[BOOK ILLUSTRATION] STORY OF A WOMAN IN NAM XUONG

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THE STORY OF A WOMAN IN NAM XUONG

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Chuyện người con gái Nam Xương (The Story of a Woman in Nam Xuong) is the sixteenth story of Nguyễn Dữ's Truyền kỳ mạn lục (Casual Records of Transmitted Strange Tales) collection, published in the fourth volume. The work is based on a folk tale about the injustice faced by a young woman during the late Trần dynasty.

The tale reflects on the power imbalance between men and women in the patriarchal society of ancient Vietnam. The main character, Vũ Nương, is a kind and modest wife of Trương Sinh. When her husband joined the army, Vũ Nương playfully pointed at her own shadow on the wall and told her son that it was his father. This innocent jest with her child later caused Trương Sinh to accuse his wife of infidelity. He then treated her so cruelly, driving her to seek death on the banks of the Hoàng Giang river.