Rice has many links to various aspects of Vietnamese
life and culture ranging from folklore, festivals, and family rituals to the
arts and specific rice-based foods such as rice wine (Ruou Nep) and rice cakes
(Banh Chung, Banh U), as well as the actual grain and its stalks.
Historically, wet rice cultivation was a
labor-intensive task that could not be accomplished easily. As a result,
families pooled their labor. They also shared their water resources and
irrigation facilities. Typically, irrigation arrangements called for water to
run downhill, linking all the surrounding families in their shared destiny of
communal resource usage. Further, people lived in houses clustered together and
depended heavily upon each other since the rice was usually planted on the same
day after several days of watering. This necessitated an emphasis on group
interests, the enhancement of skills in group decision-making and the avoidance
of friction between families who would be neighbors and workmates for
generations.
This historic commitment to group harmony, a
hallmark of the original culture of rice, echoes today and continues to shape
group consciousness.