Nguyễn Công Trứ (阮公著) also Hi Văn (Uy Viễn,

Hà Tĩnh Hà Tĩnh () is a city in Vietnam.Atlas of the World', Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 236. It is the capital of Hà Tĩnh Province, and lies in the North Central Coast region. It is located on National Highway 1A. The Vietnamese capital Han ...

1778–1858) was a Vietnamese poet and scholar.Alexander Woodside ''Vietnam and the Chinese Model: A Comparative Study of Nguyen and Ch'ing Civil Government in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century. '' Cambridge: Harvard University Press 1971 - Page 217 "Nguyễn Công Trứ, the powerful official and famous poet of the Minh Mạng, Thiệu Trị, and early Tự Đức periods, has been accused by modern Vietnamese scholars of having had a "superiority complex" because of his family background.116 ...But after 1802, "mounting the elephant" (lên voi) in official life was difficult and ... Forced to battle for recognition on his own in the examination system, Trứ entered the 1813 examinations and was able to win merely the status of a licentiate." He came up against a lot of obstacles in academic field in which he was really successful only when he reached the age of 42. Nguyễn Công Trứ held a respectable position in military as a General. Nguyễn Công Trứ was a poet contributing to Vietnamese declamation’s foundation, namely the poem “Bài ca ngất ngưởng” Nguyễn Công Trứ earned respect as a devoted Confucian scholar and elder statesman. While living in a corrupt

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring socie ...

, Nguyễn Công Trứ was known to be honest and straightforward. Nguyễn Công Trứ dedicated nearly all his life to his country and the welfare of its citizens. After his retirement, Nguyễn Công Trứ lived the rest of his life in his hometown and gave a hand with the restoration of pagodas and gave lectures in

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

’s belief. He died 7 December 1858. At Nguyễn Công Trứ’s funeral came King

Tự Đức Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, :wikt:嗣, 嗣:wikt:德, 德, , 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm, also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, and the country's la ...

as well as distinguished mourners.

Life

Nguyễn Công Trứ was born into a poor family in

Thái Bình Thái Bình City () is a city in the Red River Delta of Northern Vietnam. It is the capital of Thái Bình Province. The city is located 110 km from Hanoi. The city area is 67.7 square km, with a population of 210,000 people (2006). Histor ...

. But with diligence, Nguyễn Công Trứ graduated from high school in 1813 and came first in interprovincial Laureate contest in 1819. Then, Nguyễn Công Trứ led a varied life as a mandarin in the

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 ...

. He held the highest position as Hai An’s Minister and

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in 1836 (

Quảng Ngãi Province Quảng Ngãi is a northern coastal Provinces of Vietnam, province in the South Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam. It borders Quảng Nam to the north, Bình Định to the south, Kon Tum province, Kon Tum to the ...

with Hai Duong is Hai An in the past). In 1845, Nguyễn Công Trứ was demoted as a border guard. When he was an officer in charge of farms (a General takes on agriculture owing to being ordered by the King), Nguyễn Công Trứ broke fresh ground to bring farmers 45.990 acres of enriched rice fields. Kim Sơn and Tien Hai were the most enriched ones. To give credit for his distinguished

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

s, the residents set up Nguyễn Công Trứ’s shrines. One is now in Tien Hai (founded in 1852) and the other is in Kim Son (founded in 1856). The king gave him valuables such as hundreds of ingots of silver, an agate sculpture of horse, a gong bearing a golden inscription “Lao năng khả tưởng” (the meaning: his credits and devotion to duty deserves rewarding). Because Nguyễn Công Trứ was a righteous, honest and straightforward mandarin, many a dishonest official had an aversion to such individuality of his. Nguyễn Công Trứ was slandered three times, however, luckily enough, everything was brought to light, and he was completely vindicated then. Furthermore, in the event of Kim Son’s and Tien Hai’s bumper crops, the residents invited the 75-year-old mandarin to join the harvest festival as a red-carpet treatment, and dishonest officials vilified him a rebel leader in Kim Son and Tien Hai but then he succeeded in justifying himself to King Tự Đức. Understandably, Nguyễn Công Trứ took the honor and dishonor for granted.

Life as a poet and activist

His poems, which have mostly been written in pictographic script of Vietnamese, show deep feeling. Some findings have shown that Nguyễn Công Trứ had over 1000 poems mainly of Tang prosody and declamation style of Vietnam. The majority of them is now missing. Approximately 150 of his works remain today. What people find remarkable for Nguyễn Công Trứ’s poems is the

individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and a ...

, which is truly of the freedom and the independence. Nguyễn Công Trứ made contributed to the growth of medieval

Vietnamese literature Vietnamese literature () is the literature, both oral and written, created largely by the Vietnamese. Early Vietnamese literature has been greatly influenced by Chinese literature. As Literary Chinese was the formal written language for governmen ...

as well as the variation of this language on the grounds that his works are mainly composed in pictographic script of Vietnamese. The conception of morality in

medieval society In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

is “Lap duc- Lap cong- Lap ngon” ''(Lập đức–Lập công - Lập ngôn)'', which Nguyễn Công Trứ strove for. “Lap duc”, according to the feudal intelligentsia, is devoting to bring about the country’s prospect and the

well-being Well-being is what is Intrinsic value (ethics), ultimately good for a person. Also called "welfare" and "quality of life", it is a measure of how well life is going for someone. It is a central goal of many individual and societal endeavors. ...

of its citizens. “Lap cong” bears the meaning of fulfilling the missions assigned by the King. “Lap ngon” is to make a significant contribution to the arts. Nguyễn Công Trứ led a full and varied life insofar as he was once promoted to the rank of General, but then demoted to the lowest rank as a

border guard A border guard of a country is a national security agency that ensures border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In diff ...

. Nguyễn Công Trứ experienced many ups and downs in his life and career Furthermore, Nguyễn Công Trứ earned a lot of respect as a devoted Confucian scholar and experienced statesman. Nguyễn Công Trứ dedicated nearly all his life to his country and the welfare of its citizens. After his retirement, Nguyễn Công Trứ lived the rest of his life in his hometown and gave a hand with the restoration of pagodas and gave lectures in Buddhism’s beliefs. When French colonists invaded

Viet Nam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's fifteenth-most populous coun ...

in 1858, Nguyễn Công Trứ was one of feudal intellectuals bravely fighting against the enemy’s deployment. Besides, he went unhesitatingly: “Should I be at my last gasp, I will fight tooth and nail for the country’s freedom and independence.” Nguyễn Công Trứ died on 7 December 1858. At Nguyễn Công Trứ’s funeral came King Tự Đức as well as distinguished mourners and The King himself gave the late statesman parallel sentences as an offering “tả hữu nghi văn nghi võ- tử sinh danh tướng, danh thần”. They bear the meaning of complimenting Nguyễn Công Trứ on his great talent for not only literature but also martial arts. Many poems of Nguyễn Công Trứ’s is on Vietnamese high school curriculum, namely “BÀI CA NGẤT NGƯỞNG” and “NỢ NAM NHI”. Nguyễn Công Trứ High School was named after Nguyen Cong Tru in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen Cong Tru 1778 births 1858 deaths People from Hà Tĩnh province 19th-century Vietnamese poets Vietnamese Confucianists Vietnamese male poets 19th-century male writers Nguyễn dynasty poets