A Lime Mark Can Never Be Erased

The poet H? Xuân Huong (1772–1822) is renowned for her elegant, playful, erotic, and often acerbic use of poetic language in the Nôm script to express criticism of Confucian society and traditions, and to target such issues as women’s equality and sexual freedom. She would often draw on connotative wordplay, using metaphors of objects, fruit, and landscapes to level critiques at particular men of high rank, or to more solemnly comment upon the subjugated position of women at the time.The title of this painting by Lê Qu?c Vi?t is borrowed from one of H? Xuân Huong’s poems, titled “Cry, Canton Chief Toad” (“Khóc T?ng Cóc”). The poem reveals her disdain for her husband, whom she referred to as “Toad,” and more particularly her unhappiness with her status as a second-rank wife, equivalent to a concubine. The line alludes to the medieval practice of marking someone with lime, which, for the artist, draws a parallel with the puritanical branding of a scarlet letter.