The Vietnamese Folktale of Chú Cuội (The Man in the Moon): Background information when reading Banyan Moon

The Vietnamese Folktale of Chú Cuội (The Man in the Moon)

This article relates to Banyan Moon

In Banyan Moon, author Thao Thai interweaves references to a Vietnamese folktale about a "man in the moon." In the story, a woodcutter called Chú Cuội is walking through the jungle one day when he sees a trio of tiger cubs. He approaches, thinking he might be able to catch one and sell it, then use the money to buy an ox. He manages to grab one of the cubs and begins his trek out of the jungle, when he suddenly hears the ferocious roar of the cubs' mother behind him. Chú Cuội scampers up a tree, dropping the tiger cub in the process. The cub suffers an injury to the head in the fall, and Chú Cuội watches in amazement as the mother tiger removes leaves from a banyan tree, chews them and applies them to the injured cub's head. The treatment is successful; the cub returns to playing with its siblings, apparently healed. The tiger family wanders off and Chú Cuội investigates the banyan tree, removing some of its leaves and placing them in his pocket.

While walking home, Chú Cuội discovers a dead dog in his path and recognizes it as belonging to his friend's son. He repeats the mother tiger's actions, chewing the banyan leaves in his pocket and applying them to the dog's head; it springs to life and runs away. Chú Cuội, believing the tree has magical properties, digs it up from its place in the jungle and replants it near his home.

Weeks later, Chú Cuội sets off for the market. When he arrives, he discovers that the crowds of people he encounters are somber. An old man tells him that people are distressed at the news that a daughter of the owner of much of the land in the area, a lovely young woman, is profoundly ill. Chú Cuội goes to the landowner's castle, hoping to heal the daughter with his banyan leaves. He succeeds, and in return, the landowner offers Chú Cuội riches, land and his daughter's hand in marriage.

The two marry and return to live in Chú Cuội's home. One day, Chú Cuội's wife is planting flowers when she accidentally cuts one of the banyan tree's roots. The tree bellows in pain and begins lifting itself out of the ground, rising up toward the sky. A helpless witness, Chú Cuội grabs at the roots as the tree begins to float away, and it carries him into the sky, all the way up to the moon. This is where Chú Cuội continues to live — the man in the moon.

Writing for Lit Hub, Thao Thai declares that she comes from "a family of adept tale-spinners," and credits the story of Chú Cuội as an influence for Banyan Moon. After reencountering the folktale while working on her novel, she explains:

"I saw the giant banyan tree of the fable, along with those creeping banyan trees that ranged through the Florida wetlands. I understood then that the story I was writing could not be complete without the resonance of this other, more ancient story. It was the tie of heritage I'd been tugging at all along, uniting Vietnam and America with the borderless country of the imagination."

Banyan tree, by Jeremy Bishop via Pexels

Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities

This "beyond the book article" relates to Banyan Moon. It originally ran in August 2023 and has been updated for the June 2024 paperback edition. Go to magazine.