The culture of Vietnam has undergone changes over the millennia. According to scholarly sources, the culture of Vietnam originated from Nam Việt, an ancient kingdom of the Baiyue people in East Asia which shared characteristics of Han Chinese cultures and the ancient Dong Son Culture, considered one of the most important progenitors of its indigenous culture, during the Bronze Age.[1] Nam Việt was annexed by China in 111 BC, leading to the first Chinese domination of Vietnam lasting over a millennium that propelled Chinese influences onto Vietnamese culture in terms of Confucian ideology, governance, and the arts.
Following independence from China in the 10th century, successive Vietnamese imperial dynasties flourished as the country embarked on a southward expansion that annexed territories of the Champa and Khmer civilizations, which resulted in regional variances of modern-day Vietnamese culture. During the French colonial period in the mid-19th century, Vietnamese culture absorbed European influences including architecture,[2] Catholicism, and the adoption of the Latin alphabet, which created the new Chữ Quốc ngữ writing system that replaced the previous Chinese characters and Chữ Nôm scripts.
During the socialist era, Vietnamese culture was characterised by government-controlled propaganda, which emphasised the importance of cultural exchanges with fellow communist nations such as the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba. Following the Đổi Mới reforms, Vietnam has continuously absorbed various influences from Asian, European, and American cultures. Part of the East Asian cultural sphere, Vietnamese culture has certain characteristic features including ancestor veneration and worship, respect for community and family values, and manual labour religious belief. Important cultural symbols include dragons, turtles, lotuses, and bamboo.
