Magazine-ASEAN-LIT

ESCAPADE A Journey to its Literature! JULY 2022 MANDIGMA, NHEL WILLIAM R. Vietnam (Vietnamese: Việt Nam, [vîət nāːm] ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is a country in Southeast Asia, at the BSCE-3309 eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of 311,699 square kilometres (120,348 sq mi) and population of 96 million, making it the world's fifteenth-most populous country.

Table of CONTENTS HISTORY VIETNAM'S HISTORY LEARN ABOUT THE GEOGRAPHY AND POLITICAL HISTORY OF VIETNAM VIETNAMESE LITERATURE FOLK LITERATURE LITERATUREWRITTEN LITERATURE SCRIPT CHỮ NÔM THE TALE OF KIỀU NGUYEN DU'S INSPIRATION HISTORICAL SITUATION VIETNAMESE ALPHABET QUỐC NGỮ GENRE MODERN VIETNAMESE LITERATURE

LLỊỊCCHH SSỬỬ Vietnam's History A distinct Vietnamese group began to emerge c. 200 BCE in the independent kingdom of Nam Viet, which was later annexed to China in the 1st century BCE. The Vietnamese were under continuous Chinese control until the 10th century. The southern region was gradually overrun by Vietnamese from the north in the late 15th century. The area was divided into northern and southern dynasties in the early 17th century, and in 1802 these two parts were unified under a single dynasty. Following several years of attempted French colonial expansion in the region, the French captured Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in 1859 and later the rest of the area, controlling it until World War II (see French Indochina). The Japanese occupied Vietnam in 1940–45 and allowed the Vietnamese to declare independence at the end of the war, a move the French opposed. The First Indochina War ensued and lasted until French forces with U.S. financial backing were defeated by the Vietnamese at Dien Bien Phu in 1954; evacuation of French troops followed. After an international conference at Geneva (April–July 1954), Vietnam was partitioned along latitude 17° N, with the northern part under the communist leadership of Ho Chi Minh and the southern part under the U.S.- supported former emperor Bao Dai; the partition was to be temporary, but the reunification elections scheduled for 1956 were never held. President Hồ 1

LLỊỊCCHH SSỬỬ HHIISSTTOORRYY An independent South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) was declared, while the communists established North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam). The activities of North Vietnamese guerrillas and procommunist rebels in South Vietnam led to U.S. intervention and the Vietnam War. A cease-fire agreement was signed in 1973 and U.S. troops withdrawn, but the civil war soon resumed; in 1975 North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam, and the South Vietnamese government collapsed. In 1976 the two Vietnams were united as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. From the mid-1980s the government enacted a series of economic reforms and began to open up to Asian and Western nations. In 1995 the U.S. officially normalized relations with Vietnam. Golden Hand Bridge Learn about the Currency: dong. Vietnam is about geography and political 1,025 mi (1,650 km) long, 210–340 mi (340–550 km) wide at its widest history of Vietnam parts, and 30 mi (50 km) wide at its narrowest part. Northern Vietnam is mountainous; Fan Si Peak, the Vietnam, officially Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Country, country’s highest mountain, rises to Southeast Asia. Area: 127,891 sq mi (331,236 sq km). 10,312 ft (3,143 m). The Red River is Population: (2022 est.) 99,818,000. Capital: Hanoi. The great the principal river. Southern majority of the population is Vietnamese; minorities include Vietnam is dominated by the Chinese, Hmong, Thai, Khmer, and Cham. Languages: Mekong River delta. A long, Vietnamese (official), French, Chinese, English, Khmer. relatively narrow coastal plain Religions: Buddhism, new religions, traditional beliefs, connects the two major river deltas. Christianity. The densely forested Annamese Cordillera extends through west- central Vietnam. Northern Vietnam is rich in mineral resources, especially anthracite coal and phosphates. Some petroleum deposits exist off the southern coast. Significant food crops include rice, sugarcane, coffee, tea, and bananas. Food processing and fishing are important industries, as are the manufacture of steel and phosphates. Vietnam is a socialist republic with one legislative house; its head of state is the president, and its head of government is the prime minister. 2

VĂN CHƯƠNG VIETNAMESE COMPONENTS LITERATURE ´Vietnam literature came into being at an early Vietnamese literature, body of date with its two major components: literature produced by Vietnamese- speaking people, primarily in Folk literature Vietnam. Written literature Like the river basins that have Wondrous Tales of nourished Vietnam’s agricultural Lĩnh Nam, a 14th- civilization for thousands of years, century collection of Vietnamese literature has been fed by stories of Vietnamese two great tributaries: the indigenous history, written in oral literature and the written literature of Chinese influence. Chinese The oral poetry tradition is purely 3 native. Older even than the linguistic separation of the Muong and Vietnamese languages 1,000 years ago, the oral poetry tradition probably has its origins in the agrarian prayers common to the prehistory of the Mon- Khmer language family.

