What is the meaning of the symbol made from red paper?

The symbol is the Chinese character for "double happiness," (song hỉ in Vietnamese) and (shuangxi in Chinese). Wang Anshi (1021-1086), a famous Chinese politician during the Song Dynasty, created the symbol. When he was twenty, Wang Anshi traveled to the capital to sit the royal exams. During his journey, as he passed through a small town, he saw a sentence written on a paper banner that hung from a lantern near a house gate. A decorative revolving screen inside the lantern cast shadows on the lamp shade. The banner read, "The lantern of the pulling horses: The horses gallop when the lamp burns but halt when the lamp is snuffed.".

Wang realised that the house owner, a landlord named Mã (Horse), was inviting passers-by to create a pair of perfect parallel sentences by writing a second sentence to match. Smiling, Wang said to himself, "It's so simple!".

One of Mr. Mã's servants overheard Wang's remark and rushed to tell his master. Mr. Mã ordered the servant to invite Wang in, but by the time the servant returned to the gate, Wang had moved on.

Wang passed his qualifying exams. During the final test, the chief examiner showed him a flag embroidered with a tiger and read aloud this first line of a pair of possible parallel sentences: "The flag of the flying tiger: The tiger soars when the flag flies but rests when the flag is furled." Wang promptly recited the sentence he had seen at Mr. Mã's house. The two sentences matched perfectly, impressing everyone.

On his way back to his home village, Wang passed Mr. Ma's house. The servant recognised Wang and invited him in. When Mr. Ma implored Wang to give him a parallel sentence for the one posted on his gate, Wang recited the sentence from the exam. Of course, once again, the two sentences matched perfectly. Mr. Ma was so pleased that he offered Wang his daughter in marriage. In fact, it turned out that Mr. Ma's daughter had written the sentence on the gate to attract a talented husband.

On his wedding day, Wang learned that he had passed the royal exam with high distinction. Now, he could celebrate two events. He was so overjoyed that he wrote the character "double happiness" on a piece of red paper and pasted it on the gate. He then recited the following verse:

My ability to make parallel sentences has brought me double happiness.

The flying tiger and the running horses join in this auspicious marriage.

How can you choose an auspicious day for your wedding?

Vietnamese commonly choose auspicious days for important events, especially for marriage rites. Tradition holds that a couple's future depends on "age compatibility" of the would-be spouses and on a propitious day and hour for the engagement and wedding ceremonies. In the old days, both sets of parents consulted a Confucian scholar or a professional soothsayer to choose lucky days and hours. Sometimes, at the urging of a soothsayer, a couple would delay the wedding for several months.

Oriental astrology is extremely complicated. Simply put, the Vietnamese system for reckoning time names each month of the twelve-month cycle after an animal, beginning with the Tiger. The Chinese and Vietnamese calendars are the same except that the Vietnamese replace the hare with the cat.

The calendar divides each day into twelve two-hour segments, each named for an animal. Chinese and Vietnamese say Buddha decided the order of the animals thousands of years ago by inviting all the animals to a New Year's gathering. Buddha named the months after the twelve animals that showed up, listing them in the order of arrival. However, the truth is that the animal names in the Oriental zodiac existed long before the birth of Buddha.

Auspicious days vary according to the month:

- First month (the Tiger) and seventh month (the Monkey): all the days of the Rat.

- Second month (the Cat) and eighth month (the Rooster): all the days of the Tiger.

- Third month (the Dragon) and ninth month (the Dog): all the days of the Dragon.

- Fourth month (the Snake) and tenth month (the Pig): all the days of the Horse.

- Fifth month (the Horse) and eleventh month (the Rat): all the days of the Monkey.

- Sixth month (the Goat) and twelfth month (the buffalo): all the days of the Dog.

After determining an auspicious day, the soothsayer uses the same principle to discern the auspicious double-hour for that day. For example, the auspicious time on the day of the Tiger or Monkey is double-hour of the Rat (11 pm — 1 am). The auspicious time on the day of the Cat and the Rooster is that of the Tiger (3-5 am.)

Some people also take into account the constellations governing the day. They will avoid days that might seem auspicious for other events if those dates fall during marriage-adverse constellations, such as "Lonely Room," "Nest Quitting," and "Widowhood."

