The Dynamics of the Discourse of Rectification of Names and Moral Order in Nineteenth-Century Vietnamese Literature: A Study of the Journey from Exile to Restoration in Đặng Xuân Bảng's Re-adapted Tale of the Twice-Blooming Plum

This article examines the dynamics of the discourse of rectification of names and the reconstruction of moral order in Re-adapted Tale of the Twice-Blooming Plum (Cải dịch Nhị độ mai) by Đặng Xuân Bảng-a nineteenth-century Nôm verse narrative that has not yet been systematically studied and for which no complete modern Vietnamese translation is widely available. Addressing this scholarly gap, the study aims to clarify how the Confucian concept of “rectification of names” (zhengming) is narrativized within the text's structure. The research integrates three theoretical frameworks: Confucian theories of rectification of names, discourse theory, and narratology. Through close textual analysis and semantic examination of key terms such as “name,” “injustice,” “clarification,” “restoration,” “loyalty,” and “filial piety,” the article demonstrates that the narrative unfolds through a process of suspension, trial, and reestablishment of legitimate naming. The crisis of status initiates a state of disorder; exile functions as a moral testing ground; and the royal court, through mechanisms of redress, serves to re-legitimate authority and restore the subject’s rightful identity. The journey from assumed identity to restored name thus constitutes a process of moral verification and reconfiguration of order within the Confucian worldview of “order-disorder-order” characteristic of nineteenth-century Vietnam.