[1][2][3][4] The original title in Vietnamese is Đoạn Trường Tân Thanh (斷腸新聲, "A New Cry From a Broken Heart"), but it is better known as Truyện Kiều (傳翹, IPA: [t͡ɕwiən˧˨ʔ kiəw˨˩] ⓘ, lit.

In 3,254 verses, written in lục bát ("six–eight") meter, the poem recounts the life, trials and tribulations of Thúy Kiều, a beautiful and talented young woman, who has to sacrifice herself to save her family.

To save her father and younger brother from prison, she sells herself into marriage with a middle-aged man, not knowing that he is a pimp, and is forced into prostitution.

The original, written by Xu Wei under the pseudonym Qīngxīn Cáirén (Chinese: 青心才人 "Pure-Hearted Man of Talent"), was a straightforward romance, but Nguyễn Du chose it to convey the social and political upheavals at the end of the 18th century in Vietnam.

Although the poem is fictional, it reveals a view of sex work in 19th century Vietnam as a kind of performative and affective, not simply sexual, labor.

He rapes Kiều and takes her back to the brothel in Lin-Tzu (modern day Xindian in Shandong), but she refuses to serve any guests and attempts to commit suicide when she is forced to do so.

Upon learning of this, Hoạn burns up with jealousy and secretly tells her henchmen to kidnap and force Kiều to become a slave in her house when Thúc is on the way to visit her.

Once again, Giác Duyên saves her, as she knew about Kiều's fate when she consulted with Tam Hợp, who is believed to be able to see into the future, long ago.

One of these, another bilingual edition called simply Kiều published by Thế Giới Publishers, Hanoi, in 1994, with a verse translation by Michael Counsell[13] (born 1935), is currently the English version most widely available in Vietnam itself, and the English version alone, called Kieu, The Tale of a Beautiful and Talented Girl, by Nguyễn Du, is now available worldwide.

A second verse translation, The Kim Vân Kiều of Nguyễn Du (1765–1820), by Vladislav Zhukov (born 1941), was published by Pandanus books in 2004.

The first person to do the work is Đào Duy Anh, who wrote in his book:[24] "Nguyễn Du preserved the Chinese story without cutting or adding anything.

But the original is redundant, detailed, presented in a simple way, while Nguyễn Du calculated and rearranged [the story] to be more organized and coherent."

Researcher Phạm Đan Quế said: "...Nguyễn Du's story, characters, order of events, morality, philosophy and even details are mostly from the original by Qingxin-caizi.

However Nguyễn Hữu Sơn noted that what Đào and Phạm believed to be "redundant" in Jin Yun Qiao is actually its strong point, as prose requires different storytelling technique from rhymed poetry.

𤾓Trăm𢆥năm𥪞trong𡎝cõi𠊛người些，ta,𤾓 𢆥 𥪞 𡎝 𠊛 些，Trăm năm trong cõi người ta,A hundred years in the realm of humanity,𡨸Chữ才tài𡨸chữ命mệnh窖khéo𱺵là恄ghét𠑬。nhau.𡨸 才 𡨸 命 窖 𱺵 恄 𠑬。Chữ tài chữ mệnh khéo là ghét nhau.Talent and destiny resent each other.𣦰Trải戈qua𠬠một局cuộc𣷭bể𪳫，dâu,𣦰 戈 𠬠 局 𣷭 𪳫，Trải qua một cuộc bể dâu,The sea turning into the mulberry fields,仍Những調điều𪱯trông𧡊thấy𦓡mà𤴬đau疸đớn𢚸。lòng.

[b]仍 調 𪱯 𧡊 𦓡 𤴬 疸 𢚸。Những điều trông thấy mà đau đớn lòng.All of these deeds seen, brings pain to your heart.𡆗Lạ咦gì彼bỉ嗇sắc斯tư豐，phong,𡆗 咦 彼 嗇 斯 豐，Lạ gì bỉ sắc tư phong,It's not strange that we cannot have it both ways,𡗶Trời𩇢xanh悁quen𠑉thói𦟐má紅hồng𢱏đánh慳。ghen.

[c]𡗶 𩇢 悁 𠑉 𦟐 紅 𢱏 慳。Trời xanh quen thói má hồng đánh ghen.Being jealous of the beauty is the blue sky's habit.From Lê Xuân Thuy's Kim Vân Kiều:[27] Within the span of hundred years of human existence, what a bitter struggle is waged between genius and destiny!

Blank verse translation by Huỳnh Sanh Thông (1983):[28] A hundred years—in this life span on earth, talent and destiny are apt to feud.

'Rich in good looks' appears to mean poor luck and tears of woe; which may sound strange, I know, but is not really so, I swear, since Heaven everywhere seems jealous of the fair of face.

English translation by Vladislav Zhukov (2004):[30] Were full five-score the years allotted to born man, How oft his qualities might yield within that span to fate forlorn!

Nay—lack ever proved glut's counterpart, And mindful are the gods on rosy cheeks to dart celestial spite... English translation by Phan Huy MPH (2010): In the hundred-year span of a human life, Talent and fate are always apt to strife.

Heroic couplet translation by Nguyễn Bình (2021):[31] A hundred years alive in Man's demesne, 'Tween Fate and Talent hatred seems to reign.

The Tale of Kieu was the inspiration for the 2007 movie Saigon Eclipse, which moved the storyline into a modern Vietnamese setting with a modern-day immigrant Kiều working in the massage parlor industry in San Francisco's Mission District to support her family back in Vietnam.

At issue was the use of the modern Latin-based Vietnamese alphabet in signage in a film based on a poem written in chữ Nôm and set in Ming China.