Vietnamese literature

“The Tale of
Kieu”
By Nguyen Du

Reported by:
Cadayona, Joshua Lander C.
PRE-DISCUSSION:

1. What is the bibliography of the author Nguyen Du?

2. What are the historical situations during the poetry was written?

3. What is the concept the main point of the poetry?

WHAT TO EXPECT?

At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to:

 Discuss the Historical Situation and the concept of the poetry;

 describe the similarities of the poet to the main character;

 evaluate the literary elements in the piece; and

 relate the literature to the Vietnamese society.

LESSON OUTLINE

Who is Nguyễn Du?

Nguyễn Du was born in a great wealthy family in

1765 in Bích Câu, Thăng Long. His father’s name is

Nguyễn Nghiễm, who was born in Tiên Điền village, Nghi

Xuân, Hà Tĩnh, Vietnam. He was the seventh child of

Nguyễn Nghiễm, a former prime minister under the Lê

dynasty. By the age of 10, Nguyễn lost his father, he also

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 2

lost his mother at age 13, so for most of his teen years he lived with his brother Nguyễn

Khản or with his brother-in-law Đoàn Nguyễn Tuấn. His brothers were high ranking

officials in the Le Dynasty.

The Historical Situations

By the end of the 18th century, the Le Dynasty, after almost 300 years on the

throne, had been weakened. The king of Le was like a puppet. Power in the country

was shared by two big families: The Trinh family to the North and the Nguyen family in

the South. The country was at war; the two families fought each other for the power and

the king did nothing. The national hero, Nguyen Hue from the Tay Son (Qui Nhon)

defeated both the Nguyen family and the Trinh family. Afterward the last king of the Le

Dynasty, Le Chieu Thong, went to China to beg for help. He asked the King of China

(Thanh Dynasty), King Cau Long, to send troops to Viet Nam to help him gain back the

throne of his ancestors.

In 1789 Thanh's troops were also defeated by Nguyen Hue, and he became a

King by the name of Quang Trung. Nguyen Du and his family had tried to follow Le

Chieu Thong (to China), but they had to stay in Viet Nam. They were loyal to the former

king of Le and were afraid of the Nguyen Dynasty which took over in 1802. Nguyen Anh

overthrew the Tay Sons and he became the new king [the first of the Nguyen Dynasty

which continued until Bao Dai abdicated in 1945-ed. note] by the name of Gia Long. Gia

Long asked Nguyen Du to join the new government. It was against Nguyen Du's

willingness, but he had no choice.

The Concept

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 3

 The Vietnamese are a very learned people and were deeply influenced by the

concepts of King-Master-Father of the great Chinese philosopher, Confucius. [He taught

that] you must be loyal to your king-no matter what. Nguyen Du and his family had

benefited a lot from the former Le Dynasty, which explains why Nguyen Du was

unwilling to join the new government. He considered it an act of disloyalty to the former

king. As a learned man, he was afraid of being disregarded by the people of his time

and felt it would bring shame to his family name, because he was being faithful to the

concepts of Confucius.

The Original Text Vietnamese Alphabet

English translation From Lê Xuân Thuy's Kim Vân Kiều

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 4

English translation by Michael Counsell

English translation by Vladislav Zhukov

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 5

English translation by Timothy Allen

Kieu's Story

(Also titled the equivalent of The New Scream that Cuts Your Guts)

In order to explain his situation, Nguyen Du was inspired by the story of KIM VAN

KIEU by a Chinese author, Thanh Tam Tai Than (pen name). The story had three main

characters: Kim Trong, Thuy Van, and Thuy Kieu. The culture of Viet Nam was deeply

influenced by Chinese culture. But if we believe that Nguyen Du was only translating the

Chinese original, we would be mistaken. Nguyen Du only wanted to borrow that story to

convey his concept, his situation, his memory of the dynasty that had been lost.

Furthermore, the story was written in [the Vietnamese] 6-8 verse. It was a very popular

verse form and everyone, from farmers to learned men, could understand it.

