Trau Cau, or The Betal and the Areca Tree, is one of the most famous Vietnamese legends. This version is from the book Vietnamese Legends and Folk Tales from The Gioi Publishers.
During the reign of the Fourth (some say the third) Hung King, there lived a mandarin whose family-name was Cao. He had […]
Category Archives: Tradition
Trau Cau (The Betal and Areca Tree)
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The Vietnamese Wedding
Sunday, January 13, 2008
It was wedding season. In a traditional Vietnamese wedding the groom, with his family and friends, go over the bride’s home and askes her parents for her hand in marriage. More often than not, the parents agree. Then, the bride and groom pray to the ancestors of the bride. The bride’s parents express their happiness […]
Mountain Kings
Sunday, January 13, 2008
In the mountains that border Ha Nam (which are actually in Ninh Binh, a larger bordering town) are the temples devoted to King Dinh and King Le from feudal Vietnam.
Dinh Bo Linh was a distinguished officer at the end of the Ngo Dynasty. In 968, he became emperor and took the name of King […]
Hanoi Oi!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
On a Friday night, some of my friends and I took the soft-seater 29 train ride from Saigon to Hanoi. On the train, we talked about things over bags of beef jerky and cuddle fish, kilos of grapefruit, cans of pasticcios, jars of pate, and dozens of boiled eggs. Vietnam is a beautiful […]
The Apprentice
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
“So, what do you want to know?” Bac Liem asked me.
“I want to know the root of it all,” I replied.
“All foreigners want to know that, but not even Vietnamese people know the answer to that. You need to go to Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh City doesn’t have any technique. The people […]
Vong Co
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
My friends asked, “What are you doing tonight?”
I replied, “Tonight, I’m going to watch Vong Co with my aunt.”
They all made faces. “Why are you going to watch that? You’re going to fall asleep, it’s so boring. The king kills the princess, but the princess takes a half an hour to die […]
Dam Hoi
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The other Sunday, I went to a Dam Hoi of one of my relatives. Dam Hoi is a day in Vietnamese tradition when family members get together to remember their ancestors. Usually, these festivities start in the morning. The altar is set with the pictures of the ancestors as the center piece, […]
Lacquer Painting
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Professor Minh said, “Vietnamese people, in general, cannot paint in oil. Oil painting is good in America, you guys know how to paint. But, Vietnamese people know lacquer painting, and in all honesty, the medium accommodates the Vietnamese way much more.”
Professor Minh and I conversed for several hours about the process of lacquer […]
49 Days
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
It is a Vietnamese belief that the soul can linger on the Earth for 49 days after a person dies before it can go into the afterworld. From the time of death, the family is supposed to pray for the person for 49 days. On the 49th, the family usually gets together and […]
Quan Coc
Monday, October 15, 2007
“One day you should come to my café, and I will show you a real Vietnamese coffee shop.”
The next day, I went.
“It is my dream to show artwork in my café because at cafes, people can relax, get a chance to enjoy art,” The told me as we rode on his motorbike.
We rode through a […]