Cultural evolution in Vietnam's early 20th century: A Bayesian networks
analysis of Hanoi Franco-Chinese house designs
Quan-Hoang Vuong
a
,
b
,
*
, Quang-Khiem Bui
c
, Viet-Phuong La
a
,
b
, Thu-Trang Vuong
d
,
Manh-Toan Ho
a
,
b
,
e
, Hong-Kong T. Nguyen
e
, Hong-Ngoc Nguyen
f
, Kien-Cuong P. Nghiem
g
,
Manh-Tung Ho
a
,
h
,
i
,
*
a
Centre for Interdisciplinary Social Research, Phenikaa University, Yen Nghia Ward, Ha Dong District, Hanoi, 100803, Viet Nam
b
Faculty of Economics and Finance, Phenikaa University, Yen Nghia Ward, Ha Dong District, Hanoi, 100803, Viet Nam
c
Hanoi College of Arts, 7 Hai Ba Trung Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, 100000, Viet Nam
d
Sciences Po Paris, Campus de Dijon, 21000, Dijon, France
e
A.I. for Social Data Lab, Vuong & Associates, 3/161 Thinh Quang, Dong Da District, Hanoi, 100000, Viet Nam
f
Ho Chi Minh City University of Fine Arts, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
g
Vietnam-Germany Hospital, 16 Phu Doan Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, 100000, Viet Nam
h
Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Institute of Philosophy, 59 Lang Ha Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, 100000, Viet Nam
i
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Oita Prefecture, 874-8577, Japan
ARTICLE INFO
This work is dedicated to the late professor
Andr
e Farber (1943–2017) of l'Univers it
e Libre
de Bruxelles.
Keywords:
Cultural evolution
Hanoi architecture
Old quarter
House façade
Buddhism
Franco-Chinese style
French colonialism
Bayesian network
Hamiltonian Markov chain Monte Carlo
ABSTRACT
The study of cultural evolution has taken on an increasingly interdisciplinary and diverse approach in explicating
phenomena of cultural transmission and adoptions. Inspired by this computational movement, this study uses
Bayesian networks analysis, combining both the frequentist and the Hamiltonian Markov chain Monte Carlo
(MCMC) approach, to investigate the highly representative elements in the cultural evolution of a Vietnamese
city's architecture in the early 20th century. With a focus on the façade design of 68 old houses in Hanoi's Old
Quarter (based on 248 photos and 78 data lines), the study argues that it is plausible to look at the aesthetics,
architecture, and designs of the house façade to find traces of cultural evolution in Vietnam, which went through
more than six decades of French colonization and centuries of sociocultural influence from China. The in-depth
technical analysis, though refuting the presumed model on the probabilistic dependency among the variables,
yields several results, the most notable of which is the strong influence of Buddhism over the decorations of the
house façade. Particularly, in the top 5 networks with the best Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) scores and
small p-values, the variable for decorations (DC) always has a direct probabilistic dependency on the variable B for
Buddhism. The paper then discusses these findings and suggests integrating Bayesian statistics in social sciences in
general and for studies of cultural evolution and architectural transformation in particular.
1. Introduction
“Les temples et les Bouddhas de pierre pour mes p
eres
Les femmes courb
ees dans les rizi
eres pour mes m
eres
Dans la pri
ere, dans la lumi
ere, revoir mes fr
eres
Toucher mon arbre, mes racines, ma terre …”
– “Bonjour Vietnam” by Marc Lavoine
The application of Bayesian analysis could foster a stronger and more
unified framework for social scientific statistical practice (Gill, 2002;
Jackman, 2000, 2009). In the Bayesian methods, because all unknown
quantities are treated probabilistically, researchers are positioned to be
more cautious and prudent in evaluating the evidence of an effect,
avoiding the trap of overestimating effects, or more dangerously,
committing logical inconsistencies (Gill, 2002; Kruschke, 2015; McEl-
reath, 2016). The temporal dynamics of observable data in social sciences
make the field particularly suitable for Bayesian analysis, which does not
assume having infinite amounts of forthcoming data. As such, social
scientists can update prior distributions by conditioning on newly
* Corresponding authors. Centre for Interdisciplinary Social Research, Phenikaa University, Yen Nghia Ward, Ha Dong District, Hanoi, 100803, Viet Nam.
