Vietnam Women's Publishing House has just launched a new publication "Luc xi - Night of the Perfume River - Xom Ra", a collection of three typical reports written about prostitution in Hanoi, Hue and Saigon in the first half of the 20th century.
In the early years of the 20th century, prostitution was once a burning issue in Vietnamese urban life. In contemporary newspapers such as Phu Nu Tan Van, Cong Luan..., many investigative articles directly reflected this reality.
In that flow, three typical feature films including "Luc Xi" (Vu Trong Phung), "Night on the Perfume River" (Tam Lang) and "Xom Ra" (Ngoc Giao) were born, leaving a strong mark in Vietnamese realistic literature.
Luc Xi" (1937) by Vu Trong Phung is considered one of the typical investigative reports. The work records the author's infiltration into a flower healing facility for prostitutes during the French colonial period - a place folk call "Luc Xi house".
From a direct perspective, the writer reflects the social reality through remarkable figures such as thousands of women engaged in prostitution in Hanoi, while the specialized management force is still very limited. Through this, the work not only reflects a social evil but also shows the inadequacies in the urban management mechanism in the colonial era.
Night on the Perfume River" by Tam Lang (Vu Dinh Chi), published in 1938, is the result of a field investigation in Hue. The work depicts a prostitution space that is both public and private, where the boundary between day and night life is blurred.
Notably, not only poor women were pushed into difficult circumstances, but also those from well-off backgrounds, with dignified appearances but participating in "secret jobs" when night fell. Through this, Tam Lang showed a complex, multi-layered reality in Hue's urban life at that time.
Ngoc Giao's "Xom Ra", completed in 1957, recreates a prostitution area in Saigon with a chaotic atmosphere, where many different social classes gather.
The work builds many characters such as Lien, Nhan, Na Muoi..., each person with their own destiny, caught up in the vortex of poverty, prejudice and harsh living environment. In that space, the author also reflects the contradictions of society when places considered "dark" always have needs from the powerful and statused classes themselves.
Although written in different contexts, the three works have in common that they reflect the reality of prostitution not only as a social phenomenon, but also as a consequence of many historical, economic and cultural factors. With a direct approach, the authors have contributed to recording a true slice of urban life in Vietnam in the first half of the 20th century.
Luc xi - Perfume River Night - Xom Ra" therefore not only has unique literary and journalistic value, but is also an important source of materials to help better understand the picture of Vietnamese society in the first half of the 20th century.
