VIETNAMESE WOMEN

The Vietnamese Women's Museum in Hanoi pays a well-deserved homage to the slightly over 50% of the country's population who in many other parts of the world do not get the recognition for their tireless contribution to national well-being and welfare. More than 70% of women hold a job in Vietnam, a percentage that is much higher than in most countries around the globe.

The Museum does, however, provide little information about this high participation rate. Most likely because the display of this would lack visual attractiveness—visitors of the museum, any museum in fact, quite understandably, want to see more than statistics, diagrams, histograms, graphs and charts.

The Vietnamese Women's Museum, in its very well organised and displayed presentations, thus presents Women in History on one floor, and ethnic minority groups, with emphasis on the role of women, on another.

Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country. Some 86% of its population of 90m, belong to the Viet, also called the Kinh group. It is safe to assume that the people one meets in Hanoi, Ho Chi Min City (formerly Saigon), Danang, Hue, or other towns in the flat coastal areas, are Kinh. The highlands of the interior, especially in the central and northern parts of the country, are, however, the original homes of the minority groups, 53 of which are recognised as separate ethnic communities with their own language, traditions and culture. The French had called these groups collectively Montagnard, but their individual names range from Tày, at 1.7m people the largest minority group, to O' Đu or Brâu, the smallest, with fewer than 400 members each.

A striking feature of the Montagnard is that the women are seemingly as doing all the work. At home they care for the children and prepare the meals, the ingredients for which they obtain from fishing, foraging and their fields they have ploughed, planted and harvested. They bring the crops in from the field, take care of storage and tend to the animals. They dye and embroider the cloth from which the clothes are made they wear… interestingly, these traditional dresses are worn at work, at home and when relaxing, if there ever is such a moment!

Women at work

Many of the ethnic minorities are matrilineal societies. Daughters are preferred and ownership of land follows the female line, while often the youngest daughter inherits all. Such a nice touch… rather than the oldest son being presented with the lot.

The Women in History section on the floor above concentrates on the role women played in the battle for the reunification of the country: which could not have been won without the silent sacrifices of the women whose children and husbands died for the Motherland. In recognition of their sacrifices the Permanent Committee of the National Assembly established the honorary title of Heroic Mothers of Vietnam, granted to women who had lost more than two children, their only child, only one child, or their husband and children, or their own life. In December 2008, almost 50,000 women received the title. Nguyen Thi Thu of Quang Nam lost ten children and two grandchildren; Pham Thi Ngu and Nguyen Thi Ram of Ho Chi Minh City lost eight children and were also awarded 'Hero of the Popular Armed Forces'.

Photos of Heroic Mothers

The popular Army or Guerrilla Forces had been founded in the villages to fight against enemy raids and destroy enemy posts. Nearly one million women participated, the largest group of which consisted of 7,365 women. This group fought 680 battles, destroyed 13 enemy posts and killed or captured 383 enemy soldiers.

Women involved in civil resistance undertook many key roles, including care of wounded soldiers, supply of troops and financial and food requisitioning. For the Dien Bien Phu campaign alone, women donated 2,381,000 workdays to the transportation of food and arms.

A most remarkable example of this is the 'Human Bridge' which was recorded in 1968 during the Tet Offensive by Pham Thin. The battle took place in Tan Bien District Tay Ninh Povince. Many soldiers were wounded and the section of young volunteers C2012 were in charge of transporting the wounded to the rear. A heavy unexpected rainfall flooded the normally dry Ba Chiem River. Complying with the directive 'Do not let the wounded get wounded twice' the volunteer girls went into the river to make a human bridge in order to carry the injured to secure areas.

Human Bridge

In the South women represented 40% of the guerrilla and militia forces. Female artillery groups destroyed planes, 105mm artillery guns and fuel stores. In Hue a group of 11 female militia members defeated a battalion of marines killing more than 100 GIs.

Many posters revealing the double-function of women are displayed, together with photographs of women performing what could be typical daily task, were it not for the rifle strapped to their back.

The two posters below show the female guerrillas being trained and in their roles of providers of the food to keep the nation going, combined with that of defenders of the country.

No wonder the poster that celebrates Independence Day portrays women… 

HANOI – Hoàn Kiếm Lake (Lake of the Returned Sword)

The sword in the title brought victory to Emperor Lêơ Lơi in his 10-year insurgence against the Chinese Ming Dynasty. After the war, the sword, which still belonged to the god who had lent it him, had to be returned. And when one day boating on the lake, a giant tortoise snatched the sword from him, Emperor Lêơ Lơi understood that the god had taken it back. The lake, which was known as Luc Thủy (Green Water) Lake, was then renamed Hồ Hoàn Kiếm, or the Lake of the Returned Sword. And in the middle of the lake is Turtle Tower. 

In the northern part of the lake lies the Temple of the Jade Mountain—Ngoc Son Temple—which is connected to the shore by the wooden red-painted Morning Sunlight Bridge, or in Vietnamese The Huc bridge.  

