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National Geographic : 1961 Oct
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National Geographic, October, 1961 "At New Year's, the first duty is filial piety, veneration at the family shrine as prescribed 2,450 years ago by Confucius," explained F. R. Iredell, formerly a dean at Pomona Col lege in California, where he taught logic and Oriental philosophy. "People must also please the household spirits who dwell in the kitchens. Just before Tet they ascend to heaven, to report on the family's behavior to the Emperor of Jade. Be fore they go, they receive offerings-food, in cense, a good fish- so that they'll give a good report. That's the influence of Taoism. Like Confucianism, it came from China. The Chi nese, you know, ruled Viet Nam a thousand years." I asked about the national costume that helped the women look so self-assured, so feminine: wispy trousers under a long-sleeved, high-necked dress slit to the hips (page 488). I rarely saw the same pattern twice, but the cut never varied. Ancient Chinese? "Modern Vietnamese," said the professor. "A modification of the traditional dress by the artist Nguyen Cat Tuong about 25 years ago. A brilliant combination of the alluring and the virtuous." In Dinh's house I saw the country's culture reflected in a three-tiered altar. First were photographs of ancestors, and brass candle sticks shaped like storks, symbols of longev ity, resting on turtles, symbols of hard work. On the next rung, incense burned before a picture of a Chinese hero, a symbol of intel lect, courage, devotion to duty. Highest was a picture of the Buddha. I found similar altars in shops, factories, and theaters. Temples Crowded on Eve of Tct This year Tet fell on February 15. On the eve of the holiday, I walked through Cho Lon, Saigon's Chinese district. The name means Big Market. I had seen the endless stalls along the streets and riverside piers, lighted past midnight by gasoline lamps. Fish, fruit, and Chinese condiments; hundreds of pairs of shoes, hundreds of combs, hundreds of yards of rope. Who would buy it all? Now all Cho Lon seemed to be in the Chi nese temples-or rather, in the temple where I was. I had never felt more crowded in the New York subway. And everyone carried a lighted candle or incense stick (page 453). Intricate screens at the entrance shielded us from evil spirits. They travel only in straight lines. But there was no relief from the smoke, intensified by the burning of papers to carry prayers to the beyond. Gongs dominated the continual din. Their rhythm was supposed to rise and fall with the generosity of donors eager to assure a good reception for their prayers. Generosity mounted fiercely. I was pushed into a woman next to the gongs and offered to help her fight her way out. She said no, she'd stay all night. "I take contributions. It's for the good of the whole world." Bamboo Sticks Predict the Future Next morning I visited the Temple of Mar shal Le Van Duyet, a Vietnamese military hero contemporary with Napoleon. That day 100,000 Saigonese besought his benevolent spirit for favors and omens (page 452). Men and women prostrated themselves on carpets, bowing again and again. Rattling noises came from the boxes each was shaking - until one of many bamboo sticks fell out of the box to the carpet. The sticks carried numbers, corresponding to the numbers on colored slips stacked in an adjoining hall. Each stick was a key to the future. "If you get a number you don't like, put the stick back and try again," said my interpreter, Lt. Nguyen Quoc Hung of the Air Force. How did one know what number to like? "Didn't you see the fortune teller outside?" Lieutenant Hung asked. I got my box, my stick, and my slip with predictions. I was going to be very lucky. On the third day of Tet the Vietnamese family bids goodbye to the ancestors. Lieu tenant Hung took me to see the ceremony per formed by his grandfather. This venerable man prayed before the home altar and burned gold leaf in the yard, so that the departing spirits would have money. Then he invited me to the holiday feast: meat, fish, and lotus seeds that tasted like chestnuts; a round bowl representing the sky, Sunday Afternoon Strollers Promenade Tree-shaded Tu Do Street in Saigon When France governed old Indochina, the boulevard won renown as the Rue Catinat. Exquisite shops and sidewalk cafes made it the Oriental counterpart of the smart boule vards of Paris. French cultural influence remains strong in Saigon. New Year's banners drape the 10-story Caravelle, a new hotel built mainly with French funds. KODACHROMEBY W. E . GARRETT,NATIONALGEOGRAPHICSTAFF IC) N.G.S. 448
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