by: Uất Kim Hương
As I read Memoirs of a Geisha I cannot help but notice that there are many similarities between Memoirs of a Geisha and the Tale of Kieu. It is surprising that the Tale of Kieu, a lyrical fiction written around 1807 by Nguyễn Du, one of the greatest Vietnamese poets, shares common ideas with Memoirs of a Geisha, a true story written by Arthur Golden who tape-recorded the story told by Sayuri who was born around 1920 and became one of several famous geisha during the years from 1936.
1. Both stories reflect a concept that life is governed by destiny. This concept is more obvious in Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kieu) than in Memoirs (of a Geisha). This opinion may very well be a bias, partly because I read Truyện Kiều many more times than the Memoirs.
Through out Truyện Kiều there are plenty of verses that mentioned fate. Prominently are the following stanza:
Ðã mang lấy nghiệp vào thân
Cũng ðừng trách lẫn trời gần trời xa.
Those stanza was translated by Huỳnh Sanh Thông as:
Our Karma we must carry as our lot –
Let stop decrying Heaven’s whims and quirks
Early in The Memoirs, the book said that the turn of Sayuri’s life (she was Chiyo then) began on a fateful day when she fell and caught the eyes of Mr. Tanaka, the weathiest business man in her village.
“…The truth is that the afternoon when I met Mr. Tanaka Ichiro really was the best and the worst of my life. He seemed so fascinating to me, even the fish smell on his hands was a kind of perfume. If I had never known him, I’m sure I would not have become a geisha.”
To be continued…
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Other similarity between The Tale of Kieu and the Memoirs is that Thúy Kiều and Sayuri are very beautiful and talented. They both share the same fate that because of their beauty they are subjected into the business to entertain men.
Nguyễn Du in The Tale of Kieu brought up a belief of Vietnamese that beautiful women more often are suffered poor fate as if that is a cost to pay for beauty. Thúy Kiều’s beauty was described as:
Làn thu thủy nét xuân son
Hoa ghen thua thắm liễu hờn kém xanh
Một hai nghiêng nước nghiêng thành
Sắc ðành ðòi một tài ðành họa hai
*Her eyes were autumn streams, her brows spring hills
Flowers grudged her glamour, willows her fresh hue
A glance or two from her, and kingdom rocked
Supreme in looks, she had few peers in gifts
Sayuri’s best features are her gray eyes and perfect oval face. Mr. Tanaka asked Chiyo, later became Sayuri, “But what I really want to know is how you came to have such extraordinary eyes?” and “How did a wrinkle old man with an egg for a head father a beautiful girl like you?” Mind you, she was only 9-year-old when Tanaka, the wealthiest business man in this seashore village, who plotted to sell her to Geisha broker spoke to her. She said she almost believed him.
Sayuri, upon Mahema's encouragement and challenge, tested the charm of her gray eyes by giving a seductive glance to a food delivery boy on the street. As if his soul was captured by Sayuri, he turned his head gazing at her, then stumbled at the curb, and sent everything on his tray scattering all over the ground.
Thúy Kiều played musical instruments such as lute and zither. The sound from the lute and zither played by her was described as:
Trong như tiếng hạc bay qua.
Ðục như tiếng suối mới sa nửa vời.
*Clear notes like cries of egrets flying past;
Dark tones like torrents tumbling in mid-course
Sayuri’s talent was that she was able to express sadness through her dance.
“Instead of laying myself down on the tatami mats and crying, I move my arm in a sort of sweeping movement across my chest. I don’t know why I did it; it was a move from a dance we’d studied that morning , which seemed to me very sad… As I watched my arm sweep through the air, the smoothness of its movement seems to express these feeling of sadness and desires…”
It is ironical that without this beauty and talent, these two ladies might have escaped their fate that they would become sexual objects of men.
There are a few more similarities between the two stories such as they both tried to run away from the houses but both were captured. Both were loved and protected by a man they did not care for and both to some level let down these men as Thúy Kiều did to Từ Hải and Sayuri to Nobu.
Well the post is getting too long to keep reader’s interest. So, I say good night to every one now.
*Translated by Huỳnh Sanh Thông
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Edit:
Below is Uatkimhuong's opinion. She brought up an interesting point: the difference between Kiều's life and Sayuri's life. Read on and let me know your opinion. Maybe we can have more entries on the difference between the two tales.
I want to wait until I read all parts to gain better understanding (I have not read the Memoris of a Geisha yet, just read the summary of the story ), but I can’t wait.
