A Brief Research about the Vietnamese Culture

The Conical Hat Dance or Múa nón lá

The Conical Hat also known as nón lá in Vietnamese can be traced back to more
than a few decades. The Dance symbolizes both the grace and the charm of the Conical
Hat, where in the hat is not only used for performances but also used for their daily lives.
The conical dance contains choreographic devices such as waves, excellent level of
formation, great emotions such as facial expressions and energy, and lastly formation of
shapes. The dance includes the traditions and daily routines that originated in China then
spread to various countries in Southeast Asia where it shows grace and tells the stories
of the Vietnamese people. The Hat dance is a dance performed with various swift
movements holding a hat. These hats are usually made of bamboo to remember the hard
years in farmyards harvesting crops and goodies. Acts like twirling the hat around and
exchanging hats were common on the decorated stage. They would often gather
volunteers to try the dance themselves, as a truly finishing performance.

The Vietnamese Conical Hat

What is the Vietnamese Conical Hat?

Vietnamese Conical Hat or Non la (palm-leaf conical hat) is a traditional symbol of

Vietnamese people without age, sex or racial distinctions. Like many other traditional
costumes of Vietnam, Non la has its own origin, coming from a legend related to the
history of rice growing in Vietnam. Non la is made out of such simple and available
materials as palm leaves, bark of Moc tree and bamboo. Non la is abundantly sold and
there are many traditional villages where tourists can get high quality conical hats. For
example, the Chuong village – 30km South West of Hanoi, is best-known for its
handmade palm-leaf conical hats for centuries. Especially, ‘Non bai tho’ (poem hat) – a
famous Non of Hue, has a picture of bamboo or even lyric lines of verse under the leaf-
layer sunk designs, which is only seen under the sunlight.
The Story of the Conical Hat

A common sight you will come across while traveling along Vietnam is that of local
ladies donning the Non La or Vietnamese conical leaf hat, walking gracefully along the
sidewalk. The Non La is a traditional symbol of Vietnam, which like many other traditional
costumes of the country, has an origin story that comes from a legend. The legend here
pertains to the history of rice-growing in Vietnam. The story goes that once upon a time,
during a torrential downpour of rain that lasted weeks, flooding lands and homes and
causing unfavorable disturbances to the rural life, a graceful goddess descended from
the sky. She was wearing on her head a giant hat made of four large leaves stitched
together by bamboo sticks. This hat was so large that it guarded the people against all
the rain, and she was able to dispel the clouds and rain, allowing the people to return
back to a normal life. The goddess even taught the people how to grow crops among
many other things, and one day during one of her educational stories, mankind fell asleep
listening to her soothing voice. When they woke up, the goddess was gone.

To honor her, a temple was built, and not only that, but everyone followed suit and
took her lessons to heart. People went into the forests to find leaves similar to the ones
that the goddess had on her head, which they then stitched together on a bamboo frame.
This then became an indispensable item, a daily essential for the farmers on the paddy
fields, boat-women rowing passengers across rivers, and those traveling miles under the
scorching sun.

Ever since this original version that appeared thousands of years ago, the Non La
has evolved greatly and now has many variations. As a rule, women don a broad-rimmed
version of the hat, whereas for men, the cone is higher and the rims, smaller. Different
versions were made for the upper class, for children, for the army troops, for the religious
monks, for different regions even, and so on. There are over 50 types in total. The material
can change too, as people utilize what is around them, however one typically uses palm
leaves, bark of Moc tree and bamboo to make them.
The Vietnamese Dragon

Vietnamese dragons are symbolic creatures in the folklore and mythology of

Vietnam. According to an ancient origin myth, the Vietnamese people are descended from
a dragon and a fairy. To Vietnamese people, the dragon brings rain, essential for
agriculture. It represents the emperor, the prosperity and power of the nation. Like the
Chinese dragon, the Vietnamese dragon is the symbol of yang, representing the universe,
life, existence, and growth.

According to the nation’s founding myth, Vietnamese people are the offspring of a
sea dragon and a mountain fairy. As such, dragons have a special place in the nation’s
psyche. Unlike the dragons depicted in the West, Vietnamese dragons have lithe, sinuous
bodies. They rise out of water and bestow good luck—and rain—upon humanity.

The Vietnamese believe they are descendants of a dragon, and the birth of the
first kingdom of the nation was closely related to this animal; therefore, this mythical
creature is probably the most important figure among the four sacred creatures (Quê Me
1988: 8). Legend has it that Lạc Long Quân, king of the dragons who lived in the water,
married Âu Cơ, a fairy from the bird kingdom. She gave birth to 100 sons and the first-
born son became King Hùng Vương of Lạc Việt, the first dynasty of Vietnam. Hence there
is a proverb saying the Vietnamese are “con rồng cháu tiên” or “children of the dragon
and grandchildren of the fairy”.

To the Vietnamese, the dragon symbolises power, nobility and immortality. Since
it represents power, it is a special symbol of the Vietnamese emperors. The dragon with
five claws was reserved for imperial use, while one with four claws was for the use of
royal dignitaries and high ranking court officials. For commoners, their dragons could only
have three claws.
 The Vietnamese dragon combines features of the crocodile, snake, cat, rat and
bird. There are many Vietnamese legends or tales which are related to dragons; for
example, the world-famous natural heritage site, Hạ Long Bay in northern Vietnam, is
believed to be a creation of a dragon. Thăng Long, the former name of Hà Nội, also means
“rising from a dragon”. Legend has it that in 1010, a golden dragon appeared alongside
Emperor Lý Thái Tổ’s boat while he was visitting Đại La, and hence the place’s name was
changed to Thăng Long.

The Phoenix

The Phoenix, associated with nobility and beauty. Some researchers believe the
Lac bird found on Đông Sơn bronze drums is an early form of the Phoenix. In Vietnam,
Phoenixes came in pairs - the female “Phượng” and the male “Hoàng”, typically shown
facing each other. Later, the Phoenix came to be teamed with the Dragon to represent
love and prosperity.

Fenghuang are mythological birds found in East Asian mythology that reign over
all other birds. The males were originally called feng and the females huang but such a
distinction of gender is often no longer made and they are blurred into a single feminine
entity so that the bird can be paired with the Chinese dragon, which is traditionally deemed
male. The fenghuang is also called the "August Rooster” since it sometimes takes the
place of the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac. In the Western world, it is commonly called
the Chinese phoenix or simply Phoenix, although mythological similarities with the
Western phoenix are superficial.

Whereas the dragon represents the emperor, a phoenix is used to represent the
empress. Vietnamese folklore describes the phoenix as having the neck of a snake, the
breast of a swallow, the back of a tortoise, and the tail of a fish. The phoenix’s song
includes all the five notes of the pentatonic musical scale and its feathers include the five
fundamental colors: black, white, red, green, and yellow. This elegant mythical bird
symbolises grace, nobility, virtue and pride. According to myth, the phoenix burnt its nest
and days later rose again from the ashes, and it therefore symbolises rebirth,
regeneration and survival. It normally hides itself in time of trouble and appears only in
calm and prosperous times, hence it also symbolises peace. During the Vietnam War, the
CIA launched Operation Phoenix in South Vietnam from 1968 to 1972, with the aim of
eradicating the Việt Công.