The story of King Tu Duc's unusual selection of concubines

Among more than 100 wives of King Tu Duc, no one was better than Tiep Du Nguyen Thi Bich in terms of literary talent and poetry, which made the king especially praise and admire her and then bring her into the palace as his wife after testing her talent. This was a concubine selection that was completely different from the reward system, not following the current royal court rituals.

The king of literature loves literary guests

Tu Duc was the fourth Emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty, real name Nguyen Phuc Hong Nham, also known as Nguyen Phuc Thi, born on August 25, Ky Suu year (September 22, 1829), the second son of Nguyen Hien To (Thieu Tri), mother was Pham Thi Hang (later honored as Queen Mother Tu Du).

As a child, he was given the title Phuoc Tuy Cong. In October of the year Dinh Mui (1847), he ascended the throne, took the reign name Tu Duc and reigned for 36 years (1847 - 1883), becoming the king with the longest reign in the Nguyen Dynasty.

According to researchers, King Tu Duc can be considered a famous emperor in his literary career. Since childhood, he studied hard and was very good at Confucianism, history, philosophy, literature and art, and especially loved poetry.

In the poem Khiem Cung Ky, Tu Duc said about himself: "The boy was lucky to be loved and raised. When he was young, he was quite intelligent when reading books. He memorized all the elementary books in half a day. It was also thanks to the strict teaching that he was able to become like this."

The King left behind 600 essays, 4,000 poems in Chinese characters and about 100 poems in Nom characters with rich content, expressing his thoughts, feelings, knowledge and emotions, especially great works such as "Royal Compilation of Vietnamese History", "Royal Compilation of Ten Rules of Poetry and Literature", "Self-study and Verse", "Analects and Verse", etc.

Because of his love of learning and knowledge, the king read books until late every night. In addition, the king also directed the National History Institute to compile many history books, the most prominent of which was the Imperial Compilation of Vietnamese History, which recorded history from the Hung King period to the end of the Later Le period, in which he made many self-criticisms and comments.

King Tu Duc and his courtiers (painting by French artist)

During the reign of this intelligent and literate king, the creative movement flourished with many royal relatives and mandarins famous for their literary talents; almost everyone in the royal court was a poet, writer, or scholar.

King Tu Duc promoted Confucianism, focused on the mandarinate, reformed the examination system and established the Nha Si and Cat Si examinations to select talented people for mandarins. He also established Tap Hien Vien and Khai Kinh Dien to be a place for mandarins to discuss books, history, poetry or politics.

In addition, Tu Duc was also a great lover of art, gathering many artists to the capital Hue and ordering the composition of great plays such as Van Buu Trinh Tuong, Quan Phuong Hien Thuy...

In the time of many world changes at that time, despite certain efforts in approaching the West, objective and subjective limitations in thought and action caused King Tu Duc and the Hue court to make Dai Nam country backward, stagnant, and become the target of invasion by European colonialists.

Some later generations blamed King Tu Duc for not following the reform and innovation proposals of progressive mandarins such as Bui Vien, Nguyen Truong To, Pham Phu Thu, etc. during his reign, but only immersed himself in composing poetry and literature, not worrying about the risk of losing the country:

In the country, only people are fond of Ly and Do poetry.
Outside the circle know about England, Russia.

Or sentence:

Don't worry about losing the city, just worry about redeeming the fields.
Cold soldiers do not know, only know how to soak.

It was because of his love for literature that King Tu Duc left behind many interesting literary anecdotes for his subjects such as Cao Ba Quat, Nguyen Ham Ninh... And thanks to that, the king found a soul mate in his harem, a literary confidant.

In the year of Quy Mao (1843), when he was still a prince, Nguyen Phuc Hong Nham was just 15 years old (our age), he was granted the title of Duke, opened his own palace and got married. His first wife was Vu Thi Duyen, from Le Thuy district, Quang Binh province, daughter of Royal Minister Vu Xuan Can.

