Communist Review - Family is the place where national culture is born and preserved. In Viet Nam, traditional family values are always paid attention to, retained and nurtured through generations, creating a unique cultural identity. However, under the strong impact of Doi Moi and international integration, the value system of Vietnamese families has been changed; yet, conventional family values have always been preserved, handed down, and spread, laying a solid foundation for building modern families.

Core traditional family values

In today’s Vietnamese families, “conventional values are treasured and prioritized over modern ones. Traditional values derived from indigenous culture last longer than those borrowed from the outside”⁽¹⁾. Conventional values, especially moral ones and code of conduct in families and the community, continue to be inherited, embraced, and promoted by every individual as well as every family.

Love and sharing are prominent conventional values that govern the relations between members in both traditional and modern families. For Vietnamese families, the highest standard of family happiness is affection, gratitude, attachment, and mutual support. Vietnamese people, regardless of their whereabouts, age, and position, are family-oriented, thirsting for love and sharing. Despite numerous life changes, family is still a loving home, a sacred integral part of one’s life, and a great spiritual motivation for one to strive and overcome all difficulties and challenges.

In the husband and wife ties, affection, gratitude, fidelity, and harmony are fundamental ethical standards, requirements, and principles. Married couples also emphasize the importance of faithfulness, considering it as the top standard and criterion in the conjugal relationship. At the same time, harmony in married life, as expressed in “when a husband and his wife are of the same mind, there is nothing they cannot achieve”, is also a particularly important factor to sustaining family happiness. Affection and gratitude bind spouses in all circumstances, and sometimes become a bond, pulling them back from breaking up. In the relations among grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren, benevolent grandparents and parents, and grateful children and grandchildren are the culturally unique features of Vietnamese families. In any period, “benevolence” is also the starting point and the basis for forming “gratefulness”. Loving, caring, teaching, helping, and ensuring the career prospects and happiness of the descendants are always the responsibilities and obligations of grandparents and parents; Simultaneously, descendants’ gratefulness towards their parents and grandparents becomes an important measure of each one’s morality and personality. In order to deserve parents’ labour and upbringing, children must not only respect, love, obey and take care of their parents and grandparents, but also make efforts to cultivate themselves and keep  studying to bring honor and pride to their family.

In the sibling relation, harmony, love and mutual support are the conventional values ​​of Vietnamese families. This connection is a long-term and intense one, attached to one’s life. It is a bilateral bond in which brothers and sisters in a family must love, live in peace with, and protect each other, with “harmony” regarded as the primary requirement and standard. This means siblings always have to love, unite with, and help each other, rather than fight for interests, even after having their own family and private life. Harmony is not only the intrinsic need of the bonds between brothers and sisters but also the requirements and expectations of parents and relatives. In spite of various social changes, harmony and closeness in the kinship relationship have always been positioned high in the social value system. Siblings still help, share joys and sorrows with, and treat each other with gratitude and affection to improve their life, whether they are materially rich or poor.

Apart from family relations, Vietnamese families always uphold community awareness, attaching great importance to responsibilities and obligations to the community and society. Every family is always closely attached to the village, community, and country. Its duties and onuses not only revolve around the needs and interests of family members, but also extend to those of the village and the nation. Every family invariably values kinship, gratitude, and good neighborliness, “help each other in the face of adversity”, “better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away”, “the intact leaves protect tattered ones”. That each family is closely tied to the community and the country is a fine cultural trait which has always been held in high regard, conserved and nurtured.      

In particular, to pass decent traditional values down, Vietnamese families have always placed immense importance on education, deeming it the first, continual and long-term foundation that exerts impacts on the formation and development of human personality.

Changes in conventional family values due to strong effects of modern life

These days, social life in Viet Nam has been undergoing profound and comprehensive changes under the impact of the market economy, international integration, and the accelerating development of science and technology. As a consequence, though great traditional family values are still given attention to and conserved, certain alterations are inevitable. It can be said that Vietnamese families are in the process of transition from tradition to modernity.

“The digital pace” has altered human needs and lifestyles significantly. In a family, instead of the previous patriarchy, democracy and equality among family members are heightened in line with the development trend of modern families. In addition, the majority of families still pay attention to education about family customs, rituals, and ethics. Grandparents and parents always teach their children and grandchildren the right things, how to maintain peace, love, and help each other in their families and kinship relationship; how to form a strong attachment to the village; how to share responsibility with the community and society. Meanwhile, each family always advocates the tradition of studiousness, respecting the teacher, taking learning as the basic thing to practice human morality; focuses on spreading education about such virtues as: diligence, industriousness, and the will to overcome difficulties and thrive in life. A host of families have practiced traditional family culture on holidays, maintaining cultural activities, enabling the conventional values ​​of truth, goodness, and beauty to be passed down to younger generations naturally; contributing to the formation of healthy lifestyles and the development of human personality; retaining and upholding Vietnamese people’s core ethical values and national cultural identity in modern life. Nevertheless, a few good conventional values ​​in family have sunk into oblivion and been distorted. In the past, everyone embraced a shared dream of building a family of “three and four generations living together”, which has lost popularity today. The relations between members in numerous families are weakened. Negatively affected by information technology, face-to-face communication among family members tends to decrease, leading to an increase in loneliness in their own homes. The conjugal relationship has deteriorated badly at some point. Fidelity, gratitude, and harmony show signs of degradation; the marital relation of various young couples become fragile on account of open and practical lifestyles inclined to material wealth, causing the divorce rate to increase rapidly in recent years. The grandparent-grandchild and parent-child ties lack closeness owing to confined living space and restricted family communication, and heightened personal needs and interests. A number of parents do not fulfill their parental duties and responsibilities and do not give their mind to preparing their offspring well for the future. There are also numerous adversities in which children are irresponsible, undutiful, and ungrateful to their grandparents and parents. Instabilities also arise in the sibling relationship simply because of money and little interests. Personal greed and scheming exacerbate neighborliness. 