E-mail addresses: hoang.vuongquan@phenikaa-uni.edu.vn (Q.-H. Vuong), tung.homanh@phenikaa-uni.edu.vn (M.-T. Ho).
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Social Sciences & Humanities Open
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ssaho
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2019.100001
Received 1 April 2019; Received in revised form 15 July 2019; Accepted 24 July 2019
Available online 20 August 2019
2590-2911/© 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Social Sciences & Humanities Open 1 (2019) 100001
observed data (Gill, 2002), and refine their inferences when being
explicit about estimation biases (Malakoff, 1999). While researchers of
archeology and sociology are indeed turning to the Bayesian approach to
systematically include qualitative, narrative, and intuitive knowledge
into statistical models (Crema, Edinborough, Kerig, & Shennan, 2014;
Dediu, 2009; Griffiths & Kalish, 2007; Matthews, Tehrani, Jordan,
Collard, & Nunn, 2011; Oinonen et al., 2014; Pagel & Meade, 2005,
2006; Perreault, Moya, & Boyd, 2012; Reali & Griffiths Thomas, 2010;
Riede & Edinborough, 2012), the method remains in obscurity among
social scientists in Vietnam, where research methodologies are either
qualitative or quantitative based on the classical statistical approaches. In
an attempt to demonstrate the applicability of Bayesian analysis in the
social sciences in general and in the field of cultural evolution in
particular, this study seeks to break down the architectural evolution of a
Vietnamese city in the early 20th century. The case study will shed light
on: (i) how a rigorous Bayesian networks analysis is carried out using a
rather small volume of data, (ii) how the presumed model of a social
science research may be dismissed to give way for unexpected but
insightful results, and notably, (iii) how researchers in societies with
similarly syncretic or hybrid behaviors, either due to colonialism or
imperialism, could apply this perspective and method to analyze these
features.
Showcasing the merits of the Bayesian technique aside, this study also
seeks to study cultural evolution from a perspective – the architectural
evolution and its underlying influencing elements – unlike much of the
extant literature. The scholarship on cultural evolution addresses the
issues surrounding the adaptive cultural processes that result from the
cognitive details of human social learning and inference (Boyd and
Richerson, 1996; Henrich, 2004; Henrich & McElreath, 2003). Within
this field, researchers are often divided into two camps, one espousing for
taking evolutionary biology as a reference point to illustrate the
Darwinian evolutionary properties of human culture (Boyd & Richerson,
1985; Cavalli-Sforza & Feldman, 1981; Mesoudi, Whiten, &
Laland,
2006; Youngblood & Lahti, 2018), and the other refusing to simplify
modes of cultural transmission by use of analogy with modes of genetic
transmission because the two domains do not share the same properties
(Blackmore, 2006; Claidi
ere & Andr
e, 2012; Dennett & McKay, 2006;
Fuentes, 2006; Mulder, McElreath, & Schroeder, 2006). While this kind
of debate may go on, it has become clear that this interdisciplinary field
has rich insights on the ways human beings behave over time.
In this regard, the current research adds to the literature on archi-
tectural evolution, such as on the rural cemetery of the Anglo-American
(Schuyler, 1984), the Soviet structures under Stalin (Paperny, 2002), the
distribution of Egyptian military bases over time and across borders
(Ellen, 2004), the wooden long-houses on the Pacific Northwest coast
(Jordan & O'Neill, 2010). More importantly, it underlines the slow pace
at which cultural evolution occurs—that practices and artifacts recorded
in social anthropology and history were the results of years, decades, and
even centuries of influence and transformation. As large-scale architec-
ture has the power to stir up “romantic nostalgia for a lost world in which
one has not participated, but which might be imagined or scientifically
resurrected” (Houston, 1998, p. vii), in examining the evolving house
front designs in the old streets of Hanoi, the study aims to evoke a
meaningful discussion on the intertwined relationship between a longing
for the past and a yearning for modernization. The nostalgia is best
captured in the paintings of old Hanoi streets by the Vietnamese artist Bui
Xuan Phai, whose name is synonymous with oil paintings about bygone
Hanoi Old Quarter—“Ph
^
o
Pha
i” (literally, “Street Phai”)(Taylor, 1999).
