The Appeal of Kieu

TRUYEN KIEU, known as The Tale of Kieu in English world, is undoubtedly the most glorious victory in Vietnamese literature. The original story is from a Chinese prose novel, however, although with almost the same content, the original Chinese novel is not that influential in Chinese world. Why this story is attractive to Vietnamese but uninteresting to Chinese readers? Besides the story itself, is there any other reason for the Vietnamese audience to favor the Kieu? The appeal and the magic that Kieu played in Vietnam is what my paper aims to discover. Why Chinese readers are less attentive to it will be the second emphasis of this paper. The analysis will be from two approaches: the content of the story and the forms that are used. Hopefully I can get closer to answering the above questions.

The Story of Kieu
This story was based on a true event in Ming dynasty. The mounted pirate rebel leader Hsu Hai (Tu Hai) was tricked and killed. His mistress Wang Ts’us-chi’iao (Vuong Thuy Kieu), who helped make the trap and once was a courtesan, was the archetype of Kieu. An anonymous Chinese writer Ch’ing-hsin Ts’ai-jen (青心才人) adapted this historical event in a novel called Chin Yun Chiao Chuan (金雲翹傳). This novel was successfully adapted into Vietnamese long poem by Nguyen Du later around 1815. [1]
Ngueyen Du’s TRUYEN KIEU followed the basic structure of Chin Yun Chiao Chuan. We can say the contexts were almost the same. Then, what contributed to the different attitudes between Vietnamese and Chinese audience? To discover this we should not neglect the fact that culturally Vietnam was subordinate to China for a long time. Chinese novels and legends inspired Vietnamese literature on a large scale. The latter would in no way exceed the former in the variety of content. That meant a story would have struggled more in a Chinese bookstore than in a Vietnamese bookstore. There were many famous stories in Chinese that had a heroine figure or led by females. JinPingMei(金瓶梅), YuJiaoLi(玉嬌梨), to name a few, and we can even find a more well-known novel DuShiNiang(杜十娘) which had similar plots—the leading actress was a prostitute who fell in love with a humble student and drowned herself in the end of the story. At that time, stories might need to be intricate or sensational enough to appeal the Chinese audience; otherwise, they would be submerged in the cemetery of thousand books. This was probably the first clue for the question of audience attitudes.
Also we could notice that in the context of Kieu, the piety of a daughter and the Confucian doctrine was ideally performed. Refer to the historical background, Nguyen Du’s master, Gia Long, was a fan of the Great Han dynasty.[2] Han was a time that Confucianism was most esteemed. The emperor’s admiration could be relevant to the wide distribution of Kieu. Due to my narrow knowledge of Vietnam, however, I tried to find some connection or evidence to prove this clue but failed.
Another difference between Chinese and Vietnamese versions was the writing style. Without any change of storylines, Nguyeh Du intended to soften the brutal scenes and beautified the vocabularies that were used. The most sanguinary scene in the whole story, for example, was in the 18th chapter of Chinese version when Kieu took revenge on those betrayed her. The original text in Chinese was terribly detailed with brutality while the Vietnamese version was largely toned down. It seems much tender in the Vietnam version. Nguyen Du skillfully describes the scene as such, ”The executioner now received the word: /mete out such pains as fit each broken oath. /Blood flowed in streams while flesh was hacked to bits--/ the scene struck terror into every soul. / With Heaven rest all matters here below: / harm people and they’ll harm you in their turn./ Perfidious humans who do fiendish deeds/ shall suffer, crying quarter all in vain. / All soldiers, crowded on the grounds, could watch the scourge divine deal justice in broad day. ”(2387-2396) The language was purified thus was more suitable for wider readers of all ages.
Despite the similarity of the content, Kieu reached a bifurcation of audience favor in China and Vietnam. The cultural background, the historical background and the context itself should all be regarded as the possible contributors.

“Luc-bat” Verse vs. Novel Prose
Vietnam Kieu was written in “Luc-bat” form (literally, six-eight), a traditional verse form in Vietnam to tell a story. “Luc-bat” form is like a narrative long poem and has been considered to be an effective vehicle of poetic expression. (Cao Thi Nhu-Quynh; John C. Schafer. 1998)[3] Since rhyme, meter, and tonal regularity all make long stretches of six-eight verse easier to memorize and recite than any other form of poetry, it is an ideal medium for oral transmission. (Huynh Sanh Thong, 1983) In the feudal times, the prevalence of education was hard to find. Most of the people were illiterate; therefore, verse could be easier to survive. I personally think the everlasting influence of Kieu in Vietnam was, to a large extent, due to the form of verse. The long story was feasible to remember with the rhymes. At that time, only the educated minority could read books; hence, to reach the general public, the sole method was to have professional or amateur bards learn the poems by heart and recite them. (Huynh Sanh Thong, 1983) Nguyen Du’s Kieu set out from a very good starting point by choosing the right form.
Another benefit of the form of poetic verse was that the language would hardly be altered through the time. The text could remain the integrity because it was difficult to be abridged yet there was no reason to broaden the length either. Poet is the most succinct form in every language. One would admire the obsessional composition as long as one knew the language, no matter how much education one had.
There was a shift from verse to prose in Vietnamese literature that happened in 1920s.[4] Why and how this shift happened was still debatable, however, Truyen Kieu had been sitting there like a significant monument through generations. It was equivalent to the Western epics. If it was not written in verse narrative and was merely a complete translation of the original novel, I should doubt the possibility that it became so loved by all Vietnamese.

