---
title: Meaning of Compulsory Service poster 222 (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/meaning-of-compulsory-service-poster-222-dialogue-vietnamese-saigon-1957/
description: A Vietnamese-language poster with a colour woodcut-style picture of a woman reaping rice and a smiling man seated beside a conical hat and teapot.
section: Collection
---

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3. Meaning of Compulsory Service poster 222

[![Meaning of Compulsory Service poster 222, 1957 US poster: A Vietnamese-language poster with a colour woodcut-style picture](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/meaning-of-compulsory-service-poster-222-dialogue-vietnamese-saigon-1957.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/meaning-of-compulsory-service-poster-222-dialogue-vietnamese-saigon-1957.jpg)

# Meaning of Compulsory Service poster 222 (Vietnamese poster distributed in Saigon)

A Vietnamese-language poster with a colour woodcut-style picture of a woman reaping rice and a smiling man seated beside a conical hat and teapot, above a verse dialogue. She asks him the difference between mobilisation (dong vien) and compulsory service (quan dich); he answers that service means a year of training for the nation's youth and then a return to one's trade, while mobilisation is for emergencies. The tell is plain folks: a farm-couple banter makes military service sound ordinary and brief.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/) [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)

## Text on the object

Original (Vietnamese) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
NỮ ĐỐ:
Đố anh, anh giảng cho mau:
« Động-Viên, Quân-Dịch khác nhau thế nào ? »
Chàng mà giảng được thấp cao,
Mới là xứng bậc anh hào thanh-niên.
NAM ĐÁP:
Quân-Dịch khác với Động-Viên,
Quân-Dịch là giúp thanh-niên nước mình.
Sớm hôm quân-sự tập tành,
Để khi cần đến sẽ thành chiến-binh.
Một năm nhiệm-vụ hoàn thành,
Trở về tiếp tục nghề mình như xưa.
Động-Viên là lúc nguy-cơ,
Có quân xâm-lược cõi bờ tự-do.
Gọi ra bảo-vệ cơ-đồ,
Phải cần phục-vụ dưới cờ thật đông.
NỮ:
Khen chàng giảng giải đã thông,
Em xin kết mối tơ-đồng từ đây.
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
WOMAN (posing a riddle): Riddle me this, and explain it quickly: how do mobilisation and compulsory service differ? If you can explain high and low, you will be worthy of the title of a hero among youth. MAN (answering): Compulsory service differs from mobilisation; compulsory service is to help the youth of our country. Morning and evening they practise soldiering, so that when needed they will become fighters. When the one-year duty is completed, they return to carry on their trade as before. Mobilisation is for times of danger, when an invading army threatens the free borders; those called out to defend the nation must serve in great numbers under the flag. WOMAN: I praise you, your explanation is complete; from here I ask to tie the bond of marriage.
```

No imprint or credit line is printed on the sheet. Translation is literal and approximate.

[← Burma-America Picture News poster, 24 May 1957 (Burmese poster distributed in Rangoon)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/burma-america-picture-news-24-may-1957-burmese-1957/) [U.S. Air Force Band concert (Chinese-English poster distributed in Taipei) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/us-air-force-band-concert-chinese-1957/)

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- ['This log cabin was the first building erected on the North Bend', Whig print by T. Sinclair, 1840](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/harrison-north-bend-log-cabin-sinclair-1840/) (United States · 1840 · Plain folks, Transfer)
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