I found lots of things that I didn’t expect when I was in Vietnam.
They showed me that Vietnamese culture is unique and difficult to grasp with one set of categories.
The Long Tuyen Pagoda is about one mile outside the historic town of Hoi An. Most tourists stay in city, even though this temple is close enough to be reached in a quick jog. So I went there because it’s conveniently located yet off the beaten track. I didn’t expect too much from it, but magic started to happen when I got there.
The grounds had several pagodas that were Chinese-influenced. But their soft and cheerful colors made them look more playful than monumental.
Their thin forms were surrounded by Vietnam’s abundant foliage. All these forms and colors seemed to dance as I walked around.
Many of the little things also had this combination of lilting forms and soft, cheerful colors, like this lotus bud on the side of one of the pagodas.
They’re repeated many times on each of the building’s sides.
And they sprout up from the main building. The lotus symbolizes purity–it emerges from the bottoms of ponds and blooms on their surfaces. Its blossoms are unsullied by their surroundings. The lotus thus also symbolizes transformation of the soul to a more spiritual existence than the worldly muck we all live in.
The Long Tuyen Pagoda houses many local folks’ departed relatives, so these lotuses symbolize people’s spiritual aspirations. But the interplays of forms and happy colors are very Vietnamese.
Funerals in Vietnam are often huge affairs, and they’re very lively. People bring as many family members and friends into them as possible to show that the departed was important in life. A man in Hoi An invited me off the street to sit with his family during a funeral for his uncle. all the generations and the whole community form an interconnected whole. The art forms and natural surroundings at the Long Tuyen Pagoda make it seem that this whole is so abundant and joyful that the beauty of this world is stressed as much as liberation from it. The visitors below were enjoying the grounds as much as I was.
I saw these mixtures of playful forms and colors and profuse foliage in temples all over Vietnam. Nothing is really big–no Angkor Wat, Egyptian pyramids, or Gothic cathedrals. But I enjoyed these integrated worlds full of enchantments just as much. Vietnam was ruled by China for about 1,000 years, but its own natural beauty and traditions focused on the family and community have blended with its influences to make the country a very pleasant place to explore.