THE ANTAGONIST IN THE Trang Quynh tales series from TRICKSTER TALES OF the perspective of folklore 1 TRANG QUYNH Trang Quynh3 is a set of Vietnamese tales. It is recognized by Vietnamese folklore 2 Soratee Jaisa-ard scholars as a humorous tale emphasizing amusement. In Vietnamese, it is known as truyÖn c−êi, truyÖn hài h−íc or truyÖn kh«i Abstract hài which denotes a tale designed to entertain and amuse its audience.4 The This article explores the antagonists from story of Trang Quynh touches upon the tales of Trang Quynh, which are well- critical issues in society and social taboos. known trickster tales throughout Vietnam. It also aims at both upper and lower class The main antagonists in Trang Quynh’s people and the protagonist of the story is series comprise those in the royal court, enabled to do anything that he cannot do even the king himself, mandarins, rich in real life. In the world of tales, the landlords and even the mother Goddess at audience can find release from the the village shrine. The tales of Trang oppression that they endure in everyday Quynh can be interpreted as the farmers’ life. This topic will be discussed in more way of alleviating their hardship, as an detail later in this article. expression of their antagonism towards the ruling class and restrictive social According to the Thai scholar, Prakong rules. Meanwhile, Trang Quynh, the Nimmanahaeminda (1911: 20), a protagonist in the story, is regarded as the humorous tale is a “short story of non- hero or the representative of the people. complicated structure and with one As a result, the study of Trang Quynh’s particular. The actor can be a human being antagonists will enhance our or an animal. The climax of the story is an understanding of the social context, impossible circumstance.” Another Thai village culture and the conflict between scholar in Folklore, Siraporn Na Thalang social groups from the previous time in (1994: 20) points out that an important Vietnamese society. role of the humorous tale is “to alternate oppression from social rules and regulations which cannot be spoken against or criticized in real life but can be in the world of tales.” Because of its literary elements, The Trang Quynh series can be categorized as humorous tales. 1 This article is part of the Ph.D. thesis “Vietnamese cultural identity and universal characteristics in the trickster tales of TRANG QUYNH”, Ph.D. Program in Department of 3 Trang (Tr¹ng) is the name prefix for an Literature and Comparative Literature, Faculty academic person, most of them possessed the of Arts, Chulalongkorn University. first rank of TiÕn sÜ (comparable to a present 2 Lecturer, Department of Thai, Faculty of day doctoral degree). Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen 4 For more details, see Dinh Gia Khanh 2003. University Van hoc dan gian Viet Nam. Nam Dinh: Giao duc. Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 10:48:53PM via free access The Antagonist in the Trickster Tales of Trang Quynh Stith Thomson (as referred to in Prakong 41 (1718), he finally achieved “tien si”6 Nimmannahaeminda’s book, 1911: 20) and worked as an official. According to proposes that there are 16 models of historical documents, Quynh died on the humorous stories as follows: cleverness, 6th of the 2nd month of the year 1748. At foolishness, winning a competition by that time, he was 78 years old.7 deception, cunningly bargaining, discreetly playing tricks, deception aimed The Trang Quynh tale reflects Vietnamese at sexual intercourse, harmful tricks, society in the 18th century. At that time, cunning in competition, imitation, the country was divided into two parts. incorrect blame, poor wife, laziness, deaf The North was controlled by the Trinh people, priests and boastfulness. while the South was under the Nguyen. According to Stith Thomson’s models and While both families claimed to recognize the main character of the Trang Quynh the Le dynasty as the legitimate authority, series, it can be said that these are tales of they fought against each other. The civil cleverness, sagacity and tricks to survive. war lasted for about fifty years until three Some characters in the stories may like to brothers from the village of Tay Son, a ridicule, tease and joke. The characteristics province of Binh Dinh, rose up against the of this series share similarities with the two families. (Huu Ngoc 1998: 618) story of Sritanonchai, which is popular in Thailand, Tamenchia, in Cambodia, or During the civil war, the peasants endured some parts of Siangmiang, in Laos.5 hardship and oppression. Most of the farmers did not have their own land and It has been pointed out in some they were invariably oppressed and Vietnamese research that Trang Quynh is exploited by landlords. Apart from the an important character in Vietnamese problem of land, the peasant life