VĂN CHƯƠNG FOLK WRITTEN VIETNAMESE LITERATURE LITERATURE LITERATURE Folk Literature held great significance Written literature in Vietnam was in Vietnam and made an immense born roughly in the 10th century. Up contribution to preserving and to the 20th century, there had been two developing the national language as well components existing at the same time: as nourishing the people’s souls. works written in the Han Folk literary works were diversified by characters (with poems and prose mythologies, epics, legends, humorous demonstrating the Vietnamese soul stories, riddles, proverbs, folk songs, and and realities; thus, they were still so on… with many colorings of regarded as Vietnamese Vietnamese ethnic groups. literature); and works were written in the Nom SCRIPT character (mostly poems; many great works were handed down to CLASSICAL CHINESE / HAN VĂN the later generations) CHỮ NÔM QUỐC NGỮ Written literature attained speedy development after the August Revolution, when it was directed by the Vietnamese Communist Party’s guideline and focused on the people’s fighting and working life. CLASSICAL CHINESE / HAN VĂN Many of the officials in Vietnamese history were written in classical Chinese. These works are mostly unintelligible even when directly transliterated into the modern Quoc Ngu script due to their Chinese syntax and vocabulary. These works include official proclamations by Vietnamese Kings, Royal histories, and declarations of independence from China, as well as Vietnamese poetry 4

CHỮ NÔM VĂN CHƯƠNG VIETNAMESE LITERATURE is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language created around the 10th century, allowed writers to compose in Vietnamese using modified Chinese characters Although regarded as inferior to Chinese, it gradually grew in prestige It flourished in the 18th century when many notable Vietnamese writers and poets composed their works in Chữ Nôm and when it briefly became the official written script QUỐC NGỮ While the Quốc ngữ script was created in the 17th century, it did not become popular outside of missionary groups until the early 20th century, when the French colonial administration mandated its use in French Indochina By the mid-20th century, virtually all Vietnamese works of literature were composed in Quốc ngữ 5

Chữ Nôm The greatest of the statesmen-poets was Nguyen Du in the 19th century. His Truyen Kieu (The Tale of Kieu), or Kim Van Kieu, is generally considered the pinnacle of Vietnamese literature By the time Nguyen Du had finished his Tale of Kieu, French military engineers had already built the fortifications of the Hue citadel for a new dynasty of the Nguyen emperors The Tale of Kiều SUMMARYThis is a manuscript of Truyện Kiều (also known as However, this reunion does not bring Kim Văn Kiều; The tale of Kiều) by Nguyễn Du (1765- earthly joy to Kiều, who chooses to devote her life to serving her family as filial duty demands. 1820), perhaps the most important poem in Vietnamese Literary critics have maintained that the story is literature. It is written in Chư̈ Nôm (Sino-Vietnamese an allegory of Nguyễn Du's guilt and feelings of characters). The story is based on a 17th-century Ming conflict after he agreed to work for the new Chinese novel, which Nguyễn Du read while he traveled to regime (the Nguyễn dynasty, 1802-1945), which China in 1813. The plot portrays the chaotic political and had been indirectly involved in the overthrow of social circumstances of Vietnam in the 18th century, which his former master. This behavior was was beset by dynastic struggles. The theme of the story is unacceptable in traditional Confucian filial devotion, one of the main tenets of Confucianism. Vietnamese society, as it was tantamount to Lady Vuong's dream is fulfilled when she gives birth to two betraying filial piety. Hence the theme of the beautiful daughters, Thuy Kieu and Thuy Van, and later to story held particular poignancy for Nguyễn Du, a boy named Vuong Quan. Thuy Kieu suffers terrible who was born into an important mandarin adversity over 15 years and sacrifices her happiness to save family, and whose father served as a high- the disgraced Vuong family. She survives all until she is ranking minister under the Lê dynasty. finally reunited with her betrothed, Kim Trong. 6

7 THTEHTEATALLEE OOFFKIKỀUIỀU NGUYEN DU'S INSPIRATION HISTORICAL SITUATION Nguyen Du tried to explain to us that disaster that By the end of the 18th century, the Le befell Kieu is the conflict between talent and fate . Kieu had to endure a lot of suffering and hardship Dynasty, after almost 300 years on the throne, because she is beautiful and talented. The more you had been weakened. The king of Le was like a are talented, the more bad luck may strike you. puppet. Power in the country was shared by two big families: The Trinh family to the North and To Nguyen Du to settle this conflict, the matter of the Nguyen family in the South. The country the heart must come into being. By the end he wrote was at war; the two families fought each other that the heart is three times more important than the for the power and the king did nothing. The talent. The inspiration of Nguyen Du's was the national hero, Nguyen Hue from the Tay Son inspiration of considering men's fate. How could men (Qui Nhon) defeated both the Nguyen family live in a society full of injustice and cruelties? Kieu and the Trinh family. Afterward the last king of was built in the image of perfection, she was the the Le Dynasty, Le Chieu Thong, went to China essence of desirability by men. Kieu was not only to beg for help. He asked the King of China beautiful, she was also talented. (Thanh Dynasty), King Cau Long, to send troops to Viet Nam to help him gain back the In one word she was the perfect combination of throne of his ancestors. In 1789 Thanh's troops beauty and talent. Such a lady must have a good life were also defeated by Nguyen Hue, and he with happiness but because she was living in an unjust, became a King by the name of Quang Trung. cruel,wicked society, all that she got was turning Nguyen Du and his family had tried to follow Le against her and she fell victim to a disaster that Chieu Thong (to China), but they had to stay in destroyed her. Kieu had become a victim of the Viet Nam. They were loyal to the former king of society. But she never accepted her fate; she was Le and were afraid of the Nguyen Dynasty always fighting against it. There was a rebel in Thuy which took over in 1802. Nguyen Anh Kieu. We may say that the more she fought the more overthrew the Tay Sons and he became the new she failed, and as she became aware of her fate, her king [the first of the Nguyen Dynasty which failure became more bitter. continued until Bao Dai abdicated in 1945-ed. note] by the name of Gia Long. Gia Long asked Nguyen Du was writing Kieu's story with his blood Nguyen Du to join the new government. It was and his tears. against Nguyen Du's willingness, but he had no choice.