Nowadays, fewer and fewer people can decipher the ancient calendar because it is written in nom ideograms. As a result, most Vietnamese rely on simplified translations published in modern script. However, these versions are far removed from the ancient science of the stars.

Traditional Weddings

1. Nạp thái:The groom's family visits the bride's family to announce the groom's intention to marry the bride.

2. Vấn danh: The groom's family formally asks for the bride's name, age, education, ancestry, and family circumstances.

3. Nạp cát. The groom's family informs the bride's family that the fortune-teller has foreseen a good future for the couple.

4. Thỉnh kỳ: The groom's family asks the bride's family to determine a proper day for the wedding.

5. Nạp tế: At the appointed time, the groom and his family bring wedding presents to the bride's family.

6. Thân nghênh: The bride leaves her parents for her husband's house. In the past, if the bridegroom and the bride lived in the same village, the groom's family would fetch the bride in the evening.

Modern weddings

1. Lễ chạm ngõ (nạp thái): After the two families agree on the marriage, the bride's family and a matchmaker decide on an auspicious day for the groom's parents to bring gifts to the bride's house and formally ask for an engagement. The groom's parents present a piece of paper on which they have written the bridegroom's name, age, and birth date. The bride's family decides whether to accept the engagement. After this ceremony, the two families must confer with their ancestors at their respective family altars about the engagement. The two families then visit each other to strengthen their relationship and discuss the wedding arrangements. At this stage, either family can cancel the marriage.

2. Ăn hỏi (vấn danh): This is a solemn ceremony to announce the pending marriage. The groom, his family, the matchmaker, and some close relatives bring gifts such as betel nuts, candied lotus seeds, tea, and bánh cốm (cốm cakes) to the bride's house and offer them to the bride's ancestors. 

The bride's parents then divide the presents into many small gifts, which they take to their friends and relatives as a way to announce the engagement.

3. Lễ cưới (thân nghênh): On behalf of the bridegroom's family, a respected older man who is happily married with many children and grandchildren will lead the groom and his companions to fetch the bride. When the groom enters the bride's house, he pays homage to the bride's ancestors. Before leaving her house, the bride steps over a stove with burning charcoal to eradicate any possible bad luck.

What were some customs and pratical wedding tips for a traditionally arranged marriage?

1. No touching before marriage.

In the days of strict Confucianism, touching the skin of the opposite sex before marriage was considered either impolite or a sign of lust.

2. The matchmaker.

The matchmaker, usually a woman, arranged marriages years ago when men and women were forbidden to mix socially. She would organise meetings between the two families to promote understanding before arranging the marriage itself.

3. Tơ hồng- The pink thread of marriage.

Legend has it that a celestial elder used pink threads to tie men and women into couples for marriage. The word "tơ hồng" has become synonymous with "marriage."

4. "Husband-and-wife" cake.

This is a square, green cake made from cassava flour, sugar, shredded coconut, green peas, and spices. Symbolising happiness, the cake remains one of the traditional wedding presents the groom's family offers to the family of the bride.

5. Cheo.

Cheo was a small sum of money the groom's family offered the bride's village. The funds were spent on public works such as roads, public wells, and the village gates. The cheo custom has not been used for a long time.

6. Xin dâu.

Right before the bride was picked up, members of the groom's family brought a tray of betel quids and a pot of liquor to the bride's house to inform her family that the bridal procession was on its way. This custom insured that any final problems were discussed and solved before the bride moved to her husband's family.

7. The mother-in-law's reception of her new daughter.

In some localities, the groom's mother helped the bridegroom remove the bride's conical palm-leaf hat and give her a tour of her new quarters. In other localities, the mother-in-law took a pot of lime and hid in a neighbour's house for a few minutes to indicate that the bride was now the new owner of the house. This, however, was only a symbolic act, since the pot of lime was considered the goddess of the house. Thus, the real power remained in the mother-in-law's hands.

8. The bride's mother and her daughter.

In some localities, the mother of the bride was not customarily allowed to escort her daughter to the groom's house.

9. A hairpin or seven needles.

The bride's mother gave her daughter a hairpin or seven needles before the bride left for her new in-laws' house. If the husband swooned on the first night of conjugal life, his new wife could use the hairpin or needles to stimulate an acupuncture point behind his genitals.

How did southern peasants in the Mekong Delta remain free from feudal wedding rites?