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 6

Similarities Between Kieu and the Author Nguyen Du

Kieu sold herself to settle the debt of Nguyen Du considered the action of
her family joining the new government as selling
himself

Kieu had to endure suffering and hardship Nguyen Du suffered greatly because of
his loyalty to his former king

Deep in her heart, Kieu stays faithful to Nguyen Du was truly loyal to the Le
Kim Trong Dynasty

Finally, Kieu was reunited with Kim Trong Nguyen Du hoped for the return of his king

Plot

This is the story of a young

lady named Vuong Thuy Kieu. Kieu

was very beautiful and learned as

well. She was born into a well-

educated family, and she was in love

with a young man, Kim Trong. Then disaster fell on her family. Her father and her

brother were imprisoned. In order to solve the family's problem, she had no choice but

to sell herself. From then on, catastrophe after catastrophe fell on her. She had to follow

her fate: being cheated, two times being held in a pleasure house (whorehouse) as a

singer, concubine, servant. We may say this is a sad story of a talented lady who had

bad fate. In this story Nguyen Du wanted to tell us through the fate of Kieu to be

widened into the fate of human beings in the wicked feudal society along with its

cruelties and injustice. He wanted to scream out loud, a scream that breaks our heart.

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 7

Thus, the title of the story DOAN THANH TAN THANH, or as it is more popularly

known, KIEU's STORY.

The plot portrays the chaotic political and social circumstances of Vietnam in the

18th century, arising from political infighting.

Theme

The theme of the story is filial piety, one of the main tenets of Confucianism. It

recounts the life and trials of a beautiful and talented young woman who sacrificed her

happiness to save her disgraced family. She had to go through many sufferings, such

as being lured into prostitution, being wed to a man who was already married, and being

thrown out of a Buddhist sanctuary before she was finally reunited with her first love.

However, this reunion did not bring earthly joy for Kiều, who chose to devote her life to

serving her family as filial piety demanded. Literary critics have argued that the theme of

the story is an allegory of Nguyễn Du’s guilt and conflict of interest in agreeing to work

for the new regime (the Nguyễn dynasty, 1802−1945), which had been indirectly

involved in the overthrow of his former master. This behavior was unacceptable in

traditional Confucian Vietnamese society, as it was tantamount to betraying filial piety.

Hence the theme of the story was a poignant reminder for Nguyễn Du, who was born

into a high-profile mandarin family, and whose father served as a high-ranking minister

under the Le dynasty.

Setting

The copy of the Truyện Kiều manuscript held at the British Library (reference

number Or 14844) was completed around 1894.

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 8

Nguyen Du's inspiration

Nguyen Du tried to explain to us that disaster that befell Kieu is the conflict

between talent and fate [See opening lines of the story]. Kieu had to endure a lot of

suffering and hardship because she is beautiful and talented. The more you are

talented, the more bad luck may strike you.

To Nguyen Du to settle this conflict, the matter of the heart must come into being.

By the end he wrote that the heart is three times more important than the talent. The

inspiration of Nguyen Du's was the inspiration of considering men's fate. How could

men live in a society full of injustice and cruelties? Kieu was built in the image of

perfection, she was the essence of desirability by men. Kieu was not only beautiful, she

was also talented.

In one word she was the perfect combination of beauty and talent. Such a lady

must have a good life with happiness but because she was living in an unjust, cruel,

wicked society, all that she got was turning against her and she fell victim to a disaster

that destroyed her. Kieu had become a victim of the society. But she never accepted

her fate; she was always fighting against it. There was a rebel in Thuy Kieu. We may

say that the more she fought the more she failed, and as she became aware of her fate,

her failure became more bitter. Nguyen Du was writing Kieu's story with his blood and

his tears.

Filial Piety and Chastity in The Tale of Kieu

It is said that young Vietnamese were taught not to read the story of Phan Tran and The

Tale of Kieu. As is shown in an old saying:

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 9

 “men should not tell the story of Phan Tran,

women should not tell the story of

Thuy Van and Thuy Kieu”.

(quoted in Dinh Gia Khanh 1998: 27)

In the 18th century work ‘Phan Tran’, it is arranged that Phan Sinh, the main

character in the story, will marry a girl chosen by his parents, but he falls in love with

another girl. He is also obsessed with his love and this affects his study. The plot is

contrary to the Confucian idea of filial piety that a child must obey his or her parents

even in marriage. As for Kieu, she manages to meet her sweetheart, Kim Trong, in

private when her family is away and she agrees to be his wife without the approval of

her parents. Such behaviour was unthinkable in the Confucian period. The emperor Tu

Duc pointed out that The Tale of Kieu was for entertainment and that one should not

take the story seriously (ibid). Also, throughout the period of 15 years that she is

separated from her family, Kieu lives with three different men. Vietnamese scholars

commented that neither of these stories was worth reading because Phan Sinh's and

Kieu’s characters did not conform to the main concepts of Confucianism.

