Popular and high culture in Vietnamese history

According to the author, what is the primary difference between his perspective and that of French colonialist and Vietnamese Marxist scholars?

• The author believes popular and official cultures are identical.

• The author focuses on the interaction and harmony between cultures, while Marxists focus on class conflict.

• The author argues that only "official" culture is historically significant.

• The author denies that a "ruling class" ever existed in Vietnam.

Answer explanation

Explanation from the text: "Consequently, they have focused their analysis on sociocultural discord between and among classes, ignoring sociocultural interrelatedness as well as sociocultural harmony... In this paper, examining pre-modern Vietnamese history, I propose to analyze Vietnamese culture from the 'cultural oneness' perspective. I will show that both harmony and struggle are integral parts of Vietnamese culture. Also, I will show that the popular and official cultures interacted, became the basis of, and enriched one another."

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The author argues that the life histories of the first Dinh and Lê kings refute which particular argument?

• these kings were influenced by Chinese culture.

• early Vietnamese rulers came from peasant stock.

• Marxist argument that rulers were always "the offspring of the ruling class."

• the Hoa Lư court had rustic characteristics.

Answer explanation

Explanation from the text: "[Đinh Tiên Hoàng's] life history, thus, refutes the Marxist argument that he was 'the offspring of the ruling class.' On the contrary, his life history exemplifies the life of a commoner who earned his living from husbandry and fishing... The fact that the Dinh and the Lê kings came from peasant stock precludes any conclusion that cultural dualism... existed."

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What ideological shift does the author say occurred during the Lê and Nguyễn periods?

• The ruling kings embraced a mix of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

• The court rejected all foreign influences to create a purely Vietnamese culture.

• The rulers promoted a flexible and open ideology to encourage intellectual freedom.

• The rulers promoted a closed, authoritarian ideology based on Sung Confucianism.

Answer explanation

Explanation from the text: "However, during the Lê and the Nguyễn periods, the ruling kings became more ideologically authoritarian, that is, they promoted Confucianism to the status of official state ideology. Thus, at this time, cultural dualism became a fact of Vietnamese cultural life. Rejecting the open ideology... the Lê-Nguyễn court made official a closed ideology... modeled after the then-outdated Sung Confucianism, which was intolerant of both Buddhism and Taoism."

How did Buddhism serve as a "bridge" during the Lý dynasty?

• It was the official state religion that all other beliefs were forced to follow.

• It provided a shared belief system and vocabulary for both the rulers and the common people.

• It was used to justify military expansion to the south.

• It was exclusively a "popular" religion, separate from the "high" culture of the court.

Answer explanation

Explanation from the text: "Despite the existence of the 'court culture,' the Lý kings and their people shared a belief in Buddhism. In other words, Buddhism became a bridge between the ruler and the ruled, and Buddhist terms became part of the Vietnamese vocabulary shared by these two groups."

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According to the author, why did marginalized groups like fishermen and women find Catholicism appealing?

• Catholicism offered them a path to wealth and political power.

• It promised to overthrow the Confucian ruling class.

• It offered spiritual solace and an escape from the discrimination they faced in traditional society.

• The Jesuit priests were all from peasant backgrounds and spoke their language.

Answer explanation

Explanation from the text: "Without roots in the village, they were discriminated against and deprived of the spiritual and material benefits offered by the village... Therefore, seeking psychological and spiritual solace, fishermen became converts... Catholicism in Vietnam thus became the savior of those who had been suppressed and marginalized."

The author describes the intellectual Nguyễn Trãi as a "bridge" between popular and high culture primarily because:

• He was a populist who rejected his Confucianist background.

• He was loyal to the court but his poems were filled with folk proverbs and sayings.

• He led a peasant rebellion against the court's authoritarianism.

• He was a Taoist who lived in seclusion among the common people.

Answer explanation

Explanation from the text: "Nguyễn Trãi's poems were composed in the national language and were replete with folk proverbs and folk sayings. His writings do not reflect a bias favoring one current of culture; they functioned as a bridge between 'popular' and 'high' culture during the early 15th century."

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The popular religion Đạo Nội included the worship of which two figures as symbolic patriarchal and matriarchal forces?

• The Hùng Kings and the fairy mother Âu Cơ

• Trần Hưng Đạo and the Goddess Liễu Hạnh

• The Buddha and the Jade Emperor

Answer explanation

Explanation from the text: "One exemplary case was Đạo Nội's inclusion of the worship of Đức Thánh Trần, that is, Trần Hưng Đạo, as the symbolic patriarchal figure... The last immortal god was the Goddess Liễu Hạnh. She... represented the matriarchal principle that stood in opposition to the Confucianist patriarchal principle..."

The author traces the origin of the popular musical form quan họ to which source?

• The folk traditions of Tày music in Cao Bằng.

• Cham immigrants who later settled in Bắc Ninh Province.

• The court music of the Lê dynasty in Lam Kinh.

• The influence of Chinese opera during the 17th century.

Answer explanation

Explanation from the text: "Quan họ Bắc ninh, for example, was originally brought to Đại Việt by Cham immigrants, who later became inhabitants of Bắc Ninh Province."

What does the author claim about the relationship between village scholars and peasants between the 17th and 19th centuries?

• They formed two distinct classes that were in constant conflict.

• The boundary between the two groups was unclear, as scholars often came from peasant stock and participated in village life.

• Village scholars imposed "high" culture on the peasants, destroying popular traditions.

• Peasants were not allowed to become scholars due to the rigid class system.

Answer explanation

Explanation from the text: "The Marxist dichotomy of two classes—scholars and peasants—did not exist during this period. What existed were the two 'occupational' groups, both of which originated from peasant stock. The boundary between these two groups was unclear..."

What does the Vietnamese term hằng hà sa số ("too much") reveal about the influence of Buddhism?

• It is a phrase invented by a Zen monk to describe enlightenment.

• It is a direct translation of a Chinese Taoist saying.

• Its literal meaning, "sand of the Ganges River," comes from a Buddhist Sutra.

• It was a term used by Confucian scholars to criticize Buddhist beliefs.