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Book/Printed Material Kim Vân Kiều tân truyện 金雲翹新傳 / Title in Chinese reading: Jin Yunqiao xin zhuan

About this Item

Title

  • Kim Vân Kiều tân truyện

Other Title

  • 金雲翹新傳
  • Title in Chinese reading: Jin Yunqiao xin zhuan

Translated Title

  • The Tale of Kiều

Summary

  • Truyện Kiều (The tale of Kiều), written by Nguyễn Du (1765-1820) is regarded as the most significant poem in Vietnamese literature. It was composed in Lục-bát (6-8) stanzas and its original title in Vietnamese is Đoạn Trường Tân Thanh (A new cry from a broken heart). However, it is better known as Truyện Kiều or Kim Văn Kiều. The story is based on a 17th century Ming Chinese novel, which Nguyễn Du discovered while he was on an ambassadorial mission to China in 1813. The plot portrays the chaotic political and social circumstances of Vietnam in the 18th century, arising from political infighting. The theme of the story is filial piety, one of the main tenets of Confucianism. It recounts the life and trials of a beautiful and talented young woman who sacrificed her happiness to save her disgraced family. She had to go through many sufferings, such as being lured into prostitution, being wed to a man who was already married, and being thrown out of a Buddhist sanctuary before she was finally reunited with her first love. However, this reunion did not bring earthly joy for Kiều, who chose to devote her life to serving her family as filial piety demanded. Literary critics have argued that the theme of the story is an allegory of Nguyễn Du's guilt and conflict of interest in agreeing to work for the new regime (the Nguyễn dynasty, 1802-1945), which had been indirectly involved in the overthrow of his former master. This behavior was unacceptable in traditional Confucian Vietnamese society, as it was tantamount to betraying filial piety. Hence the theme of the story was a poignant reminder for Nguyễn Du, who was born into a high-profile mandarin family, and whose father served as a high-ranking minister under the Le dynasty. The copy of the Truyện Kiều manuscript held at the British Library (reference number Or 14844) was completed around 1894. It is written in Chữ Nôm (Sino-Vietnamese characters). Each page is beautifully illustrated with scenes from the story. It is bound in a royal-yellow silk cover with dragon patterns. Nguyễn Quang Tuấn, an independent Vietnamese scholar who inspected the manuscript, is of the opinion that this manuscript bears some royal significance because the dragon on the cover has the five claws normally reserved for imperial use only. Another significant feature of this manuscript is that it bears annotations by Paul Pelliot (1878-1945), the renowned French Sinologist, who bought the manuscript in 1929.

Names

  • Nguyễn, Du, 1765-1820 Author
  • Pelliot, Paul, 1878-1945 Annotator

Created / Published

  • [Place of publication not identified] : [Publisher not identified], 1894.

Headings

  • -  Viet Nam
  • -  1700 to 1799
  • -  Poetry
  • -  Vietnamese literature
  • -  Vietnamese poetry

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  "British Library manuscript reference number: Or 14844"--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
  • -  Original resource extent: 72 folios ; 350 x 220 millimeters.
  • -  Reference extracted from World Digital Library: Sud Chonchirdsin, "Truyện Kiều-The Tale of Kieu at the British Library," Southeast Asia Library Group (SEALG) Blog, March 28, 2013, https://southeastasianlibrarygroup.wordpress.com/tag/vietnamese-manuscript. External
  • -  Original resource at: The British Library.
  • -  Content in Vietnamese and Chinese.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
  • -  Title revised per Asian Division.--cc28 2023-01-06

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021667457

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Nguyễn, Du, Author, and Paul Pelliot. Kim Vân Kiều tân truyện. [Place of publication not identified: Publisher not identified, 1894] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667457/.

APA citation style:

Nguyễn, D. & Pelliot, P. (1894) Kim Vân Kiều tân truyện. [Place of publication not identified: Publisher not identified] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667457/.

MLA citation style:

Nguyễn, Du, Author, and Paul Pelliot. Kim Vân Kiều tân truyện. [Place of publication not identified: Publisher not identified, 1894] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021667457/>.