The Tale of Kieu can be seen as a challenge to Confucian morality. Nguyen Du’s

masterpiece is not only contrary to the Confucian teaching on female chastity, but it also

reacts against the strict concepts and secretiveness of Confucianism in favor of love

and sexuality. In addition, it can be said that it was uncommon for a Confucian scholar

in the early 19th century, like Nguyen Du, to introduce into a literary work the topics of

love and sexuality, which, it was thought, should be kept hidden and clandestine.

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 10

 A study by Anthony Giddens, although dealing with Western society, helps clarify

why authors in traditional societies were not encouraged to explore the issue of love. As

Giddens notes, in Western literature, romantic love was first mentioned in the late 18th

century narratives. This is because love had been considered a disruptive and

dangerous force. Passionate love had the power to sway a person from his or her

routine and duty, to stimulate him or her into radical action and to turn his or her back on

existing institutions. Love was also associated with ‘freedom and selfrealisation’

(Giddens 1992: 38 – 40). As is shown in this story, Kim Trong and Kieu ignore the old

tradition because of their love. However, in a Confucian society such as Vietnam,

women, not men, are the focus of denunciation for that improper behaviour (Nguyen

Ngoc Thien 2002: 579).

In the opinion of a prominent literary critic, Tran Dinh Huou, according to

Confucian standards, a good piece of literature should avoid extremism and maintain

moderation. As he points out:

“For Confucian scholars, a literary work should help distinguish between good

and evil but the degree of criticism should be moderate not extreme. Topics that should

be strictly avoided in a literary piece include lewdness and sexual desire because

writing about sex and desire is regarded as illicit and immoderate. Also, literary

criticism, when used as a means of denouncing evil, should be expressed in a

moderate way and not be too explicit”. (Tran Dinh Huou 1991: 19)

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 11

 Thus, not only the scene where the young lovers

arrange to meet each other in private, but also the details

about brothels and prostitution in The Tale of Kieu would

be regarded as extreme according to Confucian

standards of good literature. These include such explicit

details as a prostitute using a little juice from the peel of

pomegranate and a few drops of chicken’s blood to fool

customers that she is a virgin, and the way in which girls

at a brothel are taught about the arts of love, including the

seven sentimental ways of speaking with customers and the eight techniques of

entertaining them. Also included is the way Nguyen Du describes the body of Kieu in

detail:

“Through the light rosy gauze curtain,

The silhouette of her body stood out,

As white and transparent as if it were made of jade and ivory.

It resembled truly a perfect statue and a divine masterpiece.” (p. 189)

It can be said that, in The Tale of Kieu, Nguyen Du broke the traditional

convention of Vietnamese literature by not highlighting chastity. Instead, the author

raised the conflict between filial piety and chastity; that is, Kieu cannot keep her chastity

because of her filial piety. She sells herself in order to save her father. A question

relating to Confucian teaching occurs: should Kieu be judged on her filial piety or on the

loss of her female chastity, when this loss of chastity (bat tiet) is in fact due to her filial

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 12

piety? Another crucial contradiction is whether or not the filial piety of a woman with a

pure heart, who sacrifices herself for the survival of her father, represents her salvation

or her physical degradation? As for Nguyen Du, he openly shows his sympathy for his

main character:

“The perfume of your faith has reached Heaven

Selling yourself to save your father is an act of filial devotion,

Saving another person is an act of altruism,

You have served your country and your people faithfully.” (p. 370)

By contrast, for Confucian literati, the acceptance of this contradiction seems

impossible. The comment of the Confucian scholar and poet Nguyen Cong Tru (1778-

1858) is a good example of the Confucian view of female chastity. As he says:

…From Ma Giam Sinh to Tu Hai To sell her dying body and live in brothels. Where is

Kieu’s filial piety now?

