So, here we get to the original reason as to why I created this blog in the first place. It wasn’t for reviews or English translations although there will be some of those. After reading plenty of Ancient East Asian mangas, manhuas, manhwas and novels, I was inspired to write some of my own ancient fantasy East Asian fiction. This, of course, counts watching all those Chinese Wuxia dramas since childhood thanks to my parents.
Hamster has allowed me to co-administer with her on her blog so you will see my work and translations here.
This new novel of mine is called “Half-Way Around the Moon” inspired by a song called “Nửa Vầng Trăng.”
This novel is a bit different than your usual Chinese novels as the female protagonists are Vietnamese. At first, I was very skeptical and hesitant about this because of the current turbulent relationship between China and Vietnam as well as the fact that the female protagonists are not Chinese might turn some readers away.
At first, any ideas I had in my mind was supposed to well…stay in my mind alone.
But China and Vietnam had a long history together with China having invaded Vietnam for 1,000 years. Both countries fought a lot with each other and it resulted in Vietnam adopting a lot of Chinese culture. No other country has influenced Vietnam like China has. I’m sure some of you have noticed that there is always a Viet Ebook for every Chinese novel on Shushengbar and more lol. There was just so much to write about and be inspired by that I just had to share my stories to this community.
Because of actual history and reality, there will be some politics in this fiction. But some readers might be sensitive to this so I will try to reduce as much politics as much as possible and add more romance and fantasy elements to it to make it an enjoyable journey for you all.
This novel has two stories within it, similar to Tang7’s “Hua Xu Yin.”
The first story is actually a real story that happened in real life. It is the story of Prince Zhong Shi (Vietnamese name is Trong Thuy) and Princess My Chau. For those of you who know of these two, you know that they lead tragic lives with equally tragic and horrifying endings. Ah~fate.
I will expand the story a bit more so I cannot claim all the credit.
Characters
Man: The male narrator
Woman: The female narrator
From these two, we learn about the other two stories.
Zhao Shi
The Prince of Nanyue (present day Guangzhou and Xingu China) son of the Founder Zhao Tuo.
Age: 21 when he first met My Chau, 28 during present story
Gender: Male
My Chau
She is the daughter of King An Duong Vuong who was forced into an arranged marriage with Zhao Shi for the sake of ‘peace’ between Au Lac (now known as Vietnam) and Nanyue.
Age: 18 when she first met Zhong Shi, 25 during present story
Gender: Female
Zhao Tuo
Founder of the Nanyue Kingdom and the father of Zhao Shi; He and his son betrays King An Duong Vuong and My Chau in the end.
An Duong Vuong
Father of My Chau and King of Vietnam. (Sorry, I couldn’t find a less embarrassing picture ><.)
The second part of the story deals with a female Vietnamese assassin who is motivated to kill the supreme emperor for what he did to her family:
Guozhi
He is the supreme emperor of China. He ordered a part of his army to massacre and burn Ha Diep’s hometown of Hue because their people incited a rebellion against his rule.
Age: 27 when he first met Ha Diep
Gender: Male
Ha Diep
Guozhi’s orders ended with the death of her parents and the dishonor of her older sister, Trung Trac. Ha Diep wants revenge and does so by attempting to become the emperor’s concubine.
Age: 21 when she first met Guozhi
Gender: Female
Biyu
Biyu is the emperor’s concubine during Spring and Autumn.
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Lijuan
Lijuan is the emperor’s concubine during Summer and Winter.
Age: 22
Gender: Female
found your website and the outline of your novel sounds very interesting. Good luck. I will check back.
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Great, thanks!
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Sounds awesome! I’m vietnamese so it’ll be fun to have Vietnam and part of its culture as a backdrop for your story. Also, will your story have a sad or happy ending?
Good luck and i’ll be sure to check your updates!
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Oh hey, another Viet! I was waiting for one of us to comment lol. ^^
Hmmm, answering that would probably spoil, but I will tell you this. This novel is not for the faint-hearted. After all, the bloody history between the two countries wasn’t pretty.
Thanks!
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Interesting! Will be watching out for you! And maybe I’ll be inspired to write my own story too.
Jia you!
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Great! Good luck with your own writing as well. 🙂
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I really excited of your fiction.
When I commenting here, I haven’t read the chapters but only by the introduction, it has already give me goose bump.
I like things with historical stuffs, so I fine whether Vietnam, Chinese or whatever.
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Oh great! I currently have two chapters out and I hope to give you the goosebumps you anticipated and I hope I don’t disappoint. ^^
Are you Viet? 🙂
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I am not Viet.
Heading to read the chapters 🙂
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It’ll be definitely interesting seeing Vietnamese names – my brain automatically viet-ifies all the names the minute I saw “My Chau” 😀 I can’t wait to get started and see some of the familiar historical names (Hung Vung) get thrown around. This is going to be awesome!!!! P.S Will we see the two sisters in this, riding to war on elephants? 😀 ^^ P.S.S I like Nhu Quyhn’s version of the song better, you?
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Nhu Quynh’s version of the song is definitely the best in my opinion! So glad you know of it!
And yep, you will see the two sisters in the Part 2 story, but only briefly. xD
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