She was a virtuous, gentle person, loved to read books, and was good at serving, so later she was appointed as the Royal Noble Consort, head of the Three Palaces and Six Courtyards.

Although Tu Duc had many wives, besides the main concubine Vu Thi Duyen, history books only mentioned a few people: Thien Phi Nguyen Thi Cam, Hoc Phi Nguyen Thi Huong, and Tiep Du Nguyen Thi Bich. Among them, Nguyen Thi Bich was the one who was selected by King Tu Duc to enter the inner palace in a way that was different from usual.

According to the Nguyen Dynasty's rituals, any daughter of a mandarin in the court would be honored to enter the palace to become a concubine to "serve the emperor" and depending on her father's rank, she would be selected to a high or low rank.

As for the beauties among the people, they had to pass strict examinations on their appearance, morality, virtue, and talent in embroidery, cooking, etc. Among hundreds of beautiful concubines, Mrs. Tiep Du of the Nguyen family caught the king's eye and was given much love because she was talented in studying and poetry.

Concubine Nguyen Thi Bich, also known as Nguyen Nhuoc Thi Bich, Nguyen Thi Nhuoc Bich or Nguyen Nhuoc Thi, with the courtesy name Lang Hoan (Luong Hoan), was born in the year of the Tiger (1830), in Dong Giang village, An Phuoc district, Ninh Thuan province (now Binh Thuan province).

She is the fourth daughter of Mr. Nguyen Nhuoc Son (San), a mandarin of Thanh Hoa province, and her mother is from the Nguyen family, Thuc Nhan.

Mr. Nguyen Nhuoc Son was considered a famous talent in Ninh Thuan province, holding many positions in the court and outside the town, such as Lang Trung Bo Hiep, Thu Hiep Tran Nam Dinh province, then An Sat of Hung Yen province, Ha Noi province, Bo Chanh Su of Thanh Hoa province, and in charge of military affairs in Tran Tay Thanh of Cao Mien land (present-day Cambodia).

After that, he also participated in suppressing the invasions of Chenla and Siam, suppressing bandits, and made many achievements, so he was gradually promoted to Han Lam Vien Thi Giang Academician, with the rank of Tong 5th grade, Lang Trung of the Ministry of Public Works.

Being an outspoken person, daring to do and speak when faced with a task, his career went through many ups and downs, but his children were all well-educated and accomplished; therefore, when Nguyen Nhuoc Son passed away in the 4th year of Tu Duc (1850) at the age of 63, the local scholars offered the following couplet:

“Men succeed in the imperial examinations, women take the imperial examinations, geniuses and national officials as well as national relatives/ Born and raised near ancient times, died and returned to ancient soil, both sides return to the palace and the people”.

Mean:

“Men follow the imperial examinations, women serve in the palace. For a thousand years, they are known as servants of the country and also relatives of the king. They live to be nearly seventy years old, and when they die, they return to their birthplace. Both circumstances are due to the blessings of their families and the way they behave.”

The girl who was allowed to serve in the palace mentioned in the parallel sentence was Nguyen Thi Bich, the youngest daughter of Nguyen Nhuoc Son.

Legend has it that when Mrs. Nguyen was pregnant, one day she suddenly dreamed of the star Bich, one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, symbolizing books, falling from the sky into her mouth and swallowing it. Therefore, after giving birth, she named her daughter Bich.

With her natural intelligence and her open-mindedness, Nguyen Thi Bich was able to pursue her passion for writing from a young age, and thus soon became famous for her literary talent.

Her father worked as an official in many places and often took her with him, so thanks to that, she had a broad understanding of life. Wherever she went, people praised Nguyen Thi Bich's intelligence and literary talent.

Both beautiful and talented, Nguyen Thi Bich's reputation spread far and wide. At that time, the Grand Chancellor Lam Duy Nghia knew she was a rare person, so he wrote a letter recommending her to Tu Duc. Reading the letter, the king was very surprised at an 18-year-old girl who was not only beautiful but also good at literature and poetry, so he summoned her to the palace to test her talent.