And then he draws a harsh conclusion:

Miserable life did not give her chastity Misfortunes only lead her to promiscuity. (Nguyen

Loc 1999: 438)

Kieu is not the mistress of her own destiny. Her life is controlled by bad fate.

Nguyen Hien Le (1996: 36) pointed out that The Tale of Kieu “is a story that portrays the

human condition – or, more accurately, the condition of a talented and beautiful woman

– face to face with destiny”. The Buddhist concept of Karma is also shown in the story.

The scholar Tran Trong Kim asserted that if one understands The Tale of Kieu, one can

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 13

understand a part of Buddhism. On the other hand, knowledge of Buddhism can help

readers understand The Tale of Kieu more clearly (reprinted in Nguyen Ngoc Thien

2002: 568). The following example shows how the idea of Karma is portrayed in the

story. As revealed in the story, the bad characters like Ma Giam Sinh or Tu Ba are

punished. Meanwhile, the good people like Kieu are rewarded after they have paid off

their sins. As shown at the end of the story, Kieu can enjoy the reward of her good

deeds.

After having heard about Vuong’s misfortunes and the sacrifice of Kieu, Kim

Trong responds to Kieu’s request by marrying Thuy Van, Kieu’s younger sister. He

never gives up searching for Kieu. Towards the end of the story, Kieu is rescued by a

Buddhist nun and returned to her family and loved ones. Here, the idea of love is

conveyed interestingly as it is revealed that the subsequent marriage between Kieu and

Kim Trong is not consummated. They decide to live together as friends instead of as

husband and wife. As shown in the story:

Of love and friendship, they fulfilled both claims-

They shared no bed but joys of lute and verse.

Now they sipped wine, now played a game of go,

Admiring flowers, waiting for the moon.

Their wishes all came true since fate so willed,

And of two loves marriage made two friends.

(Huynh Sanh Thong 1996: 167)

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 14

 Thus, their love is not connected to sexuality, drawing a sharp contrast with the

sexuality of the prostitution in which Kieu engaged during 15 years of misery. In fact,

this kind of platonic love was new to the social context of the early 19th century

Vietnam. Traditionally, in Vietnamese society, marriage was not based on love but on

an agreement between two families. Thus, it was determined by consideration of factors

such as wealth, social status and reproduction, love not being taken into account.

Marriage was related to reproduction and economic imperatives, and women had to rely

entirely on men.

Traditionally, Vietnamese women were controlled by ‘tam tong’ or the three

submissions, which divided a woman’s life into three stages: when she was young, she

had to obey her father; when married, she depended on her husband; if her husband

died, she had to obey her eldest son (Marr 1984: 192). Similarly, the relationships in the

society were mainly categorized into the ‘tam cuong’, the three social bonds, which

included the relationships of ruler-subordinate; father son; and husband-wife (Pham Van

Khoai 2003: 65). Thus, the platonic love between Kieu and Kim Trong would not be

imaginable at the time the poem was composed. Moreover, a friendship between a man

and a woman, as demonstrated in the relationship of Kieu and Kim Trong, did not fit any

of the types of social bonds described by Confucius.

The Kieu Story and the Vietnamese People

6/8 verses are popular and easy to understand

The Kieu story is a masterpiece that every Vietnamese knows

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 15

 In conversation we refer to citations from KIEU

In life every event that happens may refer to a part of Kieu's story

1st of the New Year. KIEU may be used as a book to predict the future

Analysis of the Narrative Poetry

Apart from the fact that The Tale of Kieu was utilized for political ends, the

analysis of it by a literary critic, Nguyen Bach Khoa, through the application of Western

psychology was a striking development in the Vietnamese literary and academic

domain. According to this analysis by Nguyen Bach Khoa, also known as Truong Tuu,

Kieu suffers from hysteria, and the author Nguyen Du suffered from depression when

he wrote the poem. Although Nguyen Bach Khoa's paper created a controversy about

the study of science and art, it was not well received. For example, the well-known critic

Hoai Thanh, and the poet, Luu Trong Lu, viewed Nguyen Bach Khoa’s review of The

Tale of Kieu as too academic and scientific and his approach as somehow unsuitable

for literary studies (for further information see Nguyen Ngoc Thien 2002). Even so,

Nguyen Bach Khoa’s essay on The Tale of Kieu significantly marked a transition from

the Confucian period to the Modern period. From then on the new generation of

Vietnamese literati began to move away from a Confucian worldview and towards a

perspective based on science and the new knowledge imported from the West. At least,

they had new explanations for life and social circumstances.