Bui Xuan Phai (1920–1988) is one of the “Four Pillars” of Vietnamese
paintings, belonging to the realm of folklore and myth (Naziree, 2006;
Taylor, 1999; Thai, 1994). “Ph
^
o
Pha
i,” originated from the early 1960s
(TT&VH, 2010), implies not just the Vietnamese respect for a great artist
but also a symbol of aesthetics in the Vietnamese souls. Fig. 1 is an
example of “Ph
^
o
Pha
i”—the brown brick roofs, the whitewashed walls,
the black undecorated windows, and the nearly empty narrow streets and
alleys.
These paintings have captured the very essence of what is known in
Vietnam as the “tube house” (“nha
^
o
ng”)—traditionally attached street
houses whose widths are narrow while their lengths are very long (Kien,
2008a; b). This research, inspired by “Ph
^
o
Pha
i” and the
cultural-historical continuity as reflected in Hanoi architecture, will
delve into the elements of cultural and religious influences in the house
designs, especially the façade. More importantly, the research situates
itself amid the rapid urbanization and commercialization in Vietnam as it
tries to capture the old fragments of the capital city. Many old houses in
Hanoi are being changed and may not stand the test of time. The internal
structure of the houses would make for an interesting inquiry, but the
research's focus on the house façade alone is driven by the principal
concern over “face” in Confucian society. In other words, the front of
house reflects the face of the family, and therefore, its culture. As Vuong
et al. (2018b) have shown, the “cultural additivity” in Vietnamese ar-
chitecture is reflected in the front of a house in the co-existence of
French-styled columns, Confucian scrolls, the Taoist yin-yang sign, and
the Buddhist lotus sculpture. The statistical analysis, therefore, will show
how French and Chinese cultures have influenced the designs of the old
houses in Hanoi.
1.1. Research questions
This research sets out to answer the following two questions:
RQ1 Is it plausible to look at the aesthetics, architecture, and designs of
the house façade in Hanoi to find traces of cultural evolution in the
early 20th century in Vietnam, which went through more than six
decades of French colonization and centuries of sociocultural in-
fluence from China?
RQ2 What are the most notable elements that affect the perception of
cultural evolution of Vietnamese people who are familiar with or
have been exposed regularly to this type of architecture and cul-
tural behavior?
2. Literature review
2.1. Franco-Chinese aesthetics and architecture in Vietnam
Given the cultural specificity of this study, it is important first to be
familiar with the aesthetics and architectural history of Vietnam and
Hanoi. French troops captured the citadel of Gia Dinh in 1859, defeating
the last Vietnamese dynasty Nguyen and paving the way for its estab-
lishment of French Indochina (initially comprising Annam, Tonkin, and
Cochinchina) in 1887. Under French imperialism, the Cornudet Law that
Fig. 1. A painting of Hanoi Street by Bui Xuan Phai (2012).
Q.-H. Vuong et al. Social Sciences & Humanities Open 1 (2019) 100001
2
was passed by its government in 1919 stipulated the rules for urban
planning and development in its colonies, such that contemporary
Western construction techniques would take into account the native
aesthetics and humid tropical climate (Le, 2013; Nguyen, 2014; Vong-
vilay, Shin, Kang, Kim, & Choi, 2015). This style, made famous by the
French architect Ernest Hebrard, comes to be known as the Indochine
style—which is an effortless fusion of traditional Vietnamese and grand
European elements for both aesthetics and practical purposes (Le, 2013).
According to Nguyen (2014), the development of Indochinese ar-
chitecture peaked in Vietnam in 1920–1945 and waned in the 1960s. In
the post-1945 period, the designs were either filled with nostalgia and
longing for traditions or touched with some stroke of creativity from the
internationalization trend at the time (Nguyen, 2014). In a slightly
different account, Herbelin (2016) argues that this movement took place
in 1920–1930, with one wave of affluent Vietnamese people building
houses entirely in the footsteps of the French and another pursuing a
more modern style incorporating northern Vietnamese decorative ele-
ments. However, the architectural fusion, which used both indigenous
construction materials such as bamboo, wood, hut, mud and metropol-
itan materials such as iron, concrete, tiles, and bricks, turned out to be
costly and only those very wealthy could afford it (Herbelin, 2016).
