Đào Duy Từ
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Đào Duy Từ (1572–1634) was a Vietnamese scholar, poet, military adviser, and mandarin who served under the reign of
Nguyễn lord Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元)is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this s ...
Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên (阮福源; 16 August 1563 – 19 November 1635) was an early Nguyễn lord who ruled the southern Vietnam from the city of Phú Xuân (modern-day Huế) from 1613 to 1635. During his rule, the Nguyễn established a city ...
.


Early life

Đào Duy Từ, born in Hoa Trai village, Ngọc Sơn, Lương Sơn, Hoà Bình (present day Ngọc Sơn,
Lương Sơn Liang (Romanization used in China, ) is an East Asian surname of Chinese surname, Chinese origin. The surname is often transliterated as Leung (in Hong Kong) or Leong (in Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines) according to i ...
,
Lương Sơn District Liang (Romanization used in China, ) is an East Asian surname of Chinese origin. The surname is often transliterated as Leung (in Hong Kong) or Leong (in Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines) according to its Cantonese an ...
, Hoà Bình Province), was a son of Đào Tả Hán, a Vietnamese folk singer, who died when Từ was five years old.Tôn Thất Bình, p. 9 After this Từ was raised solely by his mother, a woman named Vũ Thị Kim Chi. When Từ was 14 years old his mother sent him to study
Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...
under a local scholar named Nguyễn Đức Khoa. Đào Duy Từ was however forbidden from taking the court examination because his father's profession as a folk singer was considered the most shameful profession under the
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
system of the
Lê Dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known as Later Lê dynasty ( vi, Hậu Lê triều, chữ Hán: 後黎朝 or vi, nhà Hậu Lê, link=no, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), was the longest-ruling Vietnamese dynasty, ruling Đại Việt from 1428 to 1789. The Lê ...
. Từ's mother managed to bribe a low-ranking mandarin named Lưu Minh Phương to change Tu's surname from Đào to Vũ which gave Từ a chance to take the court examination. In 1593, Đào Duy Từ, under the false name Vũ Duy Từ, passed his first court examination which prompted Lưu Minh Phương to demand that Từ's mother marry him as a payment for his help. Phương's demand was rejected and therefore he angrily reported the case of Đào Duy Từ to a local mandarin.Tôn Thất Bình, p. 10 Because of this Từ was expelled from the examination school while he was taking the second court examination in
Thăng Long Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
. After learning of this failure his mother blamed herself and committed suicide by cutting her throat. Both his mother's death and his failure in the examination lead to Từ becoming seriously ill. After some years of inactivity, Đào Duy Từ went south to the land of Nguyễn Lords.Tôn Thất Bình, p. 12


Activities in southern Vietnam

After arriving in southern Vietnam, Đào Duy Từ attempted to meet Lord
Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên (阮福源; 16 August 1563 – 19 November 1635) was an early Nguyễn lord who ruled the southern Vietnam from the city of Phú Xuân (modern-day Huế) from 1613 to 1635. During his rule, the Nguyễn established a city ...
but failed. After that, Từ became a worker for a landlord named Chúc Trịnh Long in Tùng Châu (present day
Bồng Sơn Bồng Sơn is a ward () of Hoài Nhơn town in northern Bình Định Province.''Vietnam Road Atlas'' (Tập Bản đồ Giao thông Đường bộ Việt Nam). Cartographic Publishing House (Vietnam), 2004 Geography and infrastructure Bong So ...
,
Bình Định Province B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It r ...
) in order to get close to Trần Đức Hòa, a neighbor of Chúc Trịnh Long and a mandarin of Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên. This attempt was a success: after leaning of Từ's ability, Trần Đức Hòa gave his daughter's hand to Đào Duy Từ and hired him as the family tutor .Tôn Thất Bình, p. 13 At this time, Từ composed a famous Vietnamese language poem, "Ngọa Long Cương Vãng" (Singing of a Lying Dragon), in which he compared himself to famous Chinese military strategist
Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang ( zh, t=諸葛亮 / 诸葛亮) (181 – September 234), courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman and military strategist. He was chancellor and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He is r ...
.