The temple was erected in the 18^th century and honours another military leader, Trần Hưng Đao, who, in the 13^th century, distinguished himself in the war against the Yuan Dynasty.

The temple complex extends to the shore where a first entrance gate with two large red Chinese characters: Happiness (Phuc) on the right, and Prosperity (Loc) on the left. 

Just inside this gate is the Pen Tower (Thap But), built of stone and standing on a mountain, representing the earth, it is ten metres high with a tip resembling a writing brush—the symbols on the tower say Writing on the Clear Blue Sky, meaning, always be truthful. A small altar has been erected halfway up the mountain where one can pray to receive permission to enter the temple.

The second gate has a tiger on the left and a dragon on the right post. The third gate is topped by a stone representing an ink stone or inkpot.

 After crossing the Morning Sunlight Bridge one enters the temple through the fourth gate above which is a small room with circular windows, called the Moon Gazing Pavilion. Observe the various Taoist and I Ching symbols around the gate before you go to the temple within.

The area surrounding Hoàn Kiếm Lake is among the most relaxing. Day and night it's a focal point for people enjoying its calm and doing, alone or in groups, what they have come to do. Early morning is the time for exercising—stretching, work outs, tai chi—and in the evenings young couples look for some undisturbed time together, while families enjoy a refreshing walk. And all through the day snacks and drinks, coffee and ice cream can be enjoyed in the open-air cafés. 

Enjoy!

HANOI – Imperial Citadel (Hoàng Thành Thăng Long)

Any tour operator will tell you that the must-see objects in Hanoi are Hoàn Kiếm lake with its Ngoc Son Temple and Turtle Tower; the Temple of Literature; Hi Chi Minh's mausoleum and museum; the One Pillar Pagoda; and the old town. What is too often left off the list is the Imperial Citadel and adjacent archaeological site where more foundations of the remaining structures of the ancient Imperial City are systematically being excavated.

The Imperial Citadel was listed, in 2010, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, although many question the reason for the listing. One of the reason cited is that it was UNESCO's "gift" to Hanoi on its 1000^th anniversary… maybe. The site is, it cannot be denied, a bit empty of ancient imperial structures. What one sees are buildings of non-imperial origin (built during the colonial days), but that hardly diminishes the attraction of a leisurely walk exploring the WHS. It is moreover within easy walking distance (30-40 minutes) of Hoàn Kiếm lake.

The Vietnamese pronunciation of Hoàng Thành is nowhere near the one vocalised by a foreign tongue, and the taxi driver consequently put me down at the nearest spot to the Citadel I could think of and convey across the language barrier: the Lenin statue—when splitting the name into its distinctive components it becomes Vietnamese, almost.

Flag Tower

The entrance appeared to be across the road from Lenin and after paying 40,000 dong for my ticket I found myself in the Vietnam Military History Museum—a jumbled up collection of equipment used to oust the French and the Americans, including a crashed US fighter plane and a few antique canons. The Hanoi landmark, the Flag Tower, is located on the grounds of the museum, and through the back-fence I could see the South Gate, the most prominent part of the Citadel. But to get there I had to leave the museum and turn right twice. Got it!

Hoang Thanh Thang Long (Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, the old name of Hanoi) was built in the first decade of the 11^th century, on the ruins of a Chinese fortress. Many buildings of the original citadel were, during the following centuries, demolished and rebuilt, lay-outs were changed as well as building styles. And at the end of the 19^th century, the French colonial upheavals led to a final round of destruction. The Flag Pole was spared, together with the South Gate, the number one attraction.

south gate

dragon steps

Of the Kinh Thien Palace—built in 1428 and destroyed by the French in 1886—only the Dragon Steps and the foundations remain. The Dragon Palace, built by the French to house their Artillery Headquarters, now occupies the place. But, due to a lack of explanatory panels, it is not really clear which one is what. There are references on various websites to a Princess Pagoda (French: Pagode des Dames) and on site there even a panel with a reproduced postcard of its portal, but no structure like the one depicted can be seen anywhere. However, when googled, Princess Pagoda apparently is a building, very much obscured by trees, at the far end of the site.

Gateway to- and Pagode des Dames

The North Gate is apparently located somewhere behind the Princess Pagoda…, unfortunately a wall obstructs further progress and I was thus unable to make visual contact.

The Vietnamese military command under General Giap, had its headquarters in a building called D67, which is located in the Citadel and now open to the public. 

A photo display includes this newspaper cutting of its erstwhile proceedings. 

D67 in action

The Citadel is much larger than the part accessible to the public. Adjacent to it and across the street archaeological excavations are slowly uncovering the foundations and more remains of the old fortress. Not much to see there as this type of excavations consists mainly of carefully scraping and brushing layers of earth away. But the whole site could do with an explanatory map indicating the various buildings and other items on show—a huge bronze bell is, for instance, displayed without a word in English about its origin or function. The map could then be overlaid with an outline of the original Citadel and the findings from the excavations.

The Citadel is, however, a worthwhile object to visit and enjoy an hour or so of pleasant viewing.