Yes, I agree that Kieu and Sayuri share many similarities if we talk about their beauties and talents, however Kieu’s life was more ruthless as it was described in the story. It was ruthless because she was growing up in a descent noble family. After selling herself to save her father and brother, she thought her life was ended. She was talented and educated but she did not get it from the kind of training to survive in such “business”. She was beautiful, but Nguyen Du did not say she was using it to allure men. She was forced to serve men or else, losing her life. It was shameful and hurtful for a girl like Kieu; her life was humiliated and trampled on. For Kieu, it was unacceptable, she later tried to drown herself to stop the painful life. Sayuri, on the other hand, was also forced to be a geisha. She did not have a choice. However, she was trained to be one. She mastered all the artistic and social skills to be the best geisha in her ‘society’. Then later, she stepped into a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue.
Perhaps, Sayuri could gain more power to protect herself compared to Kieu, who absolutely could not protect her own being. To Kieu, her life ended at the time she sold herself, while Sayuri’s life started at the time she was rescued by Mameha. The two girls came from different backgrounds, might had felt about their life differently. Even though their lives as described, are looking similar; it is not necessary true.
To be continued with the discussion...
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Thuy Kieu versus Sayuri - The Men They Loved
THÚY KIỀU (The Tale of Kieu) - The Man She Loved
Before catastrophe resulting to Kiều selling herself to rescue her father and her kid brother, she was in love with Kim Trọng. Nguyễn Du described Kim Trọng as:
Họ Kim tên Trọng vốn nhà trâm anh
Nền phú hậu bậc tài danh
Văn chương nết ðất thông minh tính trời
Phong tý tài mạo tuyệt vời
Vào trong phong nhã ra ngoài hào hoa
Kim Trọng, a scion of the noblest stock.
Born into wealth and talent, he’d received
his wit from heaven, a scholar's trade from men
Manner and mien set him above the crowd:
he studied books indoors, lived high abroad.
At the tender age of sixteen she promised him that she would marry him. He gave her several gold bracelets and a red handkerchief as a token of their love. Through the next 15 painful years she was held twice in brothels. She tried to escape and was captured, resold, forced into prostitution, beaten, and humiliated. During years of despair Kiều always loved Kim Trọng and hoped to marry him. Her love for him was described as:
Nợ tình chưa trả cho ai
Khối tình thác xuống tuyền ðài chưa tan
Till I’ve paid off my debt of love to him
my heart will stay a crystal down below
and
Tiếc thay chút nghĩa cũ càng
dẫu lìa ngỏ y’ còn vương tơ lòng
Oh how she pinned and mourned her old love
cut from her mind, it clung on to her heart
SAYURI (Memoirs of a Geisha) - The man she loved
After she broke her arm in a failed attemtp to run away, Sayuri was not considered eligible to be trained as a geisha anymore. Her status from a potential to be geisha was reduced to a maid. She was whipped and her food ration was reduced. Everyday, she was scolded and put down by Hatsumomo who never gave up a chance to make Sayuri’s life miserable. One fateful day she stood by the bank of Gamo river crying in desperation and The Chairman of a large corporation passed by. He took time to comfort her a young girl about 14 years old. He gave her money to buy some sweet treat and a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. From that moment Sayuri idolized The Chairman. I wonder whether she was grateful for his kindness or she really fell in love with his tenderness, his scent, and his look. The handkerchief and the coins he gave, she kept for many years. At night she pressed the handkerchief to her face and thought of him as his scent lingered in the handkerchief. Following is an excerpt from the book Memoirs of a Geisha to describe the first meeting of the Chairman and Sayuri.
“… I’ll be happy to try to describe him for you, but I can think of only one way to do it – by telling you about a certain tree that stood at the edge of the sea cliffs in Yoroido. This tree was as smooth as driftwood because of the wind, and when I was a little girl of four or five I found a man's face on it one day. That is to say, I found a smooth patch as broad as a plate, with two sharp bumps at the outside edge for cheekbones. They cast shadows suggesting eye sockets, and beneath the shadows rose a gentle bump of a nose . . . .
The man who’d addressed me there on the street had this same kind of broad, calm face. And what was more, his features were so smooth and serene, I had the feeling he’d go on standing there calmly until I wasn’t unhappy any longer. He was probably about forty-five years old, with gray hair combed straightback from his forehead. But I couldn’t look at him for long. He seemed so elegant to me that I blushed and looked away.”
All English translation of The Tale of Kiều is the work of and excerpted from the same book by Huynh Sanh Thong.
Next part will be The men who loved them.
