Vietnamese Travel Narratives
From: David Del Testa <ddeltest@bucknell.edu>
Date: Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 9:43 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <Vsg@u.washington.edu>
VSG colleagues,
Following Vern's message, I wonder if anyone might suggest earlier, Vietnamese travel narratives that are available in Vietnamese or translation. For example, I have Nguyen Vu's Tuan, Trang Trai Nuoc Viet. But I wonder if accounts from the pre-1802 period exist. For example, did Nguyen Trai pen a diary recounting travel that has been made available in a modern edition, in Vietnamese, French, English, or German? And, does anyone have suggestions for relatively contemporary narratives of travel in Vietnam, in particular for Vietnamese soldiers on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and contemporary (post-Doi Moi) travel narratives by Vietnamese (Hanoi to Saigon, in the highlands, etc.)? I find these useful for teaching, so any suggestions much appreciated.
Best wishes, David
David Del Testa, Ph.D.
Department of History
Bucknell University
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From: George Dutton <dutton@humnet.ucla.edu>
Date: Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 10:09 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Hi David,
There are various ways to consider travel narratives. Thus, one might view at least parts of Le Quy Don's Phu Bien Tap Luc as a kind of travel narrative - he was at least a traveler, and does write a bit about the people he encountered. Liam Kelley's work on the envoy poetry suggests that such poetry might be considered travel narrative as well. That said, two earlier and more conventional narratives spring to mind. The first is Philiphe Binh's writings, which I am currently working on. He travels from Tonkin to Lisbon in the 1790s and writes about his journey in some detail. Unfortunately, his travel description is not readily available - only on microfilm and that in his original handwriting, which takes some getting used to. The published reproduction of one of his journals includes some travel description, but not as much. This is the Sach So Sang Chep Cac Viec (The Notebook that Transmits and Records all Things), which was reproduce in VN in the late 1960s. The other one that springs to mind is Le Quynh's _Bac Hang Tung Ky_ (Record of a Journey to the North), which is by a Le loyalist in the Tay Son period who accompanies the fleeing Le Emperor to China after Quang Trung's defeat of the Qing army. This is quite a fascinating document, with an insider's perspective on the fate of the Le ruler and the implications of their exile. It has some travel narrative mixed in with commentary on the plight of the exiles. It has been translated into modern VNese by Hoang Xuan Han and published (at least in the version I have) by NXB Thuan Hoa, 1993. Also available in that compendium of HXH's writings, La Son Yen Ho - Hoang Xuan Han (2nd of 3 vols), pub. NXB Giao Duc, 1998). A third item that you might consider is Pham Dinh Ho's Vu Trung Tuy But (Following the Brush Amid the Rains), which includes a variety of brief anecdotes that involve travel - eg. PDH describes day or overnight trips he makes with friends in and around Thang Long in the 1790s. These include description of the travel (albeit short trips), and sites they visit, sometimes the places they stop for lunch, etc. This has been published in numerous translated versions. Hope this helps a bit, but would be curious to hear what other pre-1802 narratives people can suggest.
George
_________________________________
George Dutton
Chair, Southeast Asian Studies IDP
Associate Professor, UCLA Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
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From: will pore <willpore@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 10:45 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Dear David, George and List:
There is also Phung Khac Khoan's "Thi tap loai ban" from the late
sixteenth century, which is supposed to contain poems (and possibly dialogue and observances) of this Vietnamese envoy in Beijing who met with the Korean envoy Yi Sugwang in 1598. I don't know if that work
still exists, but I found it referred to by Phan Hui Chu. The Korean
envoy's work preserves the dialogue and poems exchanged w/ Phung. It
includes quite a lot of "travel" and other information about Vietnam
from that time. I have translated Yi's work and it will appear next
year in the "Transactions" of the Royal Asiatic Society of Korea.
Will Pore