Memories of the great poet and cultural figure Tran Huu Thung
The notable works of poet Tran Huu Thung (1923 - 1999) include: Vietnam Ly Khuc (1944), a long poem; Tham Lua (1950), poetry (a prominent work); Dan Con (1955), a poetry collection; Ngay Thu Ay: Khuc Ca Cach Mang Thang Tam (1957), an epic poem; Toi Lam Ca Dao (1959), an essay; Hai To Ho Khoan (1961), poetry...
Ngo Duc Tien•30/01/2025
Tran Huu Thung (1923 - 1999) was a famous Vietnamese poet known for his poem "Visiting the Rice Fields". He was born on July 26, 1923, in Dien Minh commune, Dien Chau district, Nghe An province. He joined the Viet Minh in 1944. His notable works include: Vietnam Ly Khuc (1944), a long poem; Visiting the Rice Fields (1950), a poem (a prominent work); Instructing My Son (1955), a poetry collection; That Autumn Day: The Song of the August Revolution (1957), an epic poem; I Make Folk Songs (1959), an essay; Hai To Ho Khoan (1961), a poem; Sister Nguyen Thi Minh Khai (1961), a narrative poem; South Wind (1962), a narrative poem; August Fields (1965), a poetry collection; Memories of Vinh in Fiery Flames (1969), a memoir; My Homeland (1971), a poetry collection; The Sound of Birds in the Fields (1975), a poetry collection; That Day by the Lam River (1980) (film script); He Still Marches On (1983), poetry collection; Lotus in Uncle Ho's Homeland (1985-1987), poetry collection; Memories of the Rice Fields (1988), collection of essays; Fragmented Poems (1996); Memories of Hunting (1996), memoir; Folk Songs about Uncle Ho (1998), poetry and folk song collection; Words of the Tree, poetry collection…
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I memorized the poem "Visiting the Rice Fields" and anecdotes about the poet Tran Huu Thung from my school days, through the readings and stories of my teachers and poets I admired, such as Quang Huy and Phan Sinh Vien.
I first met him at the end of 1961 at my grandmother's house. I had just come home from school and ran down to visit her when I met Mr. Nguyen Thanh Kham (my grandmother's cousin) accompanied by a large, strong man with a square face, thick eyebrows, and big, dark eyes that were squinting and smiling brightly. My grandmother said, "Say hello to Mr. Kham, and hello to the poet Tran Huu Thung." I was both surprised and overjoyed to meet the famous poet I had long admired. At that time, my village was famous in the North for its cooperative movement, tree planting movement, and irrigation project, which President Ho Chi Minh had visited. Knowing that Mr. Nguyen Thanh Kham and his fellow artists were "going on a field trip" there, Mr. Thung came to visit, and Mr. Kham took him to my grandmother's house.
It wasn't until 1966-1969, when I was teaching in Thanh Chuong, that my colleague Nguyen The Quang introduced me to Professor Quang Huy, and I had more opportunities to interact and converse with the poet Tran Huu Thung. Professor Quang Huy gave my early poems, such as "Land of Vo Liet" and "Nghe An Voice," to Tran Huu Thung to read beforehand. When he met me, Tran Huu Thung offered gentle and sincere feedback, which inspired me. I continued teaching and writing enthusiastically, always seeking guidance and corrections from my teachers. In mid-1969, I was transferred to the North to study politics in preparation for going to the Southern battlefield, so I didn't get to meet the poets I admired so much.
During my years on the battlefield, lying in the jungle at night, amidst the vast rivers and waterways of Dong Thap, I would suddenly hear the song "I'm Still Marching," a poem by Tran Huu Thung set to music by Huy Du. My heart swelled with emotion, and I said to my comrades: "We're so lucky to have met the poet Tran Huu Thung." Especially when I heard "I'm Still Marching" played on the bamboo flute by artist Dinh Thin, the poem seemed to take flight, stirring the souls of a generation that traversed the Truong Son Mountains to save the country. These poems and songs possessed a spiritual power "like elite divisions."
