Traditional Vietnamese Culture: What Was Passed Down Without Being Taught

A Culture I Never Knew — Yet Always Carried

I was born in Vietnam.
Adopted in France.
And for years, I lived cut off from everything that made up my origin.

I didn’t know the festivals, rituals, gods, or prayers.
I had no altar. No incense.
But sometimes, in certain gestures, certain scents, certain absences...
I recognized a country I had never been taught.

That is Vietnamese culture:
a silent heritage, passed down through gestures, silences, and respectful downcast eyes.

A Culture That Speaks to Those Who Have Lost, Fled, or Never Knew

You don’t need to be Vietnamese to feel touched.
You just need to have once felt that your memory wasn’t really yours.
That who you are can’t be explained.
That you carry things without understanding them.

What I write here is for:

Adoptees, of course.

The uprooted, the exiled, the travelers within.

But also for you, reader, seeking a culture with heart.

What I Learned Without Ever Being Taught

Vietnamese culture doesn’t need to impose itself to exist.
It is there, everywhere, even in what we too quickly forget.

A quietly placed bowl is worth more than a long speech.

A single offering is enough to speak to the dead.

Respect is not spoken, it is shown.

Here, silence is as powerful as a poem.

Why I Share All This Here

Because I had no guide.
Because I don’t want others to search alone as I did.
Because I realized this site is more than a blog: it’s a platform for transmission.

Here you will find: