Xin Chao, Hi everyone,
The Truyện Kiều, The Tale of Kiều was written by Nguyễn Du who lived between 1765-1820. He’s
a celebrated poet in Vietnam. He was born into a wealthy family and served as an ambassador
to China where he learnt about a romance which he translated to Vietnamese which became the
basis of this tale. Written in 1800 or thereabout, it is 3254 line long in couplet format,
about 150 pages, the Tale of Kieu is the greatest classical poem of Vietnam. In this video,
I will tell you everything you need to know about the book. I will summarise and discuss its themes
and at the end I will tell you why it’s still one the most loved piece of literature in Vietnam.
First let me tell you a few facts about the country.
A country of 90 million people, Vietnam in ancient Chinese means people of the south,
or fairy-like dragons of the south. On the map, Vietnam looks like a dragon with Hanoi as its
eye and biting Laos or an S-shaped long beach along the coast of south china sea. If you want
to buy an ocean-facing house, head to Vietnam. Another long but narrow country facing the ocean
is Chile. Apparently the two countries are best buddies when it comes to business. If you want to
get places in Vietnam you need a motorbike. Why? Because the country is too narrow for cars. I’m
joking. Food means a lot to the Vietnamese people that they even have a god for it. Ong Tao is the
god of the kitchen who shows up every year in a minimal robe in February during the Vietnamese New
Year. Luckily it is a warm country. The currency is called Dong. Don't laugh! It may refer to the
sound of a bronze coin makes if you drop it into a jar, like ding-dong sound. Spoken Vietnamese
language is tonal which means a word written with the same roman letters is read in many different
tones with different meanings. Timothy Allen, the translator of this book, has included a few
examples in the book. For example “ba” can mean grandma, uncle, dad, poison, rubbish, random, bait
or a hug, depending on how it’s pronounced. Nguyen (win) is the most popular surname, almost 40%
of the people, just like Kim in Korea. Just like Korea, this surname was awarded to the people by
a king with the same surname, which was later used by anyone as a pass to avoid persecution. It means
a musical instrument. Not surprisingly, it is also the surname of the author of the Tale of Keiu.
First I will summarise the story and then look at some of the themes and
answer the question why it has remained so popular in Vietnam.
The backdrop of the story is Le Dynasty that ruled Vietnam from 1533 to 1789. when the country was
divided between the north and the south ruled by different people. This somehow mirrors the
20th century when the Communist North was in conflict the American-backed South. Despite
the political conflict in the background the story is firmly focused on one character. A young girl,
whose story mirrors the political loyalty in the country, between the old and the new.
Kieu is a beautiful, smart and talented lute player. One day while visiting her ancestors’
grave with her younger sister, she visits the grave of a dead girl who appears to have had very
similar life to her which is full of misfortunes. In this case, it is not the ghost of her past,
but of her future that haunts her before she embarks on her life. The idea of ghost being
around is still very strong in Vietnam as well as other Asian countries like Malaysia and Indonesia,
especially the disturbed ghost. In the novel, Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan from Indonesia,
ghosts play a major role. Kieu also meets and falls in love with a boy called Kim, but she
refuses to have sex with him telling him to wait. She knows their union based only on lust will
ruin their marriage and ever-lasting happiness. She personifies innocence, purity and loyalty.
Soon her family is wrongly accused by a silk seller. Kieu volunteers to marry a rich man
in return for money to prevent her father and brother from going to prison. Her loyalty to her
family is so immense, which is a Confucius virtue. This is still in practice today.
Your loyalty to your family and elders are very important in Vietnam. As I was trying to find an
easy way to say hello in Vietnamese at the start of this video, I learnt that the word depends on
who you’re talking to. So age and gender come into place. Okay back to the story. But the
rich husband turns out to be a pimp. After taking her virginity, he sells her to a brothel. At the
brothel Kieu refuses to have sex and attempts suicide but she is recused and she survives.
The matron of the brothel breaks her resistance by tricking her to a staged elopement with a playboy
who is the second man to rape her. Sometime later, she meets a wealthy man called Thuc who buys her
out of the brothel. They get married, but here is another twist. This kind man is already married
to another woman called Lady Huon, the daughter of the prime minister no less. Upon hearing this, the
powerful wife kidnaps Kieu and makes her a slave. Later she manages to steal some valuables and
escape to take refuge at a temple. A nun called Giac (Ziac) takes her in, but once she knows
she has stolen property, she is sent to a safe house. But it turns out to be another brothel.
