Philosophical Folklore in Vietnamese Traditional Architecture

Although there are not many countries in worldwide that own the orthodox philosophy, all of them possess the unwritten traditional beliefs, legends, sayings, customs, etc. - known as philosophical folklore. In Vietnam, folklore is hidden behind every corner of life and governs a variety of specific fields such as language, literature and even architecture. The Vietnamese philosophical folklore did not orient traditional architecture based on the principle of ideal beauty or harmony like Western aesthetics and philosophy but mainly influenced and interpreted the creative behavior of artisans, who were directly dealing with the social reality at that time. Vietnamese traditional architecture shows an existence of the organic and harmonious relationship between folkloric notions and architectural forms. This kind of wisdom supported traditional architecture reaching the notable values in both tangible and intangible cultural aspects. To comprehend the formation and form of Vietnamese traditional architecture, the approach from the perspective of philosophical folklore is an appropriate method.