Vietnam

**Chinese Influence on Vietnam**

**China**, as a whole, has made many influences upon adjacent countries surrounding its borders. One of those countries is Vietnam. China’s influences on Vietnam range anywhere from architectural designs - to celebrations during the New Year.

**Although** China and Vietnam were significantly distant and separated by geographical barriers, China still left quite an impact on Vietnam. The Vietnamese responded to the Chinese rule with many protests and rebellions, which is what actually led to them gaining their independence from China. After successfully gaining political independence from China, Vietnam adopted the concept of a centralized government. The Vietnamese even continued with the Chinese bureaucracy, examination system, and the scholar-gentry.

**During** the Chinese  reign in Vietnam, they built roads, harbors and waterways, which greatly increased the efficiency of transportation and trade. The temples and buildings in Vietnam also reflect back to the Chinese architectural design. Temples and homes usually had roofs of which were made of tile or brick, and the walls were usually consisting of layers of brick. // This picture of a Vietnamese Castle in Hue clearly depicts //  // the Chinese style of architecture that can be found in Vietnam // [].

**Many** Chinese holidays and celebrations were also diffused into the Vietnamese culture, such as Têt (Lunar New Year) and Têt-Trung-Thu (Mid-Autumn Festival). Although slightly altered, they are still pretty much the same. The video below is an example of the Vietnamese celebration for Lunar New Year. media type="youtube" key="hEKEdjUwe_4" height="315" width="560" align="center" //This is a video of our lion dance team coming into Chinatown in Austin, Texas to celebrate the Chinese New Year// **Over** the years, Vietnamese cultures and religions changed and altered until they were able to be called “Vietnamese”, but we can still trace the origins and roots of those cultures and religions, all back to ancient China.  The Vietnamese language contains some words and terms of which originated from Chinese.

Works Cited Ronald J. Cima, ed. //Vietnam: A Country Study//. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1987.