In Vietnamese feudal society, marriage was thought to be a union between two families of equal status with a view to maintaining their clans and keeping their property in tact for posterity. Consequently, parents arranged marriages without taking into account their children's feelings. This strict attitude forced many young couples into an unhappy life.

The wedding photos of Vietnamese in feudal period

Societal customs and manners required that people accept many marital taboos. For example, the liền anh (man singer) and liền chị (woman singer) who had trained together as partners in a quan họ (traditional couple singing) village could never marry one another. A person coming from a family of rank and fashion could never marry a person from a family with a lowly profession. Prohibitions against consanguinity with the same paternal relations were especially important. Such marriages were considered incestuous and brought condemnation and punishment. The category of "close relatives" was broad during feudalism; even distant blood relatives could not marry.

In Viet Nam's patriarchal society, a husband could live with his wife's family only in special cases. Confucian feudal ethics considered the husband the master of the house, while the wife essentially had no status. At that time, women did not have the right to live their own lives. Rigid principles fettered them: A woman followed her father during her childhood, her husband after marriage, and her oldest son after her husband's death.

The Vietnamese women in feudal period

Moreover, the culture favoured polygamy. By law, the husband could have many wives and young concubines, yet the wife had to remain loyal to her husband. Severe rules punished women who committed adultery. The Hoàng Việt Laws in the Nguyễn Dynasty were typical; as punishment, the adulteress and her partner received one hundred blows, whereas the husband was free to sell his wife.

Needless to say, the feudal regime debased Vietnamese women and made them dependent on their husbands and their husbands' families. French colonial law perpetuated feudal patriarchy by recognising polygamy. Further, only the husband held the family's real estate and other property. These regulations brought adversity to many.

However, Vietnamese arriving in the newly settled south lived beyond the reach of the feudal customs that were so strong in northern Viet Nam. Moreover, years of cultural contact with Westerners made southerners more open to Western ideas about love and marriage. Southerners facing the challenges of settling a new frontier developed profound emotional bonds between husband and wife that were more important than clan customs, as these ca dao (peasant poetry) lines show:

I would rather die by the sword

Than abandon my love.

Most southern farmers were not schooled in the Confucian customs of the feudal regime. When choosing marriage partners, they relied upon sentiment and common sense rather than on their parent's wishes, as the following ca dao lines i I lustrate:

If you love me

Don't forsake me because of your father and mother.

Although these southerners did not live in comfort, they valued married life and nurtured love. Except for rich landlords and village notables, southern farmers were too poor to practise polygamy. Husbands and wives worked side by side to survive. The northern emphasis on patriarchy and hierarchy became irrelevant.

Easy communication between the northern and southern parts of the country has reduced regional differences in attitudes toward marriage. Modern Vietnamese have dropped some of the old marital practices yet have maintained or revived others.

How have views on interracial marriages changed?

During the fourteenth century, people felt sorry for Princess Huyền Trân because she had to marry the Cham King Simhavarman Ill, even though he gave her family the provinces of Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên- Huế in exchange for his royal bride.

Before the 1980s, marriages between Vietnamese and foreigners were rare, especially in the North and Center, where Confucian ethics had a stronger hold than in the South. Strictures remained during French colonialism. Respectable families would not accept a foreigner, no matter how distinguished. Popular chauvinism regarded French, Chinese, and Japanese husbands as belonging to the cruel conquerors and greedy merchants who had brought misfortune to the country. Vietnamese used labels: "me Tây" (woman married to a European), "me Tàu" (woman married to a Chinese), or "me Nhật." (woman married to a Japanese).

Vũ Trọng Phụng, a satirical novelist, created an unforgettable character, Madam Phó Đoan, the widow of a French customs officer in colonial times. Needless to say, the portrait was hardly flattering.

Now, however, after two wars with foreigners, ordinary people in Viet Nam know more about other countries and cultures. Viet Nam 's national independence has strengthened the society's self-confidence, and the growing presence of foreign tourists and business people has, largely erased ingrained prejudice against interracial marriage. While still not common, such marriages are no longer mocked or criticised.

Who was the first Vietnamese to marry a European woman?

