Professor Vu Khieu - a rare intellect and talent

Professor Vu Khieu's real name is Dang Vu Khieu, born on September 19, 1916 in Hanh Thien village, Xuan Hong commune, Xuan Truong district, Nam Dinh province. He was born into a family with a Confucian tradition, so from a young age he memorized the "Four Books" and "Five Classics". After graduating from Bonnal School (Ngo Quyen, Hai Phong), in 1935, he returned to Hanoi to teach and follow the revolution. He worked in the fields of Party work, mass mobilization, government, military and foreign affairs...

Professor Vu Khieu passed away at the age of 106.

He used to hold the positions of Director of the Department of Culture of Zone 10 in Viet Bac, Deputy General Director of Vietnam News Agency, Deputy Chairman of the Social Sciences Committee... He was the one who built and organized the first Aesthetics Department in Vietnam; the first Director of the Institute of Sociology,...

Not only a soldier on the ideological front, Professor Vu Khieu is also a scholar of Vietnamese culture and one of the founders of the development of the country's social sciences. The professor has published hundreds of voluminous books and research works on education, economics, religion, costumes, festivals, cultural works, folk tales, legends, literature of the Thang Long land, etc.

His typical works are “Beauty” (1963), “Cao Ba Quat” (1970), “Ngo Thi Nham” (1976), “Hero and Artist” (1972), “Revolution and Art” (1979), “Nguyen Trai” (1980), “On Vietnamese Culture”, Chairman of the Editorial Council of the anthology “Thousand Years of Thang Long Culture”...

With his contributions, Professor Vu Khieu was awarded many noble titles by the Party and the State such as the Ho Chi Minh Prize, first term in 1996, Hero of Labor in the renovation period in 2000, First Class Independence Medal, Outstanding Citizen of the Capital on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi... In early 2017, Professor Vu Khieu was honored to receive the 70-year Party membership badge.

Love of national culture

Dedicating his entire life to research, Professor Vu Khieu has published hundreds of valuable works in many fields such as philosophy, ethics, literature, art, culture, society... Making great contributions in many aspects like that, but one of the things he is passionate about is building a Vietnamese culture imbued with national identity, progressive in the direction of socialism.

Growing up and developing from a philosophical environment, his research works mainly focus on the system of ideology and cultural theory. Professor Vu Khieu is one of the people who laid the foundation for research on Vietnamese cultural theory and ideology.

Professor Vu Khieu - a rare intellect and talent.

“This is something not many people can do because when studying cultural theory, we have to find the ideological foundation to create that culture, not to express it through communication behavior, costumes, etc. His books focus on researching the guidelines and ideas for developing Vietnamese culture to build a solid enough foundation to effectively implement the policies of the Party and State through practice. These are great contributions of Professor Vu Khieu”, researcher Ngo Huong Giang, Director of Pham Van Dong Cultural Space commented.

Not only that, his love for national culture is also imbued in his ancient literature, parallel sentences, funeral orations, and stele poems. Ancient literature is a very difficult genre, requiring strictness in rules and regulations. The writer must possess a rich knowledge of history and literature, abundant vocabulary, solemn and heroic melody, and spirit. Realizing the great value of ancient parallel prose, he decided to revive it in modern life with touching works.

The literary works are considered to have achieved the perfect level of intelligence, spirit, and attraction such as the stele epitaphs, the Hung King's death anniversary eulogy, or the epic poems in which each word "brimmed with tears" such as the eulogy for those who died of hunger in 1945, the prayer for the souls of martyrs during the anti-American war...

Although he was fluent in Han Nom, he often wrote parallel sentences in Vietnamese, adding another way to express and develop the national language. “Reading Vu Khieu, I see how rich and beautiful the Vietnamese language is! Along with Nguyen Tuan, Thach Lam, Vu Bang and other talented writers, he is one of the writers who contributed to enriching and beautifying the Vietnamese language,” shared journalist Ho Quang Loi, Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association.

Take knowledge as the reason for living

Knowledge is the source of culture, culture is the soul of the nation. This is also the reason for living, the lifelong goal of Professor Vu Khieu. It is no coincidence that in his home office, the word "Knowledge" is hung in a prominent position. Below is a quote from Confucius: "Sinh nhi Tri, hoc nhi Tri, khon nhi Tri. That sentence means that people are born with a thirst for knowledge, studying is to gain knowledge, then suffering is also because of knowledge. His joy is to contribute his knowledge, intelligence, and creative talent to life.

During the 98th birthday celebration held at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2013, Professor Vu Khieu excitedly shared: "In front of the trust of the Party and the State, in front of the affection of Hanoi leaders who honored me as the Capital's No. 1 Outstanding Citizen, in front of the encouragement of friends today, I would like to start implementing another 5-year plan and complete it by the year I turn 103. That calculation is mine. Life and death are God's business. I can only promise my dear friend that as long as I am alive, I will work to the end of those years."

At the threshold of the hundred years, the Professor still persistently traveled in the South and the North, diligently writing, translating, and conducting academic research. With an extraordinary spirit of work, regardless of day or night, he successfully completed his task as Chairman of the Editorial Board of the anthology “Thousand Years of Thang Long Culture” (consisting of 4 volumes).

He also participated in compiling the Hanoi Encyclopedia, directly wrote the work "History of Social Sciences and Humanities of Hanoi City"; and was also Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council for the history book "Thousand Years of Thang Long" consisting of more than 100 volumes.

Most recently, Professor Vu Khieu published the 3-volume book “Thang Long Culture”, 2,400 pages thick, which he quietly wrote for 15 years, to the joy and admiration of leaders, researchers in history, culture, aesthetics and a large number of readers.

Journalist Ho Quang Loi shared: “After the 3-volume book series “Van hien Thang Long” was published, I brought the book to the bed and placed it in the hands of the great intellectual. Eyes closed, the Professor’s hand trembled as he gently stroked the book. And surprisingly, he raised his hand, used two fingers, and parted his closed eyelids to look up at each cover of all 3 volumes of “Van hien Thang Long”. It seemed like he had seen the face of his most beloved brainchild who had been a writer for nearly the entire 20th century and into the early 21st century, the Professor seemed to smile with satisfaction. Seeing that arm, my heart was filled with emotion and I could not hold back my tears.”

It took an incredible amount of determination, a spirit of taking knowledge as the most important thing and a passion for work for him to be able to overcome the limitations of his physical and human life to fully devote himself to the national culture.

It can be said that the Professor's creative and dedicated life and glorious career are an inspiring example of patriotism, love of national culture, sense of responsibility, vitality and faith towards the future./.