Poet is the Fairest Art of Writing
To conclude my argument, I believe that neither the story nor the form alone could make Nguyen Du’s Truyen Kieu a classical. The context itself might represent the soul of the Vietnamese; nevertheless, the form of poetic verse spread out the dissemination. It was only when Nguyen Du wrote Truyen Kieu at that time with that format, making the story distinct from others. Of course we should also honor Nguyen Du for his devotion to adapt Kieu into a long poem. Furthermore, we should definitely admire Huynh Sanh Thong for the English translation.
Poem is the fairest art of writing. It is hard to compose and is the literary creation that least possible to be translated into another language. Both the adaptation and the translation made a new format of art. They are no longer the original texts anymore and bring new meanings to different readers. Kieu is like a spell and every magician performs it differently. I wish I know how to do that spell.




Reference
1. Nguyen Du; Huynh Sanh Thong’s translation, 1983. “The Tale of Kieu”

2. Cao Thi Nhu-Quynh; John C. Schafer. 1998. “From Verse Narrative to Novel: The Development of Prose Fiction in Vietnam”
[The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Nov., 1988), 756-777]

[1] Huynh Sanh Thong, The Tale of Kieu-Introduction, 1983, p.xx
[2] Alexander B. Woodside, The Tale of Kieu-The Historical Background, 1973, p.xiii My professor, Moss Roberts, told me. Vietnam government called itself “China中國” in Gia Long’s time
[3] [See Reference 2] p. 760
[4] [See Reference 2]

Classical Chinese Assignment 4

Mutual Love ( 兼愛 Jian Ai)

The sages who consider the world governance as their mission must know causes of the chaos so that they could know how to govern the world. If they do not know it, they could not govern. Like a doctor curing his patient, he must know what is the cause of the illness, then, he can cure. If he doesn’t know the cause of the illness, then he cannot cure. Treating the chaos is no different.

We must know where the chaos is from and we can treat it. Not knowing where the chaos is from, we cannot treat it. So the sages who think world governance is their mission cannot fail to observe the origin of the chaos. When look into the origin of the chaos, we know that it is from the lack of mutual love.

The situation that subjects and sons do not obey their lords and fathers is what we call chaos. Sons love themselves without loving their fathers. The sons take advantage of their fathers to benefit themselves. Younger brothers love themselves without loving their older brothers. The younger brothers take advantage of their older brothers to benefit themselves. Subjects love themselves without loving their lords. The subjects take advantage of their lords to benefit themselves. This is what I mean by “Chaos”.

Even the opposite situation that fathers are not kind to their sons, older brothers are not kind to their younger brothers, lords are not kind to their subjects are what cause chaos in the world. Fathers love themselves without loving their sons. The fathers take advantage of their sons to benefit themselves. Older brothers love themselves without loving their younger brothers. The older brothers take advantage of their younger brothers to benefit themselves. Lords love themselves without loving their subjects. The lords take advantage of their subjects to benefit themselves. How could this be? It is due to the lack of mutual love.

Even referring to the crime and the robbery is also the same. The thieves love their own houses rather than others’. So they steal from others’ to benefit themselves’. The criminals love their own bodies rather than others’. So they hurt others’ to benefit themselves. How come this would happen? It is all because the lack of mutual love.

Even when talking about the disturbances among high officers, the attacks among feudal barons are still the same. The high officers love their own families and do not love others’ . They disturb others’ to benefit their owns. The feudal barons love their own domains and do not love others’. They attack others’ to benefit their owns.

All the chaos in the world present like this. Looking into the root of it, we know the chaos is from the lack of mutual love. If the mutual love is prevalently existed in the world, everyone loves others like loving everyone selves, where else could we find someone disobedient? Everyone sees one’s father, older brother and the lord as oneself, hates to perform disobedience, where else could we find someone unkind? Everyone views one’s younger brothers, sons and subjects as oneself, hates to perform unkindness, then the disobedience and the unkindness die away.