"Le Thanh Hoa" (1929) — an account by Charles Robequin of Thanh Hóa Province's history, geography, and customs — and Histoire du royaume de Tonkin (History of the Royalty of Tonkin) by the missionary and linguist Alexandre de Rhodes both note that the first Vietnamese to marry a European was Lê Duy Kỳ, who was born in 1607. He was the eldest son of King Lê Kính Tông, who ruled from 1599-1619. His mother was Trịnh Thị Ngọc Trinh, the second daughter of Lord Trinh Tùng.

Lê Duy Kỳ's six wives came from six different backgrounds. His first wife, Trịnh Thị Ngọc Trúc, was a Kinh (ethnic Vietnamese); the second was Thai ethnic minority; the third, Wang ethnic minority; the fourth, Chinese; the fifth, Lao; and the sixth, Dutch.

The Netherlands had commercial and military relations with Viet Nam beginning with the first half of the seventeenth century. The Dutch East India Company ran trading posts in Phố Hiến and Kẻ Chợ and worked in partnership with the Lê kings and the northern Trịnh lords, who were fighting the Nguyễn in the South.

A pagoda at the foot of Mật Mountain south of Thanh Hóa City displays wooden statues of Lê Duy Kì's six wives in their distinctive ethnic costumes. The Dutch wife wears a dress with a low-cut, revealing bodice. Local people believe the six wives donated the money to build the pagoda. In 1959, provincial leaders moved the statues to a nearby temple in Thanh Hoa City's Wing Ve Ward. This temple dedicated to the Lê Dynasty is on the list of Viet Nam's national historical buildings.

Lê Duy Kỳ unusual marriages are not his only claim to fame. Of the 108 Vietnamese kings, he was the only one to be crowned twice. In 1619, Lord Trịnh Tùng Kỳ executed Lê Duy Kỳ's father, King Lê Kính Tông, age thirty-one. Trịnh Tùng chose Lê Duy Kỳ, then age twelve, as the next king. Handsome and intelligent, Lê Duy Kỳ had a broad knowledge, especially of literature. After ruling for twenty-four years as King Thần Tông, he passed the crown to his thirteen-year-old son, Lê Duy Hựu. Six years later, Hựu died without producing any children. Lê Duy Kỳ was crowned for the second time. He died thirteen years later, in 1662. In all, Lê Duy Kỳ wore the crown for thirty-seven years, from 1619 to 1643 and from 1649 to 1662.

How has the fashion of Hanoian brides changed?

In more modern times, a combination of political, social, and economic factors as well as the fashions of successive generations have influenced and changed the design of wedding dresses in Ha Noi. The younger generation has always sought the modern look, whereas their parents' generation tends to respect tradition.

The fashion favoured in the early half of the 20' century is best illustrated in Nguyen Bính's verse:

Here is the Đồng Lầm brown tunic,

And here are the Lĩnh Tía trousers of purple silk,

Here are mirror, comb, and earrings,

I'll buy you whatever you lack,

So you do not feel inferior to anyone.

In this poem, a proud mother sends her daughter off to her future husband in a dress the bride will wear only once but hopes to keep the rest of her life. Each choice of colour, cloth, and jewellery carries important symbolism about femininity and family reputation, tradition and modernity, and past and future lives. Above all, the exquisite bridal dress is the silent witness to a vow of life-long union.

Feudal concepts still influenced bridal outfits during the 1930s. The colour varied between red, pink, yellow, purple, blue, and other shades. Typical wedding garments were váy lĩnh cạp điều (a dress of glossy black with a hem of bright red silk) and the áo tứ thân (four-flap dress). Accompanying the ensemble were a pink undershirt, a yellow waistband, and the silver xà tích (an ornamental chain on which the bride kept keys and other valuables). The popular bridal hairstyle of the time was tóc đuôi gà, in which the woman wrapped her hair in a turban (khăn vấn) around her head yet left a gentle curl hanging down.

A special outfit carried the name of Empress Nam Phương, wife of King Bảo Đại of the Nguyễn Dynasty. The decoration was a delicately embroidered motif of two phoenixes, a symbol of conjugal happiness according to the yin-yang principle. Today, these outfits are found only in museums.

The liberation of Ha Noi in 1954 brought massive changes to everyday life; the bridal outfit changed accordingly. Hanoian brides wore the traditional ao dai and left their long hair hanging loose or wore it plaited and wound in coils around their heads. By the early 1960s, brides followed a small gesture imported from the West by pinning white flowers in their hair to create a sharp colour contrast.

