Cheo and water puppetry are unique products of the Red River Delta civilization but cheo is the more refined art form. Cheo plays are funny and lyrical and end happily. Unlike tuong which extols the epic deeds of members of the aristocracy. Cheo describes the life of ordinary country people. It gives voice to farmers’ aspirations for a peaceful life in the midst of an unjust feudal society. Many of the plays also show the harsh lives of women ready to sacrifice themselves for others. Cheo embodies a desire for happiness and a harmonious social world. Good inevitably wins in the struggle between good and evil. Kind-hearted and gentle students always pass their exams and become mandarins, and the faithful wife is always united with her husband. Cheo’s moral messages reflect the benevolence of Buddhism and the virtues of Confucianism. Including the latter’s emphasis on harmonious social relationships. Step-mothers must love their husbands’ children. Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law must live in harmony. Friends should treat one another as if they were members of the same family.
An examination of a number of classical cheo plays provides an understanding of cheo’s themes. Thi Kinh, the Goddess of Mercy (Quan Am Thi Kinh), for example is a story about a good woman. Thi Kinh. She is the victim of a glaring injustice yet becomes a Bodhisattva. Luu Binh and Duong Le is about how the friendship between two students and about fidelity between husband and wife allows the main character to overcome all difficulties. In Chu Mai Than the wife Thiet The, so craves a rich life that she leaves her husband to become the concubine of a mandarin. The mandarin’s jealous wife bullies her: Thiet The dies in ignominy. Xuy Van in the play Kim Nham has a husband who is a long way from home. A merchant seduces her: she feigns madness to leave her husband and finally kills herself after being abandoned.
Audiences tend not to judge Thiet The and Xuy Van because the characters’ own behaviors condemns them. Instead audience’s sympathies with the characters who express women’s aspirations for love in a society constrained by Confucian morality.