In the past decade, there have been many monumental works on the
French architecture and urban planning in Vietnam, particularly the
Indochine style seen in Hanoi and Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). For
example, Tran and Nguyen (2012) have provided a meticulous and
comprehensive work on the legacy of French architecture in Hanoi,
documenting the changing cityscape from as early as the mid-nineteenth
century and comparing it with the construction of Indochine houses in
Saigon in the early twentieth century. Walker (2011), together with
photographer Jay Graham, has published over 300 colored photos of the
architecture, furniture, and handicrafts in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia,
drawing insights into the combined in fluence of Indian, Chinese and
French traditions in this region. More recently, Herbelin (2016) has taken
a contrarian view by pointing out that the Indochine style was not
entirely successful due to its high cost, which prompted the French to
return to its classical design, such as in the case of the then Ministry of
Finance (1927) and now Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Taking a departure
from the popular praises of Saigon as “the pearl of the Far East” and
Hanoi as comparable to Paris, Herbelin (2016) instead shows how the
architecture in Vietnam under French colonialism was the result of ne-
gotiations and political strategies between various authorities, between
colonial and local authorities, between the native population and the
French, as well as between the different technical and aesthetic solutions
that were offered at that time. The book reveals, thus, there is no such
thing as a proper colonial architecture but just a phenomenon of hy-
bridization, of intertwined cultures that contribute to the colonial
moment (Thu Hang, 2017). Along this vein, Truong (2012) analyzes the
harmonization of Eastern and Western elements in the Indochine style in
Vietnam to conclude on there being a strong imprint of traditional
Vietnamese architecture. The Indochine style, the author argues, was
after all born in Vietnam, and without doubt carries a large part of the
native architectural elements, such as the use of wood and bamboo and
the addition of balconies, verandahs, and internal corridors to accom-
modate the hot and humid tropical climate.
From a broader perspective,
Hartingh, Craven-Smith-Milnes, and
Tettoni (2007) review Vietnamese architecture from ancient to modern
time and conclude that, although Vietnam's interior design has a touch of
both Chinese and European cultures, the native design is quite diverse
thanks to the varying characteristics of different Vietnamese localities.
The book showcases the diversity of Vietnamese culture, as evidenced by
the myriad temples, shrines, and pagodas across the country. Similarly,
when looking at the traditions of Vietnamese architecture, Chu (2003)
has documented a rich history of folkloristic architecture, from the way
each household unit builds its house to the way a village and its folks
contribute to the traditional architecture.
For the purpose of this study, based on extensive research on the
topic, the team has summarized some notable ornamental characteristics
in Table 1. These characteristics will form the basis of the analysis into
the house façade in Hanoi.
2.2. Hanoi Old Quarter and the house façade designs
Upon its settlement in Hanoi in the late 19th century, the French soon
began building its own streets and administrative offices. In 1883, the
first governor issued a plan to turn some streets in the southeast of the
Sword Lake (Ho Hoan Kiem)—equivalent with the streets of Le Phung
Hieu, Ly Thai To, Le Thanh Ton, and Ngo Quyen today—fully into the
style of French architecture. This area, dubbed by the Vietnamese as the
Table 1
A summary of the non-Vietnamese and Vietnamese use of materials and ornamental designs.
Non-Vietnamese Vietnamese
Materials Rock serves as one of the main materials in Western construction, such as in
columns and balcony.
Rock is rarely used in house façade, instead it is used in sculpture of sacred
animals.
Cement is also an important Western invention but is costlier and not as flexible as
a construction material.
Ornamental designs are made primarily of ceramics. Meanwhile, houses are built
of wood, and monuments are built of bricks.
The use of ceramics in ornamental design originated from southern China and
became popular in Vietnam since the Nguyen dynasty (1802–1945).
The Vietnamese combination of honey, lime, paper pulp, and bagasse created a
kind of dry mix mortar (nê
vữa) suitable for construction.
Ornaments Flowers of Chinese origins: lotus (Buddhism), chrysanthemum (Taoism), or peony
(China's unofficial national follower)
In the façade of many houses in Hanoi, the pattern known as “Lily of the valley”
(Hoa hu
^
e
tha
ng N
am) is the most popular. Examples:
- K Hospital today, earlier the Radium Institute of Indochina (1915–1920).
- Houses on 94 Hang Bong, 57 Hang Dieu, 161 Phung Hung, 23 Nguyen Quang
Bich, 144 Nguyen Thai Hoc (1920–1945)
Flowers and leaves associated with the West: lilies, tulip, olive branches, oak
leaves, pine fruit, laurel branches, etc.