At the second brothel she meets a rebel leader Tu Hai and they get married. But Kieu is tricked by
the king’s general. Kieu convinces her husband to surrender because the king has called an amnesty,
which is not true. Soon her husband is killed. She is raped by the army general
and forced to marry to a local official to prevent a scandal. She attempts suicide for
the second time by drowning herself into a river, but again she is saved by the nun.
Meanwhile Kim, her first love, becomes an official and helps Kieu’s parents.
He has been searching for her and finally finds her with the help of the nun. They
reunite but things have gone so bad that she feels her body is soiled and damaged
therefore not worthy of him anymore. Her bad karma ends but so does her self-worth.
So she refuses to sleep with him saying if he truly loves her, he should not have sex with
her. This seems anti-climactic for a man who spend his entire life looking for her. But seeing things
from her perspective, she had sex with a lot of men she didn't love, Kim being a true gentleman
accepts her decision and they live together as husband and wife without needing to have sex.
And finally Kieu feels accepted by everyone around her. and they can leave in peace.
Now let me tell you some of the themes in the book.
There are many themes in this story. The theme of family loyalty is very central.
Confucianism which was dominant philosophy in Vietnam stressed children’s loyalty to their
family. But it goes even deeper. The Tale of Kieu is in fact based on a Chinese romance. The author
turned it a socio-political novel that highlights the north-south conflict in Vietnam at the time.
Another major theme is beauty. Kieu’s beauty means she is in demand among men and twice
she ends up in a brothel. Beauty as a curse is very prominent in Asian folklore. I discussed
this in my video on the Indonesian novel Beauty is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan. In that novel too,
the main protagonist is a beautiful woman who is passed around among men. Beauty might put
you ahead in many ways, in this tale it seals Kieu’s fate as a prostitute and a sex object.
Acceptance of one’s fate is also a theme here, prominent in many Buddhist cultures.
As I discussed in my video on the Tale Genji from Japan, life is ultimately nothing but suffering.
Kieu is a very talented musician and also educated, but they don't do much to change her
fate. The story appears to say that you shouldn't rely on your talent, instead accept your fate.
This somewhat goes against the current Vietnamese value of revering teachers and learned people.
In order to be financially successful, a good education is a must nowadays,
but in Kieu’s case, her talent as a poet and musician not only didn't help her, but also added
to her misery sometimes. An element of magic is also present. Early on, on her way to the grave,
she has a kind of dream of future miseries. It appears her life was pre-determined or scripted
by someone else and she was merely an actor in it, which is a bit similar to Don Quixote.
Injustice runs deep here. Her family is wrongfully accused and ruined. Kieu is a
talented and educated girl from a middle class family but she doesn't get to enjoy any of it.
The book blames her bad karma. Those 15 years appears like a test for her, full of trials and
tribulations just in the Greek classic by Homer, Odyssey has to endure years of drifting around.
But here we have a female protagonist who also goes through many trials and she survives it all.
I think part of her misfortune is her own doing. For example she refuses to make love to the one
man she loves at the beginning. Later on when living with her husband Thuc who is a good man,
she is the one who suggests he should go and visit his first wife,
which gives them the opportunity to kidnap her and make her a slave.
Later with her second husband, she is the one tricked by the king’s general
which results in her husband getting killed. She’s educated but very naïve about the world,
perhaps the author wanted to emphasise her innocence and good heart that trusted people.
As a protagonist she is very interesting. She’s educated, a talented artist and beautiful. She
plays the lute and composes poetry. The author seems to suggest that her misery was because of
her talent and beauty. She’s also determined and assertive as she refuses to submit to the brothel
landlady and even twice commits suicide each time saved by others. She sacrifices herself
for her family and sacrifices her husband to save thousands of lives. She makes mistakes
and underestimates others but also takes responsibility. She is naïve and innocent.
She goes through all the trials and tribulations of any hero. She is forced to prostitution,
slavery, and sham marriages. But she survives it all to be reunited with her family
and love. Unfortunately she thinks it’s too late because she has lost her chastity, which is sad.
One of the most beautiful scene is when Kim returns to see Kieu after a year of absence.
He finds the house abandoned, window open, moss and ivy covered the house
and its walls. A dreadful scene of shock and dismay. It’s very sad and poignant.
The story is very realistic despite too many twists and turns. The characters’
motivations are very real and convincing. The language is also precise, with concrete imagery
and simplicity that makes it real and convincing. The moon symbolism is prominent
as it was the symbol of Ming Dynsty in China. Ming is a combination Chinese
characters for the moon and the sun. Other natural symbols like flowers appear a lot.