The man who loved Thúy Kiều - The Tale of Kieu
When she was in the pleasure house, Từ Hải, who loved her because of her beauty and talents, paid owner of the pleasure house the whole amount that Kiều was cost to liberate Thúy Kiều and married her. Từ Hải, as described in The Tale of Kieu, was rugged good looking, large shoulder and very tall, being blessed with appearance of a warrior.
Râu hùm hàm én mày ngài
Vai năm tấc rộng, thân mười thước cao
đường đường một ðấng anh hào
côn quyền hõn sức lược thao gồm tài
A tiger’s beard, a swallow’s jaw, and brows
as thick as silkworms – he stood broad and tall
Từ Hải was a great warlord fighting the current regime. The current King was trying to conquer him many times to no avail. His force was so formidable that he was able to draw borderline to a large land in which he bowed to no one. He loved Kiều and valued her intelligence so much that he allowed Kiều to join his top meeting and consulted her in all important matters.
The man who loved Sayuri – Memoirs of a Geisha
Through The Chairman, Sayuri was introduced to Nobu, a talented business man who saved The Chairman’s corporation financial down fall. Perhaps once he was a good looking man, Nobu was disfigured and lost one arm in a bombing. Opposite to Chairman’s gentle demeanor, Nobu was direct and blunt. All geisha avoided Nobu including the nasty Hatsumomo “for Nobu was a man who could hurl his words like stones.” It was Sayuri’s mission to lure Nobu to become her danna or sponsor. To gain Nobu’s attention, Sayuri learned as much as she could about sumo wrestling which was Nobu’s favorite hobby. Because of his disfigure, it is very difficult for people to look at his face while talking to him. Sayuri trained herself to look at lower part of his face and thinking about the Chairman with all the passionate loving thought. Soon Nobu fell in love with Sayuri. Not only that he gave her a lot of expensive gifts, he was the only one who thought about her safety during the war between Japan and China. He brought her to live with his friend until the war over. Although he was difficult to others, he was particularly gentle to Sayuri
“Sayuri,” he said to me, “I don’t know when we will see each other again or what the world will be like when we do. We may both have seen many horrible things. But I will think of you every time I need to be reminded that there is beauty and goodness in the world.”
Betrayal or not?
Thúy Kiều - The Tale of Kieu
Knowing Kiều had an impact in Từ Hải’s decision making, an official of the King paid her a secret visit. He promised Kieu that if she could convince Từ Hải to surrender, the King would bestow Từ Hải to be a high rank officer of the royal court. Kiều wanted to go home to see her family again. She also thought that she would be able to bring honor to her parents if she would become the lady of an official of the royal court. Therefore, she convinced Từ Hải to surrender. However, his enemy deceived him. The King’s official took advantage when Từ Hải ordered his men to put down their weapons as they negotiated for peace, the King’s men surrounded Từ Hải and killed him.
Although Kiều unwittingly brought Từ Hải to death, I do not think that she meant to deceive him or to betray him. Từ Hải being a warrior should not have allowed Kiều to distract him, or neglected his defense, or trusted his enemies.
Sayuri - Memoirs of a Geisha
Sayuri on the other hand, actively made Nobu believed that she loved him although she could not even bear the thought of being with him. Her deception started since the first day they met.
Nobu fell in love with Sayuri, not just because of her beauty (there were always other beautiful geisha in Gion), or her talents. I think he loved her because besides being a beauty with talents she was more intelligent than other geisha. Most prominently he fell in love with her because she was the only beautiful talented intelligent geisha who paid attention to him without being chased away by his deformed appearance.
Unable to bear the thought that she would be committed into a relationship with Nobu as he was going to become her danna, that meant she would not be able to spend time with The Chairman anymore, Sayuri deliberately destroyed his plan for the relationship by her sexually engaging with another man, the Minister, who was Nobu rival. To make sure her scheme work she arranged Pumpkin, another Geisha, to bring Nobu in while she had sex with the Minister. Pumpkin being jealous with Sayuri did not bring in Nobu but brought the Chairman in. Although being twisted, her scheme worked because the Chairman realized that Sayuri loved him and he admitted his love to her but did not want to take her away from Nobu because he valued Nobu not only as a great assistant but also like a son.
Question:
1. Kieu unwittingly brought Từ Hải to his death. Was it an act of betrayal?
I think that wasn't an act of betrayal!
Trách chi cái phận má hồng
Khi người quân tử lấy chông đâm người!
Thôi đành than thở với trời
Trời than,
"Tao còn bị gạt! Huống chi là mày!"
2. Sayuri did not love Nobu but led him to believe that she did. Did she betray him?
Not familiar enough to judge her!
