“When eating the fruit, remember who planted the tree.”
Ăn quả nhớ kẻ trồng cây
Source: Traditional Vietnamese proverb, public-domain oral tradition
Traditional Vietnam Wisdom
Tục ngữ Việt Nam
Folk & Oral Tradition
Who is Traditional Vietnam Wisdom?
Traditional Vietnam Wisdom gathers the proverbs (tục ngữ) and folk verses (ca dao) that have been passed down orally among the Vietnamese people for many generations. These lines carry no single named author; they are the shared inheritance of rice farmers, boatmen, mothers, elders and village storytellers who distilled hard-won experience into a few memorable, rhythmic words. Vietnamese proverbs draw richly on wet-rice farming, rivers and water, family duty, gratitude to ancestors, and the Confucian and Buddhist ethics woven deep into daily life, teaching perseverance, unity, compassion, respect for teachers and remembrance of one's roots. Much of this wisdom lives alongside the lục bát (six-eight) folk-song tradition, sung and recited rather than merely read, which is why so many sayings survive in everyday speech. Because they are transmitted orally, small regional variations exist between retellings. In keeping with its accuracy rule, this platform records the widely recognized forms and presents them as traditional, public-domain oral heritage rather than attributing them to any one person.
Sources: Traditional Vietnamese oral tradition (tục ngữ, ca dao), public-domain folk wisdom · Nguyễn Đình Hòa, Vietnamese literature and folk-verse scholarship (ca dao, tục ngữ)
Quotes by Traditional Vietnam Wisdom
“When drinking water, remember its source.”
Uống nước nhớ nguồn
Source: Traditional Vietnamese proverb, public-domain oral tradition
“With enough effort grinding iron, one day it becomes a needle.”
Có công mài sắt, có ngày nên kim
Source: Traditional Vietnamese proverb, public-domain oral tradition
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“The whole leaf wraps the torn leaf.”
Lá lành đùm lá rách
Source: Traditional Vietnamese proverb, public-domain oral tradition
“One tree makes no hill; three trees together make a high mountain.”
Một cây làm chẳng nên non, ba cây chụm lại nên hòn núi cao
Source: Traditional Vietnamese folk verse (ca dao), public-domain oral tradition
“Near ink you turn black; near the lamp you turn bright.”
Gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng
Source: Traditional Vietnamese proverb, public-domain oral tradition
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“Travel a day's road and learn a basketful of wisdom.”
Đi một ngày đàng, học một sàng khôn
Source: Traditional Vietnamese proverb, public-domain oral tradition
“Without a teacher, how can you make anything of yourself?”
Không thầy đố mày làm nên
Source: Traditional Vietnamese proverb, public-domain oral tradition
“Love others as you love your own body.”
Thương người như thể thương thân
Source: Traditional Vietnamese proverb, public-domain oral tradition
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“O gourd, love the squash; though of different kinds, you share one trellis.”
Bầu ơi thương lấy bí cùng, tuy rằng khác giống nhưng chung một giàn
Source: Traditional Vietnamese folk verse (ca dao), public-domain oral tradition