Young people beautify the Vietnamese language through brushstrokes.

The Vietnamese language is rich and beautiful. It becomes even more accessible and beautiful through the creativity of young people in various ways, this time using brushstrokes.

From left to right: Nguyen Thuy Dung, Vo Nam Du, and Thai Quyen - Photo: Provided by the interviewee.

"Although young people today use social media a lot, that doesn't mean they don't care about the vocabulary of their ancestors. If we just point out the good and beautiful aspects that are easy to understand and appreciate, I believe readers will welcome it," - Nguyen Thuy Dung

Rediscovering the profound and beautiful values ​​hidden within our mother tongue, expressing them through each painting with all our passion. It couldn't be anything other than "I love my language, from the moment I was born...".

Include The Tale of Kieu in the message card.

Vo Nam Du explained that the idea of ​​selecting verses from the Tale of Kieu and then designing and illustrating them into a set of Tarot cards inspired by the Tale of Kieu came about after readers saw the article "Tarot Philosophy and the Tale of Kieu: From Innocence to Ego" by researcher Nhat Chieu. Du said it was a rather interesting, unique, and relatable approach for young people.

From the 22 flashcards compiled by teacher Nhat Chieu, Du and his friends developed them into 78 cards corresponding to the scenes in the work. An interesting discovery was that while working on this, Nam Du realized that he only knew, but didn't truly understand, the Tale of Kieu. This is because Nguyen Du's use of Vietnamese in the 18th century was very different from today, not to mention his extensive use of allusions and historical references in his writing.

The Tale of Kieu message cards, created by young people, are featured in the book "The Tale of Kieu & Tarot" - Photo: Provided by the contributor.

During the project, my friend not only read but also studied the work in greater depth, meticulously searching for related materials, and asking Professor Nhat Chieu for explanations on anything unclear. He did this continuously for six months, plus two months studying Tarot, before Du felt confident enough to proceed with the next steps.

In terms of graphics, artist Tú Ngô skillfully combined modern elements and applied details of Nguyễn Dynasty art when creating the 78 paintings. "It took me nearly two years to find materials and redraw the paintings many times. Now, seeing the results being well-received by everyone, all the fatigue disappears," Tú Ngô smiled.

The message card from the Tale of Kieu in the book *Tale of Kieu & Tarot* - Photo: Provided by the author

They have just released the book *Truyện Kiều & Tarot*, along with suggestions for reading the cards and contemplating this famous work from various perspectives. The group has also launched an ebook format so that everyone can read it anywhere.

Picture book "classical beauty"

"I often read ancient poetry and literature and discovered many poetic and romantic words that are rarely used today, sometimes even difficult for many people to understand, especially young people. I introduced these words on the 'Writing Every Day' fan page and website. When people accepted and supported it, my friends and I decided to turn the online photo album of 'ancient beautiful words' into a book," Nguyen Thuy Dung shared the idea behind the project.

One of the words presented by Nguyen Thuy Dung and her colleagues in the illustrated book "Ancient Beautiful Words" - Photo: Provided by the author

"Cổ mỹ từ" refers to words with an archaic quality, beautiful meanings, and pleasant sounds when spoken, but which are rarely used today. The 58 words in this book were selected by young people from various ancient Vietnamese literary works.

For example, "duật vân" (three-colored clouds, symbolizing good fortune) in Phan Huy Ích's poem "Tây trình lữ muộn ," "thiên chương" (brilliant, beautiful things like the moon and stars in the sky) in Đặng Trần Côn 's " Chinh phụ ngâm khúc ," "yên cảnh" (beautiful scenery with clouds and mist, a secluded scene) in Nguyễn Văn Siêu's poem "Sơn Thủy độ"...

To create the illustrations, the team researched their target audience to select images and design styles that would provide the smoothest and most pleasant reading experience. "The team doesn't dare hope to revive an ancient literary tradition, but hopes to bring readers a little joy in appreciating the expressive nuances of Vietnamese language," shared Thanh Quynh, head of the project's art team.

You created the characters of the older sister and the wagtail to connect words describing natural scenery with words describing emotions and life. This is also an interesting aspect as these two characters guide the reader throughout the book.

Each painting clearly illustrates the literal and figurative meanings of words through images of contemporary life, creating a contrast with ancient poetry and bridging the gap between the reader and the content.

A painting by young artist Thai Quyen for the poem "Moonlight on Dong Ho Lake" (Lam Tan Phac) - Photo: Provided by the artist.

Vietnamese literature through paintings

Recognizing that painting can also be a way to convey literary works to readers, Kim Dong Publishing House has selected a number of literary and poetic excerpts from textbooks that have been familiar to generations of students to begin this project.

"Silent Sa Pa" (Nguyen Thanh Long), " Viet Bac" (To Huu), "Fishing Boat Fleet" (Huy Can), "Natural Scenery of Nghe An" (Dang Thai Mai), "Thousand-Year-Old Khuong My Tower " (Lam Linh), "Tamarind Trees of Saigon " (Binh Nguyen Loc)... have been "commissioned" to transform words into paintings.

The book project "Regions That Leave Their Mark - Vietnamese Scenes in Literature" brings together 30 artists of various ages and styles.

Thai Quyen, one of the young artists participating in the project, shared that she loves poetry and enjoys illustrating poems, so she was very happy to be invited to participate. Quyen was commissioned to illustrate excerpts from two poems: "Homeland" (by Te Hanh) and "Moonlight on Dong Ho Lake " (by Lam Tan Phac).

Being from the coastal region of Central Vietnam, Quyen said she felt very homesick when reading the evocative and beautiful verses of the poet Te Hanh. Regarding the poem " Moonlight on Dong Ho Lake ," she was most impressed by the line "The lake's tranquility is enhanced by the moon's presence" (the lake's beauty is further enhanced by the moon), which is both romantic and stunning.

"From that overflowing emotion, I used colored pencils to draw pictures depicting a vast sky with the moon hanging in the sky, and boats drifting on the undulating waves," Quyen said.

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