During the American War, brides in Ha Noi often wore a white jacket and black trousers. Although the bridal outfit remained simple and modest for several years after reunification in 1975, the áo dài was also a popular choice.

A new prosperity in the late 1980s allowed brides to wear layered Western-style wedding dresses. Many brides rented dresses since they could not afford to buy a new one. This ended the tradition of wedding dresses as keepsakes. At that time, Ha Noi had only a few wedding salons, including Bích Sinh, Tuyết Nhung, and Mai Châu. During the 1990s, these salons led the Ha Noi wedding-fashion boom.

Today, wedding fashion in Ha Noi has followed other fashions by becoming more varied and reflecting an upsurge in Western styles. Sophisticated, layered dresses are no longer in fashion; most brides prefer simpler, more graceful designs. They reserve the áo dài for the ăn hỏi ceremony, where the groom and his family come to the bride's house to seek formal acceptance of the engagement.

Like the brides, the dresses come in all shapes and sizes. For a more slender bride, a clinging dress of a cream, orange, or strawberry color with a round high-necked collar is highly desirable. The more ample bride is better suited to a plain coloured dress that is tighter around the hips. More textured fabrics, such as brocade, are recommended for the taller bride, together with a simple, looser dress of a light colour. The shorter bride should choose a soft dress pinned with small corsages or pearls and perhaps a veil. A new dress costs between VND 2,000,000 and VND 4,000,000 (between US$ 125 and US$ 250), while hiring a dress can run between VND 350,000 and VND 2,000,000 (between US$ 22 and US$ 125).

Although each dress has its own style, it must combine traditional and modern elements and also be economical. Above all, the dress should show off the purity and grace of the bride. The dress can preserve its sacred meaning only when all these factors are combined. After all, this is the dress worn only once in one's life.

What do southern brides and grooms wear?

Nowadays in southern Viet Nam, even in rural areas and in the highlands, brides often wear high heels and white, Western-style wedding dresses complete with veils and flowing trains. Although not all brides have abandoned traditional attire, those who do choose traditional Vietnamese garments seldom select the styles worn in times gone by.

Various theories account for the origin of traditional southern Vietnamese wedding attire. According to one, designers drew their inspiration from the costumes worn by mandarins at the emperor's court in Hue. At the beginning of the twentieth century, a well-to-do bride wore a thin, tight-fitting black dress over trousers made of dark pink linen and then a long, loose brocade tunic, which was dark blue or grey on the outside and dark pink inside. The tunic sleeves covered her hands. The buttons were on the left side in accordance with the Confucian rule that the heart be covered. Five buttons represented the five Confucian virtues (ngũ thường): benevolent love, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness. The bride also wore silver earrings and a necklace of amber jewels as large as one's thumb.

The groom usually wore a long, tight-fitting black tunic made of luzing, a semitransparent material. The tunic had a mandarin collar and was slit on the sides from the waist down with buttons arranged in a row on the side. Underneath this tunic, he wore a white long-sleeved shirt and long white trousers. On top, he wore another tunic similar to the bride's. His black turban had five pleats representing the five Confucian virtues.

The custom of wearing two layers (áo cặp) evolved from the practice observed by some rich Vietnamese families in the centre of the country. The ancient tradition was to wear three or seven layers (áo mớ). Because of the heat, some people stopped at two layers, no doubt saving many couples from discomfort.

Nowadays, no rules dictate what couples must wear. Brides commonly wear áo dài, the Vietnamese long dress, for the traditional ceremony before the ancestral altar and then switch to Western-style gowns for the banquet. Grooms usually wear Western-style suits and ties for the entire wedding.

If you attend a Vietnamese wedding now, you will no longer see brides wearing tunics and yellow turbans and walking softly in embroidered slippers. Instead, you may find them in white Western gowns, clicking along in high heels, their faces shielded by a veil adorned with flowers, while the grooms in their dark suits look like bankers. Some Vietnamese observing this new Western wedding attire may become nostalgic for the time when Vietnamese brides and grooms dressed in a way unique to Viet Nam.

What role do flowers play in the wedding?

