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National Geographic : 1961 Oct
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National Geographic, October, 1961 "These Vietnamese really take to modern technology," said Kurt Hinterkopf, a Ger man engineer setting up a toothpaste tube factory. "They taught me a lot too. I never saw such individualists." And he told about ordering a shower in stalled. "I showed the man exactly where I wanted the faucets. When I came back, the faucets sat much higher. Why? 'Look,' said the man, 'if I'm going to work for you, you must let me make some decisions too.' " The Vietnamese were at work with a will. Why were they not at peace? "Victims of Our Own Success" Said President Ngo Dinh Diem: "Faced by failure in political action, the Communists have resorted to subversive warfare." A presidential adviser elaborated: "We are victims of our own success. When the French pulled out and the Communists took over the northern half of Viet Nam, nobody thought we in the south could last long. We had no trained administrators, but we carried on. Nearly a million refugees poured in from the north. We absorbed them.* The economy was exhausted. We revived it. "President Diem has slapped the Commu nists in the face, and they're desperate to do something about it." My friend Dinh said I would find other reasons as well. "Things seem rosy from Sai gon. Now go to a village. Don't worry if the people don't look you in the eye.. It wouldn't be polite. And they don't shake hands. They think that's barbaric. So those American handclasp stickers don't always make the point intended." And so I drove south toward the Mekong Delta with Marcel de Clerck, the Belgian chief of a United Nations mission, and he told me about the dragon of Khanh Hau. This village had the shape of a dragon, he said, which meant prosperity for people born there and assured that their children would become important men. But many years ago the French built a road that disturbed the dragon, tying it down so that it could no longer do its good work. "That's geomancy, the Taoist influence. A canal is a dragon, bringing luck. A road is a tiger, a menace. It makes sense. Water brings life. Roads bring tax collectors and soldiers. "In 1956 we wanted to establish an educa tional center in the vicinity, to train teachers for all Viet Nam," Marcel continued. "The notables of Khanh Hau said it would be use less to start any project unless a canal were built first. For irrigation, I thought. But no. They wanted to release the dragon, you see, to restore his power." The villagers dug without pay, without co ercion. "President Diem asked me how much money the canal had cost. I said none. He couldn't believe it." Why hadn't the villagers liberated their dragon before? "Because one leaves things as they are, unless high authority orders other wise. That's also the Taoist influence." Best Place to Sit on a Dragon In the house of the village chief of Khanh Hau we met notables in black robes and the associate director of the Fundamental Edu cation Center, Mr. Truong Van Mui. "You're sitting in the dragon's head," he said. I ventured that this must be the best place. "No," said a village notable. "The best place is the belly." We visited the sights: the new canal, the tomb and temple of Khanh Hau's most fa mous son, Marshal Nguyen Huynh Duc; also the Pagoda of the Thousand Happinesses with its Buddhist nuns. The nun I spoke to replied only reluctantly, especially when I asked her name: Hue Hanh - Blessed Virtue. As we left, Marcel said: "People who don't know Westerners re *For a moving eyewitness account of these refugees and their resettlement, see "Passage to Freedom in Viet Nam," by Gertrude Samuels, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, June, 1955. Masked as a Unicorn, a Celebrant Climbs a Pole for Cash and Cabbage Joyful Vietnamese mark their lunar New Year with the festival of Tet, a national holi day, family celebration, and religious rite for the dead, all rolled into one. The word itself is short for Tet Nhat, meaning "first day of the return of spring." Frenzy and - until they were banned recently-firecrackers usher out the old year; prayer and thanksgiving wel come in the new. The observance occurs in January or February. Unicorn dancers are believed to bring good fortune. Luck seekers at this Cho Lon house suspend money and cabbage leaves from the banner. To reach the reward, a costumed merrymaker mounts a two-story bamboo pole held by his friends. KODACHROMEC NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICSOCIETY 460
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