97-year-old man still writes books and wins national best book award

The Bicycle Repairman writes history

At the age of 97, researcher Nguyen Dinh Tu is still very flexible, clear-headed, and knowledgeable with a treasure trove of historical and geographical knowledge. Photo: Chu Thanh

Returning from the first National Book Award ceremony held on April 19, 2018, Mr. Tu's face was still filled with joy when his two books "French Colonialism in Cochinchina (1858-1954)" surpassed 514 books nationwide to win the A prize for best books. Talking about his path to becoming a researcher, Mr. Tu smiled in the words "passion" and "fate".

Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan presented the Good Book and Beautiful Book awards to the authors who won the A prize. Photo: Internet

Born in Thanh Chi commune, Thanh Chuong district, from a young age, Mr. Tu showed his ability in studying and writing more than his peers. “At that time, I was one of two people who passed the baccalaureate degree in the commune. My French was also good, which helped a lot in my later studies,” Mr. Tu recalled. Even when he was still in school, Mr. Tu also practiced writing with his first book about General Nguyen Xi or the poetry collections “Source of life”, “What is the stepchild of a husband”…

After graduating with a high school diploma, participating in the 9-year resistance war against the French and then returning to his homeland, poverty and hunger made Mr. Tu decide to take his wife and children to the South to start a business in 1955. Mr. Tu smiled, "I have experienced many jobs, from a white-collar worker to a bicycle repairman on the sidewalk, but I am still passionate about writing and cultural research."

During the difficult period, from 1976 to 1982, 1983, Mr. Tu opened a bicycle repair shop to earn money to support his family. Although he worked hard on the streets of Saigon at that time, whenever he had free time, he took the opportunity to write. Mr. Tu explained, "It's like karma that has seeped into my body, not writing, not reading makes me feel very restless. But whatever I can write, I give it to customers waiting to have their bikes repaired to read and give feedback. As long as the customers praise it, I have more motivation to continue my work." While repairing bikes, he also wrote books, the historical novel "Loạn 12 Sứ Quân" was later published in 6 volumes by Dong Nai Publishing House and was born in such circumstances.

When his children grew up, Mr. Tu was no longer under the pressure of making a living and began to focus on his passion for reading, researching, and writing books. And books about Saigon street names, a dictionary of administrative place names in the South, and most recently, “The French colonial regime in the South (1858-1954)” published in 2017… were published one after another.

Want to preserve culture for future generations

"I want to rewrite it to remind and preserve national identity for future generations of youth," Mr. Tu confided. Photo: Duc Anh

Talking about the book “French colonial regime in Cochinchina (1858-1954)”, Mr. Tu pondered, because he loved history, since 1992 he often came to read and collect French-era documents at the document archive center.

“I worked hard for more than 3 years. I cycled to read early in the morning, and at noon when it was closing time, I went out to eat a lunch box, spread out a raincoat, and rested until 1:30 p.m. when the center opened, then went back in to read until it closed before going home. When I found good documents, I copied them down. If they were too long, I asked someone to photocopy them into separate copies and keep them carefully at home,” Mr. Tu said.

Later, when he returned to the center and asked to review the old documents, he found out that these documents were almost gone or damaged. It was from here that the idea of ​​rewriting a clear set of documents based on the documents he had painstakingly collected and preserved over many years about the French presence in Cochinchina began to take shape.

The book revolves around content reflecting not only from when the French colonialists opened fire on Da Nang in 1858; planning and administrative management in Saigon but also the previous relationships between the French and the Nguyen Dynasty... And it took him 1 year to complete the book.

“As a person who specializes in researching the history and geography of Vietnam, when writing these books, I want to leave behind my love for my homeland and country to future generations. Today’s youth may know many foreign singers, actors, and places, but when asked about famous historical figures and places in the country, they do not know. While Uncle Ho once said, “Our people must know our history/To understand the origin of our country Vietnam”, I want to rewrite it to remind and preserve the national identity for future generations of youth,” Mr. Tu confided.

Not only that, another urge that made him write the book was because of "pride in Vietnam". According to Mr. Tu, looking back at the history of countries from ancient times to the present, no nation is as strong and determined as the Vietnamese people. "There has never been a country that was under Chinese rule for 1,000 years, then colonized by the French, but was not assimilated. On the contrary, it rose up to regain independence. So I am always proud of being Vietnamese and hope that the younger generation can understand this," Mr. Tu confided.

At the age of 97, Mr. Tu admits that he still cannot give up his writing career and will continue to write until "this brain stops". In the near future, he plans to research and write about the regimes that the French colonialists imposed on the Central region of his homeland and the North./.