Chèo Theatrical Art – The Wrongful of Thị Kính

“The Wrongful of Thị Kính” or “The tale of Lady Thị Kính” is a model of Chèo Theatrical Art in plot and “life bits.” It is also good example of the secularization of Buddhist tales.

What is the origin of expression 

“The Wrongful of Thị Kính”?

The expression comes from the Chèo play Thị Kính, the Goddess of Mercy (Quan Âm Thị Kính). 

Thị Kính and her husband – Thiện Sĩ are a well-matched and happy couple. One night, the husband falls into a deep sleep after hours of studying. As Thị Kính fans him, she discovers an ingrown facial hair, which is considered an ill omen. Since she does not want to awaken him, she quietly takes a knife to his neck to remove the ingrown hair.

Thiện Sĩ awakens suddenly to a knife at his throat. Terrified, he shouts to his parents, who come running; they accuse Thị Kính of attempted murder. She is banished from her in-law’s house. Grieving, she disguises herself as a man and becomes a “monk” with the religious name of Kính Tâm at Vân Tự Pagoda.

A girl named Thị Mầu, the daughter of a rich family, lives near the pagoda. She mistakenly believes that the new monk is a man, falls in love with “him,” and visits the pagoda often to catch a glimpse of “him.” She flirts shamelessly with the monk, but “he” does not respond to her over tunes. Disappointed by the monk’s rejection, Thị Mầu returns home to seduce her house servant, Nô. He becomes pregnant.

Village custom requires that unmarried pregnant girls be punished. Thị Mầu accused Kính Tâm of being the father. On the basic of these accusations, the superior monk derives Kính Tâm out the front gate of pagoda. After Mầu delivers, she abandons the baby at pagoda gate. Kính Tâm is compassionate and takes up the newborn to beg for milk from nursing mothers. The baby survives and grows to adulthood. One autumn evening, Kính Tâm dies, and the truth of her gender is revealed. Everyone discovers that the charges against het are unjust.