was folklore. Some researchers have even greatly affected by political conflicts, speculated that this character is real. It is corruption, competition and jealousy believed that Trang Quynh is NguyÔn among the high ranking mandarins and Quúnh or Cèng Quúnh, who was born, in this led to peasant uprisings. The peasants’ Thanh Hoa province, on the 26th of the 10th anxiety, fear and general attitude towards month in 1677. Trang Quynh was a smart political and social circumstances are child who was born into a peasant family. clearly demonstrated in the Trang Quynh When he was 19 years old (1696), Quynh got the highest score in the official examination at the provincial level but he 6 TiÕn sÜ is the highest level of education. It was subsequently unsuccessful though he was an examination to recruit officials or attempted the examination numerous times mandarins to work for the royal court. The in the capital city. However, at the age of examination normally consisted of Classical Chinese literature, Confucianism and poetry and article writing. There were thousands of applicants sitting the exam but only 100 were allowed to pass the test. Between the years 5 1529 and 1787 the test was held 102 times and For more information, see Vejchasartra, only 1,136 applicants were successful. Kanyarat. 1998. Srithanonchai in South-east 7 See Nguyen Duc Hien, Khao Luan and Bien Asia. (ศรีธนญชัยในอุษาคเนย) Bangkok: Soan 2003. Nguyen Quynh Trang Quynh Thammasat University Press. Truyen Trang Quynh. Da Nang: Giao Duc Press. 94 Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 10:48:53PM via free access MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities, Special Issue No. 15, 2008 stories. Due to the protracted period of The oppositional stories tell us a great deal civil war, the decline of the royal court and about the conflict between different the mandarinate system, folk stories classes in society and the peasants’ gained increasing popularity and began to antagonism towards the ruling class. The become widespread among the peasantry. peasants and those from the lower classes can feel a sense of victory when Trang The Trang Quynh series can be seen as the Quynh is able to trick the princes, farmers’ way of channelling their hardship mandarins or even the mother goddess. and antagonism towards the ruling class as The following study will discuss in detail the result of restrictive social rules. The how the stories of Trang Quynh and his narrator of the Trang Quynh story is able opponents play a vital role in provoking freely to characterize the protagonist in the laughter among the audience. way he wants and even to make fun of the ruling class and such figures as mandarins, R.S. Rattray (referring to Phongphan governors and Chinese lords. The farmers Manirat’s book 1986: 100) Ashanti’s could not express their feelings openly in folklore reveals that, in South African their real lives, but in the satirical folk literature, there are many tales and satirical stories they can reveal dissatisfaction with stories concerning doubt and disbelief in the differences between the rich and the the omniscient in the form of gods, poor and between the ruling class and the miracle workers, charms, potent spirits or plight of the ruled. Most of the stories in powerful people. This disbelief sometimes the Trang Quynh series end with loss and appears in the form of dirty jokes. The the embarrassment of the ruling class. audience enjoys listening to these stories. Audiences are very fond of these stories He then proposes that folklore helps because they can feel the sense of justice people to release emotional pressure in throughout. order to alleviate social tension. This idea is supported by Siraporrn Thitathan Na Scope of Study ThaLang (2005: 362), who asserts that folklore can control the norms of The stories of Trang Quynh have been behaviour and provide a social outlet. retold and reprinted many times in These views can be applied in the case of Vietnam. However, the discussion of the Trang Quynh to the extent that these series Trang Quynh stories in this article is based of tales functions as a social outlet. As on the Vietnamese version in NguyÔn demonstrated in the stories of Trang Tr−êng’s collection, TruyÖn c−êi d©n gian Quynh, the main character can mockingly ViÖt Nam Tr¹ng C−êi. (NguyÔn Tr−êng attack any social rules or laws that people 2004). find oppressive. The antagonists in the trickster tales of Trang Quynh can be Trang Quynh’s Antagonists divided into 4 main categories: the mother goddess, the King, the Chinese and local Lords and rich people. At the centre of Trang Quynh’s trickster tales is the juxtaposition of opposites, namely Trang Quynh and his opponents such as religion and belief, royalty especially the Le family, the Trinh lords, Chinese officials and the local authories.