CONCLUSION

Truyện Kiều (The tale of Kiều), written by Nguyễn Du (1765−1820) is regarded

as the most significant poem in Vietnamese literature. It was composed in Lục-bát (6-8)

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 16

stanzas and its original title in Vietnamese is Ðoạn Trường Tân Thanh (A new cry from

a broken heart). However, it is better known as Truyện Kiều or Kim Văn Kiều. The story

is based on a 17th century Ming Chinese novel, which Nguyễn Du discovered while he

was on an ambassadorial mission to China in 1813. The plot portrays the chaotic

political and social circumstances of Vietnam in the 18th century, arising from political

infighting. The theme of the story is filial piety, one of the main tenets of Confucianism. It

recounts the life and trials of a beautiful and talented young woman who sacrificed her

happiness to save her disgraced family.

The copy of the Truyện Kiều manuscript held at the British Library (reference

number Or 14844) was completed around 1894. It is written in Chữ Nôm (Sino-

Vietnamese characters). Each page is beautifully illustrated with scenes from the story.

It is bound in a royal-yellow silk cover with dragon patterns. Nguyễn Quang Tuấn, an

independent Vietnamese scholar who inspected the manuscript, is of the opinion that

this manuscript bears some royal significance because the dragon on the cover has the

five claws normally reserved for imperial use only. Another significant feature of this

manuscript is that it bears annotations by Paul Pelliot (1878−1945), the renowned

French Sinologist, who bought the manuscript in 1929.

Today, Nguyen Du is regarded as a peerless national poet and The Tale of Kieu

as undeniably a national epic. With its literary merit and universal theme on love, the

poem stands the test of time. Moreover, Nguyen Du, through his characterization of

Kieu, knotted the tie of love with filial duty and revealed the ambiguity of the Confucian

concept of female chastity. The topics of love, Confucian morality and social obligation

drawn from The Tale of Kieu in the early 20th century public debate provided a realm for

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 17

the liberation of ideas for the new generation of Vietnamese intellectuals and removed

the limitations of Confucian ideology. If Pham Quynh and the French colonialists really

wanted to turn young Vietnamese minds from political struggle, then ironically,

discussion of the miserable life and adventures of the prostitute in Nguyen Du’s best

known work gave a great opportunity for the nationalists to spread their ideas. The

process of transforming Confucian society into Modernism was also favourable to the

Communists’ preparation for the August Revolution - but this is a topic to be discussed

in another project.

REFERENCES

Dingwall, A. (1994). Traveller's Literary Companion to South-East Asia. the University

of

Michigan: In Print Publishing. p. 202. ISBN 9781873047255.

Dinh, G. K. (ed) (1998) Van Hoc Viet Nam The Ky X – Nua The Ky XVIII (Vietnamese

Literature during the 10th – the first half of the 18th century). Hanoi: Nha Xuat

Ban

Giao Duc.

Nguyễn, D. (1983). The Tale of Kieu: A Bilingual Edition of Nguyen Du's Truyen Kieu.

Translated by Huỳnh Sanh Thông. Yale University Press.

Nguyen H. L.. (1996) The Human Condition in The Tale of Kieu. The Vietnam Review 1

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 18

 (autumn-winter 1996).

Sud, C. (2013) "Truyện Kiều-The Tale of Kieu at the British Library," Southeast Asia

Library Group (SEALG) Blog,

Retrieved: [Link]

"Tale of Kiều version 1902". Vietnamese Nôm Preservation Foundation.

Retrieved 6 November 2012: [Link]

Tien, (2014) Vietnam's Epic National Poem "Truyen Kieu" De Anza Collage

Retrieved: [Link]

Tran, D. H.. (1991) Ve anh huong nhieu mat cua nho giao trong van hoc viet nam co

can

dai (The Influences of Confucianism on Classical Vietnamese Literature). Tap

Chi

Van Hoc 3.

Vietnamese Literature: The Tale of Kieu byNguyen Du (written report) 19