The Tale of Kieu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

The Tale of Kiều

Truyện Kiều

Book cover with chữ Hán text, published 1967

Full title Đoạn Trường Tân Thanh

Also known as Truyện Kiều

Author(s) Nguyễn Du

Language Vietnamese

Date of issue 1820

 State of existence Emperor Minh Mạng

Authenticity remake

Genre epic poem

Verse form lục bát (6/8)

Length 3,254 verses

Personages Thúy Kiều

Sources Jin Yun Qiao

This article
contains Vietnamese text. Without
proper rendering support, you may
see question marks, boxes, or other
symbols instead of chữ nôm, chữ
Hán and chữ quốc ngữ.

The Tale of Kiều is an epic poem in Vietnamese written by Nguyễn Du (1765–1820),

and is widely regarded as the most significant work of Vietnamese literature.[1][2][3][4] The
original title in Vietnamese is Đoạn Trường Tân Thanh (斷腸新聲, "A New Cry From a
Broken Heart"), but it is better known as Truyện Kiều (傳翹, IPA: [ʈʂwîənˀ kîəw] ( listen),
lit. "Tale of Kiều").
In 3,254 verses, written in lục bát ("six–eight") meter, the poem recounts the life, trials
and tribulations of Thúy Kiều, a beautiful and talented young woman, who has to
sacrifice herself to save her family. To save her father and younger brother from prison,
she sells herself into marriage with a middle-aged man, not knowing that he is a pimp,
and is forced into prostitution. While modern interpretations vary, some post-colonial
writers have interpreted it as a critical, allegorical reflection on the rise of the Nguyễn
dynasty.[5]
Nguyễn Du made use of the plot of a seventeenth-century Chinese novel, Jīn Yún
Qiào (Chinese: 金雲翹), known in Vietnamese pronunciation of Chinese characters
as Kim Vân Kiều. The original, written by an otherwise unknown writer under the
pseudonym Qīngxīn Cáirén (Chinese: 青心才人 "Pure-Hearted Man of Talent"), was a
straightforward romance, but Nguyễn Du chose it to convey the social and political
upheavals at the end of the 18th century in Vietnam. [6]
Vietnam at that time was ruled nominally by the 300-year-old Lê dynasty, but real power
rested in the Trịnh lords in the north and the Nguyễn lords in the south. While the Trịnh
and the Nguyễn were fighting against each other, the Tây Sơn rebels overthrew both
the Nguyễn and then the Trịnh over the span of a decade. Nguyễn Du was loyal to the
Lê Dynasty and hoped for the return of the Lê king. In 1802 the Nguyễn lord Nguyễn
Ánh conquered all of Vietnam forming the new Nguyễn dynasty. Nguyễn Ánh, now
Emperor Gia Long, summoned Nguyễn Du to join the new government and, with some
reluctance, he did so. Nguyễn Du's situation in terms of conflicting loyalties between the
previous Lê king and the current Nguyễn emperor is partially analogous to the situation
of the main character in The Tale of Kiều who submitted to circumstances but her heart
longed for her first love.