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CHAPTER 1

WILL THE TWAIN MEET?

"East is East and West is West

and never the twain shall meet."

Rudyard Kipling

Nearly all of the first Western ventures in Vietnam ended in failure or disappointment. For the most part, the reasons for these misfortunes could well be attributed to the desire of one foreign power to enforce its domination on the country, or a lack of understanding in the case of individual events.

Today, the West is no longer interested in colonization. The French and their power in Vietnam has almost disappeared.

The Vietnamese, a fiercely independent race, have thrown out one foreign power after another; including Chinese, Mongols, and French. In addition, they pushed the Cambodians and the Chams out of territory that they occupied.

These events have been accomplished despite the fact that the Vietnamese were outnumbered on many occasions.

The North Vietnamese Communists prey on this past history in their propaganda today, and try to identify the Americans and other foreigners working in South Vietnam with the former ruling powers. They tell the Vietnamese that these foreigners must be driven out, just as the French and the Chinese were expelled—by force.

Time will tell if the Western powers can prove to these people, as well as others watching in underdeveloped nations around the world, that they are not interested in anything in the country except keeping it from falling under Communist domination. This problem, though sticky, may be far easier to reckon with than the other problem; that of a lack of understanding, which like a cancer, slowly eats away at the heart of a nation until all vital points are rendered useless.

Lack of understanding can occur in numerous ways. The first problem results from a powerful government action; the second may result from individuals of various stations in life, from the lowest private in the armed forces to the highest ranking government officers.

It may be caused unintentionally such as in a theme written by one of my Vietnamese students. He wrote of an American who had visited a local Buddhist pagoda. While there, he became surrounded by little children, all holding out their hands asking for money or candy. The American GI wanted to give them something, but how do you give something to a hundred kids? He returned to his Special Services chartered bus and waved goodbye to the children. They all pressed around the window shouting the few words of English they knew. Smiling, the GI reached into his pocket and pulled out a whole handful of Vietnamese coins and as the bus pulled off threw them out the window to the children. This resulted in a stampede with the children fighting each other for the coins. The older Vietnamese standing by looked on in disgust as if to say, "Who do those Americans think they are, making beggars of our children?"

The First American in Vietnam

The first American to venture to Vietnam was John White of Marblehead, Massachusetts. He failed to reach an understanding with the Vietnamese and returned home disgusted. White arrived in Vietnam in 1819 on a ship named the franklin. He was delayed in accomplishing his business of setting up trade between the Vietnamese and the Americans, by the countless idiosyncrasies of the Vietnamese. White was repulsed by the people's habits which he considered barbarian. Had he known what to expect, he might have been better prepared to understand and deal with them.

He performed a valuable service to other Americans following him, however, by recording his impressions of the people and the country in a book entitled, History of a Voyage to the China Sea. This book may be found in the Library of Congress in the United States, at Washington, D.C.

The First American Diplomat in Vietnam

Edmund Roberts, a navigator from New England with far east travel experience, was selected by President Andrew Jackson in March, 1832, for the first official mission to Vietnam. Despite a few technical errors in paperwork, the visit went well and the Emperor Minh Mang wrote, "If their country wishes to establish commercial relations, we do not see any objections to it provided they respect our laws." This paved the way for more formal negotiations four year's later.

When Roberts returned on the next visit, all did not go well. Upon the American's request for an audience, the Emperor said to Vice-President Of the Ministry of Finance, Dao-Tri-Phu, "Considering their courteous and peaceable attitude, would it not be advisable to accede to their request?"

Dao-Tri-Phu suggested that they should entertain the visitors for awhile and try to learn their real intentions.

There was a dissenter, however. The Vice-President of the Cabinet, Hoang-Quynh, warned, "Their country is cunning and crafty, and we should not comply with their requests. If we commit ourselves without due consideration, we shall have much trouble in the future. Our ancestors used to close off the frontiers and refuse contact with the West; it was a good policy."

Nevertheless, the Emperor declared, "They have come from many leagues beyond the seas, thus proving their admiration for our virtue and the prestige of our court. How can we reject them? If we do, we would display a lack of magnanimity."

Unfortunately for both sides, when the high ranking mission went to see the Americans on board ship, they were told that there was illness on board and they could not be received. Later, the Americans suddenly left without advising the court. Dao-Tri-Phu, the Vice-President of the Ministry of Finance, reported back to the Emperor stating, "These fugitives have proved how uncivil they are."

The Emperor, Minh Mang, wrote in his report, "They came to us without our rejecting them; they left without our sending them; we have conducted ourselves in accordance with Chinese courtesy. We do not need to take offense when we are dealing with foreign barbarians."

It is unfortunate that the Vietnamese were not acquainted with the reason for the sudden departure of the Americans. Roberts had been taken acutely ill and was deteriorating rapidly. His assistant, a US Navy surgeon, made a hasty departure to find additional medical help for Roberts. It was in vain as Roberts died in Macao on June 12, 1836.

Despite the fact that both the Vietnamese and the Americans had good intentions, a misunderstanding caused the second mission from the United States to Vietnam to end in a sad manner for both countries.

The First Vietnamese Envoy to the United States

In 1837, Vietnam was disputing the right of France to control all of Vietnam. The Vietnamese Emperor hoped to get help from the United States and sent their country's first envoy to the United States. He chose Bui-Vien for the important post. Bui-Vien was a scholar and well respected in Vietnam. Before his departure, he was personally received by the Emperor Tu Due, who impressed upon him the grave importance of his mission.

After a lot of red tape, Bui-Vien was received in the United States by President Ulysses S. Grant. The President assured the Vietnamese envoy of American interest and assistance, but stated that he must have credentials which would enable him to justify any action he might present to the American Congress. Bui-Vien left for Vietnam to get the Emperor to provide him with the important diplomatic documents.

On his way home, he received news that President Grant could not honor his offer to help, because of new political circumstances. Bui-Vien was bitterly disappointed to see his hopes of American aid for Vietnam fade away.

On reaching Japan, Bui-Vien met with a friend of his, the American consul. They exchanged poems with each other, one of which is indicative of Bui-Vien's feelings. He said in part:

"We pour our wine into glasses at Yokohama in the ninth month of autumn.

Turning my head towards the clouds of Vietnam

I feel extremely anxious about my country.

Sea and land, memory and emotion remind me of my former journeys.

Enjoying myself with you, I regret all the more that we must part,

Spiritual companion! In what year will we be together in the same sampan?"

In the Same Sampan

Today, Bui-Vien's question has at last received an answer. The United States and a few other countries of the Western world, are now in the same sampan with South Vietnam. The new question for modern-day poets may well be, "Can understanding be achieved, and can the sampan be kept afloat?"

The answer, in my opinion, now depends on the ordinary Vietnamese villager, not the big politicians or even the leader of the country. It also depends on understanding between the Americans and their allies and the Vietnamese.

Americans working at the "ground level" with Vietnamese have an important impact on understanding. In the eyes of the Vietnamese villager, each American represents the United States.

Another saying goes, "There is a great wall between the Orient and the Occident; it is not the wall of China, but rather the wall of misunderstanding." Seldom, if ever, do two diverse cultures meet on a common ground. The road to understanding is a two-way street. Here's hoping that this book will help bridge that gap of lack of understanding on our side of the road. We can only go so far, however. The Vietnamese must meet us somewhere along the way.