Word: kieu
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...TALE OF KIEU by NGUYEN...
...Kieu's spirit which draws the admiration of today's Vietnamese. Times have changed since Nguyen Du's era, and there are no longer any imperial authorities to inflict injustices. New modes of thought and government have emerged, but all that remains unchanged is man's suffering...
Some Americans who have read The Tale of Kieu in French have objected to its "unhappy" ending. Although Kieu had pledged to marry the scholar Kim Trong, she found upon her return from 15 years adrift that she could not sustain more than a platonic relationship. At the time the disaster struck Kieu's family, Kim had been performing mourning rites for a relative in a distant province for several years. Kieu's parents and her sister Van, whom she had asked to marry Kim before she left home, insisted that Kieu follow through with her marriage pledge. Kieu finally...
...only happy moment during Kieu's 15-year ordeal was her marriage to the rebel chieftain Tu Hai. Although he permitted her to take retribution against her wrongdoers, she did so with a sense of toleration for those whose apparent malicious intent sprang, in fact, from their observance of social mores. When the Imperial authorities offered rewards and a prestigious position at court in exchange for Tu Hai's surrender, Kieu urged him to accept. Although Tu Hai had never lost a battle, he lost his life when he took Kieu's advice...
Each experience tried Kieu's emotions, but she always managed to escape unscathed. Before tragedy had befallen her family, she had had a vision of the unhappiness that awaited her. She did not question her fate; hers was a filial devotion which went beyond her concern for herself. After 15 years of such undeserved suffering, Kieu could reasonably have become embittered. On the contrary, she was no longer her somber self. Although past harm had left its mark on her, Kieu did not resist a tranquil life when, at last, it came within her reach...