ABSTRACT
As soon as they assumed power in August 1945, they embarked upon an ambitious program to create a new, socialist culture for Vietnam. This chapter examines the nature of the new culture created by the Communists and the different mechanisms employed for its propagation. Discussions of morality almost always involve references to the ‘revolutionary ethics’ introduced by the party, or when people discuss those elements of ritual practices abandoned since the revolution, they often attach the labels ‘feudal’ or ‘backward’ to them. The chapter brings out this set of ideas and valuations introduced by the party when reconstituting socio-cultural life, and explains the techniques and mechanisms employed to achieve this reconstitution. It constitutes a history of ideas associated with revolutionary culture, particular the assorted ‘facts’ and assertions the party produced to justify its agendas. The chapter is also a study of revolutionary rhetoric and how people employ that rhetoric today.
