Topic Research
For my storybook topic, I decided to choose Vietnamese legends and rewrite the legends in the villain's perspective.
I'm researching legends via wikipedia.
I'm interested in the Four Immortals. The four immortals consist of the god of Ba Vì mountain range, the boy on the iron horse, a sage, and a princess. Each of these immortals' stories involve them helping a historical national figure.
1. The God of Ba Vì mountain range - Tản Viên Sơn Thánh
- This mountain god is also in a famous Vietnamese myth with the water god: The Mountain God vs. Lord of the Waters
- This story is about why Vietnam receives floods every year. Hùng Vương was the 18th king of the Hồng Bàng Dynasty. He had a daughter named Mỵ Nương. The king wanted his daughter to marry an intelligent, handsome, and talented man. So he decided to hold a contest to find this man. Sơn Tinh, the mountain god and Thủy Tinh, the lord of the waters were the final competitors. The king found it very hard to choose between them. So he decided to hold one last contest with just them two. Whoever was the first one to bring back the selected gifts would win his daughter's hand in marriage. The gifts were a nine-tusk elephant, a nine-spur cockerel, and a nine-mane horse.
- Sơn Tinh was the first one to bring back the gifts so he won and married Mỵ Nương. When Thủy Tinh came back and discovered that he had lost he became angry. He and his servants went to go find Sơn Tinh to defeat him. Thủy Tinh wreaked havoc by causing torrential rains, thunder, lightning, and gusty winds. Sơn Tinh countered this by raising the mountains higher. Eventually Thủy Tinh grew weak and tired so he stopped. However, he never gave up on his grudge. So every year, he wreaks havoc by causing floods and destroying crops and people's homes. Sơn Tinh does his best to counter this by creating dikes to protect people and their homes.
- VILLAIN: Thủy Tinh > Lord of the Waters
2. Thánh Gióng- the boy on the iron horse
- There are many versions of this story. Each of them share a general plot. There was an enemy (not really specified who) and the kind needed someone talented to defeat him. When Thánh Gióng (only three years old) heard this news he knew he was the one who could defeat the enemy. He joined the army and asked the king for a horse and sword and succeeded in destroying the enemy. Then, peace was restored and he flew away.
- VILLAIN: in one version, the villain is the king of Ân. In this version, the king of Ân is punishing king Hung for not paying tribute. King Hung then tries to find someone to defeat King An. That is when Thanh Giong, the little boy of three years old comes in and defeats An. In this version, Thanh Giong grows and becomes strong to defeat King An.
3. Chử Đồng Tử
- In this story, Chử Đồng Tử is very poor. He and his father only own one loincloth. When his father died, he was too embarrassed to go out in public to bury him naked. So, he had to sneak around and hid in the marsh where few people barely came by. While he was in his hiding place he spotted Princess Tiên Dung in the marsh taking a bath. Her servants were with her covering her with curtains, of course. When Princess Tiên Dung found out that someone discovered her she thought it was fate. So, the princess and the poor boy married. The kind was furious with his daughter for marrying a commoner so he disowned her. The Princess and Chử Đồng Tử were forced to live life as wanderers. One day Chử Đồng Tử came across a sage. This sage taught Chử Đồng Tử many things. The sage became Chử Đồng Tử's master. THe sage gave him a stick and a hat. One rainy day, Chử Đồng Tử used the stick and hat to protect his wife from the rain. To their surprise the hat and stick transformed into a beautiful palace with servants.
- The King thought his daughter was rebelling against him as many people came to pledge their allegiance to the princess and her husband. So, he sent out soldiers to fight them. Chử Đồng Tử and the princess refused to fight. Their palace and its servants ascended into heaven.
- VILLAIN: the king?
- This story starts off with Liễu Hạnh, the thirteenth daughter of the jade emperor. She was the troublemaker of the family. One day, a man fell unconscious during while his wife was about to give birth. While he was unconscious, he witnessed Liễu Hạnh dropping her father's favorite jade cup and being banned from heaven. She was then forced to descend into heaven. Then, the man returned conscious and named his newborn daughter Liễu Hạnh. Liễu Hạnh lived for 23 years and then died and ascended into heaven and was given the name Princess Liễu Hạnh. She was permitted to return to earth on the second anniversary of her death. While she was on earth, she would disguise herself as an old woman and punish people who treated her poorly and reward people who treated her nicely. People feared her so they built a temple to stay on her good side. Once, the Canh Tri government heard that she was an evil spirit so they detroyed her temple. The animals around started dying mysteriously as a result. So the government built her a new temple and the killings stopped.
- VILLAIN: maybe the villain is the princess herself? Maybe she actually was an evil spirit. Should I write all the immortals in an evil light?
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