The Turtle and the Dragon

HANOI – We were in a taxi, en route to no place important, when we noticed the crowd gathering on the edge of Hoan Kiem Lake. I had a hunch about what might be attracting so much attention.

“Pull over”, I told the cabbie. My wife said the same in Vietnamese.

We bounded out with our three kids and joined the throng. My older son maneuvered to the water’s edge.

“There he is!” he said.

My hunch was correct. We all got a good look at Cu Rua, or “great grandfather,” the famous, and famously lonely, turtle of Hoan Kiem Lake. He is considered a link to Vietnamese folklore – a descendant of the turtle that presented a long-ago Vietnamese emperor a sword that he used to repel invaders. So it was that the lake known as Ho Guom, or Hoan Kiem, translates as “Lake of the Restored Sword.”

We saw Cu Rua in early 2011, and by then plenty of Hanoians understood why the tortoise, thought to be well over 100 years old, was uncharacteristically keeping his head above water for extended periods. It wasn’t that he wanted to please his many fans. Hanoi’s living legend was ailing and having trouble breathing, suffering from pollution and a habitat damaged by an invasion of red-eared turtles from North America – imported as pets but then released at Tet. These feckless acts are supposed to bring people good luck—but of course it was bad for Cu Rua.

Only a couple months after Hanoi celebrated its 1,000 birthday, the old tortoise – a rare species on the verge of extinction – suddenly and fittingly became a cause célèbre. Experts convened and a plan was ordered to capture and treat Cu Rua, clean up the lake, and rid it of the invaders. Over several following months, the lake was partitioned in phases to execute the clean up.

Everyone is rooting for the beloved old turtle, even though we also know that nothing lasts or lives forever. That is why, as authorities rallied to try to save this one particular animal, part of me thought it was a lost cause. But the fact that nothing lasts forever is also, paradoxically, why we pull for Cu Rua.

This reptile is a symbol of tradition and stability in a rapidly changing nation. The ancient legend of the tortoise, something of a creation myth, has evolved into a living, gasping allegory of modern times. As surely as Cu Rua’s days are numbered, old Vietnam is giving way to a new – a change driven by the powerful forces of a globalizing economy, accelerated by the young Vietnamese passion for rapidly advancing technology. If Cu Rua represented the old ways, then maybe the red-eared turtles are a bit like young Vietnamese putting aside tradition to embrace cell phones, iPads and Facebook.

As the drama surrounding Cu Rua unfolded, I happened to be reading two books: Aesop’s Fables as bedtime stories for the kids, and “Understanding Vietnam” by the American scholar Neil Jameson for my own education. Together Aesop, Jameson, and Cu Rua helped me come up with my own theory for understanding Vietnam.

Jameson invoked the Taoist concept of yin and yang in explaining Vietnamese character and culture. Yin and yang are pretty bland and esoteric compared to Aesop’s vivid tales such as ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’ and ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’. So instead of yin and yang, the tale of Cu Rua persuaded me that perhaps Vietnam is better explained by two creatures vital to its folklore: the Turtle and the Dragon.

Think about it. The turtle is tough, slow-moving, secretive, perseverant and above all durable. The dragon, a symbol of luck, is a character of dreams – a bold risk-taker given to flights of fancy. Vietnam is both. Consider the soldiers of the Cu Chi tunnels, hunkering down like turtles in the daytime and then turning into dragons at night, tormenting their enemy – victorious, ultimately, through sheer endurance.

This duality abounds in Vietnam – and it doesn’t hurt that the country’s borders almost seem like a silhouette of a sinewy, S-shaped dragon. The older generation is a tortoise, clinging to old ways, while the dynamic younger generation is more of a dragon. It seems ironic that Hanoi’s old name is Thang Long – “Rising Dragon.” There remains a cultural division between north and south. Compare the capital to Ho Chi Minh City. Which is the tortoise? Which is the dragon? To me, the answer is obvious. Feel free to make your own comparisons.

Unlike Aesop with his fables, I offer no pat moral to the Turtle and the Dragon. Vietnam isn’t that simple. For now, perhaps we should just wish that Cu Rua will get well – to live long and go back into hiding.

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