At the beginning of the 1990s, the new market economy introduced flower-growing as an important line of commerce. Fresh flowers were for sale everywhere on the backs of street peddlers' bicycles, in the open-air markets alongside vegetables and fruit, and in displays in front of flower shops. Venders now sell them in bunches, bouquets, buckets, and garlands. Flowers have become an important part of celebrations and ceremonies. They decorate wedding halls and the bride's car, and they beautify the bride.

Decorating the bride with flowers is a custom introduced from the West. In the old days, the bride's special look on her wedding day came from her colourful wedding dress and turban. During the 1950s and 1960s, brides began to hold a bouquet of flowers, usually red gladiolas. Flowers in the bride's hair and a bouquet became important accessories as Western influence grew more pronounced and brides switched from traditional dresses to wedding gowns.

Nowadays, the many bridal boutiques are eager to help make the bride look gorgeous for her important day. They provide make-up and hair styling, gowns for rent, and bouquets to order. The bride can also order flowers to decorate the car and a boutonniere for the groom. Flower arrangements usually feature a theme flower, which the bride chooses, with the most popular choices being roses, calla lilies, and oriental lilies. Orchids provide an expensive touch. Artificial silk flowers are appropriate for people with less income.

Aided by a salesperson at a bridal boutique, the bride can decide which style of coiffure will complement her face, what dress design is appropriate for her build, and which bouquet will achieve the best overall effect. A quick visit to popular bridal shops in Ha Noi reveals that oriental lilies for the bride, the bridal car, and the groom's boutonniere cost between VND 300,000 and 350,000 (between US$ 18.75 and $ 21.88). Roses are slightly cheaper, between VND 250,000 and 300,000 (US$ 15.63 and $ 18.75). This is a high price just for flow¬ers when one compares the cost to the official salary of a high school teacher (around VND 500,000 or US$ 31.25 a month). Weddings have indeed become more expensive, with the result that many young couples begin their married lives in debt.

However, many people consider flowers worth the financial sacrifice, for they provide the beauty and luxury appropriate to celebrate a young couple's happiness when beginning a long life together.

What are some special weddings?

Making the Groom's Family Pay

During feudal times, people accepted the custom of thách cưới, whereby the groom's family paid the bride's family. This practice led to many a poor young man in love abandoning his dream of happiness because he could not afford costly gifts for the family of his intended. Of course, sometimes the woman suffered the most.

Even in feudal times, some progressive voices rose up against this custom. "Marriage," some people said, "should not weigh profit and loss."

Sometimes, however, thách cưới was not such a terrible custom. In one case, it enabled a father to save his daughter from an unfortunate marriage.

The father was Phan Điện from Đức Thọ, Hà Tĩnh Province in central Viet Nam. Phan Điện had a very beautiful daughter who caught the eye of Hoàng Mạnh Trí, who had been born in the same year and in the same province as Phan Điện. However, Hoàng Mạnh Trí was the son of Hoàng Cao Khải, the governor of Nam Định Province. Mạnh Trí decided that he wanted Phan Điện's daughter as his concubine. He sent his servant to seek Phan Điện's agreement.

This delicate matter required that Phan Điện carefully consider his reply. After some thought, he said to the servant: "It is a great honour for my daughter to be at the service of your master. What more could my family want?"

The servant reported Điện's words to his master. Mạnh Trí was overjoyed. The next day, he sent his servant to Phan Điện again to convey his thanks and broach the question of wedding gifts.

"Please let my master know how much money and how many gifts you request," the servant said.

"How grateful I am that your master will accept my daughter," Phan Điện replied. "I request from your master only that he bow down twice. Only two bows."

Mạnh Trí knew that when a man married a woman, he must address her father as "Father" and bow to him. This would mean that Mạnh Trí, a senior mandarin, must bow before a poor, ordinary man his own age. That would be too embarrassing!

And so, rather than bow twice, Mạnh Trí relinquished his desired concubine. As for the local people, they admired Phan Điện's wisdom and sneered at Senior Mandarin Mạnh Trí.

A Wedding in the Thick of the Forest

An account by cultural writer Hữu Ngọc.

I still remember a special wedding in the forest — my own, in 1952. The War of Resistance Against France had begun late in 1946. In 1952, the French colonial authorities occupied almost all urban centres, while Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary government controlled the country's mountainous and rural regions. The Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu was still to come.

