Statue of great poet Nguyen Du (Source: VNA) An international workshop is to be held in Hanoi on August 8 to herald the 250th birthday anniversary of great poet Nguyen Du (1765-2015).
Domestic and foreign experts will spotlight the life and career of the great poet, specifically his “Han” (Chinese characters) poetry and the masterpiece “The Tale of Kieu” which hold cross-temporal heritage values.
According to Director of the Institute of Literature under the Vietnam Academy of Social Science Nguyen Dang Diep, Nguyen Du had scores of novel perceptions for his era.
He used poetry and literature to record what he had seen in society.
For example, in the work “Bac Hanh Tap Luc” (Miscellaneous Writings in Trip to the North), Nguyen Du reflects the real social situation in Vietnam and China .
Nguyen Du is considered a Confucian scholar, but his creations manifest that he was also deeply affected by other schools of thought, including Buddhism.
Participants at the workshop will also look into Nguyen Du’s masterpiece “The Tale of Kieu” and disclose additional information on how the work was disseminated among people.
Nguyen Du, also known as To Nhu and Thanh Hien, was born in 1765 in a noble family in Thang Long ( Hanoi ).
His father was born in Tien Dien village, Nghi Xuan district, central Ha Tinh province; his mother came from Kim Thieu village, Tu Son town, Bac Ninh province.
His most beloved work, “The Tale of Kieu”, is a 3,254-line classic verse novel written in “luc bat” (six-eight), a traditional verse format of Vietnam .
Kieu’s story is vastly popular in Vietnam ; many people know the epic by heart and it has been translated into some 20 different languages, including French, Chinese, English, Russian, Japanese, Korean and German.
Nguyen Du was recognised by UNESCO as a World Cultural Celebrity among 108 others in 2003.-VNA
