“The kindest ones are like water. The goodness of water benefits myriad things without the need for struggle. It dwells where others hate; thus, it is like the Way.”
—Laozi
“Only when the ship capsizes, would one realize the people are the water.”
—Nguyễn Trãi
“Be water! We are formless. We are shapeless. We can flow. We can crash. We are like water. We are HONGKONGERS!”
—A Hong Kong Protester during the 2019 Democracy Revolution
Lưu Thuỷ Đoản (The Short Piece of Flowing Water) is originally one of the repertoires of Nhã Nhạc Huế (Huế Royal Court Music from Central Vietnam). Over time, as the Central musicians migrated south, they brought along their chamber tradition while adopting the Southern styles. They then developed a new chamber genre of the South, Đờn ca tài tử (Music of the Gifted Ones). I used this classic tune from my country to create a string quartet that reflects the different forms of water—raindrops, small streams, forceful and crashing tides, and a still and mirror-like lake. My fantasia reflects upon ancient Eastern wisdom and the political movements toward freedom in the era that I live.
Recorded by the Craft Ensemble at the Women Composers Virtual Festival of Hartford, March 19–20, 2021.
Shawn Earthman (Violin I), CJ Goodyear (Violin II), Saikat Karmakar (Viola), and Suyeon Kim (Cello)
Recorded by the Craft Ensemble at the Women Composers Virtual Festival of Hartford, March 19–20, 2021.
The painting in the video was made by my brother, Nam Duy Nguyen. I feel a strong connection between this piece and my brother’s artwork, so I put the painting on the screen of this music video. My brother finished this painting in 2018, when we went back to Vietnam for the summer vacation. Below is my translation of the painting’s texts at the bottom right corner:
覆舟始信民猶水 (Only when the ship capsizes would one realize the people are the water)
恃險難憑命在天 (One could not rely on craftiness to elude the heavenly fate)
阮廌關海 (Nguyễn Trãi, “Close the Ocean”)
戊戍年仲夏於西貢南波敬書 (Mid-summer, the year of the Dog Wu Shu (2018), Saigon, Nam Ba)
According to Nam Ba, the faceless, nameless people, wearing the conical leaf hats and joining different professions in society, could unite and become an enormous tide, capsizing the ship that is riding them. This tide is symbolized by a mighty dragon who destroys the ship of injustice and punishes the “pigs” and “rats” falling out of that ship. The dragon’s head resembles the dragons from the Ly Dynasty (1009–1225). Its body projects upward like a tsunami. Its spine is formed by the people’s conical leaf hats, and its tail is a lotus flower.