My wife and I were both in the People's Army and stationed in a remote bamboo forest of Thai Nguyen Province. Our unit was based in the Viet Bac Mountains, the rampart of the 1945 August Revolution and the backbone of the nine-year Resistance War. Our living conditions were extremely hard, and malaria tormented us. All year round, we lived on mouldy red rice and bamboo shoots. If we were lucky, each month we had a piece of stewed pork. As for chicken, the situation was even worse: We enjoyed that delicacy twice a year at most. Salt was scarce because we were in the mountains far from the sea coast, and the enemy had encircled us. We burned small bamboo sticks and used the ash as a salt substitute.

Of course, under such circumstances, our wedding could only be a simple event, yet it was filled with affection. At that time, the People's Army was a paramilitary organisation that did not distinguish between officers and men. Our unit organised the wedding on behalf of our two families. One squad felled bamboo to build us a small but on a hillside above a brook. They made a ceiling from a parachute the enemy had dropped nearby. They completed the but in two days and then built a few pieces of rudimentary furniture.

Two weddings ours and that of two friends took place in the evening with our unit commander serving as the master of ceremonies. He stood in front of the battalion, congratulated us on our special event, and wished us happiness, concluding, "Enjoy your happiness, but don't forget your obligations!"

After that, we, together with the other couple, expressed our thanks to the organisers and promised that we would work harder to make a contribution to the nation's victory. Then some of the unit performed patriotic songs. The wedding guests shared our joy by drinking tea and nibbling sweets and forest fruits. Simple as that evening was, I will never forget it.

On the 'Roof ' of Viet Nam

An account by Bùi Cẩm Ly

A young man and woman tested their love by holding their wedding on Mount Phan Xi Păng (Fan Si Pan), as this description illustrates:

We first visited Sa Pa in 1995 and heard about a Japanese couple who had climbed Mount Phan Xi Păng together to show their enduring love. Both husband and wife were seventy-two years old. That story gave us the idea of holding our wedding on the summit of Viet nam's highest mountain. Needless to say, our friends were surprised!

We set off early on 1 December 1996. Our expedition consisted of ourselves as the bride and groom plus six guides and porters. As we climbed higher and higher into the mountains, the scenery — walls of sheer rock, green forests, and clear streams — became wilder and more beautiful. It was like walking through a fairyland.

Yet we also ran into difficulties. The higher we climbed, the harder it was to cook because the low air pressure caused water to boil at 70° C. Walking became more tiring. The slopes were steep. Slippery moss caused us to lose our footing. Even a minor injury such as a sprained ankle would make it difficult to continue.

The leeches were the biggest nuisance. They hid in bushes, waiting to drop onto passing warm-blooded creatures and did not discriminate between wild animals and humans. Even as adventurers and newlyweds-in-waiting, we were not immune to their bloodthirsty advances. Luckily, the leeches became rarer the higher we climbed and the colder it grew.

The average mid-day temperature of 12°C on Mount Phan Xi Păng drops to 2°C after dark. At night, it was bitterly cold with high winds and heavy rain. We spent two nights in Deadly Valley, a narrow gap between high mountain walls. The weather those two nights was terrible.

At 12:30 P.M. on 3 December, we spotted the shiny platinum block that marks the peak of Mount Phan Xi Păng and cried tears of relief and triumph after our tortuous journey. We had climbed peaks of 1,900 metres, 2,650 metres, and 2,900 metres, walking steadily. We'd made it!

Now, we were 3,144 metres above sea level, but we felt even higher. The climb had been a test, not just of our physical and mental strength, but of our love for each other. We felt our love could overcome any challenge placed in its path.

Just one thing, though: Please, no more leeches!

Underwater

An account by Nguyễn Hiền

For the first time in Viet Nam, the Green Cultural Tourism Company of Ho Chi Minh City and the Blue Diving Club of Nha Trang City held two underwater weddings on 4 April 2001. Mrs. Minh Thu, director of Nha Trang's Blue Diving Club, accompanied the wedding parties.

At 10:45 A.M., two couples — Mr. Thanh Trúc and Ms. Bích Vân, and Mr. Hiền Trung and Ms. Trâm Anh — donned diving outfits and 30-kg. oxygen tanks. The brides wore wreaths on their heads as they dove down five metres into the sea off Mun Island, Nha Trang. Their weddings beside coral reefs did have witnesses: sea plants waving in the deep-water currents and many species of colourful, curious fish.