Organization Address VMT Group – Vietnam
Author Name Van Khuong Anh
Massage in Vietnam has developed through a long historical process shaped by cultural exchange rather than originating from a single unified system. Research on the history of East Asian medicine indicates that the earliest foundations of massage techniques in Vietnam are closely connected to the development of traditional medical practices influenced by China, particularly the theories of meridians and vital energy, or qi. For many centuries, techniques such as body massage, acupressure, and herbal compress therapy were used as part of traditional healing practices in Vietnamese folk medicine. These methods are documented in classical medical texts such as the 11 volume Nam Duoc Than Hieu (literally “Miraculous Remedies of Southern Medicine”) by Tue Tinh in the fourteenth century, and Hai Thuong Y Tong Tam Linh (“Comprehensive Treatise on Traditional Medicine”) by Hai Thuong Lan Ong in the eighteenth century, where body massage and accupoint pressure are described as therapeutic techniques used to support treatment and restore health.
Modern scholarship on the history of East Asian medicine also confirms that Vietnamese massage techniques share philosophical foundations with Chinese systems such as Anmo and Tui Na, which spread widely across the region through centuries of cultural exchange and trade (Unschuld, Traditional Chinese Medicine: Heritage and Adaptation, Columbia University Press, 2010).
Alongside this foundation in traditional medicine, Vietnamese massage also developed through everyday folk practices. Agricultural workers, fishermen, and craftsmen often used techniques such as rubbing, pounding, and kneading muscles to relieve aches and fatigue after heavy physical labor. From this social context, a distinctive Vietnamese massage method gradually emerged, known as Tam Quat (also commonly referred to as Tam Quat massage). Studies on therapeutic culture in Southeast Asia indicate that Tam Quat became widely practised in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, particularly in urban centres such as Hanoi and Saigon. The method is characterised by rhythmic tapping, pounding, pressing, and kneading movements designed to release muscular tension. In its early stages, Tam Quat was typically performed by male therapists and primarily served male clients, as the vigorous and highly mechanical techniques were considered too intense for women. A notable aspect of the historical development of Tam Quat is its association with the massage profession among visually impaired practitioners in Vietnam, where massage became an important livelihood for many people with disabilities. Anthropological and sociological studies of East Asian massage traditions suggest that Tam Quat represents a localised adaptation of broader East Asian bodywork practices, combining influences from Chinese traditional medicine with indigenous Vietnamese folk massage techniques (Hsu, The Transmission of Chinese Medicine, Cambridge University Press, 2008; Wahlberg, Contested Care: Medical Travel and the Global Marketplace, Duke University Press, 2014).
In the twentieth century, particularly during the colonial period and the modernisation of medicine, massage practices in Vietnam were further influenced by European physiotherapy and medical massage. Medical schools and hospitals established during the French colonial era introduced Western therapeutic techniques such as muscle manipulation, stretching, and rehabilitative therapy. Over time, these approaches blended with traditional Vietnamese massage practices and helped shape the modern spa therapies seen today. Contemporary spa treatments in Vietnam often combine multiple elements, including traditional acupressure, oil massage influenced by European techniques, muscle stretching, and heated herbal compress therapy. The use of hot herbal compresses, especially those made from local medicinal herbs to soothe muscles and stimulate circulation, remains a common feature in many spa treatments in Vietnam, reflecting a synthesis between traditional medical knowledge and modern therapeutic methods (Smith & Puczkó, Health, Tourism and Hospitality: Spas, Wellness and Medical Travel, Routledge, 2014; Cohen, The Global Spa Industry, Routledge, 2017).
From a historical and academic perspective, Vietnamese massage can therefore be understood as the result of a long process of cultural integration. Its earliest foundations lie in East Asian traditional medicine with techniques of massage and acupressure. It later evolved through everyday folk practices, culminating in the emergence of Tam Quat around the late nineteenth century. Finally, in the twentieth century, Western physiotherapy contributed to the modernisation and diversification of spa therapies in Vietnam. For this reason, Tam Quat is not the sole origin of Vietnamese massage, but it represents an important milestone in the localisation and widespread popularisation of bodywork techniques within Vietnamese society, preceding the development of the modern spa industry as it exists today.”
Image credit:
By Nguyễn Bá Tĩnh (1330–1401) – https://lib.nomfoundation.org/collection/1/volume/510/,
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94467980
