Princesses of Vietnam: A peak into the cultural/social role of Vietnamese women

Princesses of Vietnam: A peak into the cultural/social role of Vietnamese women

Today’s presentation came as a surprise to me. They refused to disclose the title of the topic so I was trying to guess what they were going to present on. I really like today topic for I think they managed to linked the discussions to the wider context and trying to show how women in Vietnam can still use the experiences of the famous princesses of Vietnam as role models.

These princesses were remembered and celebrated as icons due to their courage and sacrifices and their brilliant leadership throughout Vietnamese history. Some entered the resistance against Chinese invaders beside their husbands, while one married the neighboring Cham king so as to bring the 2 warring countries to peace.

However the one princess that evoked a lot of controversies is Princess My Chau who is blamed commonly for causing Vietnam to be subjugated to the Chinese for 1000 years. My Chau fell in love with a Chinese prince and married the prince. However, the prince had an ulterior motive, he married My Chau so that he could get his hands on the magical weapons that had helped Vietnam resist China conquest over Vietnamese land. Out of love for her husband, My Chau stole the magical weapon from his father and gave it to her husband. In no time, Chinese invaders swept over Vietnam and conquered it. In anger, the Vietnamese king chopped off his daughter, My Chau, head due to My Chau betrayal of her country.

Many Vietnamese remembered the story of My Chau and there was a heated discussion as to why My Chau is listed as one of the most famous princess of Vietnam. She should be “infamous” instead. There is even a temple in the old capital of Vietnam that is dedicated to My Chau and I have been there once. Some of them pitied her, saying that her love for her husband must have caused her much pain. However, most of the members called her love as “blind”. In the end, we decided that the temple was set up no really to commemorate My Chau, but to remind of this episode in Vietnamese history.

Actually, I think that My Chau and her husband did really love one another. It was unfortunately that they were borne in opposite camps. I chose to think this way as it was said that her husband committed suicide out of grief and guilt. Maybe, the husband of My Chau was also just a political pawn!

shi lei

As Shi Lei has mentioned, this session is about the princesses of Vietnam, in particular, of Princess My Chau, this has led me to understand that Vietnamese women are regarded very highly in Vietnamese society at present, and in the past. Reflecting on this, I remembered other heroic Vietnamese women who changed society, such as the Trung Sisters, who managed to successfully defend Vietnam from foreign invaders. Nonetheless , it was a interested look into the roles and functions of these women, as well as how well they are respected, touching in areas of conflict such as the extent of value of love between family and country. Reception towards her role as a hero was quite mixed among the students, with some supporting her decision to help her husband and some thinking that she should not have betrayed her country. However, it was very much concluded with a majority that despite of this, princesses were very brave and honorable in marrying foreigners in order to keep the peace with other nations in Vietnam. Whether or not they had loved their husbands. I have the same view, as in life, you can only have one partner to love and cherish, and in sacrificing this for the sake of your country is truly an honorable act. Emphasizing also, the high regards that Vietnamese have for their nation. With regards to Princess My Chau, as in custom, and in my view, marrying a husband would make you more or less a citizen of your husband's country as well, which I feel My Chau really was forced beyond her will to betray her country, something I feel she did not want to do.



Apart from the role of princesses, there was also a short presentation about one of the Vietnamese myths, the beach boy, in which a cartoon- style story was presented, this myth told of a father and son who had only a loin-cloth left, and when the father died , he wanted to let the father have his dignity in death and hence gave him the loin cloth, upon bathing one day in the river, he met a princess,Tien Dung who thought it was fated that they got married, albeit rejection from her parents. They soon ran away, started a river market that developed into a large market-city. Thus the couple became remembered for their love and faith in heaven.

story summarized from http://www.vietspring.org/legend/VietnameseMyths.html

Again, this is an example of the respect and traditions that Vietnamese princesses had, something which I learnt more of from the narration of the Vietnamese students in addition to my lessons in school.

Overall, it was a fruitful and interesting discussion about the role of princess in Vietnamese society.


Cheers
Daniel Foo