( continued from last week )
To be sure, not all women in Vietnamese history were heroic or admirable. My Nuong was the poster girl for the type of selfish and blind love that would make a decent James Bond movie in our time. She was a princess whose father, King An Duong Vuong, was given a magic claw from the Turtle God. The magic claw, serving as the trigger in his bow, shot multiple arrows accurately, successfully defending the kingdom against all invaders.
A treacherous neighbor king, Trieu Da, sent his son, Trong Thuy, to court Nuong; she fell for him head over heels. In an imprudent moment bordering on treason, she revealed to her husband the secret of her father’s weapon. The James Bond of that time replaced the magic claw with a fake one, and the rest, as we say, is history.
But, by and large, history records Viet women as hardworking, talented, magnanimous and, yes, heroic. Even during the last 2,000 years when Confucian values dominated Vietnamese culture, many women rose above the subservient roles reserved for them.
Ho Xuan Huong and Doan Thi Diem, by sheer talent and brass, earned their places in the pantheon of Vietnamese literature, when few women were given the opportunity to learn how to read.
The ultimate recognition of the role of Viet women, of course, is the Tale of Kieu, the vehicle for Nguyen Du, our poet laureate, who portrayed both his tormented life and the fate of the Vietnamese people. Thuy Kieu, the beautiful and talented heroine, sells herself as a concubine to save her family. She is betrayed and sold into prostitution, yet she manages to maintain her honor to the end. The masses find solace in Kieu, the intelligentsia sees its alter ego and soothsayers use the text to tell fortunes. Such is the popularity of Kieu that Vietnamese still recite their favorite verses by heart, even today.
There is still a wide gap of some 27 centuries from the first Viet dynasty of Hong Bang to the Chinese occupation that triggered the Trung sisters’ rebellion around the time of the birth of Christ. Recently, Australian and Japanese researchers discovered a cemetery dating back 3,500 to 4,000 years ago and just 90 kilometers south of Hanoi. Perhaps, with more digging and research, we can someday fill in the details. I, for one, would love to know the role of women in Vietnam prior to the invasion of Confucius’ teachings.
For now, while the French tout their coq gaulois and the Chinese brandish their Year of the Rooster, Vietnamese are quite comfortable with their Year of the Hen. Would that Vietnamese women today are equally honored and appreciated.
Vu-Duc Vuong is a teacher and writer in the Bay Area. Contact him at vuduc.vuong@gmail.com.