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This is an animation of the legend of Lac Long Quan and Au Co; this is a more in depth version of the legend.
Lac Long Quan is a traditional legend about the origin of Vietnamese people, who according to the legend, are a product from a marriage between a dragon and a fairy. Starting off as an oral tradition, it was officially written down in the 14th century and it’s still taught in Vietnam to children starting from primary school all the way to high school. There have been many papers about the legend as a way of uniting the nation as a whole, priming the feeling of nationalism in the citizens and being a connection between North and South Vietnam, as well as a bridge between the ethnic groups and “normal” citizens of Vietnam. However, there are also a few papers that focus on the legend as something that “overseas” Vietnamese people can use to connect and feel closer to their homeland.
I see this primary source as a way for Vietnamese-Americans, the second generation in particular, to get in touch with their cultural roots, since being born and raised in America doesn’t really leave much room for them to learn about the cultural values that the Vietnamese have.
The story of Lac Long Quan is a resistance to the cultural overtake. This legend is a part of the Worldbuilding that constantly takes place, not only in Vietnam for the Vietnamese citizens, but also for the “overseas” Vietnamese.
This paper plans on the historical, sociological, and psychological view of this legend. However, as opposed to some of the many papers that focus on this legend as a national type of, I will focus on the Vietnamese-American perspective on this story. I will be focusing on the symbolism behind the main characters and what they mean culturally, the journeys and decisions that each character makes, and the eventual lead into the diaspora that takes place. There will also be personal engagements with the analysis throughout the essay, putting in my own experiences with the legend as a second generation Vietnamese-American.
The Vietnamese-American population is an ever growing population, and as the years go by, people may start to feel disconnected from a place that their ancestors have come from. America is culturally different from Vietnam, the values that Vietnam deem as important aren’t the same as the ones in America. With the disconnect of cultural values, there is possibility for conflict with cultural identity; however, since we live in America, the culture here is more likely to be dominant compared to the Vietnamese culture that we are also a part of. The way I interpret this legend is through the second generation Vietnamese-American lens; the cultural gap that we have and how this legend can bridge the gap.
This is a shorter version of the legend, still with animations, but it has audio explaining the overall plot.
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