After the reunification of the country, in 1976, I returned to work at the Party History Research Department of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee. From Phong Toan hamlet (Vinh City), I would visit Professor Quang Huy and Mr. Tran Huu Thung. When we received our royalties, we would go to our usual eatery to drink bitter tea or eat "Mrs. Van's pho, Mrs. Luoc's porridge, Mrs. Thanh's drinks." Professor Quang Huy and Mr. Tran Huu Thung would remind me to continue writing poetry and prose. I was invited to attend two literary events. The first was in 1978, when the poet Thach Quy published his poem "Speaking to My Child"—a poem that caused a stir in public opinion. At that time, a meeting was held in Vinh to discuss this poem. I was sent by the department's leadership to attend. I met Mr. Thung and Professor Quang Huy again. The meeting was quite lively, sometimes tense, but when Mr. Thung spoke, with his soft, concise, simple yet erudite voice, I felt the meeting calm down, like a deflated balloon. Then the chairman concluded, and the meeting adjourned. Afterwards, there was still much murmuring and speculation in the public, but the poet Thach Quy remained unaffected.
The second event was when the Provincial Party Committee invited poet Tran Huu Thung to give feedback on the draft script for the film "That Day by the Lam River." This time, the province invited him and writer Xuan Tung to stay at the Provincial Party Committee's guesthouse. I and Bui Ngoc Tam (from the 1930-1945 group) were assigned to participate and provide feedback. The Nghe Tinh Soviet was a major topic, and writers like Hoang Ngoc Anh, Minh Hue, Ba Dung, Nguyen Trung Phong, and many others had written works on this subject. I was given a copy of the manuscript to read a few days in advance. Afterwards, I listened to Tran Huu Thung and Xuan Tung take turns reading nearly 200 pages of the manuscript. The sun was scorching, and with only a few small fans, the writers were sweating profusely. After each chapter, they would stop to exchange ideas and give feedback; the meeting lasted a whole week. On the last day, the province invited us to Cua Lo for a celebratory meal. The Provincial Party Secretary, Nguyen Sy Que, attended and presented gifts to the authors. Months later, the script was adapted into a film and screened at the Provincial Party Committee's meeting hall. I arrived later and saw Tran Huu Thung sitting in the front row with the provincial leaders. I later learned that Tran Huu Thung's film script, "That Day on the Banks of the Lam River," was the most outstanding work among all those written about the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement.
From 1985, I was transferred to work at the Yen Thanh District Party Committee and assigned to write the history of Yen Thanh District. Thanks to the guidance and advice of poet Canh Nguyen, who was then the Deputy Director of the Nghe Tinh Publishing House, I suggested to the district leaders that poets Tran Huu Thung and Le Quoc An help the district survey and translate historical relics and historical events and figures in the district. I went to Dien Chau with a letter from the District Party Secretary asking him to "help the district, help me" in collecting and translating historical documents for Yen Thanh. He said: "I'm also writing the History of Dien Chau, the Dictionary of the Nghe An dialect... I'm very busy, but the district asked, and I can't refuse."
So, from 1985 to 1990, for five years, Mr. Tran Huu Thung went to Yen Thanh five to seven times each year, sometimes staying for a few weeks, sometimes longer. We took him to almost all the historical sites in the district. For distant sites like Do Thanh, Phuc Thanh, and My Thanh, we went by car, while for closer ones, we cycled. Usually, we would go in the morning and return in the evening, eating lunch wherever was convenient. We would rest at the guesthouse at night. I say "rest," but every night around 9 pm when I brought out the peanut wine, I saw the old folks still working through the night. Following Mr. Thung to Xuan Tieu village, to the house of Mr. Phan Duy Hue, where the meeting to establish the provisional district committee was held on August 23, 1945, to prepare for the uprising to seize power on August 25, 1945, he reminded me to visit the Phan family's ancestral temple and the house of the poet Phan Khac Khoan. He said that poet Phan Khắc Khoan was a rare representative of Nghe An in the New Poetry movement, then he recounted how poet Phan Khắc Khoan, along with him and 25 other Vietnamese writers and poets, attended the founding congress of the Vietnam Writers Association in 1957. Then he read a poem Phan Khắc Khoan dedicated to General Nguyen Son. He advised: "When you finish writing the history of the district, you should compile an anthology of the district's poetry and prose to preserve the cultural essence for future generations."