There is a dearth of Vietnamese research on the use of lily as an ornamental feature
in architecture, although much has been written on the popularity of lily in the
famous paintings of To Ngoc Van, Le Pho, Tran Van Can.
Seashell: an image seen from the ancient time, featured prominently in Western
aesthetics.
The Vietnamese folk belief has long looked down on shells (ngh
^
eu - so
-ô
c-h
^
e
n),
and thus, these images were never used in the native decorations.
While ancient Chinese people had used shells (贝) as a form of currency to
exchange for precious things, only with some Western influence did China begin to
use shells in ornamental designs.
With French influence, the image of seashell has appeared in some French
architecture in Hanoi.
Examples:
- The Workers' Theatre on Trang Tien street (earlier Cinema Palace).
- Cambodia Embassy (71a Tran Hung Dao).
- Buildings on 107 Tran Hung Dao, and 64–68 Ly Thuong Kiet, 190 Hang Bong.
Traditional Chinese symbols: wine gourd, coin, four sacred flowers, four sacred
mythical creatures (Taoism), words such as 寿 (longevity), 福 (happiness), 乐 (joy),
喜 (delight), 万 (ten thousand/great number).
Q.-H. Vuong et al. Social Sciences & Humanities Open 1 (2019) 100001
3
“Western quarter,” stands in contrast with the old commercial area that is
known as Hanoi's 36 streets located in the north of the Sword Lake (Dinh
& Groves, 2006). A recent review of French urban planning in Hanoi
pointed out that the French had built 157 streets in their style here be-
tween 1884 and 1945, of which 74 were strictly French with houses built
in accordance with European style (Phan, Nguyen, Dao, Ta, & Nguyen,
2017). Table 2 summarizes the three major periods of French influence
over Hanoi architecture, based on the research by Tran Hau Yen The
(2011).
Studies on the house façade in Hanoi Old Quarter have taken mostly a
qualitative approach, delving into the ornamental designs and their
historical and aesthetic values, as shown by Tran Hau Yen The (2011)
and Phan Cam Thuong (2008). When looking at the house façade, one of
the outstanding features is the combined use of Vietnamese national
script (Chữ QuốcNgữ), French, and Chinese (Ha
n) characters on adver-
tisement billboards and entryways. The construction of many houses in
Hanoi prior to 1945 shows the undeniable aesthetic appeal of having
some Chinese texts on the façade. The display of written texts on the
house façade, according to Tran Hau Yen The (2011), was a practice
originated from Europe. Thanks to such inscriptions, one could observe
the transforming aesthetics in Hanoi, from pure European style to an
integrated East-West style.
The extensive literature review here lays an important foundation for
this study. The aesthetic features to be examined are not only highly
representative of their originating cultures, whether that be French or
Chinese, but are also reflective of the relationship between the archi-
tectural theories and practical application. On this basis, the research
team could categorize the most notable variables and structure the
coding of such data in its Bayesian model. The following section will go
into details the materials and methods of this research.
3. Materials and methods
3.1. Materials
This study started in 2007 when our artist, Bui Quang Khiem, started
to take pictures of old houses in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Each street in
the 36 streets was originally home to a different trade, as reflected in the
name of the street, such as Hang Bun for Rice Noodle Street or Hang Non
for Conical Hat Street (Dinh & Groves, 2006). As the craftsmen and
traders brought their village culture and customs to Hanoi, the city saw
an emergence of buildings characteristic of traditional Vietnamese
village life, such as the communal house (đi
nh), village pagoda (chu
a), or
village gate (cổng la
ng). Most of the houses in these streets were built
during the French colonial period and they exhibit the typical charac-
teristics of the two-storied tube houses built around the 20th century
(Kien, 2008b). These houses are influenced by the architecture of the
French houses and also reflect the wealth of their owners (Dinh & Groves,
2006). From 2007 to 2018, Bui Quang Khiem took more than 500 pic-
tures of the façades of the old houses around Hanoi. Fig. 2 shows two
examples. The process of photo-taking is meticulous and
time-consuming, given the lively economic life of the city and the country
(Vuong, 2014). Many of the houses are covered in advertisement boards,
as these houses are still used for daily activities, including small busi-
nesses. Hence, the photographer had to wait for the moment when the
advertisements boards were put away. Many of the houses have been
destroyed during the time and the pictures are the limited documents left
of them. All of the pictures have been deposited openly online in the
Open Science Framework (OSF)'s database and can be accessed at htt
ps://osf.io/tfy6k/.
