Poet Vuong Trong has a "fate" with the Tale of Kieu

(Baonghean) -Among contemporary Vietnamese poets, Vuong Trong is a poet with many good poems, even during the war against America.

After 1975, his poetry explored the depths of humanity, but the language, tone, and even the form of the verses did not change dramatically.

Vuong Trong believes: "Poetry is not born for people to play with words, but to convey feelings. Good poems sometimes no longer show poetry, but only see life, mood and fate". His poems are good because in them we see life, mood, fate of not only one person... In 2001, poet Vuong Trong sent me a selected collection of poems, Looking Back, which was very interesting to read. Also from the above mentioned creative concept, the poet really likes Du Fu's and Nguyen Du's poems, because in addition to their poetic talent, they also have "Big hearts that ache with the pain of unfortunate lives".

When mentioning the pen name Vuong Trong, readers, even if they do not understand it deeply, can easily think of the Tale of Kieu by the great poet Nguyen Du. According to the book Modern Vietnamese Writers (2007), his real name is Vuong Dinh Trong, born on August 1, 1943; hometown is Trung Son commune, Do Luong district, Nghe An province. However, right from the first poems he sent to newspapers, he omitted the word Dinh, and his official pen name from then until now is still Vuong Trong. Kieu in the Tale of Kieu has the surname Vuong (Vuong Thuy Kieu), Kieu's lover is Kim Trong. Thus, right from birth, he had the surname of Kieu, and the name was the same as Kim.

It did not stop there. Later, becoming a famous poet, Vuong Trong had a poem called “Ben mo cua Nguyen Du” (1982) that was known to many people, especially in Nghe Tinh. In all three collections of poems written in Chinese by Nguyen Du, Vuong Trong was mainly based on the translation into Vietnamese, from which he “luc bat transformed” Nguyen’s poems, which was encouraged and admired by readers. He also gave talks about Kieu’s poetry, about the talent and ups and downs of Nguyen Tien Dien’s life, and was the main person responsible for the contests to learn about the Tale of Kieu through reciting Kieu, and quizzing Kieu a few years ago on Voice of Vietnam radio...

That is a story in real life, in society, but in his own family, because he loved Kieu so much, Vuong Trong named his first son Vuong Lieu Duong (Kim Trong's hometown is Lieu Duong). That year, he knew his wife was pregnant right when he received a mission to the South. He wrote down on paper, suggesting that if his wife gave birth to a boy, she should name him Vuong Lieu Duong, and if she gave birth to a girl, she should name her Vuong Lam Kieu (Lam Kieu is also a place name often mentioned in the Tale of Kieu).

It is understandable and normal to proactively name a child according to the preferences and wishes of parents and grandparents. What is a bit "difficult to understand" here is that, by chance or on purpose, the name of the poet Vuong Trong's wife is also Van, corresponding to the story of Kim Trong and Thuy Van when Kieu's family was in danger:

Encountered a storm,
So I tie you to me.
(Sentences 3065-3066, Tale of Kieu)

Just found out, Vuong Trong is indeed a poet from Nghe An who is very "destined" with the Tale of Kieu!

Kim Hung