That day there was a poetry recitation session, King Tu Duc gave the topic of the poem "Tào mai" (Early blooming apricot blossoms) and the king judged Nguyen Thi Bich's poem to be the best, including two very famous lines:

"If you use it to make soup,
The original work "A good god's father has Shang".

Mean:

"If you say to use people to suit the taste of the soup,
Please be a good servant to help the Thuong family.

Tu Duc especially praised: "To be as skillful in composing verses as one composing plum blossoms, to show one's will as clearly as that of Prime Minister Pho Duyet, is truly beneficial. It is a pity that it is a woman, if it were a man, I would not regret that position."

After that, the king rewarded Nguyen Thi Bich with 20 silver bars and recruited her into the palace to hold the position of Thuong Nghien Su, that was the year of Mau Than (1848).

The woman who is both the king's mother and the king's teacher

Initially, when she first entered the palace, Nguyen Thi Bich held a low position in the concubine system. Her initial task was to teach the maids in the inner palace.

In the year Canh Tuat (1850), she was appointed as a Talented Person who always served in the palace and accompanied King Tu Duc on his inspection tours. She was often able to sing and compose poems with the king. She was intelligent, educated, and skillful in her behavior, always showing respect and dignity, so Tu Duc loved her very much.

In the year Canh Than (1860), Nguyen Thi Bich was appointed as My Nhan, then shortly after was appointed as Quy Nhan; in the year Mau Thin (1868), she was appointed as Tiep Du, taking on the responsibility of teaching in the royal court.

At that time, Tu Duc had a great sadness. Because he was physically weak since childhood and had contracted smallpox, the king could not have children. Although the royal physicians in the Imperial Medical Institute recommended using the famous prescription from the Minh Mang era, "one night six intercourse gives birth to five children" or "one night five intercourse gives birth to four children", which had the effect of greatly replenishing vital energy and increasing vitality, it was ineffective.

In addition, the Imperial Medical Institute also devoted itself to researching and finding new medicinal prescriptions such as “Khoi Duong thang”, “Dien Nien Ich Tho Bat Lao Don”, “Ha Linh Van Tho Don”… with many specific medicinal ingredients. For example, “Khoi Duong thang” includes:

Ginseng (4g), Cinnamon (4g), Morinda officinalis (4g), Atractylodes Rhizome (4g), Astragalus (10g), Acanthopanax (4g), Cornus officinalis (12g), Rehmannia glutinosa (14g), Polygala (4g), all boiled and drunk, has the effect of greatly nourishing the heart and kidneys, the fire of the Gate of Life, and treating impotence.

The king even used the "Ich Tho Vinh Chan Cao" of the Korean Imperial Hospital but it was ineffective.

Hoping that there were more effective remedies among the people, in the year Binh Ty (1876), Tu Duc issued an edict that: "Now, regardless of mandarins, scholars near and far, men and women, whoever cures eye disease and has many children will be rewarded with a third-rank mandarin position and 5,000 taels of silver" (Dai Nam Thuc Luc Chinh Bien).

Finally, the court discussed bringing a fertile woman of a royal brother who had given birth to many children into the palace to serve the king day and night, but in the end it was all in vain, failing to fulfill Tu Duc's wish to have children.

Finally, with no other choice, the king had to take three nephews, the children of his cousins, into the palace to adopt. They were Nguyen Phuc Ung Ai (son of Thoai Thai Vuong Nguyen Phuc Hong Y), Nguyen Phuc Ung Dang and Ung Ky (sons of Kien Thai Vuong Nguyen Phuc Hong Cai).

Ung Ai (later King Duc Duc) was considered the oldest son, so King Tu Duc assigned his wife Vu Thi Duyen to raise him.

As for Ung Dang and Ung Ky (later King Kien Phuc and Dong Khanh), they were taken care of by Concubine Nguyen Thi Bich, who taught them knowledge of literature, rules, and etiquette in the palace, so she was respectfully called "Concubine Phu Tu" by everyone.

