Discover the culture of the Kinh people

The Kinh people are the most populous of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, residing in the plains, with favorable conditions for socio-economic development, so they are the main force participating in the founding of the country. Let's join iGuide.ai to learn about the information about the Kinh people, Vietnam according to reference information from the Vietnam Ethnic Committee!

Historical origins

The Kinh (as well as the Muong, Tho, and Chut) are indigenous peoples, living for a long time on the land of Vietnam, not originating from outside the territory. From the original cradle in the Northern and North Central regions, concentrated in the plains, the Kinh people migrated to other regions, becoming a large ethnic group, present in all areas and terrains of the Fatherland. Throughout the development process of Vietnamese history, the Kinh people have always been the center of attraction and unity of ethnic groups to build and protect the Fatherland. The Kinh people also have another name: Vietnamese people.

Population and languages

- Population: According to statistics from the 2019 Vietnam Population and Housing Census, the Kinh ethnic group currently has 82,085,826 people (male: 40,804,641 people, female: 41,281,185 people), accounting for 86.83% of the total population of the country. The number of people living in urban areas is 31,168,839 people, living in rural areas is 50,916,987 people. After 10 years, from 2009 to 2019, the population size of the Kinh ethnic group increased by nearly 8.5 million people. The average annual population growth rate in the period 2009-2019 of the Kinh ethnic group is 1.09%, lower than the average growth rate of ethnic minorities (1.42%) and the average growth rate of the whole country (1.14%). The Kinh people are present in all provinces and cities across the country. The number of Vietnamese people residing in the Northern Midlands and Mountains is 5,495,484 (accounting for 6.7%); the Red River Delta: 22,074,819 people (26.9%); the North Central and Central Coast: 18,111,079 people (22.1%); the Central Highlands: 3,642,726 people (4.4%); the Southeast: 16,798,500 people (20.4%); and the Mekong Delta: 15,963,218 people (19.5%).

- Language: Vietnamese: belongs to the Viet-Muong language group, the South Asian language family. National script: is built on the basis of using Latin letters (directly from Portuguese letters) combined, adding 9 diacritics (4 marks to create new sounds and 5 marks to show the tone of the word) to record Vietnamese place names and names. Together with Vietnamese, national script forms the official language of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

Geographic distribution

The Kinh are the only ethnic group among the 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam that reside in communities in all provinces, on all types of terrain and areas throughout the country (plains, midlands, mountains, plateaus, coastal areas and islands), but are concentrated in the plains. This is a common rule, "as a consequence, in every complete country in Southeast Asia, the main ethnic group is always an ethnic group that occupies the plains". The Vietnamese people still live concentratedly along major traffic routes, and are the main population in all urban areas at all levels throughout the country. With the above characteristics of population and residential nature, the Vietnamese people have played a leading role in the development of the Vietnamese nation-state since the beginning of the country's founding, through the ancient, medieval, modern and modern periods today.

Main features

Traditional social institutions

The majority of Vietnamese people live in villages, several villages together forming a commune. In a village there are usually many hamlets, some are as large as a village and some are similar to a hamlet in the North. Village rules are relatively comprehensive and strict in terms of all aspects of village activities, forcing everyone to acknowledge and voluntarily implement them. Vietnamese families are mostly small families consisting of two generations under the patriarchal system. However, women still play an important role, often being the economic managers in the family.

Religion, belief

Ancestor worship is the most important belief of the Vietnamese people. The custom of worshiping Tho Cong, Tao Quan, and Ong Dia is popular in many places; many families worship Thanh Hoang, pagodas worship Buddha, etc. A part of the population in rural or urban areas also follow Catholicism, Protestantism, and other religions such as Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, and many more.

Housing

Vietnamese people often live in ground-floor houses. The main house usually has a structure of 3 or 5 rooms, in which the middle room is the most solemn space, where the ancestral altar is placed. The side rooms are the resting and living places of family members, while the chambers are arranged in the wings of the house as the women's residence and also the place to store food and family property. The kitchen is often built next to the livestock barn. In many provinces in the South, the kitchen is often located next to or connected to the main house. The yard is the space for drying and family activities, creating an airy space, suitable for the humid tropical climate. Nowadays, in crowded villages due to population growth, the traditional house area with large yard-garden of the family often has to be divided into smaller areas, replaced by flat-roofed houses or modern multi-storey houses.

Holidays

Tet Nguyen Dan (Lunar New Year) is the biggest festival of the year. After Tet Lunar New Year are spring festivals. In addition, there are many other traditional festivals such as Full Moon Festival in January, Thanh Minh Festival, Ha Dien Festival, Thuong Dieu Festival, Doan Ngo Festival, Full Moon Festival in July, Mid-Autumn Festival, New Rice Festival,... Each festival has its own meaning and the rituals are different.

Skin

In the past, Kinh men often wore lame pants and brown blouses (North) or black blouses (South), and went barefoot. During holidays, men wore white pants, black tunics, turbans, and wooden clogs. Women often wore black skirts, yếm, brown blouses, and black crow-beak scarves (North); or Ao Ba Ba, wrapped in a checkered scarf, and conical hats (South). Women often wore Ao Dai during festivals. Nowadays, with the introduction of Western fashion and fashion from other countries, serving many different situations and jobs, Vietnamese people's daily clothes have been changed to T-shirts, white shirts, long skirts, long pants, western pants, etc. Ao Dai has also been somewhat modernized to suit modern fashion needs but still retains its traditional features and enhances the elegance of Vietnamese women.

Marriage

Vietnamese people highly value pure and faithful love. In feudal times, marriage was often arranged by parents, but today, men and women are free to get to know each other. The traditional Vietnamese wedding ceremony must go through 4 basic steps: Proposal, Asking for Proposal, Wedding and Re-appearance.

Cuisine

“Com tet, nuoc che” are the basic daily foods and drinks of Vietnamese people. Sticky rice usually only appears during holidays. In daily meals, there are often vegetable soups or crab soups, fish soups, etc. In particular, Vietnamese people love to use fish sauces (shrimp paste, fish, shrimp, clams, etc.) and pickles (cai, onions, eggplants, pickled onions). The traditional Tet tray of Kinh people cannot lack familiar dishes such as: banh tet, banh chung, pickled onions, pickled onions, braised pork, spring rolls, ham, sticky rice, boiled chicken or bamboo shoot soup, etc. Alcohol is often used during holidays and festivals. In the past, chewing betel and smoking tobacco were not only a need or habit but also became a ritual in customs.

Economic conditions

The majority of the population lives mainly on agriculture, mainly rice cultivation, combined with animal husbandry, handicraft development and exchange and trade. Rice agriculture was formed and developed by the Vietnamese people very early. Pig, cattle, poultry farming, fish farming... are also very developed. The Vietnamese are famous for their "talent" in handicrafts, developing hundreds of crafts - hundreds of professions, each of which seems to reach the peak of ingenuity and talent. Many handicraft villages have separated from agriculture. Village markets, fairs, district markets... are very bustling. Currently, in the process of industrialization and modernization of the country, urban areas and industrial zones are increasingly developing, people's lives are increasingly prosperous.

Above is some interesting information about Kinh ethnic group, Vietnam, let's plan to explore, meet and experience the culture with Kinh people, in the near future with iGuide.ai!

Source:
- Ethnic groups in Vietnam (National Political Publishing House Truth)
- Basic characteristics of 54 ethnic minorities in 2019 (Committee on Ethnic Minorities and General Statistics Office)
- Website of the Ethnic Committee, Website of Nhan Dan Newspaper
- Survey results collect information on the socio-economic status of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam