ABSTRACT
Elite and popular conceptions of the meaning of national advance and development are heavily influenced by the particular nature of Vietnamese historical experience. The popular morality and sense of justice draw upon deep historical roots. The traditional heartland of the Vietnamese is the Red River delta of northern Vietnam. Originally an empty land of swamps and cranes, it was well suited to growing paddy rice, and this became the basis for the Vietnamese culture. The emperors exercised arbitrary rule through the agents of the centralized bureaucracy-the mandarins. The bureaucracy was a single integrated network capable in principle of a close and detailed implementation of the emperor's commands. The dynastic state philosophy stressed the need for individuals to subordinate themselves to the collective and to superiors. Traditional Vietnamese society, as well as Chinese neo-Confucianism, also asserted the importance of certain stereotypical roles within the family: father-son, husband-wife, elder brother-younger brother, wife-mother-in-law.
