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| Tran Thuy Mai is awarded the 7th Ancient Capital Art and Literature Award |
As said by Tran Thuy Mai about her award:
Actually, at first I did not intend to enter my book for the Ancient Capital Award because I think I have been a writer for a long time. The awards should honor younger ones.
But, encouraged by the organizers and some writer friends, I entered my book. Needed to say, in the last 5 years, I finished two novels, “Empress Dowager Tu Du” and “Princess Dong Xuan.” It’d be safe if I entered the first one, but I decided to send the second because I wanted to put it to the test. I wrote the book basing on all my experiences of Hue culture and customs and some controversial historical conflicts. So the evaluation of the community in Hue is extremely important to me.
“Princess Dong Xuan" depicts a vivid picture of the history of the Nguyen Dynasty during a period filled with fluctuations. The novel received abundant compliments from critics and readers. Could you please tell us more about how the idea came up and the message you want to get across through the novel?
About the historical period from 1858-1885, i.e., from the time when the French colonialists officially attacked Da Nang until the event of “That thu Kinh do” (“Losing the Imperial Capital”) there’d been some novels before. What those novels had in common was praising patriotism and Confucian scholars and encouraging heroism.
In this novel, I aim to portray the overall confrontation through the comparison with nearby countries. I also present the general picture of Vietnamese intellectuals with two distinct lines: on one side were the straightforward brave yet stubborn short-sighted Confucian scholars; on the other was the group of Catholic intellectuals who were qualified and acknowledgeable about the world, but not prestigious enough to convince the mass and the court. The tragedy of the country was that those two lines were both excellent and patriotic, but they failed to find a common voice and therefore lost the opportunity to renovate the country. As a consequence, when dying, Nguyen Truong To cried for the misfortune of the country, “losing an opportunity costs a thousand years of regret.”
With the novels such as “Empress Dowager Tu Du” and “Princess Dong Xuan”, you have switched from your stories of the modern life to historical novels, which is a surprise to readers. What motivated you to change the genre to delve into these historical and cultural stories? And what role Hue played in your books?
I lived in Hue for more than fifty years and thought that I’d live here for the rest of my life. I wrote about everyday stories around me, about the words I heard every day, or the feelings which my friends confided and entrusted to me. It can be said that just sitting at a cafe in the early morning near the Perfume River I could "enter" the whole sky, the whole human realm, and touch fates and sorrows around me. Hue was the “source of nutrients” that nourished my works.
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| Tran Thuy Mai (right) and the interviewer |
After that, for some personal reasons, I moved to the South, then to America. Though I visited Hue very often, that “source of nutrients” of everyday life is no longer supplied continuously. Every time I miss my hometown, I turn to writing about history because history is always on my mind. I can bring it wherever I go, or can access it everywhere.
Hue was the capital of the Southern area, then the capital of the whole country during the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, so the history of Hue at the time was synonymous to the history of Vietnam. From stories of ancient Hue, I can pack lots of thoughts about our country and people.
Could you tell us more about factors that greatly affect your inspiration?
Firstly, Hue's quiet poetic space is likely to arouse feelings, and for me, feelings are the most necessity for short stories. Calmness assists a lot when people need to concentrate. I often apply the experience of a qigong practitioner considering high concentration the decisive factor to push mental capacity.
Secondly, the not-so-fast pace of life here enables people to maintain a life full of inspiration. Friends have time to confide and share joys and sorrows with each other. And thanks to that, we have facts and time to reflect on things around us. Most of the stories I wrote such as “Thuong nho hoang lan,” “Trang noi day gieng,” and so on are adapted from real stories in Hue. Of course those characters have been fictionalized since the aim of the writer is to share a message, not to tell people’s private lives.
Thirdly, Hue owns lots of historical relics, famous pagodas, unique historical anecdotes and folklore. It is Hue history and culture that help me write many short stories about the figures of the Nguyen Dynasty such as Tong Nuong, The Cuc, and then later I stepped into writing historical novels with the first one about Empress Dowager Tu Du.
You’ve shown your intense feelings for Hue as well as its changes through historical periods in your books. Could you please share with us what you’re most proud of about your hometown, especially when it’s on the verge of becoming a centrally-governed municipality in 2025?
For me, Hue is always Hue. During the wartime when I was still at school, Hue was small, cute, poetic and gentle. Hue at the moment is getting bigger, flashier, and more beautiful. Big or small, humble or luxurious, Hue is always dear to me. So frankly speaking, becoming a municipal is not my big concern. Though I know it’s been a great effort of the local government and the people. So I feel happy to know that my friends and people here are welcoming new joy.
Thank you for this conversation.