After visiting the memorial site of General Nguyen Vinh Loc in Trang Nien, My Thanh, and copying the couplet inscription in the church, Thung suggested we go to Trang Ke together. When we reached the middle of the valley, he stopped and whispered: "In 1950, I was working at the Literature and Arts Department of Military Region 4 with Hoang Trung Thong, our office was in Dong Bich village. At a wedding, I spontaneously composed the poem 'Visiting the Rice Fields, Remembering My Husband,' and recited it right there. Afterwards, I revised it, removing the words 'remembering my husband,' and it was handwritten, lithographed, and sent to various places, and many people memorized it. Once, I was traveling from Do Luong back home and, halfway through this valley, I encountered two young men who emerged from the bushes and blocked my path. At that time, this area was desolate and located between the two districts of Do Luong and Yen Thanh; robbers often came to rob travelers. That day, I had a backpack with a few books and a bundle of green tea leaves. The two men searched my backpack and only found the books and a few thousand dong. When they found my travel papers, one of them asked: 'Are you Tran Huu Thung?'" "Are you the author of the poem 'Visiting the Rice Fields'?" I replied, "Oh." One of them said, "Even a poet is poor, huh? Well, you should get in the car and go home..."
Visiting the Vuong family church in Xuan Dao village, where Mr. Vuong Thuc organized a militia called "Xuan Nghia Ho" (Xuan Nghia Ho) to fight against the French alongside Mr. Nghe On, during a meal with Mr. Vuong Truyen - the Party Secretary and also a descendant of Mr. Vuong Thuc, Mr. Thung said: "Xuan Dao village used to be famous for its practice of early marriage, with boys and girls marrying at 13 or 14 and having many children, but there were also many patriotic sons who joined the army to save the country." In Phu Ninh, Khanh Thanh, the former hometown of the scholar Phan Thuc Truc, seeing the dilapidated religious relics, I saw him standing thoughtfully before he recounted anecdotes about Phan Thuc Truc. When returning to Quy Lang village to visit the Sung communal house and the ancient lim tree forest, in the summer of 1967, he, along with poets Minh Hue, writer Bui Hien, and veteran artists of Nghe An, held a congress to establish the Nghe An Literary and Artistic Association.
In Hoa Thanh, at the Bao Lam communal house, the Phan Duy Thuc Tham Hoa church, the Phan Tat Thong Tham Hoa church, the Chu Trac church, the Phan Dang Luu church... at almost every historical site, Mr. Tran Huu Thung made new discoveries. He reminded me to look for French documents about Chu Trac so he could translate them. On his days off, he would invite me to visit Ke Ngoi, Tang Thanh, Ke Sang, and Duc Thanh to see the families where he and the Provincial Arts and Literature Association had taken refuge during the years the agency evacuated. He remembered the names of each of his hunter friends in Ke Sang, and the friends who cast nets and fished in Ke Ngoi. He even remembered which village had skilled wrestlers, and which forest had abundant yams. While traveling on Highway 33, he recalled a time when he traveled from Dien Minh to Nhan Thanh, the road slippery and muddy, having to carry his bicycle on his shoulder, crawling along the way, and then he improvised a few lines:The road is named after the turtle/ Truly, it's a turtle-shaped path/ Praise to whoever is so skillful/ Struggling along the long road on a bicycle with a shoulder strap.