Would there be still crimes or robberies? If everyone regards others’ houses as one’s own, who will try to steal? If everyone regards others’ bodies as one’s own, who will try to hurt? Thus crimes and robberies are gone. Would there still be disturbances among high officers, attacks among feudal barons? If everyone thinks of others’ families as one’s own, who will want to disturb? If everyone thinks of others’ domains as one’s own, who will want to attack? And then the disturbances among the high officers, the attacks among the feudal barons disappear.

If we can make everyone love each other, there will be no attack between countries, no disturbance between families; there will be no more crimes or robberies, and no matter who one is will be obedient and kind to others. Thus the world is under control.
Therefore the sages who consider the world governance as their mission should definitely prohibit the evil and promote the divine. The world will be ruled with the mutual love but falls into disorder with the mutual hate. That is why MoTzu(墨子) said, we must advocate loving each other. Also, it is the reason why we admire mutual love.

Classical Chinese Assigment 3

垓下之圍(霸王別姬)
Beleaguered in KaiXia(Farewell My Concubine)

The army of XiangYu’s (項羽) camped and defended in KaiXia (垓下). Their soldiers were few, their food was consumed and they were encompassed by layers of Han Army (漢軍) together with some ally vassal armies. At that night, XiangYu heard people in the surroundings of Han Army sang the ballads of Chu(楚). He was astounded and said, “Has Han Army already overcome Chu as a whole? Why there are so many Chu people in their camps? ”

He then woke up and drank in his tent. There was a fair concubine named Yu(虞) who was always favored by and followed XiangYu. There was a courser named Zhui(騅) rode by XiangYu all the time. Thinking of these, XiangYu felt so sad and sang sorrowful songs with great emotions. He sang his lyrics with rhythm as such, “I own the power to yank the mountain. I have the vigor to dominate the world. In such an unfavored moment, my horse was ceased to course. If my horse won’t course what should I do？ My fairly concubine what should we do？ ” He sang several songs. The fairly concubine was singing together. XiangYu couldn’t help but cried with tears. People around him all cried; no one was able to look up to the sorrowful XiangYu.

And so XiangYu rode on his horse, leading more than eight hundred stalwart under his banner. They broke the adversary’s encirclement the whole night and fled in the direction of south. The Han Army did not notice their escape until first light. GuanYing(灌嬰), a commander in Han Army, was appointed to pursue after XiangYu with 5000 mounted soldiers. XiangYu was going to cross the river Huai(淮河), only about thousand mounted soldiers could still follow him at that time. They arrived at YinLing(陰陵) and were lost. They asked directions from a farmer. But the farmer deceived them and gave a wrong direction. He said to them, “Go left.” They turned to left and trapped in a swamp. The Han Army therefore was able to reach them.

Then XiangYu turned to east with his followers. There were only twenty-eight mounted soldiers still there when they got to the east village. Meanwhile, the mounted force of Han was thousands of people. XiangYu did not expect to escape from this. He talked to his followers, “It’s been eight years since I have lived in the battle field. I personally experienced more than seventy battles. I broke whatever I encountered. I beat whatever submitted and I never taste the feeling of being defeated. That’s why I can dominant the world. But now I end up like this, trapped here. This is my destiny to die now. This is not because I cannot fight or I don’t know how to fight! Since I’ve determined to holdout until death today. I will bring you an enjoyable fast battle, and I shall not fail to defeat them. I will break the encirclement, kill the enemy commanders and cut down adversary’s banners. I will let you know it’s my destiny that I should die. It’s not because I don’t know how to fight! ”

Next, XiangYu divided his mounted force into four groups, which moved toward four directions. The Han Army beleaguered XiangYu and his mounted soldiers at that time. XiangYu said to his men, “I’m going to capture a comrade for you! ” He ordered the soldiers to spread out in four directions, and they shall meet at three places at the mountain east side. Then XiangYu shouted with command. They broke down the defense of Han Army and scattered them. Finally, XiangYu also killed a commander of Han, as he promised. At that time, the appointed commander to pursue XiangYu of Han’s mounted force was ChihChiuanHou(赤泉侯). When XiangYu looked at him with wide-open eyes and railed, ChihChiuanHou and his horse were both frightened. They were so scared that they moved back a couple kilometers.

Because that XiangYu would meet up at three possible places with his soldiers. Han Army had no idea where XiangYu would be. They divided the army into three and begun to beleaguer again. Therefore XiangYu killed another commander and almost a hundred soldiers of Han. When XiangYu reassembled his army, he found he lost two men only. Then he said to his men, “How do you think about this fight? ” All his men admired and said, “It was exactly same as our lord you said. ” Then XiangYu went east, wanted to cross WuChiang(烏江)