QUỐC NGỮ (THE NATIONAL SCRIPT) writing system used for the Vietnamese language was devised in the mid 17th century by Portuguese missionaries who modified the Roman alphabet with accents and signs to suit the particular consonants, vowels, and tones of Vietnamese was further modified by a French missionary, Alexandre de Rhodes At first used only in Vietnamese Christian communities, it was made compulsory by the French administration in 1910 is now universally used in Vietnam and is the official writing system. VIETNAMESE ALPHABET 8

GENREGGEENNRREE FOLK LITERATURE CADAO an intermingling of many forms Folk poems It is not only an oral tradition, but Term CADAO is derived from a a mixing of three media: line in the Wei Wind section of the 1.hidden (only retained in the Chinese classic folk poetry memory of folk authors) anthology, Shi-Ching (Book of 2.fixed (written), and Odes) can be loosely translated as 3.shown (performed) “unaccompanied songs” Was transmitted orally, sustained usually exist in many versions, and nourished the Vietnamese passed down orally, and have language through its centuries of unknown authors domination and influenced by VIETNAMESE POETRY China ´Cadao poems flourished, telling of the everyday life and concerns of A revolutionary literary ordinary Vietnamese. movement that took place in the MYTHS first part of the 20th century represented a paradigm shift in Vietnamese poetry consist of stories about ´Vietnamese poets eager for supernatural beings, heroes, modernization wasted no time to creator gods, and reflect the adopt French versification and viewpoint of ancient people prosody rules, and in the process about human life began to severe their ties to the old classical poetic tradition They consist of creation stories, The emergence of this rebellious, stories about their origins (Lạc energetic movement was not taken Long Quân, Âu Cơ), culture gracefully by the old guard, the heroes (Sơn Tinh or Mountain Ancients, for whom centuries-old Spirit - Thủy Tinh or Water Spirit). GENREtraditionwassacrosanct 9

10 At the turn of the new millennium, a literary group is known as “Six Faced Circle” emerged in the southern capital of Ho Chi Minh City, attracting recognition from leading Vietnamese intellectuals. In 2001 four young writers from this group – Ly Doi (1978), Bui Chat (1979), Khuc Duy (1976) and Nguyen Quan(1977) – formed the “Open Mouth” underground poetry movement. In recent years this group has held regular poetry readings and its work has become increasingly linked with contemporary developments in performance art. MODERN Over the past quarter-century the Viet VIETNAMESE Nam Writers Association, the Ha Noi LITERATURE Writers Association, the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association and several Lotus Ponds and Giant Lily other literary organisations have Pads of Ho Chi Minh City continued to promote the development of creative writing through their annual awards for the best prose, poetry, theory and criticism and translated works. There has also been corresponding development in the field of literary criticism and literary research. Mention should also be made of the Nguyen Du School of Writing, Ha Noi, modelled on the Pushkin Institute in Moscow, which was established in 1981 by the Ha Noi University of Culture with the aim of training writers in the two key areas of prose and poetry.

VEisectanpaamde ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mandigma, Nhel William R. BSCE-3309 The Cover Review of the Cover A photo of a man cruising his way in the river full of beautiful lilies symbolizes the Vietnam's beautiful history in forming their literature. There are flowers and nature but the struggle of paddling must overcome first to view all of the aspect this river can give. An escapade indeed! A journey in the diversity brought by the rich past and unwrapping the ever creative works of Vietnamese Literature.

References Balaban J. (n.d.). Vietnam Literature. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/Vietn amese-literature Britanica. (n.d.). Vietnam Summary. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/summar y/Vietnam Vietlong Travel. (n.d.). Vietnam Literature. Retrieved from https://vietlongtravel.com/news/vietn am-facts/vietnam-literature Photos used are from Pinterest and Canva who's publicly posted.

ESCAPADE VIETNAM – TIMELESS CHARM