Illustration of Truyen Kieu on calendar (Photo: thanhnien.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s literary masterpiece Truyen Kieu (The Tale of Kieu) will appear as illustrations in a special edition calendar to be released in the upcoming new year.
Produced by the company An Hao, the Tale of Kieu calendar aims to honour the masterpiece written by Vietnam’s great poet Nguyen Du (1766-1820), introduce its 3,254 verses to a larger audience and offer a new and unique decorative item for homes on the occasion of the new year.
It consists of 365 pages, each of which has a picture illustrating each paragraph of the poem. The pictures are painted by artist Huu Hieu and partners during a two-year period.
The Tale of Kieu, whose original title in Vietnamese is Doan Truong Tan Thanh (A New Cry From a Broken Heart), is an epic poem in Vietnamese and is widely regarded as the most significant work of Vietnamese literature.
Written in luc bat ("six–eight") metre, the poem recounts the life, trials and tribulations of Thuy Kieu, a beautiful and talented young woman who had to sacrifice herself to save her family.
Besides its editions in Nom and the national language, the poem has been translated into various languages worldwide, including Japan, French, English and German, as well as Swidish, Polish and Romanian.-VNA
