Place and time of writing Kieu story

(Baonghean) -For Nguyen Du, The Tale of Kieu was the work of a lifetime, and was conceived in many lands (Bich Cau ward (Thang Long), Hoa Thieu (Dong Ngan), Hai An (Quynh Coi) and Tien Dien (Nghi Xuan)... and then revised through many steps, in many places according to the life journey of the person who wrote it. But the main place for the author to do that work was on the bank of the Lam River at the foot of Hong Linh Mountain, at the latest from around 1796 to 1802, that is, when To Nhu was between thirty and thirty-six, thirty-seven years old.

Later, Tran Trong Kim wrote in the book Brief History of Vietnam that: “In the year of Tan Mui (1811), he (King Gia Long) sent his officials to find unofficial history books about the Le Dynasty and the Tay Son Nguyen Dynasty to revise the national history... stories such as “Hoa Tien” by Nguyen Huy Tu and “Truyen Thuy Kieu” by Nguyen Du were also discovered at that time”. Thus, “Truyen Thuy Kieu” was discovered in 1811, which means it belongs to the category of “unofficial history books about the Le Dynasty and the Tay Son Nguyen Dynasty” - that is, it was written before King Gia Long ascended the throne.

Thai Kim Dinh in the article “Nguyen Du with the village of Tien Dien” printed in Anecdotes and documents about Nguyen Du, The Tale of Kieu (Nghe Tinh Publishing House, 1983) wrote: “At the beginning of the year Binh Thin (1796), Nguyen Du returned to Tien Dien, ending the year of wind and dust in Thai Binh and staying here until 1802… it is possible that during the short period of 6 years in Tien Dien, Nguyen Du wrote most of his works. Among them are two famous Nom literature books that brought him to the rank of poet: Van chieu hon and Truyen Kieu”. In the section “About Truyen Kieu”, at Point 3: “Some Nom versions still known today”, Thai Kim Dinh wrote: “The first printed version was carved by Hoa Duong Pham Quy Thich on Hang Gai street, Hanoi (around 1796-1825), commonly known as Hoa Duong version, the first ward version”. 1796 is probably too early, but in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Tale of Kieu was engraved and printed, so that is certain. That is consistent with the discovery of scholar Tran Trong Kim.

Vu Ngoc Khanh (from Nghi Xuan) also agreed with Thai Kim Dinh about where Nguyen Du wrote the Tale of Kieu, although according to him, the time To Nhu stayed in Tien Dien was different. He wrote in the book Ba Hundred Years and Less: “Since Quang Trung passed away (1792), the Sung Chinh Institute did not declare but dissolved itself, everyone returned to their own homes. Nguyen Thien returned to his village to enjoy his fields, gardens, and books, and Uncle To Nhu returned to his village, these people were very happy…”. Accordingly, during that time, Nguyen Du spent about ten years in his hometown, in Nghi Xuan.

Nguyen Tai Can has long believed that The Tale of Kieu was written by Nguyen Du at the end of the 18th century. Recently, in Nghe An Culture Magazine No. 61, June 2005, he based on the way of writing to avoid taboo names in the ancient Nom versions of Kieu published by Duy Minh Thi, Lieu Van Duong, Quan Van Duong, Thinh My Duong and two original versions of Kieu in Hue by Lam Noa Phu and Kieu Oanh Mau to come to the opinion: "The Tale of Kieu was composed at the end of the 18th century, before the reign of Gia Long. Some previous researchers have also come to that hypothesis". Lao Dong Newspaper No. 92, published on April 3, 2005, also published an article by Nguyen Tai Can and Ngo Duc Tho with similar content.

Now, Nguyen Tai Can notes at the end of the article printed in Nghe An Culture Magazine that: “Scholars such as Hoang Xuan Han, Dao Duy Anh, Truong Chinh have also provided some data to prove such an argument”. And he also has an additional conjecture, following Nguyen Thach Giang’s suggestion: “The sketch of the Tale of Kieu was probably known when he (Nguyen Du) was still in Thai Binh, but it certainly began to become famous and was copied a lot after he returned to live permanently in his hometown (Tien Dien)… The evidence for his completion of the work in Tien Dien is that all ancient Nom versions of Kieu have some traces of Nghe dialect, more or less. Those traces must have spread from the first copies distributed from Nghe Tinh. Nguyen Hanh’s poem mourning his uncle (1820) saying: “Uncle was famous for “the most talented person in the world” 19 years ago” further confirms that”. In Nguyen Du's Chronicle and Works (Culture - Information Publishing House 2001, p. 37), Nguyen Thach Giang and Truong Chinh wrote: "The Tale of Kieu was further edited during the time in the countryside" (before 1802).

Nguyen Khac Bao, in the article "Was it true that the Tale of Kieu was composed during the reign of King Le and Lord Trinh" published in Nghe An Culture Magazine No. 62, July 2005, after presenting many pieces of data, came to the conclusion: "The time when Nguyen Du wrote the Tale of Kieu must have been before the reign of King Gia Long but could not have been during the reign of King Le and Lord Trinh... That time was around after Nguyen Du was captured by the Tay Son army and released to live in his father's hometown...". In Ha Tinh Culture Magazine No. 172, November 2012, in the article "Some opinions on restoring the original Tale of Kieu", Nguyen Khac Bao continued to write: "It is necessary to have a firm grasp of the ancient vocabulary of the time when Nguyen Du composed the Tale of Kieu (from 1796 - 1801...) to select and transcribe the correct Quoc Ngu words".

Vuong Trong in the Military Literature Magazine (2005) in the article Contributing to the time Nguyen Du wrote the Tale of Kieu wrote: “I would like to quote the summary of Nguyen Hoang Son in the book Literature, Current Events and Commentary to summarize:… From 1943 to now, Dao Duy Anh, Hoang Xuan Han and Truong Chinh have met to argue that the Tale of Kieu was written before Nguyen Du went on a diplomatic mission, even before he became an official under the Gia Long period”. After that, Vuong Trong continued to write: “Nguyen Hoang Son also agreed with Nguyen Tai Can, Dao Thai Ton… that Nguyen Du wrote the Tale of Kieu before the Gia Long period, specifically in the years 1776 - 1802”.

Those predictions are somewhat consistent with many of Nguyen Du's ideas in his Chinese poems when he complained about the ten years of the Le dynasty losing its imperial throne as well as the ten years of illness living at the foot of Hong mountain.

Thus, although there are still many different opinions that need to be further discussed, most researchers in the Vietnamese Kieu Studies community agree that Nguyen Du continued to write and complete the Tale of Kieu between 1792 and 1801 in Tien Dien, a bright spot and also a rich cultural deposit of Nghe An.

CHU TRONG HUYEN (Vinh City)