Nguyen Du

Nguyễn Du was born in 1766 in Tiên Điền village, Nghi Xuân district, Nghệ Tĩnh province, North Vietnam. He was the seventh child of Nguyễn Nghiễm, a former prime minister under the Lê Dynasty. He lost his father at the age of 10 and his mother at the age of 13. For most of his teen years, he lived with his brother Nguyễn Khản and later with this brother-in-law Đoàn Nguyễn Tuấn.
At the age of 17, Nguyen Du himself passed an examination and received the tittle of "tu tai".It's like when we graduate from highschool today but in Nguyen Du 's time, it's harder because there are not many persons had enough money to learn, and also because this examination is especial about politics and literature.About this poet, there are many things to say.His mother was the third wife of his father who was good at singing and composing poetry.And, the truth was that she used to live by singing.At that time ,a songstress was considered a bad kind of people. Maybe he inherited a part of his talents from his mother.He loved listening to traditional songs.there was a rumour that when he was 18, he sneaked out of his house to follow his dream and follow a songstress.

At that time, Viet Nam was going through a darkest period of her history( The Vietnamese often call their country belovedly "Mother Viet Nam), torn appart.The two power politics Families fought against each other while pledging allegiance to the Le dynasty,which was recognized as the legitimate authority.This civil war was finally put and end by the three brothers, Nguyen Nhac, Nguyen Lu, Nguyen Hue(in Vietnamese, the last name is written before the first name because the family's name is very important to the Vietnamese ).Remember that his father was a minister under the Le dynasty, and that' s also mean that Nguyen Du couldn't help the three brothers.And it's also a tragedy of his life.Actually, he knew the three brothers were good, but he just couldn't do anything.One of the three brothers(Nguyen Hue) constructed the Tay Son dynasty.The Tay Son very quickly became fatal to the Nguyen dynasty.
In 1802, he secured a military post under the Nguyễn Dynasty, and was promoted to ambassador to China in 1813.

It is necessary to keep in mind this historical and social back ground in order to understand both Nguyen Du and his main work,'Doan truong tan thanh'(or'Kim Van Kieu').'Kim Van Kieu is just the name many people call the story because it is easier to remember.'Kim Van Kieu' is also the name of three main characters in the story:Kim Trong, Thuy Van, Thuy Kieu and also the first name of the source from which Nguyen Du wrote his 'Doan truong tan thanh'.The meaning of the name is "the new accents of a heart-rending song".that's mean the story is about something very tragedy and sad.Actually, yes, it is. Beginning from the source"The story of Kim-Van-Kieu" written by an author under the pen-name of 'Thanh Tam Tai Nhan' in the 16th or early 17th century.It was a story about the love between three persons.Thuy kieu was the older sister of Thuy Van.Thuy Kieu and Kim Trong were in love with each other.They propesed under the moon, but unfortunately they couldn't be together because of there family' problem.Then Kim Trong married to Thuy Van, the little sister...And, yes, that is the source of 'Doan truong tan thanh'.The source was just about the love but after Nguyen Du read it.He added details and turned it become a masterpiece.Because of the problem about language, you may not understand the good in using language in the story.You may not know but about this composition there is a fact that you should know.It is in Viet Nam, a farmer who is illiterate can know by heart all of this composition without a mistake.They read it in a singing voice.If you have a chance to read it,please consider these things I will tell you: First,try to consider Thuy Kieu was an incarnation of Nguyen Du, who had talent,beauty but because the her situation and the time she lived, she didn't have what she deserved. Second,consider Kim Trong as a dream of Thuy Kieu because he was a perfect lover and also her first love. Third,consider Tu Hai ,who was her benefactor and her husband later, was the incarnation of the Tay Son dynasty. Kim Vân Kiều is one among many of his works. Other literary works included: Thanh Hiên thi tập (Poems by Thanh Hiên), Nam Trung Tạp Ngâm (?), Bắc Hành Tạp Lục(?).edit

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