Nguyễn Du | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | Nguyễn Du 阮攸 |
| Born | (1766-01-03)3 January 1766 |
| Died | 18 September 1820(1820-09-18) (aged 54) |
| Resting place | Nghi Xuân,Hà Tĩnh,Vietnam |
| Occupation | Poet,Revival Lê dynastymandarin |
| Language | Vietnamese,Hán văn |
| Notable works | The Tale of Kiều |
| Spouse | Đoàn Nguyễn Thị Huệ |
| Signature | |
_from_a_book_cover_-_Nh%25C3%25A2n_D%25C3%25A2n.png) | |
| Vietnamese alphabet | Nguyễn Du |
| Chữ Hán | 阮攸 |
Nguyễn Du (Vietnamese pronunciation:[ŋʷiə̌nˀzū],阮攸; 3 January 1766 – 16 September 1820),courtesy nameTố Như (Vietnamese pronunciation:[tǒɲɯ̄],素如) andart nameThanh Hiên (清軒), is a celebrated Vietnamese poet and musician. He is most known for having written the epic poemThe Tale of Kiều.[1][2]
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Nguyễn Du was born in a great wealthy family in 1765 in Bích Câu,Đông Kinh.[3][4][5] His father, Nguyễn Nghiễm, was born in Tiên Điền village,Nghi Xuân,Hà Tĩnh, Vietnam. He was the seventh child of Nguyễn Nghiễm, a former prime minister under theLê dynasty. By the age of 10, Du lost his father, and he also lost his mother at age 13, so for most of his teen years he lived with his brotherNguyễn Khản or with his brother-in-law Đoàn Nguyễn Tuấn.
At the age of 19 (some sources say 17), Du passed the provincial examination and received the title of "tú tài" (Bachelor's degree), which made him (very roughly) the equivalent of ahigh school graduate. However, in Nguyễn Du's time this was a far more difficult credential to obtain both because few people were affluent enough to devote themselves to study and because of exacting standards applied.
Du's mother was his father's third wife, noted for her ability at singing and composing poetry. In fact, she made her living by singing, which at that time was considered a disreputable occupation. It is said that Du may have inherited a part of his talents from his mother. He loved listening to traditional songs; and there was a rumor that, when he was 18, he himself eloped with a singer.
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After passing the provincial exam, he was appointed to the position of a military advisor in the Royal (Trịnh) army. After theTrịnh lords were defeated in 1786 byNguyễn Huệ (the second youngest, most able and popular of the threeTây Sơn brothers), Nguyễn Du refused to serve in the Tây Sơn administration. He was arrested and held for some time before moving back to his native village in the north of the country.
WhenNguyễn Ánh defeated the Tây Sơn and took control over all of Vietnam in 1802, Nguyễn Du agreed to serve in his administration (many mandarins from the north refused to do this as it was widely felt that a mandarin should serve onlyone dynasty). At first, he was given his old post of military advisor; but after a decade, he was promoted to ambassador to China (1813). While in China, he discovered and translated theMing dynasty era tale that would become the basis for theTale of Kiều. He was later appointed to two more diplomatic missions toPeking, but before he could depart for the last one, he died of a long illness for which he refused treatment.
Du's father had been a minister under theLê dynasty, and his family had benefited greatly under their rule. For most of his life, Nguyễn Du was haunted by what he felt was his own betrayal of the rightful rulers of Vietnam, which occurred when he accepted a post under theNguyễn dynasty.
The Tale of Kiều (VietnameseTruyện Kiều) was based on an earlier Chinese prose narrative,Kim Vân Kiều.[6] It was written under a pen name as the story was quite critical of the basic tenets of Confucian morality. It is a tragic tale of two lovers forced apart by the girl's loyalty to herfamily honor. In Vietnam, the poem is so popular and beloved that some people know the whole epic by heart and can recite it without a mistake.[7]
The work is famous for its humane meaning and was translated into 20 languages, such as English, French, Japanese, Korean...[8]
In the poet’s hometown, theNguyễn Du Memorial Site (Vietnamese:Khu lưu niệm Đại thi hào Nguyễn Du) was built to honor Nguyễn Du and his family. This cultural and historical site preserves his family’s ancestral house, worship hall, tomb, and a museum displaying valuable artifacts related to his life and works.[9] The site has been officially recognized as aSpecial National Site.[10]
His name has also been given to many streets and schools across Vietnam.
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