Silk Robes and Cell Phones

Three decades after Frances FitzGerald won a Pulitzer Prize for Fire in the Lake, her classic work on Vietnam, she returned with photojournalist Mary Cross. In an adaptation from their new book, Vietnam: Spirits of the Earth, they document a dynamic society holding on to its precolonial past as it confronts the 21st century.

  • By Frances Fitzgerald
  • Smithsonian magazine, January 2002, Subscribe
View More Photos »
Despite the extreme poverty of the Black Thai tribe the clothing of members (like this vegetable seller in Dien Bien Phu) is often adorned with silver clasps.
Despite the extreme poverty of the Black Thai tribe, the clothing of members (like this vegetable seller in Dien Bien Phu) is often adorned with silver clasps. (Mary Cross)

Photo Gallery (1/6)

Despite the extreme poverty of the Black Thai tribe, the clothing of members (like this vegetable seller in Dien Bien Phu) is often adorned with silver clasps.

Explore more photos from the story


FitzGerald conjures up an intimate portrait of Vietnam with images as vivid as those from Cross' camera. Here, she describes the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam: "In the spring, when the rice is only half-grown, you can make out the small dikes that divide the paddies into a pale-green patchwork; the water shines through the rice like shards of a mirror in the sun. From dawn to dusk there are figures in the landscape: women up to their knees in water pulling weeds; a farmer netting small fish or crabs; a boy tending his buffalo; men and women moving water from one paddy to another with a rhythmic dip and swing of straw baskets."

Vietnam has endured French conquest, two wars and a ruthless communist restructuring and yet has retained its cultural underpinnings. Now that the communist government is loosening its policies, ancient village rituals and alliances are returning to the fore. Many village dinhs (their version of a New England meetinghouse) and Buddhist temples are being restored and once again are becoming the center of village life. Villages have taken up their traditional crafts: blue-and-white pottery in Bat Trang, nom-leaf coverings for conical hats in Chuong in Ha Tay province. Other villages, such as DongKy, have expanded on traditional crafts to reach international markets.

A return to private enterprise and family farming has invigorated the economy, and people have extra money to spend on family ceremonies, village festivals and pilgrimages to holy sites. The Vietnamese are gracefully incorporating new ideas and ancient practices to forge a culture that will take them into the 21st century and beyond.


FitzGerald conjures up an intimate portrait of Vietnam with images as vivid as those from Cross' camera. Here, she describes the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam: "In the spring, when the rice is only half-grown, you can make out the small dikes that divide the paddies into a pale-green patchwork; the water shines through the rice like shards of a mirror in the sun. From dawn to dusk there are figures in the landscape: women up to their knees in water pulling weeds; a farmer netting small fish or crabs; a boy tending his buffalo; men and women moving water from one paddy to another with a rhythmic dip and swing of straw baskets."

Vietnam has endured French conquest, two wars and a ruthless communist restructuring and yet has retained its cultural underpinnings. Now that the communist government is loosening its policies, ancient village rituals and alliances are returning to the fore. Many village dinhs (their version of a New England meetinghouse) and Buddhist temples are being restored and once again are becoming the center of village life. Villages have taken up their traditional crafts: blue-and-white pottery in Bat Trang, nom-leaf coverings for conical hats in Chuong in Ha Tay province. Other villages, such as DongKy, have expanded on traditional crafts to reach international markets.

A return to private enterprise and family farming has invigorated the economy, and people have extra money to spend on family ceremonies, village festivals and pilgrimages to holy sites. The Vietnamese are gracefully incorporating new ideas and ancient practices to forge a culture that will take them into the 21st century and beyond.

    Subscribe now for more of Smithsonian's coverage on history, science and nature.


 

Add New Comment


Name: (required)

Email: (required)

Comment:

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until Smithsonian.com has approved them. Smithsonian reserves the right not to post any comments that are unlawful, threatening, offensive, defamatory, invasive of a person's privacy, inappropriate, confidential or proprietary, political messages, product endorsements, or other content that might otherwise violate any laws or policies.

Comments (1)

It is natural that Vietnam is living in some sort of development age nowadays. Cell phones is a pretty new thing to them but I think that after few years it will be a normal thing there. Moreover I bet that after 5-10 years we will be able to see more western details in their architecture and other details too. Computers, iPhones and other technique miracles are targeting some Eastern countries now and Vietnam is not an exception. Thanks for the interesting article for sure and I will be definitely waiting for more nice ones from you in the nearest future too.

Sincerely,

Mark Tornton

Posted by MarkT on January 24,2010 | 11:42 AM




Advertisement

Follow Us





First Name
Last Name
Address 1
Address 2
City
State   Zip
Email


Travel with Smithsonian




Smithsonian Store