Vietnamese American Culture Research Paper

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Khoa Nguyen Ms. Bootman English 101 3 March 2015 The Culture of A Vietnamese American Historically, the United States is the land of immigrants. By the end of the Vietnam War in 1972, the earliest wave of immigrants came from South East Asia, most specifically from Vietnam. As of today the Vietnamese population is the fourth largest Asian population in the United States following the Chinese, Indians and Filipinos. Therefore, within the pool of Asian cultures, there is a clear and detectable Vietnamese American culture. This culture is defined by its heritage, language and religious practices. Ancestor worship and filial piety are few of the main factors driving the Vietnamese American culture. In the Vietnamese American culture, people celebrate…show more content…
During the beginning of February, families start to buy firecrackers and prepare them for the upcoming festival for the New Year. The firecracker symbolizes the scaring off of the Nian, or the lion beast. As the Vietnamese New Year Festival starts, there is a lion dance performance to entertain the crowd. It symbolizes that the lion dance is meant to also send the evil spirits away. Families cook special dishes such as sticky rice, and banh chung. Banh chung is a traditional rice cake made with rice, beans and pork that are at the center of it. They also begin to buy peach flowers, and red envelopes for decorations as they tidy up the house to have other families over for the New Years. Cleaning the house for Vietnamese New years represents good luck for the families. This means that on the first day of Vietnamese New Year, children between ages four to eighteen receive red envelopes with a good amount of money from close relatives. While other family members will give half or less money in the red envelops. A red envelope suggests good fortune and prosperity to those who receive one. Before even receiving a red envelope one must wish families a happy new year with good health, wealth or etc. During the Vietnamese New Years, families offer a spiritual invitation to their ancestors to come celebrate the new years with them as a tradition. It is sacred to invite…show more content…
Children are taught to be grateful and respectful for their elders because they are the ones who care for them over the years. Not only are younger generations expected to honor their parent but also honor their family’s name. This means that a child must also maintain good behavior and conduct, within and outside of the house. In addition, they must also take care of their parents, as they grow older as a form of paying their dues to their parents. Parents sacrifice and invest in their children, and therefore a child feels obligated to uphold family values or wishes. Filial piety shows respect, love and obeying their parents. For example, if a child talks back while the parent is talking it shows that the child has no filial piety. If a child does not show filial piety, they must kneel down facing the wall and have their butt smacked with large chopsticks. Therefore, family members and others reject children who do not have filial piety. Filial piety is an important aspect in the Vietnamese American culture because it teaches children, as they grow older to make their children one day to learn the culture as
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