That is why Lady Tiep Du was trusted and loved by Tu Duc, often accompanied by the King when he visited his mother and had private discussions with the Queen Mother about the work in the court, in the royal family, and the developments of the country.

Some time later, Concubine Nguyen Thi Bich became Secretary to Queen Mother Tu Du, thanks to which she heard many conversations between the Queen Mother and the King, because at those times she was the only one who was close by to serve.

In June of the year of Quy Mui (1883), King Tu Duc passed away. All the decrees and edicts of the two Royal Consorts (Tu Du and the First Consort Vu Thi Duyen) were drafted and written by her alone.

During the period of "three kings in four months", like the people in the inner palace, concubine Nguyen Thi Bich had to endure the tyranny of two regents, Ton That Thuyet and Nguyen Van Tuong, in the dethronement and establishment of kings Duc Duc, Hiep Hoa, and Kien Phuc.

Then, after a year on the throne, King Ham Nghi experienced the "capital fall" incident. The king fled and issued the Can Vuong edict calling for resistance against the French invasion.

In the chaotic context at that time, Concubine Nguyen Thi Bich escorted the Three Palaces (Queen Mother Tu Du and the first and second wives of King Tu Duc) and the royal court to Quang Tri, but because the situation was too difficult, not long after she brought the Three Palaces back to Hue, took refuge in Khiem Lang (Tomb of King Tu Duc) and then returned to the royal palace, under French control.

On this occasion, she composed the song Loan du Hanh Thuc Quoc Am Ca (also known as Hanh Thuc Ca) in Nom script, borrowing the story of King Duong Huyen Tong in China abandoning the capital and fleeing to Thuc land to avoid the An Loc Son rebellion, thereby talking about the situation of the country with the events since the French invasion.

The story of the abdication of the throne, the Can Vuong movement, the return to the capital Hue, and the octogenarian ceremony of Tu Du. This work consists of 1036 verses in the luc bat form, the book opens with the following lines:

Pondering the saying that creation is unpredictable,
Experience the ancient and modern way of governing chaos.
The rise and fall of fortune turns,
The country is still miserable.

According to researchers, although the content shows that the author was a person who lived in the palace, had a narrow and subjective view of current events, and had a mindset of seeking security, in general, this is a very valuable literary work of historical documents written by a person who, if not talented, could not have written such a work.

When Nguyen Thi Bich followed Tam Cung back to Hue, her adopted son and student, Prince Ung Ky, had ascended the throne, taking the name Dong Khanh.

During that time, she devoted herself to serving and doing all the tasks assigned by the Empress Dowager Tu Du. In her spare time, she still composed literature and poetry.

Presently, in addition to the work Hanh Thuc Ca, Nguyen Thi Bich also left behind a few poems written in Chinese characters, the most prominent of which is a Tang poem expressing her joyful feelings when, in the year Tan Mao (1891), after many days of mourning and suffering, the first Nam Giao ceremony was held again:

I have been through many customs and traditions for a long time,
The capital is prosperous and serves the people.
The palace of the young emperor,
The good gods and soldiers returned to the old rules.

The mandarin's robe was thrown down, and the crowd was filled with hope.
Re-write the old monkey story.
Ancient ritual music is only original,
The desire to maintain the complete use of the Xia Yi.

Mean:

Customs that have not changed over the years
The country's prosperity can be seen from here.
In the palace the young king followed the example of the old man,
Under my command, keep this rule.

The crown and robe are exposed to many people,
The drums and gongs resounded, many people were relieved,
Since ancient times, music has been the backbone of the country.
To be at peace, it must be like this.

(Translated by Dao Tat Dat)

In the year of Nham Thin (1892), to reward her merits and contributions, Tu Du promoted Nguyen Thi Bich to the title of Third-class Le Tan.

In November of the year Ky Dau, the 3rd year of Duy Tan (1909), the talented concubine Nguyen Thi Bich passed away in the capital Hue, at the age of 80. Her tomb is located in Duong Xuan Thuong village (now Huong Thuy town, Thua Thien - Hue province).

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