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Those who once lived in Binh Dinh surely know the legend of Lia, a historical figure in Binh Dinh in the 18th century, passed on via oral tradition. The stories of his life will last forever with so-called epic Ve chang Lia with 1,438 verses.
There have been many studies on Lia as well as Ve chang Lia in the past years, but there are not any studies totally discussing his life. The study by Tran Xuan Toan and Dang Thi Bich Ngoc is expected to fill the void.
The study is composed of three parts, including an overview of Ve chang Lia, issues related to content and art of Ve chang Lia, and the image of chang Lia in folklore and literature.
The authors always try to thoroughly analyze the issues in all three parts, basing on theoretical preliminaries and the collection of Ve chang Lia in Binh Dinh.
In the study, the authors describe Lia as a literary image, affirming that Ve chang Lia is a historical work which is partly similar to the legend containing fictional features and this makes the work more attractive.
Lia is a poor man with ugly appearance, but he has invincible strength, helping him become a leader protecting the Truong May base in the fight against the Nguyen dynasty. He is famous for robbing the rich to help the poor.
Binh Dinh-born people are famous for the martial arts spirit and Lia is a symbol of the tradition. That’s the reason why local people have loved reading Ve chang Lia.
Basing on the historical background, the authors explain the value of Ve chang Lia clearly.
Tuong (classical drama) and folk song are two favourite types of arts in Binh Dinh. Ve chang Lia is a kind of folklore which is easily set in melodies of folk song, making its verses easy to remember. Ve chang Lia lasts forever partly because of that.
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