Disclaimer: Long answer and a lot of Asian characters ahead!
A map of Vietnam
Original Question: Do Vietnamese feel culturally closer to China, Korea, and Japan than to their ASEAN neighbors?
Yes, without a doubt. Now, you may be curious. Why is a Southeast Asian country be close culturally to an East Asian country? Doesn’t Vietnam border two Southeast Asian countries? Quick history lesson !! You can skip this part if you’d like, I know history may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
The original Vietnamese lived in the Red River Delta (shown on the map) and they were a Baiyue tribe who spoke a Tai Ka-dai language. The Green Kingdom is merged with the Yellow Kingdom by a Sichuan-born Chinese general named Thục Phán 蜀泮 (aka An Dương Vương 安阳王 ) into a Kingdom called Âu Lạc .
Âu Lạc was then conquered by another Chinese general named Triệu Đà 赵佗 . He then renamed the country Nam Việt , and this is generally considered the first Vietnamese kingdom. At its greatest reach, Nam Việt consists of territories from modern-day Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan , and Northern Vietnam .
Nam Việt was then conquered by the Han Dynasty , which began the thousand years of Northern Domination ( Bắc Thuộc 北属 “Belonging to the North”), and renamed to Giao Chỉ 交趾 . Vietnam gained independence from China, and Chinese domination lasted from 111 BC until 939 AD .
Chinese became the language of education and prestige, and many Chinese techniques of rice cultivation, animal husbandry, … were introduced. The culture of the elites and educated remained strongly Chinese even after Vietnam got its independence (this ended when French invaded and the French culture was [forcibly] favored).
{I wrote another answer on the Vietnamese language and the myths surrounding it. “ What are some myths/misconceptions about your native language? ”}
Now is the controversial part of my answer . The three main ethnic groups that make up the early Vietnamese history is the Baiyue people of Red River Delta (the original Viets), Vietnam-born Han Chinese called Kinh , and the Muong people which are native Montegnards living in the highlands of the natural border between Vietnam and Laos.
Vietnam-born Han Chinese immigrants usually lived in cities, citadels and well-established trade posts. They are called Kinh people 京族 because Kinh 京 is shortened from Kinh Đô 京都 which means “ Capital ”. Guess what is the main ethnicity of Vietnam ? Kinh . What’s the name for Vietnamese living in China ? You guessed it, Jing or Kinh . People of non-Kinh origin did not live in Kinh-dominated cities so they were considered as Trai 塞 “Outliers” or “Border people” . Basically what I’m saying is that Kinh people (80%+ of all Vietnamese citizens) are Vietnamized Han Chinese.
{ Fun fact : The most “anti-Chinese” dynasty in our pre-modern history, the Hồ dynasty 胡朝 which banned classical Chinese in favor of the native script Chữ Nôm , originated from Zhejiang, China }
Back to the original question. Why is Vietnam culturally (and genetically) similar to China? Mass immigration, integration, and Sinicization . The sinicized people of Northern Vietnam gradually expanded southward into the land of former Khmer and Champa empires, which is the reason why Vietnam is so damn diverse. We have 54 different ethnicities! That’s not on the crazy African level of diversity but that’s still an astonishing amount. That’s the reason why some Vietnamese look Chinese, while some look Cambodian and some look Thai. You may be of different ethnicity, but as long as you are culturally Vietnamese, you are considered Vietnamese (but not Kinh).
A Vietnamese girl on Instagram. I censored her name for privacy reason.
As you can see in this hilarious picture, Vietnamese can have a wide variety of look. Despite being not related at all, due to historical and political reasons, many families converted their last name to match the Emperor’s last name, which was Nguyễn 阮.
So far we have established why Vietnam and China shared an ANCIENT history and culture, how and what did change after the French invasion and colonization of Vietnam? How about MODERN Vietnamese culture?
The influences French colonization has had on Vietnam is fairly minor compared to Chinese influences . Culinarily, this is the most impacted by French cooking. Coffee, exotic new world plants and herbs, modifying French dishes using local ingredients, Prior to the French, Vietnam shared the same tea-drinking culture as China. Nowadays, Vietnam is the second-largest coffee exporter in the world after Brazil.
Some French words entered Vietnamese, mostly technologies or things unbeknownst to the locals like Sơ mi (Chemise/Western shirt) , Ét xăng (Essence/Gasoline) , Ăng-ten (Antenne/Antenna) , Bê tông (Béton/Concrete) , Bơ (Beurre/Butter) , Búp bê (Poupée/Doll), … honestly speaking, as a Vietnamese, the only French word I would use daily is Ét xăng or xăng for short, the rest is not used frequently. I had to google because I can’t just think of a french word from the top of my head.
{I wrote an answer about the misconceptions about the Vietnamese languages and the history of it, which includes some more information about French influences on the Vietnamese language
What are some myths/misconceptions about your native language? }
Maybe you should consider dropping us from the Organization Internationale La Francophonie because almost no Vietnamese can speak French nor do we learn French in school. Most Vietnamese people don’t care about French culture because it’s entirely overshadowed by American, Japanese, Korean and Chinese culture in term of popularity.
A Vietnamese youth maybe drawing some Anime pictures, while eating American fast food and listening to K-pop. Point is, Chinese culture is no longer the only influencer on Vietnamese culture.
However, despite not being as popular or prominent as before, many Chinese cultural aspects are so ingrained that we often don’t think about it. Many people still tune in to watch Chinese historical dramas like Diên Hi Công Lược 延禧攻略 “Story of the Yanxi Palace” and make memes out of them.
Many people who know Chinese religiously translate Chinese songs into Vietnamese and sometimes they even write Vietnamese lyrics for Chinese songs.
The Chinese song Độ Ta Không Độ Nàng 渡我不渡她 made known by Tiktok/Douyin is so popular that Buddhist temples across Vietnam experienced a sudden increase in interest and visit. This