The daughters of Au Co

According to ancient legend Vietnam was founded more than 5000 years ago by the Dragon Lac Long who married Fairy Au Co. They had 100 children, Lac Long remained in the lowlands to live with 50 children and Au Co went with her 50 children into the mountains. Thus were the different ethnic groups in Vietnam born. In many versions, there is no mention of children, but of sons instead. Then the big question arises, "What about the daughters?". .

There is certainly much more to say beside them looking so beautiful in the traditional long dress, the Ao Dai.
China has occupied Vietnam from 200 b.c. for more than 1000 years. They ruled with intervals because they were regularly chased away such as by the Two Ladies Trung (Hai Ba Trung) in the year 39. A few years later, the Chinese returned with a reinforced army and Vietnam gained again two heroines since. In each village there is at least one street named after the Trung sisters. Even today there are still many 'heroines': single mothers who work very hard in able to allow their children to study. The children are, as you can read below, therefore incredibly proud of their mother. Rightly so.

Recently the (scientific) translation of the thrilling book "Luc Xi" written by Vu Trong Phung was published. The author, born in 1912, died much too young in 1939 at the age of 26. He suffered from pneumonia (and opium abuse). His father perished from pneumonia as well, seven months after the birth of Vu Trong Phung. His widowed mother had to live in abject poverty. Despite this Vu Trong Phung grew up to become one of the most gifted Vietnamese writers of the 20th century.

Previously his book 'Dumb Luck' (So Do 1936) has been published. Luc Xi has now been published in an annotated translation by Shaun Kingslay Malaney. It's not a book, it's a series of articles Vu Trong Phung decided to write in 1930 for the newspaper "Tuong Laio" (Future). This happened after the Mayor remarked that Ha Noi under the French occupation had 180,000 inhabitants of whom 5,000 worked in prostitution, and they were spreading venereal diseases non stop. Luc Xi was the name of the building where the disease was treated.
Vu Trong Phung questioned whether the "civilization" brought by the French, was a an enrichment for the country. Thirty years later the Americans would achieve the same gigantic explosion of prostitution, but this time in Saigon. Vu Trong Phung wrote more of such kind of social reports and was considered one of the best journalists in this field. He wrote plenty more books, plays and poems. Hopefully more of them will be translated, for example, the short story "Lamb Di". A story about Huyen who, in spite of good family, still steers into prostitution. Vu Trong Phung produces no shelf story on it, but exhibits how many different factors are of influence. This is in Vietnamese literature not an unfamiliar theme. Just think of Kieu, Nguyen Du's story, which also has the same social stratification. .

This is about the sad side of past social life. Meanwhile one has worked hard to improve the position of women in Vietnam. Those who visit Vietnam will be surprised by the vivaciousness and studiousness of the current generation "Daughters of Au Co". As a visitor you will be constantly approached by students who want to practice their English, especially girls. But as nice as they look, they are no wimps. They work hard and want a higher social status ... because they want to take care of their parents in the future. Nothing has changed much.
Though the students will be fine, those who will wander in Ha Noi through the old town will primarily be approached by street vendors. You hear so regularly tourists complain about this. Hopefully they will read the book "Women on the move" , published last year by the Woman's Publishing House Vietnam..

Mostly too little money is earned in the villages so the women flock to the city for the much needed additional income. For some it's only a few hours of travel, they can commute daily. But most of them are weeks or even longer from home. They have a hard life, constantly running the risk of losing their business to the police, while sales is not really profitable. The next time they speak to you, ask about their children. They are so proud of them, because they are the reason to be left home alone for such a long time. They will show you the photos, the photo's they look at when the sale or the weather is disappointing. Please buy a t-shirt or a hat for a too high price. It will feed their offspring for a month. .

One of the students practicing English, I did ask where she came from, she send me this mail:

hi, roby
My village is very far from Ho Chi Minh city. It is located in the Central Highlands region. The equatorial climate is warm all year round, the soil is very fertile and rich in minerals. Ideal for plant cultivation.

As for coffee. In Vietnam, this is one of the main export products and the coffee plant is very suitable for the tropical climate. For farmers and for my family coffee means a fairly stable year income. It is harvested once a year, but there's all kinds of work you should do carefully and at the right time such as pruning, fertilizing and sprinkling. .
Besides coffee there's also a lot of rice grown. At the end of the afternoon, you can walk through the green fields and enjoy the fresh air. Behind the houses you see the mountains. Farmers always have a lot of work, they are always very busy. Because my father died, my mother had to work in the field and raise five children on her own, she has never been remarried, but we were all able to study. Now she is old, but she will never ask help from others. I am studying in Ho Chi Minh and visit my mother soon. Subsequently we go to a family party.
Linh