Đào Duy Từ
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Đào Duy Từ (1572 - December 7, 1634) was a Vietnamese scholar, poet, military adviser, and mandarin who served under the reign of Nguyễn lord
Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên (阮福源; 16 August 1563 – 19 November 1635), temple name Nguyễn Hy Tông, was the second of the Nguyễn lords, ruling all of southern Vietnam from 1613 to 1635. During his time in office, the Nguyễn lords establ ...
.


Early life

Đào Duy Từ, born in Hoa Trai village, Ngọc Sơn, Lương Sơn, Hoà Bình (present day Ngọc Sơn, Lương Sơn, Lương Sơn District, 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, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...
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, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...
system of the
Lê dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...
. 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. 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), temple name Nguyễn Hy Tông, was the second of the Nguyễn lords, ruling all of southern Vietnam from 1613 to 1635. During his time in office, the Nguyễn lords establ ...
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 (Vietnam), ward () of Hoài Nhơn town in northern Bình Định Province, Vietnam.''Vietnam Road Atlas'' (Tập Bản đồ Giao thông Đường bộ Việt Nam). Cartographic Publishing House (Vietnam), 2004 Geography and ...
,
Bình Định Province Bình Định (平定) was a former northern coastal province in the South Central Coast region, the Central of Vietnam. It borders  Quảng Ngãi to the north,  Phú Yên to the south, Gia Lai to the west and the South China Sea to the ea ...
) 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 learning 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 () (181September or October 234), also commonly known by his courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman, strategist, and inventor who lived through the End of the Han dynasty, end of the Eastern Han dynasty ( 184–220) and t ...
.


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 (present day
Quảng Bình Province Quảng Bình was formerly a southern coastal Provinces of Vietnam, province in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Việt Nam, Vietnam. It borders Hà Tĩnh province, Hà Tĩnh to the north, Quảng Trị province, ...
). During the
Trịnh–Nguyễn War The Trịnh–Nguyễn Civil War (; chữ Hán: 鄭阮紛爭, lit. Trịnh–Nguyễn contention) was a 17th and 18th-century lengthy civil war waged between the two ruling families in Vietnam, the Trịnh lords of Đàng Ngoài and the Nguy ...
, 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 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 (; chữ Hán: 鄭阮紛爭, lit. Trịnh–Nguyễn contention) was a 17th and 18th-century lengthy civil war waged between the two ruling families in Vietnam, the Trịnh lords of Đàng Ngoài and the Nguy ...
.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, 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 (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...
had Đào Duy Từ worshiped along with the Nguyễn Lords in Thế Miếu temple, the main temple of the Nguyễn emperors' ancestors in
Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...
. During the reign of Emperor
Minh Mạng Minh Mạng (), also known as 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 Nguyễ ...
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 The Nguyễn lords (, 主阮; 1558–1777, 1780–1802), also known as the Nguyễn clan (; ), were Nguyễn dynasty's forerunner and a feudal noble clan ruling southern Đại Việt in the Revival Lê dynasty. The Nguyễn lords were membe ...
and the subsequent
Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...
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 Thái sư People from Thanh Hóa province