What Are Vietnamese Customs and Traditions? Definition, Origins, and Representative Practices
Vietnamese customs and traditions are habits and rituals passed down through generations. Here is their definition, origins, and key Tet practices.
Hầu hết tiện ích không cần tài khoản. Hồ sơ để lưu và đọc tiếp.
Chọn ngôn ngữ
Trang này chưa có đủ ba bản ngôn ngữ.
Vietnamese customs and traditions are habits and rituals passed down through generations. Here is their definition, origins, and key Tet practices.
Vietnamese worship customs vary by region and ethnicity through environment, migration, and cultural exchange, not through one practice being more correct.
Vietnam's Thai ethnic group includes the Black and White branches, speaks the Tay-Thai language, lives in ban-muong villages, and worships ancestors.
The Tay are Vietnam's largest ethnic minority. They live in northeastern valleys, speak a Tay-Thai language, worship ancestors, and hold long tong festivals.
The Xtieng speak a Mon-Khmer language and live mainly in Binh Phuoc. Their residence, language, worship customs, and main festivals are covered here.
The Sóc day opens the lunar month. Vietnamese worship ancestors and deities for a smooth month, a custom rooted in yin-yang philosophy.
Fertility worship in Vietnam, or tín ngưỡng phồn thực, hopes for flourishing life and harvests. It appears in Linga–Yoni symbols and the Trò Trám festival.
Cá Ông worship reveres whales as guardian spirits in Vietnamese fishing communities, with roots in the Cham sea god Po Riyak.
Thành Hoàng is the guardian deity believed to protect each Vietnamese village, worshipped at the communal đình. Its origins, deity types and royal decrees.
The worship of Ong Ta, a land-protecting deity in Southern Vietnam, comes from the Khmer Neak Ta and reflects Viet-Khmer cultural exchange.
Ancestor worship is a long-standing Vietnamese custom, a moral standard, and a key part of spiritual life, with altars, death anniversaries, and Tet rituals.
Explore the main rites of a traditional Vietnamese funeral, from encoffining and mourning attire to burial and the 49-day rites, and their cultural meaning.
The worship of Thần Tài and Ông Địa in Vietnamese culture blends Chinese influence with ancient Thổ Địa beliefs, tracing a shift from farming to trade.
Northern Vietnam worship includes ancestor veneration, Thành hoàng, Mother Goddess and folk rites, reflecting uống nước nhớ nguồn and the wish for peace.
The Khmer (Kho Me) numbered 1,319,652 in the 2019 survey, live mainly in the Mekong Delta, speak a Mon-Khmer language, and worship Buddha and ancestors.
The La Ha people live in Yen Bai and Son La, with a 2019 population of 10,157. Their housing, marriage and worship customs are covered here.
The Si La people live in Muong Te, Lai Chau, speak a Tibeto-Burman language, worship ancestors, and hold the altar rite, New Year and new rice festivals.
Kitchen Gods worship on the 23rd of the last lunar month differs across Vietnam: the North worships early with carp release, the South worships late.
The Lao in Vietnam call themselves Thay and Thay Duon, speak a Tay-Thai language, live in Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Son La, and keep ancestor altars.
The Pà Thẻn live in Hà Giang and Tuyên Quang and speak a Hmông-Dao language. Their customs include ancestor worship and the new rice ceremony.
The Gia Rai speak a Malayo-Polynesian language and live mainly in Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Dak Lak, with a matrilineal society that worships Yang spirits.
The La Chi people live mainly in Ha Giang, speak a Ka Dai language, keep a separate altar for each man in the house, and hold folk games during Tet.
The Ta Oi live in western Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue, speak a Mon-Khmer language, and worship spirits with festivals tied to the swidden farming cycle.
The Ro Mam people belong to the Mon-Khmer language group and live mainly in Kon Tum. Learn about their language, worship customs and main festivals.
The Co live in northwestern Quang Ngai and southwestern Quang Nam, speak a Mon-Khmer language, and hold a buffalo sacrifice as their largest festival.
The Mnong speak a Mon-Khmer language and live mainly in Dak Lak and Lam Dong, with matrilineal culture and buffalo sacrifice at the new rice festival.
The Bo Y ethnic group includes the Bo Y and Tu Di subgroups in Ha Giang and Lao Cai, with two language families and distinct worship and festival customs.
The Giay live mainly in Lao Cai, Ha Giang and Lai Chau, speak a Thai-Kadai language, and keep an altar with three incense bowls.
The Dao are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups. Where they live, their Hmong-Dao language, ancestor and Ban Vuong worship, and cap sac rites.
The Hre live in western Quang Ngai and An Lao in Binh Dinh, speak a Mon-Khmer language and hold the buffalo sacrifice as their largest rite.
The Lự people speak a Tày-Thái language and live mainly in Lai Châu, with worship customs and festivals tied to their own calendar.
The Tho people speak a Viet Muong language and live mainly in western Nghe An and Thanh Hoa, with their own worship of spirits, ancestors and midwife deities.
The Brau are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups, living mainly in Kon Tum. This article covers their language, worship customs, festivals and cultural life.
The Khang people speak a Mon-Khmer language and live mainly in Lai Chau and Son La. Their worship customs and main festivals are covered here.
The Nung live mainly in Vietnam's northeastern provinces and speak a Tay-Thai language. Their customs center on ancestor worship and festivals.
The Chu Ru are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups, living in Lam Dong and Ninh Thuan and speaking a Malayo-Polynesian language.
The Muong ethnic group speaks a Viet-Muong language and lives mainly in Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa and Phu Tho, with mo epics, festivals and worship customs.
The Chut people of Vietnam include the May, Ruc, Sach, Arem and Ma Lieng subgroups, living mainly in the mountains of Quang Binh.
The Ngái are one of Vietnam's 54 ethnic groups, with a very small population living scattered across Quảng Ninh, Hải Phòng, Bắc Giang, Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng.
The Mother Goddess Worship of Tam Phu venerates the Holy Mothers and deities of the universe, guiding people toward a practical life.
Phong tục in English is custom, tập quán is usage, and truyền thống is tradition. See how the three differ, plus a vocabulary table of Vietnamese customs.
Vietnamese people rarely follow one religion; they layer ancestor worship, Thành hoàng, Mother Goddess, Hùng Vương and farming rites in daily life.
The Yen Tu Festival honours Emperor-Buddha Tran Nhan Tong, founder of the Truc Lam Zen sect, with its rituals and spiritual meaning.
The Kinh (Viet) are 86.83% of Vietnam's population and speak Vietnamese of the Viet Muong group. Their villages and ancestor worship are covered here.
Quan Cong worship among Vietnam's Chinese community, seen through temples in Chau Doc and Ca Mau that serve as places of worship and cultural centers.
Explore the deep cultural significance of traditional Vietnamese funerals, common burial forms, and trends of change in modern society.
132 things to avoid and practical notes for Vietnamese offering rites, across 38 rite types, one sentence per row in three languages with the rite, region, tradition, type and source page addresses. Taken only from reviewed procedure rows; it describes custom according to the sources and prescribes nothing.
Most tools need no account. A profile lets you save and pick up later.
Choose language
This page is not yet available in all three languages.