In September 2018, the research team started to select pictures that
are suitable for the purpose of this study. This study has left out the
Table 2
An overview of the major historical events and characteristics of Hanoi architecture from 1860 to 1945, based on the research by Tran Hau Yen The (2011).
Time
period
Historical notes Hanoi architecture Notable examples
1860–1900 Only French army engineers could design and build houses,
thanks to their experience in building army bases in Algeria.
Most constructions were for military residence, jail/prison,
and church.
- Vietnam Military History Museum
(earlier H
^
otel du quartier g
en
eral de
l'arm
ee) (1877)
- Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of
Saigon (1877–1880)
- St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hanoi
(1883–1887)
French troops officially took over Hanoi in 1882. “Early colonial architecture”: all architectural designs were
imported straight from France and Europe (Vietnam
Associations of Architects, 2003).
1900–1920 The French began building administrative offices and houses
in the city.
The dominant architecture is classical and neoclassical
style with a touch of different French regions.
a
- Hanoi Presidential Palace (earlier,
Residence of the Governor-General of
French Indochina) (1901–1907)
- Vietnam People's Supreme
Courthouse (earlier Courthouse)
(1906).
- Hanoi Opera House (earlier
Municipal Theatre) (1901–1911).
Rapid urbanization gave rise to many urban centers and
resort towns from the north to the south.
Major administrative buildings were built in the grand
style, all designs were strictly symmetrical.
The
Ecole Française D'Extr
^
eme-Orient (EFEO), French School
of Asian Studies, was founded in 1900, headquartered in
Hanoi.
1920–1945 This period saw an integration of East-West values in the
local architecture, evidenced in the designs of the roof,
console system, and various decorations.
The Indochine style (Ernest Herbrad, Charles Batteur):
more attention paid to the roof, ventilation, patios, doors
and windows; designs taking into account symbols
originated from Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism.
- Vietnam Museum of History
- Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- House No. 18 on Le Hong Phong
Street
EFEO established a full Archeological Service, appointing
both European and local staff as faculty and assistants in the
preservation and restoration of historical monuments in
Indochina (Clementin-Ojha & Manguin, 2007).
The Franco-Chinese style: more elaborate Chinese
decorations in Western buildings, more emphasis on the
chimney and the surface design of the roof. The windows
and doors of this style do not have as many shutters as those
in the Indochine style.
The Art D
ecor style: became popular in 1930–1945; known
for its usage of geometric shapes, zigzag lines, bold color
and patterns, and metallic/iron materials.
- State Bank of Vietnam Headquarters
(earlier Banque de l'Indochine)
- Villa No. 9 on Le Hong Phong Street.
- Trang Tien Palaza (earlier Godard
House)
a
According to Tran Hau Yen The (2011) , these differences are as follows: Northern France: cold, snowy, steep roof, undecorated with a larger ratio for the roof; wall
made of only one material—often rock or artificial rock. Northeast France: wooden structure attached to the wall, influenced by Germany and the Netherlands. Central
France: roofless steep (about 35–45 degrees) and using more wooden console, roof decorated with ceramic brick; shuttered windows; main materials being brick,
ceramic, porcelain, and wood. Southern France: similar to the North, but height of houses shorter, with bigger yard; main materials being rock with roof using pipe tiles.
Q.-H. Vuong et al. Social Sciences & Humanities Open 1 (2019) 100001
4
pictures that were not taken from a direct angle or did not show the
decorative details or of not good quality. In the end, 248 photos of 68 old
houses were chosen and encoded into 78 data lines in the excel sheet. The
OSF's folder that stores these photos is “Sorted images of Hanoi Houses”,
which can be accessed at https://osf.io/tfy6k/. The following section
describes how the photos are encoded and the next section describes the
statistical method employed in this study, the Bayesian Network analysis.
3.2. Construction of variables
The full dataset is stored in the file “FCCE1.181113.csv”, which is
deposited openly in OSF's sub-folder “Processing þ Suppl” in the folder
“Statistical Investigations” [Doi: https://osf.io/tfy6k/].
