A legacy of the Tale of Kieu in Tien Dien
In mid-November, lovers of the Tale of Kieu, both in Vietnam and abroad, showed great interest in a new edition recently introduced by the Nguyen Tien Dien family council. The hardcover book, weighing 2kg, is considered one of the most beautiful and impressive editions among approximately 150 copies of the Tale of Kieu, both in Nom script and Quốc ngữ (modern Vietnamese script).
This special publication expresses gratitude and honor to Nguyen Du - an outstanding cultural figure of the Nguyen Tien Dien family in particular and the world in general, and aims to continuously spread and promote the value of the Tale of Kieu heritage, on the occasion of the 260th anniversary of the birth and the 205th anniversary of the death of the great poet.
The family's heartfelt wish.
Holding the Tale of Kieu (Tien Dien edition) in my hands, flipping through the thick, colorful pages, with their sharp printing and meticulous, scientific annotations, my initial impression is one of the respect, attention to detail, and dedication of the editorial team.
Poet Vuong Trong, a Standing Committee member of the Vietnam Association for the Study of the Tale of Kieu, wrote the introduction: "The Nguyen Tien Dien family has many sources of pride, but the greatest and most enduring pride is the epic poem 'The Tale of Kieu' by the great poet Nguyen Du, an outstanding literary masterpiece of our nation. If the original copy of 'The Tale of Kieu' still existed, how precious it would be for the family to keep as a treasure! But over time, through the ups and downs of history, according to researchers, the original copy of 'The Tale of Kieu' no longer exists, a great loss for the country, especially for the Nguyen Tien Dien family! To this day, we have many different versions of 'The Tale of Kieu,' both in Nom script and Quốc ngữ (modern Vietnamese script). The Nguyen Tien Dien family wants to have a copy of 'The Tale of Kieu' for themselves, not only to appreciate this literary masterpiece, but also to be proud of their ancestors."
In response to that aspiration, the Nguyen Tien Dien clan council appointed Mr. Nguyen Hai Nam, the council chairman, to organize the compilation of the clan's version of The Tale of Kieu, known as the Tien Dien edition. Mr. Nguyen Hai Nam shared: "We yearn to have a version of The Tale of Kieu that can be considered a heritage and a family treasure. Over the years, the members of the clan council, along with the Kieu Studies Association and researchers, have joined hands to research and compile the Tien Dien version of The Tale of Kieu. Throughout this process, we sincerely thank the compilation team, the artists, and all those who love The Tale of Kieu… for their enthusiasm and dedication, working wholeheartedly with the clan to create this version."
The Tale of Kieu is not only a work of art, but also a living archive of language, customs, and social consciousness... Therefore, each time a new edition of The Tale of Kieu is introduced, what is noteworthy is not the appearance of another edition on the bookshelves, but rather the compilation method, selection criteria, and the attitude of the compiler towards the historical variations of the text.
The Tien Dien edition of The Tale of Kieu was compiled in a scientific spirit, selectively inheriting the works of nearly two centuries of revision. The editorial team devoted considerable time and effort to meticulously reviewing all existing Nôm and Quốc ngữ (Vietnamese script) versions of The Tale of Kieu, classifying, segmenting, comparing, recording, commenting on, annotating, and clarifying...; removing sentences considered to be arbitrarily added or removed, retaining sentences with clear historical basis. The overall spirit was to select the best from published versions of The Tale of Kieu, acknowledging contributions and innovations that have become popular, with the hope that today's readers, especially young people, will find The Tale of Kieu easier to understand and access.
The unique features of Kieu Tien Dien village.
One of the most striking features of the Tale of Kieu (Tien Dien edition), easily noticeable to readers, is its meticulously selected system of illustrations, ranging from folk art and works by anonymous artists to artists from the Indochina Fine Arts School…
These paintings are not merely adding color to publications; they act as a second language, expanding the scope of perception and recreating Nguyen Du's artistic world through the lines, colors, and brushstrokes of various periods. Each painting evokes the aesthetic essence of different regions and historical eras.
There, Kieu's beauty, Tu Hai's dignified bearing, and the opulence of the brothel are depicted with subtle nuances. Each artist and each style of painting has its own interpretation of the characters and the story's setting. Therefore, when placed side-by-side, the illustrations become a multi-dimensional map of Vietnamese art in the process of interpreting Kieu.
The editorial team also explained the choice in presenting the poem. The Nôm script version of Đoạn trường tân thanh – or Truyện Kiều – only uses Nôm characters, without the concept of capitalization and without any symbols such as periods, commas, question marks, exclamation marks, colons, quotation marks, etc. To ensure readers understand the text correctly, when transcribing it into Quốc ngữ (modern Vietnamese), the editors had to capitalize names of people, places, and some other words, as well as add punctuation marks where necessary according to current regulations. To facilitate readers' understanding of Truyện Kiều's content, the editorial team divided it into 143 sections based on the sectioning of the 1894 Kim Vân Kiều hội bản, the Nôm version preserved at the British Library.
The Tale of Kieu (Tien Dien edition) will be published in various formats. Besides the large-format edition with high-quality paper, elaborate illustrations, and presentation—considered a family heirloom to be displayed at the Nguyen Du Museum, in the ancestral temple, etc.—and to satisfy the desires of those who love and collect the Tale of Kieu, there will also be a mass-produced, more accessible edition so that the book can reach a wider audience. It is known that several collectors of rare books have registered to purchase the beautifully printed edition to enrich their family libraries.
From a cultural perspective, the active participation of the clan in the preservation process is a particularly bright spot. In contemporary life, many heritages are completely entrusted to public institutions. But reality shows that when the clan and local community take the initiative, the heritage will have a longer lifespan. In Tien Dien, The Tale of Kieu exists not only in books, but is also present in ancestral commemoration ceremonies, in clan temples, in everyday stories, in lullabies sung by grandmothers and mothers... The Tien Dien edition of The Tale of Kieu, therefore, not only fulfills the aspirations of a clan, but also serves as an "anchor" affirming the vitality of The Tale of Kieu in the consciousness of many generations. It is a way to affirm that cultural heritage can be preserved through very fundamental institutions from the family, clan, and community.
Present at the book launch, many lovers of the Tale of Kieu agreed that the success of the publication was a combination of two factors: an academic perspective and the family's affection for the great poet Nguyen Du. This affection motivated the editorial team to work diligently and persistently, but it was the scientific approach that created the publication's research value. The Tale of Kieu (Tien Dien edition) is even more significant as it was released on the occasion of the 260th anniversary of the great poet's birth and the 205th anniversary of his death. A version of the Tale of Kieu born in such a context naturally possesses greater depth, as it is the culmination of gratitude and responsibility, of science and culture, of memory and life.