Many families do not pay attention to education, or are interested but confused about both content and methods, causing multiple consequences, especially worsening in family and social morality. In fact, in recent years, the number of murders occurring in family accounts for 18% - 20%, some of which are committed in exchange for economic benefits or minor conflicts. Worryingly, criminals are getting younger and younger. Up to 60% of the offenders are reported under the age of 30⁽²⁾... The rate of juvenile crime reaches 5.2% for those under 14 years old, 24.5% for those between 14 years old and under 16 years old and 70.3% for those from 16 to under 18 years old⁽³⁾. This phenomenon is fairly alarming for every family and the whole society as its repercussions are extremely severe, seriously affecting the moral ground of society and modern Vietnamese people.

The Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) leads the building, preservation and promotion of the fine traditional values of the Vietnamese family

In the process of leading the revolution, especially during years of Doi Moi, the CPV has paid great attention to building, keeping and fostering the precious conventional values ​​of Vietnamese families. At the 8^th National Congress, the Party pointed out: “bringing into play the responsibility of families in handing national cultural values down ​​from generation to generation” ⁽⁴⁾. At the 12^th National Congress, it maintained: “Promoting decent traditional values, building prosperous, progressive, happy and civilized families⁽⁵⁾. Concretizing the Party’s guidelines and viewpoints, the Viet Nam Family Development Strategy to 2020, with a vision toward 2030 also defines: “Family is the cell of society, an important environment for shaping, nurturing, and providing personality education, preserving and enhancing great traditional culture, combating social evils, creating human resources to serve the national construction and defense cause⁽⁶⁾. On February 20, 2014, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 279/QD-TTg which approved a scheme aimed at promoting the sound values ​​of family relations and supporting the building of happy and sustainable families until 2020. In 2017, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism enacted the “Family Code of Conduct” in order to establish appropriate relations and standards of conduct in family, curtailing moral corruption, maintaining happy and sustainable families, gravitating toward social stability and civilization.  

At the 13^th National Congress, the Party continued to advocate: “Protecting and upholding precious and sustainable values in the Vietnamese culture and traditions”⁽⁷⁾, contributing to building “prosperous, happy, progressive, and civilized Vietnamese families”⁽⁸⁾. In order to bring the Party’s Resolution to life, it is necessary to synchronously take the following key measures:

Firstly, strengthening the study and dissemination of the fine conventional values ​​of Vietnamese families: “Focusing on researching, identifying and establishing the national value system, cultural value system and human ethical standards in association with preserving and developing the Vietnamese family value system in the new period”⁽⁹⁾. Promulgating traditional ethical values, family customs, and behavioral culture in families and the community, helping each family see the continuity between tradition and modernity. Diversifying forms and methods of disseminating the Party’s guidance and the State’s policies and laws on family affairs; ensuring close coordination among schools, families, communities, and society in spreading decent conventional values ​​of family and cultural family models. In particular, it is of necessity to flexibly and effectively use modern media to promulgate traditional family values​ in accordance with the psycho-physiological characteristics of each age group and each subject.

Secondly, continuing to concretize, institutionalize and effectively implement the Party’s views and guidelines and the State’s policies on building prosperous, happy, progressive, and civilized families. Concretizing and centering on overcoming “achievement disease”, “formalism disease”, enforcing the cultural standards of prosperous, happy, progressive, and civilized Vietnamese families⁽¹⁰⁾, combining traditional values ​​with modern ones harmoniously in compliance with​​ the spirit of the Resolution of the 13^th National Party Congress. Formulating and refining the policies and laws on family affairs, especially legal documents related to family, domestic violence prevention, and gender equality. Executing the Viet Nam Family Development Strategy to 2020, with a vision to 2030, and the “Family Code of Conduct”. “Building model families of “exemplary grandmothers and parents, kind and dutiful descendants, husbands and wives getting along with each other, united and loving siblings””⁽¹¹⁾. Realizing civilized marriage on the basis of true and unconditional love, building democratic, equal, harmonious, loving and sharing homes. Raising the quality and efficiency of the state management of family affairs, concentrating on perfecting the state apparatus, intensifying the division and close coordination among levels and branches in enforcing policies and laws; improving the quality and capacity of cadres and civil servants, especially specialized ones and those at the grassroots level.