Then Mr. Thung recounted his years in Yen Thanh, where he and Mr. Nguyen Ba Ton, the district chairman, organized a writing competition for artists and writers from within and outside the district, resulting in the book "Words of Rice." Mr. Thung said that back then, Yen Thanh district had a very strong performing arts team that staged many programs for the Military Region Congress. He recounted an incident after a flood, while traveling on Highway 38, seeing many sections of the road cut off by floodwaters, he improvised a few lines:The district is called Yen District, but the roads are just bumpy up and down. The district is called Thanh District, but the roads are just winding, endless paths. The fish from the Roc market are still being cooked. I heard the district is about to order road repairs.I wrote a subtle reminder, and unexpectedly, two days later, Mr. Nguyen Ba Ton came to visit and said that the district would accept the suggestion and hold an annual conference to launch a rural road construction campaign.
I helped Yen Thanh district for many months, but each time I sent money as compensation, Mr. Tran Huu Thung refused to accept it. So the district leaders assigned me to take it to Ms. Phuong's house and give it to her. When I went to Trung Phuong village, I saw him building a house. Hearing Ms. Phuong say he was short of materials, I went back to ask the district leaders for permission to arrange for someone to go to Vinh Tuy to bring some down for him. When three ox carts loaded with lime arrived, I heard Mr. Nguyen Trung Phong say that they were short before, but now the people of Dien Binh had brought some over. Mr. Thung said, "Let's give it to the village to repair the courtyard of the headquarters."
Once, I went with Nguyen Xuan Phau and Nguyen Cong Hien to visit Mr. Thung. I brought a thermos of wine and bought a dozen wild birds at Hop Thanh market. When we reached the Phu Dien intersection, the police stopped us and blew their whistles. I stopped, showed my papers, and explained that we were from Yen Thanh and were visiting Mr. Tran Huu Thung's house, asking them to let us go. The traffic policeman looked at the three of us and said: "You're here to visit the poet Tran Huu Thung, so you're welcome, but next time don't bring three people." We "escaped" the ordeal and quickly went to Mr. Thung's house. There, we saw him still diligently writing the district's local history. He said: "I've almost finished it. I'm planning to collaborate with Mr. Ninh Viet Giao to add the section on folklore, and ask Vo Van Truc, Le Thai Son, Thai Doan Chat, Dang Quang Lien, and Nguyen Nghia Nguyen to add the section on village culture, before submitting it to the district for printing." I asked him to give me a few copies when the book is published. Unexpectedly, when the district agreed to print it, he sent me a copy on the day the manuscript was approved. I was also invited to attend the book launch and received a gift. The book, "DIEN CHAU GEOGRAPHY OF CULTURE AND VILLAGES," is substantial and impressive, brimming with comprehensive scientific knowledge, like an encyclopedia of a region with over a thousand years of history. The book is attributed to Tran Huu Thung and Ninh Viet Giao as co-editors, with contributions from others, but the credit primarily goes to Tran Huu Thung. This geographical treatise serves as a model and a starting point for other geographical treatises of districts and communes. Later, when compiling a list of over 20 books by Tran Huu Thung, I noticed people mentioning "Visiting the Rice Fields," "He's Still Marching," "gems of the era" (to use the words of poet Nguyen Quang Thieu - President of the Vietnam Writers Association), because these works express the aspirations of the people, the nation, and the era. They also mentioned massive poetry collections of 3,000 lines like "South Wind," and works such as "Stories of the Scholars of Nghe An," "Folk Songs about Uncle Ho," and "Dictionary of the Nghe An Dialect" (co-authored with Thai Kim Dinh)... Having been close to Tran Huu Thung for many years, and having read many articles about him—a great poet, writer, and cultural figure, a great personality, a HUMAN BEING (to use Nguyen Quang Thieu's words)—I still wholeheartedly agree with writer Nguyen The Quang's assessment: Tran Huu Thung was a simple yet erudite man. He was a great poet and cultural figure, a true Nghe An native.
The poet Xuan Dieu once assessed: "In my opinion, among the new generation of poets since the August Revolution, Thung has a unique and solid place. If he always strives and sincerely pursues his poetic career, Thung will contribute something to Vietnamese poetry..." Meanwhile, the poet Bui Hien considered him a "peasant poet"!