Dependent variables:
TR: Short for “The traditional feeling.” This categorical variable
takes on one of these values strong, medium or none (coded as
“TR_S,”“TR_M” and “TR_N” respectively)
MD: Short for “The modern feeling.” This categorical variable takes
on one of these values strong, medium or none (coded as “MD_S,”
“MD_M” and “MD_N
00
respectively). Strong means the façade brings a
feeling of French-ness, Medium means the façade is a good mixture of
Franco and Chinese style, none means the French-ness is unclear or
none at all.
CE: Short for “Cultural evolution.” This categorical variable is
about the cultural evolution and acculturation being represented on a
façade. It takes on one of these values: beginning, strong represen-
tation of cultural evolution (evolving), or complete (coded as “C_B,”
“C_E” and “C_C” respectively). When a façade looks traditional, it is
judged the cultural evolution and acculturation process just started
(“C_B”). When a façade looks like there is a tradition from the
traditional and the modern, it is judged the cultural evolution and
acculturation process is evolving (“C_E”). When a façade looks like it
is completely modern and similar to the houses in modern Hanoi, it is
judged the cultural evolution and acculturation process has been
completed (“C_C”). All of the team members participate in making
this judgment, each makes his or her decisions in choosing the value
for the houses independently.
Independent variables:
B: Short for “Buddhism-inspired decorations.” This categorical
variable takes on one of these values: strong, none or weak (coded as
“B_S,”“B_N” and “B_W” respectively). Based on the appearances of
Buddhism-inspired patterns/symbols such as flower, peach, lotus,
wheel, etc., we rate how strong the characteristic of Buddhism on the
façade is. When patterns/symbols are in the center, big or repeatedly
used, it is rated as strong.
T: Short for “Taoism-inspired decorations.” This categorical vari-
able takes on one of these values: strong, none or weak (coded as
“T_S,”“T_N” and “T_W” respectively). Based on the appearances of
Taoism -inspired patterns/symbols such as cloud, the octagonal feng-
shui bagua mirror to ward off bad energy, yin-yang, etc., we rate how
strong the characteristics of Taoism on the façade is. When patterns/
symbols are in the center, big or repeatedly used, it is rated as strong.
C: Short for “Confucianism-inspired decorations.
” This categori-
cal variable takes on one of these values: strong, none or weak (coded
as “C_S,”“C_N” and “C_W” respectively). Based on the appearances
of Confucianism -inspired patterns/symbols such as dragon, Chinese
characters, paper rolls, etc., we rate how strong the characteristics of
Confucianism on the façade is. When patterns/symbols are in the
center, big or repeatedly used, it is rated as strong.
DC: Short for “Decoration.” This categorical variable takes on one of
these values: French, Chinese or Hybrid (coded as “DC_FR,”“DC_CN”
and “ DC_HY” respectively).
DO: Short for “Door.” This categorical variable takes on one of these
values: French, Chinese or Hybrid (coded as “DO_FR,”“DO_CN” and
“DO_HY” respectively).
PL: Short for “Pillar.” This categorical variable takes on one of these
values: French, Chinese or Hybrid (coded as “PL_FR,”“PL_CN” and
“PL_HY” respectively).
RF: Short for “Roof.” This categorical variable takes on one of these
values: French, Chinese or Hybrid (coded as “RF_FR,”“RF_CN” and
“RF_HY” respectively).
3.3. The initial conceptual model
Fig. 3 presents the initial Bayesian network model for the probabi-
listic dependency among the variables. DC is probabilistically dependent
on C, T and B. MD is probabilistically dependent on DC, RF, PL, and DO.
Meanwhile, TR is probabilistically dependent on DC. CE is probabilisti-
cally dependent on TR and MD. These relationships are encoded into a
directed acyclic graph (DAG) and its visualization can be seen in Fig. 3.
This study deployed the bnlearn package (short for “Bayesian
network learning
”) to create the DAG, for further technical explanation,
see Bayesian Networks - With Examples in R of Scutari and Denis (2014).
To create the DAG, the following codes are run in the program R
(v.3.3.1).
Fig. 2. Two examples of the photos of Hanoi's old houses used in this study.
Q.-H. Vuong et al. Social Sciences & Humanities Open 1 (2019) 100001
5