Mandarin of the Nguyễn Lord

On an occasion when Trần Đức Hòa met Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên, Hòa give the Lord the poem "Ngọa Long Cương Vãng" of Đào Duy Từ. After reading the poem, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên ordered Trần Đức Hào bring Đào Duy Từ to meet him. Wanting to test Đào Duy Từ, the Nguyễn lord wore casual clothing and stood near a small door of Phú Xuân Palace when Đào Duy Từ first met him (these actions could be considered as a disdain by confucianist scholars during this time).Phan Khoang, p. 135 Thereon Đào Duy Từ kept refusing to talk with Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên until the lord opened the main gate of the palace and wore formal clothing. After a long meeting in which Đào Duy Từ discussed and gave advice about the current Trịnh–Nguyễn War, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên appeared to like Đào Duy Từ's ability and then he made Đào Duy Từ his advisor and a high ranking mandarin.Tôn Thất Bình, p. 14–16 From this point on, Đào Duy Từ served as the chief military advisor, directing the construction of Nguyen's two famous strategic lines of defense: the ramparts of Lũy Thầy and Lũy Trường Dục, in northern
Thuận Hóa Thuận Hóa (, ) was a historic territory in central Vietnam. It consisted of the modern provinces of Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, and Thừa Thiên–Huế (historically, Thừa Thiên–Thuận Hóa). In 1306, the king of Champa, Che Man, ...
(present day Quảng Bình Province). During the
Trịnh–Nguyễn War The Trịnh–Nguyễn Civil War ( vi, Trịnh-Nguyễn phân tranh; Hán tự: 鄭阮紛爭) was a 17th-century lengthy civil war waged between the two ruling families in Vietnam, the Trịnh lords of Đàng Ngoài and the Nguyễn lords of ...
, Lũy Thầy and Lũy Trường Dục were largely impregnable, enabling the Nguyễn lords to defend themselves against the Trịnh invasions, despite the population and army of the Nguyễn being smaller than those of the Trịnh lords. In 1627, when these ramparts were completed, Đào Duy Từ presented a double-bottomed tray to the Lê Emperor in which he concealed the royal decree that demanded the Nguyễn lord to submit to the Lê emperors. He then carved the tray with a cryptic poem that involves a letter play, upon solving would reveal the message: 予不受勑, meaning Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên does not accept the decree. He topped the tray with gifts and sent an envoy bringing it to Thăng Long. Unaware of the hidden content, Lord
Trịnh Tráng Trịnh Tráng (Hán tự: 鄭梉, 6 August 1577 – 28 May 1657), posthumous name: Nghị Vương (誼王), temple name: Văn Tổ (文祖). He is the second lord of Trịnh ruled Tonkin from 1623 to 1657. He is one of the famous Trịnh lords wh ...
accepted the tray and Tu's letter remained undiscovered until the Nguyễn envoy had fled back to the south. After learning the true meaning of Đào Duy Từ's poem; Lord Trịnh Tráng got angry and sent a large army to the south, starting the
Trịnh–Nguyễn War The Trịnh–Nguyễn Civil War ( vi, Trịnh-Nguyễn phân tranh; Hán tự: 鄭阮紛爭) was a 17th-century lengthy civil war waged between the two ruling families in Vietnam, the Trịnh lords of Đàng Ngoài and the Nguyễn lords of ...
.Chapuis, p.125


Family

No information regarding the family of Đào Duy Từ was recorded except that Đào Duy Từ had a daughter who married
Nguyễn Hữu Tiến Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese name, Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. wiktionary:nguyên, Nguyên (元)is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 perc ...
, one of the two most important commanders of the Nguyễn army in the Trịnh–Nguyễn War.


Death

In 1633, after nine years service to the Nguyễn lords, Đào Duy Từ died of an illness. Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên posthumously gave him the title of "Hiệp đồng mưu đức công thần, đặc tiến Kim tử Vinh lộc đại phu" (Common Strategist Merit-man, especially entitled as "''Glorious, Fortunious and Golden Grand Scholar''"). Later emperor
Gia Long Gia Long ( (''North''), ('' South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh, was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, the last dynasty of Vietnam. His dynasty would rule the unif ...
had Đào Duy Từ worshiped along with the Nguyễn Lords in
Thế Miếu Thế Miếu ( Chữ Hán: 世廟), also called Thế Tổ Miếu ( Chữ Hán: 世祖廟), is an ancestral temple to Vietnam's emperors in the Imperial City, Huế.Frommer's Vietnam: with Angkor Wat Ron Emmons - 2012 "Visit the Hue Citadel, ta ...
temple, the main temple of the Nguyễn emperors' ancestors in
Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...
. During the reign of Emperor
Minh Mạng Minh Mạng () or Minh Mệnh (, vi-hantu, 明 命, lit. "the bright favour of Heaven"; 25 May 1791 – 20 January 1841; born Nguyễn Phúc Đảm, also known as Nguyễn Phúc Kiểu) was the second emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of V ...
Đào Duy Từ was posthumously bestowed with the title of Hoằng Quốc Công (Duke Hằng Quốc).Phan Khoang, p. 144 Most cities in Vietnam, regardless of the political orientation of the government, have named major streets after him. Despite the ruling communist party's disapproval of the
Nguyễn lords Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元)is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this su ...
and the subsequent
Nguyễn Dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...
as "feudal" and "reactionary", and their renaming of streets and public facilities named after most Nguyen leaders, streets named after Đào Duy Từ remain.


Notes


References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dao Duy Tu 1572 births 1634 deaths Mandarins of the Nguyễn lords Vietnamese male poets Vietnamese military writers 16th-century Vietnamese poets