what is Vietnamese literature?
Just like in so many places around the world, Vietnam has two strands of literary tradition: oral and written. Oral Vietnamese literature is largely autochthonous; written Vietnamese literature is a consequence of the Chinese conquest in the 2nd century BC. Later on, in the 10th century, when an independent Vietnamese state emerged, a demotic system of writing was created; it was Chu Nom ("the southern script"). Both ideographic systems of writing, the Chinese (Han-Viet) and the "southern" one, were in use till the 20th century, when the Latin script (enriched with those marvellous diacritics that I omit here) finally prevailed. Curiously, it was introduced much earlier, in 1651, by a Jesuit missionary, Alexandre de Rhodes.
The Chinese influence gave not only the script, but also a choice of forms derived from classical Chinese poetry, such as the popular luc-bat ("six-eight") pattern (a couplet with six syllables in the first verse and eight in the second one) and the prestigious lyrical medium, the lushi ("regulated verse") of the Tang dynasty. Typically for Asia, poetry was often a female occupation, as testified by the name of the concubine Ho Xuan Huong who excelled in the formally elaborate poetry in "regulated verse", full of tonal puns. This sophisticated tradition even knew bilingual palindromes that could be read forward in Vietnamese, and backward in Chinese, giving the sequence of ideograms a different meaning. In the mid-19th century, the emperor Thieu Tri created a circular palindrome with a dozen of different meanings.
Quite a different strand of literary tradition is connected to Buddhism, especially Thien monks. Thien is roughly the local form of Zen; it reached Vietnam as early as the 2nd century and was in full blossom by the 10th and 11th c. Typically for this branch of Buddhism, it produced biographies of great masters and florilegia of their sayings, that are collectively designed as Thien uyen tap anh. The religious novelty of the 13th century was the Truc Lam sect (the "Bamboo Grove") enjoying imperial protection; this is when both currents, the monastic and the courtly one, come closer together. In fact, the new school, derived from Thien, was created by the emperor himself, combing Buddhism with Confucianism and Taoism. As a way of harmonising "the three Teachings", it was still considered useful and deserving state protection under the Tay Son dynasty (1778-1802).
Confucianism, nonetheless, should be seen as the tradition that prevailed over Buddhism, at least at the official level. It found its expression from the 15th right to the 19th century in the literary creation of statesmen-poets. One of them was Nguyen Du (1766-1820), the celebrated author of The Tale of Kieu. It is an extensive poem in luc-bat couplets, often considered as the masterpiece of Vietnamese literature. It is a text discussing Confucianist principles, such as loyalty to one's family. This kind of morality forms the background of a tragic love story, since the young woman remains faithful to her family's honour.
Yet another 18th-century Vietnamese book is the Relation of the Journey to the Capital, written by a doctor and poet Lan-ong. He travels all across the four provinces of the Delta, from his native village to the city of Hanoi. On his way back home, he visits the pagoda Nguyet Duong, beautifully situated on a hill over a lake. He says to have written a poem about this place, that he left on the wall of the pagoda. I have it in the French translation of Nguyen-Tran-Huan:
Des couloirs totrueux entrent et sortent au milieu des fleurs éparpillées.
Des balustrades sinueuses se divisent sous les auvents de bambou.
Dans la pagode à neuf étages, l'encens et les lampes brûlent comme en plein jour.
Sur les deux clochers, les sons de la cloche résonnent dans le soir.
Un atmosphère de séréenité plane sur les pins et les catalpas en abondance.
Je regrette seulement qu'il n'y ait pas de singe qui offre des fruits devant la cour de la pagode.
The Tale of Kieu and the missing monkey of Lan-ong marked the end of the old Vietnam. French colonial rule that was established in 1862 had no use of Confucianist mandarinate. Soon, the Western-style short story and novel were to appear, against many a tentative at creating a literature of cultural resistance. The modernisers formed currents and schools, such as "Independent Literary Group" and "New Poetry". In 1945, with the new, post-colonial division of the country, also Socialist Realism came to Vietnam. Finally, after the end of the war in 1975, the literary system started to diversify, adopting a variety of inspirations.
The Chinese influence gave not only the script, but also a choice of forms derived from classical Chinese poetry, such as the popular luc-bat ("six-eight") pattern (a couplet with six syllables in the first verse and eight in the second one) and the prestigious lyrical medium, the lushi ("regulated verse") of the Tang dynasty. Typically for Asia, poetry was often a female occupation, as testified by the name of the concubine Ho Xuan Huong who excelled in the formally elaborate poetry in "regulated verse", full of tonal puns. This sophisticated tradition even knew bilingual palindromes that could be read forward in Vietnamese, and backward in Chinese, giving the sequence of ideograms a different meaning. In the mid-19th century, the emperor Thieu Tri created a circular palindrome with a dozen of different meanings.
Quite a different strand of literary tradition is connected to Buddhism, especially Thien monks. Thien is roughly the local form of Zen; it reached Vietnam as early as the 2nd century and was in full blossom by the 10th and 11th c. Typically for this branch of Buddhism, it produced biographies of great masters and florilegia of their sayings, that are collectively designed as Thien uyen tap anh. The religious novelty of the 13th century was the Truc Lam sect (the "Bamboo Grove") enjoying imperial protection; this is when both currents, the monastic and the courtly one, come closer together. In fact, the new school, derived from Thien, was created by the emperor himself, combing Buddhism with Confucianism and Taoism. As a way of harmonising "the three Teachings", it was still considered useful and deserving state protection under the Tay Son dynasty (1778-1802).
Confucianism, nonetheless, should be seen as the tradition that prevailed over Buddhism, at least at the official level. It found its expression from the 15th right to the 19th century in the literary creation of statesmen-poets. One of them was Nguyen Du (1766-1820), the celebrated author of The Tale of Kieu. It is an extensive poem in luc-bat couplets, often considered as the masterpiece of Vietnamese literature. It is a text discussing Confucianist principles, such as loyalty to one's family. This kind of morality forms the background of a tragic love story, since the young woman remains faithful to her family's honour.
Yet another 18th-century Vietnamese book is the Relation of the Journey to the Capital, written by a doctor and poet Lan-ong. He travels all across the four provinces of the Delta, from his native village to the city of Hanoi. On his way back home, he visits the pagoda Nguyet Duong, beautifully situated on a hill over a lake. He says to have written a poem about this place, that he left on the wall of the pagoda. I have it in the French translation of Nguyen-Tran-Huan:
Des couloirs totrueux entrent et sortent au milieu des fleurs éparpillées.
Des balustrades sinueuses se divisent sous les auvents de bambou.
Dans la pagode à neuf étages, l'encens et les lampes brûlent comme en plein jour.
Sur les deux clochers, les sons de la cloche résonnent dans le soir.
Un atmosphère de séréenité plane sur les pins et les catalpas en abondance.
Je regrette seulement qu'il n'y ait pas de singe qui offre des fruits devant la cour de la pagode.
The Tale of Kieu and the missing monkey of Lan-ong marked the end of the old Vietnam. French colonial rule that was established in 1862 had no use of Confucianist mandarinate. Soon, the Western-style short story and novel were to appear, against many a tentative at creating a literature of cultural resistance. The modernisers formed currents and schools, such as "Independent Literary Group" and "New Poetry". In 1945, with the new, post-colonial division of the country, also Socialist Realism came to Vietnam. Finally, after the end of the war in 1975, the literary system started to diversify, adopting a variety of inspirations.
I have read... nothing ...
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I have written... nothing ...
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