KHO TÀNG TRUYỆN CỔ TÍCH - Trang 2452

People may disagree with or even want to make some modification to the
four types above, however they are by all means adequate. These structural
patterns have been formed through a long and subconscious process of
gradual modification that shows folk artistic thinking war approaching the
humanistic behavioral patterns of the native Vietnamese in times of
antiquity. This also reflects the author’s profound awareness of the organic
links between form and substance and between structures and the system of
values in the folk tradition.
5. Nguyen Dong Chi also made keen comments on the ways characters in
Vietnamese folk stories were labeled and titled. He classified and explained
the social meanings of the role models: the King, deities, father, genius...
(Nguyen Dong Chi: 2486-2488). He also tried to unveil the different layers
of meanings in some folk stories such as My Chau and Trong Thuy, Truong
Chi... "on one layer, the My Chau and Trong Thuy story points toward a
moral lesson on vigilance; the enemy is found right inside one’s heavily
fortified citadel, the enemy is found close by one’s side on retreat, the gains
painstakingly accumulated by the father end up in disaster by the very act
of his own child... However, the second layer of meaning which focus on
the love between My Chau, a Vietnamese princess, and Trong Thuy, a
Chinese prince is of no less importance. The love was depicted as being
innocent and the lovers fell victim to an ambitious conspiracy and ruthless
conqueror. In the end, the aggressor was to be condemned and unselfish
love was to be praised. That reflects a generous folk view on the tragedy.
The story has it that the water from the well where Trong Thuy committed
himself has the magical effect of making pearls (formed by the drops of
blood of My Chau) shine. This is magnificent artistic symbolism which
could not have been created if it had just been inspired by the Confucian
concept of nationhood alone". (Nguyen Dong Chi: 2461-2462).