive and p redom inan t i s th e i n f l u e n c e from Ch ina . Throughout a lm o s t tw en ty c e n t u r i e s , i t made i t s e l f f e l t i n many a s p e c t s o f th e s p i r i t u a l l i f e — l i t e r a ­ t u r e , Chinese c h a r a c t e r s , Norn s c r i p t (V ietnamese in Chinese t r a n s c r i p t i o n ) , C on fuc ian ism , Ifcaharayana Buddhism and Taoism. I n f a c t , f o r many c e n t u r i e s now, a s th e say in g g o e s , th e s e " t h r e e r e l i g i o n s have dw e lt i n . th e same tem p le " . Hare were th o s e i n t e l l e c t u a l s who w e re ^ s e ^S y ^L n f iu en c ed by a s i n g l e r e l i g i o n . Up t i l l now, i n v i l l a g e s , t h e r e always a r e B uddh is t p ag o d a s , tem p le s d e d i c a t e d to s a i n t s and c e l e b r i t i e s , s h r i n e s o f g o d s . . . where v i l l a g e r s come to w o rsh ip u n d i s c r im i n a t i n g l y . b ) f I n f lu e n c e o f In d ia n a r t th ro u g h Buddhism and c o n t a c t w i th , and l e a r n in g from, Cham a r t from t h e 11th to the 15 th c e n t u r i e s . c ) - I n f lu e n c e o f European a r t , e s p e c i a l l y F rench a r t , i n t h i s c e n tu r y . The t r a c i n g o f th e warps and w e f ts t h a t have been woven