Ho Xuan Huong

Who is Ho Xuan Huong?

Hồ Xuân Hương is one of Vietnam's most celebrated and daring classical poets, often called the 'Queen of Nôm poetry.' She lived during the late Lê and early Nguyễn periods, and although details of her life are scarce, she is believed to have been well educated and to have endured marginal social positions as a concubine and widow. She wrote almost entirely in chữ Nôm, the demotic Vietnamese script, rather than classical Chinese, producing verse admired for its technical brilliance and its bold, subversive wit. Her poems use vivid double meanings and everyday imagery to satirize hypocritical monks, corrupt officials and the patriarchal constraints placed on women, giving frank voice to female desire and dignity in a conservative Confucian society. Long transmitted and reprinted, her work remains widely studied, and in 2021 UNESCO honored the 250th anniversary of her birth.

Sources: John Balaban, 'Spring Essence: The Poetry of Hồ Xuân Hương' (2000) · UNESCO 2021 anniversary commemoration of Hồ Xuân Hương