The station manager of WuChiang moored a boat there and waited for XiangYu. He said to XiangYu, “The territory eat of the river although small, there are still thousands of kilometers, hundred thousands of people that you can rule. Would you please, my lord, cross the river quickly? Now only I have a boat. The Han Army cannot cross the river! ” XiangYu smiled and answered, “ As I have said, now is my destiny that I must die. There is no reason for me to cross the river. Besides, I set out with eight thousand sons and brothers from the families of east of the river. They followed me and crossed west. But now I return with no one. Although the respectful brothers and fathers in the families of our river east might be willing to sympathize and support me to be a king. I don’t have a face to see them. Even they don’t speak out their thoughts. Can I the only one not feel ashamed and guilty? ” Therefore he said to the station manager, “I know you are a respectful senior. This horse has been with me for five years. It is outstanding and no other could compare. It has run a long distance of thousand kilometers in one day. My heart really refuses to kill it. Let it be yours. ”

Then XiangYu asked the mounted soldiers to abandon their horses and walk. They fought with short knives, came to handgrips. XiangYu alone killed more than hundred soldiers but also got more than ten wounds on his body. When he turned around, he saw LuMaTong(呂馬童), the commander of Han mounted force. He said to him, “What an old friend I meet here!” LuMaTong faced to XiangYu and indicated him to show WongYi(王翳), “This IS the XiangYu. ” XiangYu then said, “I heard that your king wants to buy my head for thousand pieces of gold and will offer million houses as rewards. Just let me give you this benefit. ” He himself cut his throat and died in the end.

Classical Chinese Assignment 2

Tsou Chi Induces King Wei to Accept Admonitions
(鄒忌諷齊王納諫 Tsou Chi Feng Qi Wang Na Jian)


There was a man Tsou Chi tall and handsome. One day he was well-dressed, looked into the mirror and tried to ask his wife, “Mr. Xu, the one who lives in the north of the city, and I, who is more dashing? ” His wife answered, ”Of course you are! Mr. Xu cannot compare to you!” Mr. Xu, the one who lived in the north of the city, was a famous refined person in Qi. Tsou Chi was not confident in himself and tried again to ask his concubine, “Between Mr. Xu and I, who is more dashing?” His concubine answered, “Mr. Xu cannot compare to you!” The next day, a visitor came. Tsou Chi talked with the visitor and asked, “Mr. Xu and I, who do you think more handsome?” The visitor answered, “Mr. Xu is not as handsome as you are.”

Another day passed, Mr. Xu came in person. Tsou Chi looked at him very carefully and thought himself really inferior to Mr. Xu. Looking into the mirror Tsou Chi viewed himself, again, he felt Mr. Xu was far more handsome than he was. In the evening he went to bed and immersed into thinking—My wife said that I am handsome because she is intimate with me. My concubine said so because she is respectful to me. The visitor gave the same answer because he wants something from me. Tsou Chi then went to King Wei to present at the Court.

Tsou Chi said to King Wei, “Honestly I know I am less handsome than Mr. Xu. My wife is intimate with me, my concubine is respectful to me, and the visitor wants something from me. They all told me that I am more handsome than Mr. Xu, which is not a truth. Now our country Qi, territory extends to thousands of kilometer, and has more than hundred cities under your government. Ladies in your seraglio, servants at your sides are all intimate with you. Subjects and courtiers are all respectful to you. All the people within our country are asking something from you. If we view this from the same perspective, you, my majesty, are deceived so seriously. ” Then King Wei answered, “Your allegory is very true.”

Thus King Wei handed down the edict: Subjects, couriers or any person who can criticize in front of me will be bestowed a glorious reward; those who can write and admonish me will be bestowed a moderate reward; those who can remonstrate in the public and let me hear about it, will be bestowed a humble reward. When the edict was first published, there were lots of subjects bustling at the court to admonish King Wei in the beginning. A couple months later, they came on rare occasions. After one year, some people may still want to present admonitions, there was no flaw to be criticized, however. The nearby countries such as Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei heard of this policy. They became subject to Qi. This was what we said a benevolent government could conquer without a war.

Classical Chinese Assignment 1

The Great Learning ( 大學 DA XUE)

To emphasize the importance of learning is to polish the morals. Parenting the people and end up with the best.

Knowing how far to go we are determined. Being determined we reach the balanced status. Reaching the balanced status we feel secure. Feeling secure we start to make judgments. Through making judgments we get results.

Every phenomenon has the origin and the end. Any situation has the start and the close. To know the sequence we approach our final goal.

Ancient people who want to polish the morals shall rule the nation first. To rule the nation they shall order the family well. To order the family well they shall develop themselves. Before developing themselves they compose the mind. To compose the mind they clarify the thought. To clarify the thought they improve the knowledge.

To improve the knowledge means to classified the data in detail. Always classified the data in detail we increase the knowledge. With the increased knowledge we can clarify the thoughts. When the thoughts are clarified our mind is composed. With a composed mind we rule ourselves. By improving ourselves we reach the family harmony. Then the nation is ruled. Thus the world becomes peaceful.