Lục Vân Tiên

The Tale of Lục Vân Tiên (蓼雲仙傳 or 陸雲僊; Truyện Lục Vân Tiên ) is a 19th-century Vietnamese-language epic poem written in vernacular nôm script by the blind poet Nguyễn Đình Chiểu (1822-1888).[1]

The Tale of Lục Vân Tiên (蓼雲仙傳)

The 2082-line (present version) work is one of the two most recognizable and influential epic poems in Vietnamese (the other being The Tale of Kiều by Nguyễn Du).[2] Its reaffirmation of Vietnam's traditional moral virtues, at a time when Vietnamese society was facing the French invasion, had great popular appeal.

Plot

The plot concerns Lục Vân Tiên, who travels to the capital to take part in mandarin civil service examinations. On the way, he saves a woman, named Kiều Nguyệt Nga, from bandits. In gratitude, she offers him her hairpin; but when Luc Van Tien refuses it, she instead presents him with a poem, to which he responds by giving her one of his poems. He continues on his way and meets another man, Hớn Minh.

He visits his parents and fiancee, then heads to the capital. Upon arriving, he makes friends with Vương Tử Trực, Trịnh Hâm, Bùi Kiệm. Before the test, Lục Vân Tiên receives news about his mother's death, and returns home instead. On his way, he is blinded and pushed into the river by Trịnh Hâm. The River Dragon helps him to come on the shore and a fisherman cares for him. His fiancee's family traps him in a cave, but he is rescued and reunites with Hớn Minh, who couldn't take the examination due to some incidents. Tử Trực asks Vân Tiên's fiancee's family about him and with the father in favor with Tử Trực to marry his daughter instead but is declined; the father later dies because of illness.

When Kiều Nguyệt Nga hears about Vân Tiên's death, she attempted suicide when her devotion to Tien is threatened, but is saved by Quan Âm (Guanyin), the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. She lives in the forest with an old lady. Lục Vân Tiên's eyes are healed, then he takes the examination, and is sent to war. When he returns victoriously, he gets lost in the forest and reunites with Kiều Nguyệt Nga.[3][4] The poem praises the power of true love, applauds bravery and fair justice, similarly to chivalric literature such as Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe.

Text

The first six lines of the poem are:

"Trước đèn xem chuyện Tây Minh,
Gẫm cười hai chữ nhân tình éo le.
Ai ai lẳng lặng mà nghe,
Giữ răn việc trước, lành dè thân sau.
Trai thời trung hiếu làm đầu,
Gái thời tiết hạnh làm câu trau mình."

See also

References
  1. Thị Định Nguyễn No Other Road to Take: Memoir of Mrs. Nguyễn Thị Định 1976 Page 36. "Lục Vân Tiên is the love saga between Lục Vân Tiên, a young scholar, and Nguyệt Nga, a beautiful and virtuous girl. ... Written at a time when Vietnamese society was being put under enormous pressure by the French invasion, Lục Vân Tiên's reaffirmation of the old traditional moral virtues had great appeal among the people. "
  2. Thị Thanh Bình Nguyêñ, Dana Healy Aspects of Vietnamese Culture 2002 Page 112 "Lục Vân Tiên - a narrative in verse written by the “blind poet of Nam Bộ" Nguyễn Đình Chiểu (1822-1888); it comprises 2,076 lines in the ... This type of verse is typical of Vietnamese folk literature and was used in truyện thơ (narrative poems).
  3. Culture and Customs of Vietnam - Page 73 Mark W. McLeod, Thi Dieu Nguyen - 2001 "Set in the mythical country of So, understood to be a state in ancient China, the poem begins as Luc Van Tien travels to the capital to compete in the examinations. En route, he saves a woman named Nguyet Nga, who has been kidnapped by ..."
  4. David G. Marr Vietnamese Tradition on Trial 1920-1945 1984 Page 195 "Thus, having only looked at Luc Van Tien and exchanged poems once, Kieu Nguyet Nga yet felt the obligation to attempt suicide when her chastity and fidelity to him were jeopardized. Saved by Kuan-yin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy."
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