Vietnamese literature was developed at an early date.  It includes two major components which have developed simultaneously and are profoundly interrelated : Folk literature and written literature.  Vietnamese folk literature came into being very early and had a profound effect on the spiritual life of the Viets. The folk literature always praised beauty, humanism, love of godness, and contributed to the formation of a national sense. Legends, fairy tales, humorous stories, folk songs, epics... have a tremendous vitality and have lived on today. Written literature first appeared around the 10th century. It had a leading role and bore the main traits of Vietnamese literature. From the 10th to the 15th century, literary works were written in Han (classical Chinese) and Chu Nom. But since the 16th century, Chu Nom literature became increasingly popular, and held a prime position by the early 18th century. Well-known works written in Chu Nom included Chinh Phu Ngam by female poet Doan Thi Diem, Kieu Story by Nguyen Du and the Chu Nom poems of female poet Ho Xuan Huong. These works were the cream of Vietnamese literature. In the 20th century, the country's literature was written in Vietnamese Quoc Ngu (Romanized national language). Vietnamese literature thereby developed quickly in terms of quantity, genre and form. Prominent in prose were Tat Den by Ngo Tat To, Bi Vo by Nguyen Hong, Buoc Duong Cung and short  stories by Nguyen Cong Hoan, short stories by Nam Cao, Giong To and other novels by Vu Trong Phung. Poetry also developed vigorously, culminating in the new poetry movement with a generation of famous authors such as : The Lu, Pham Huy Thong, Xuan Dieu, Luu Trong Lu, Huy Can, To Huu.... Traditionally, Vietnamese literature always featured patriotism, national pride and humanism. It was not by chance that great cultural personalities such as Nguyen Trai, Nguyen Du and Ho Chi Minh were also humanists.