One of the most beautiful symbolism in the book is about Kieu. She is likened to a leaf
in the wind. Constantly swayed and harassed by the relentless wind of social injustice.
Now let me tell you a few things about the translation. I read the 2019 Timothy Allen’s
translation published by Penguin Classics, titled The Song of Kieu. I have to say,
the translation reads very well and the language is beautiful
and lyrical. The original was written in Luc Bat form with strict rhyme scheme, with lines
alternating between six and eight syllables plus tonal rules that are common in Vietnamese.
I think Timothy Allen has gone for the poetic while staying faithful to the original story,
and has captured the atmosphere and sensibilities of the characters. From what I have gathered it is
perhaps the best translation out there that brings the 19th century Vietnamese to modern English.
He has also included a lot of notes and explanations and also a brief history of how
the story has travelled from China to Vietnam. Timothy Allen’s translation of an early part of
the poem won him The Times Stephen Spender Prize in 2008. Here is a an example so you get an idea.
Sadness in the harbour in the afternoon When a tall ship slips far away.
Sadness in the rivers that run to the seas, In the flowers that drifts in the current.
Sadness in the shimmer of wilting grass Where land meets sky and everything turns blue.
Sadness in the wind that whips about the cove, In the waves that crashes against the headland.
Alone among alien rivers and foreign hills She write homesick songs of exile.
I think the word drift best describes Kieu’s
life as I said earlier that according to Buddhism that life is a series of drifts.
Now let me answer why it has become such a beloved Vietnamese classic.
Despite the tale having a Chinese origin, and its setting is mainly in China it is a Vietnamese
classic and loved by everyone. Anyone who has read it would tell you how beautiful it is.
At the heart of a tale of loss but most crucially a feeling of nostalgia of the past.
It also depicts a Vietnamese spirit that despite all the hardship and struggle,
Kieu never gives up on her love for her family and Kim. This sense of
optimism is very much part of the Vietnamese culture. Despite whatever hardship you face,
very few Vietnamese sit down to complain. Instead they get on with life. Vietnam is also considered
as one of the happiest countries in the world. In the case of Kieu, it’s her resilience that
triumphed at the end, which must give its Vietnamese readers an optimistic outlook,
a long-term perspective, and a mature way of seeing the world and the passage of time.
I think having such a female protagonist is also important.
I don't want too political here. From what I know, the communist parties both in China
and Vietnam promoted women’s rights to some extent. So the Tale of Kieu must have been
seen as a good inspiration for women. Also, as Timothy Allen points out in his introduction,
it has agriculture folks against the merchants. Kieu’s father is accused by a silk trader, and
unjustly. As we know the communist parties both in China and also in Vietnam were peasant-based and
distrusted merchants as too westernised. Well, not now, as both countries have embraced capitalism.
The book also has an obvious anti-deception, anti-corruption, anti-exploitation message,
but I think it hits a deeper chord among Vietnamese people.
But the main reason it has stayed on as the most important work of Vietnamese literature
is in feelings of home and family and the scarifies and hardship one goes through to
have a home and protect your family. Of course also the beautiful rendering of Vietnamese
language is also a major factor. I read it in English but you can feel the lyrical beauty,
the concrete imagery while also holding the highest level of realism depicting Kieu
as a real and relatable hero as if it’s written recently. Kieu’s self-sacrifice
will bring tears to your eyes, but it’s her resilience that makes you pause and admire.
For me its ultimate message was no matter how terrible life may seem at times,
there’s always hope things will take a turn for better. In the bleakest moments of our lives,
it’s hope that carries us past the abyss. At the end, her family accepted Kieu as who she was,
not as who she had been. It’s her strength of her character, her resilience and her love that define
her, not her past names, or terrible miseries. She is not a victim. She’s a hero. I think that
resonates with many people, not only in Vietnam but all over the world. In life, most people fall
down, crawl, tumble, stand up, then drift, fall down and stand up again. Unless you’re a lucky
smooth sailor. The Tale of Kieu is a metaphor that life is not easy, with its highs and lows.
Now, if you want to win my copy of the Song of Kieu just leave a comment down below.
Any comment is fine. I will select one person randomly and send the book to you anywhere
in the world. I mean anywhere in the world. Unless you live among penguins or polar bears.
Please take a moment to share this among friends on social media. I’m on a journey
to read the best of literature from every country on earth. Thank you for watching.