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July 12, 2009
Thành Ngữ Việt Nam
I bought this shirt because the Vietnamese words written in Chinese-style calligraphy looked cool...
It turns out that the words constitute a Chinese proverb that made its way to Vietnam over 2,000 years ago (according to my Vietnamese teacher). As a result of millenia of intermittent Chinese rule and constant Chinese influence, Vietnam's government, education system, and even family structure are similar to those of its big brother to the north. Until Alexandre de Rhodes transliterated the Vietnamese language into its current, Romanized alphabet in the late 18th century, the literate classes used a version of Chinese characters as their own writing system.
So, that explains the origin of this Vietnamese proverb, or Thành Ngữ Việt Nam, but what wisdom does it offer? A discussion with my Vietnamese teacher yielded the following interpretation:
Dục tốc bất đạt...
Literally, "in wanting quick success, one will not succeed." An appropriate reminder for my instant gratification conditioned American mind.
Here are a couple more Vietnamese proverbs that I like:
Ông ăn chả, bà ăn nem...
Literally, "while the man eats chả (grilled chopped meat), his wife eats nem (pork hash wrapped in banana leaf)." Any ideas about the meaning? This one stumped me - I thought it had something to do with men and women having different tastes. My (patient) Vietnamese teacher finally shared that it describes a married couple who each have a lover on the side. In this society where people marry young and divorce is still frowned upon, I suspect that man and wife having "different tastes" happens more often than one might expect...
Mất sổ gạo...
Literally, "to lose one's rice ledger." The decade after the North Vietnamese kicked out the US and completed their "reuinification" of the country was a tough one economically. Soviet-style central planning meant that families were allocated a set portion of rice, which they obtained by presenting their ledger - probably to a local communist party official. In this time of food shortages, "losing one's rice ledger" could mean that the family would go hungry. Today, it seems like most people get enough to eat here in Vietnam, and my Vietnamese teacher explained that people now use the phrase to cheer up someone who is looking dejected by asking, "What happened - did you lose your rice ledger?" I like asking myself this question - makes my problems seem minor by comparison!
Posted by mt_mrobinson at July 12, 2009 12:24 PM
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Comments
Max, "ong an cha ba an nem" kills! It put the solemn of marriage into vain. Commitment is already exhausted its meaning while riding on the fence of relativism. Keep on blogging chief!
Posted by: Hong Bui at November 20, 2009 11:02 AM