Thirdly, placing a central focus on family education, making a drastic change in shaping Vietnamese human personality in the new era. Stressing the role of family in nurturing and educating young generations”⁽¹²⁾, encouraging education about family morality and lifestyles according to Directive No. 11/CT-TTG, dated March 29 2017, by the Prime Minister “On strengthening ethical and traditional values in family”. Accordingly, “promoting education about patriotism, national pride,... social responsibility for all the classes of people, especially youngsters. Employing drastic measures to effectively prevent degradation in morality and lifestyles, and tackle social negativity and vices”⁽¹³⁾. Meanwhile, “promoting education to raise public awareness and observance of laws, protecting the environment, preserving the national cultural identity of Vietnamese people, especially young generations. Gradually remedying Vietnamese people’s shortcomings; building Vietnamese people in the new era based on a tight and harmonious blend of traditional values ​​with modern ones”⁽¹⁴⁾. With the spirit of “eliminating the bad and retaining the good”, each family needs to promote education about family life, healthy and civilized lifestyles for its members in order to contribute to the formation and development of Vietnamese people in this period, hand good conventional values down, prevent deterioration in morality and lifestyles, cracking down on social negativity and vices. Grandparents and parents should set an excellent example for their children and grandchildren through their attitudes and daily behavior towards their relatives, neighbors, and society. Through the orderly organization of family life, older generations instill the beauty of family culture into their descendants, fostering cultural personality for them. Encouraging the replication of the model of “cozy and loving family meals” in order to connect family members, raising the responsibility of members in building happy families. In the meantime, paying attention to practicing cultural activities in important events, such as anniversaries, Tet holiday,... to create closeness among family members, pass traditional cultural values down and promote them in modern life.

Fourthly, boosting the formation of cultural life in the spirit of honoring the conventional values ​​of the family, community, and nation. Associating the establishment of new cultural life in residential areas with the program on building new rural areas and civilized cities; putting the movement “all people unite to build cultural life” into operation practically and effectively; building cultural lifestyles in families, residential areas, agencies, units, and businesses... concentrating on building “cultured family”; “cultured hamlet”, “cultured village”, “cultured mountain village”, “cultured residential neighborhood”,… creating an environment honoring traditional family values. Executing the National Action Program on domestic violence prevention; organizing activities on practical themes to respond to the International Day of Happiness, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls, and the Vietnamese Family Day. Continuing to found and improve cultural and information institutions at the grassroots level; effectively exploiting cultural institutions to serve the dissemination and education about traditional cultural values, and at the same time addressing the needs of the community in daily activities as well as enjoying culture. Intensifying the self-management role of the community, encouraging social organizations to participate in shaping grassroots culture, enhancing the quality of public cultural and artistic activities. Regularly praising and rewarding exemplary families; simultaneously, condemning and fighting against deviant behavior, creating public opinion in the community, and contributing to adjusting the awareness, attitude, and behavior of each family.

The conventional values ​​of Vietnamese families are the crystallization of family culture and national culture, influencing the perception and behavior of individual family members, providing the basis for the development of families at the present time and in the future. In modern society, traditional family values ​​continue to be fostered and spread, which is an endogenous factor that forms a solid basis for building modern Vietnamese families. A number of conventional values; however, ​​have been subject to certain changes. Some of them ​​have been dying out or deformed. Therefore, each family and the whole society need to be fully and deeply aware of this issue, proactively promote outstanding traditional values, contributing to building prosperous, happy, progressive, and civilized families so that family is really a healthy cell, making a worthy contribution to the cause of national construction and defense in the new context./.

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(1) Le Ngoc Van, Mai Van Hai, Dang Thi Hoa, Bui Thi Huong Tram: Vietnamese family value system from a sociological approach, Publishing House. Social Sciences, Hanoi, 2016, p. 129

(2) https://nhandan.com.vn/dien-dan/phat-huy-gia-tri-truyen-thong-tot-dep-tutrong gia-dinh-617394/

(3) https://nhandan.com.vn/tin-tuc-su-kien/khi-toi-pham-ngay-cang-tre-375448

(4) Documents of the 8th National Congress, Publishing House. National politics, Hanoi, 1996, p. 112 - 113

(5) Documents of the 12^th National Congress, Office of the Party Central Committee, Hanoi, 2016, p. 128

(6) Decision No. 629/QD-TTg, dated May 29, 2012, by the Prime Minister, “Approval of the Viet Nam Family Development Strategy to 2020, with a vision to 2030”

(7), (8), (9) Documents of the 13^th National Congress, Publishing House. National Politics Truth, Hanoi, 2021, Volume. I, p.143, 144, 143

(10), (11), (12), (13), (14) Documents of the 13^th National Congress: Sdđ, Volume I, p. 144, 70, 144, 143

This article was published in the Communist Review No. 968 (June 2021)