[S01.5] Non-religious Spiritual space for social cohesion in Vietnam
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4.2 “Informal public” social space and collective memories in the Vietnamese society
Given the distinct characteristic of agricultural culture, Vietnamese society is often perceived in the shape of collectivism. This ideology, in some ways, eliminated the role of individuals and private life in the contribution of collective and cultural memory. In truth, memory can only be recalled by individuals and collective memory is a synthesis image of personal recollections as Hassan Fathy, a famous Egyptian architect, wrote in his book Architecture for the poor– a reflective report from his sustainable housing project New Gourna Village in Egypt:
“When we consider a society, we see that it is a pattern of such individualities and, more important, that each individual is the creation of the rest.” (Fathy 1973)
The individuality is not a vague quality but visible details that can be observed from the routine of the inhabitants in their daily life, the base of the spiritual life in a community. In this regards, instead of looking into the formal spiritual edifices, I decided to identify the pattern of collective memory at the individual level, choosing the symbols that deeply rooted in the culture and oral literature of the Viet.
4.2.1 The well (giếng nước) and banyan tree (cây đa) in the Vietnamese village
Village (làng) was the basic unit of Vietnamese society which can be seen from the term “làng nước” (referring to the country). This is a combined word in which the notion “làng” come first. In the other words, the village was a small-scaled isolated world in the regards of self-sufficiency and homogeneity. Within the bamboo hedge, besides the communal house (đình), a formal social space hosting festivals and ritual activities, the well and the banyan tree are two totemic objects that truly reflecting the everyday life of the villagers. The crucial distinction between these places is in the sphere of social hierarchy: if the attendance to the communal house was traditionally implied as a priority for men, the well and banyan tree was a symbol of equality in which the access was opened for everyone regardless the ages, gender or social position (Tran 1996).
Besides its physical function as a fresh water supply and reservoir for the whole village, the well (giếng nước) or wharf also served as a gathering point for many mundane socializing activities: adults go there for meeting up and exchanging stories in their daily life while doing the laundry and children utilized it as a playground (figure 12)
Banyan tree (cây đa) was used to plant near the entrance of the village. Given the life-long span (up to hundred years) and huge shadow, the tree served as a stop for the peasants on the way to the paddy field or the meeting point of the villagers with the outsiders. The tree, in the other words, became a bridge connecting the village with the outside world. Unlike the bamboo hedge (lũy tre) separating the village from the entire world, a banyan tree is a symbolic object for the hospitality and longevity of a homogenous community (figure 14, 15, 16).
