Retired old man passionately writes 'village history'

(Baonghean.vn) - People say retirement is to enjoy old age, but for Mr. Duong Phuc Hieu (68 years old) in hamlet 7, Thuan Son commune (Do Luong), it is different. For the past 13 years since returning to his hometown, he has been passionate about riding his bicycle everywhere to write 'village history'.

People in Do Luong and neighboring districts are familiar with Mr. Hieu and his rickety electric bicycle, who often goes to the countryside to learn about “old stories”. He has loved the beauty of traditional culture, especially history, since he was working in Hanoi, but it was not until his retirement (2003) that he had the opportunity to freely “do as much as he wanted”.

Mr. Duong Phuc Hieu, Hamlet 7, Thuan Son Commune (Do Luong).

He is a veteran of the anti-American war, participating in the battle at Quang Tri citadel and the historic Ho Chi Minh campaign. Many people are surprised because his current passion for research and writing has little to do with his major at the School of Economic Planning.

For over ten years, he has devoted all his time, effort, money and passion to his work, paying special attention to the achievements of historical figures, families and people who have made great contributions to his homeland and country.

Passionate about collecting and researching the history of families and villages.

Previously, with an old Thong Nhat bicycle and an old leather briefcase, he went to almost all the plain districts and some mountainous districts in Nghe An province to learn, research, and collect the good and beautiful things in the cultural history of the villages and families.

He also covered all his own expenses for food, accommodation, and travel for long trips, sometimes lasting a whole month, to Thanh Hoa, Hai Phong, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho provinces... to research a number of issues that interested him.

In recent years, thanks to an electric car instead of his old bicycle, his traveling back and forth has become less difficult. At home, he also has a full set of computers, printers, cameras, etc. to serve his passion.

He shared: "I am an old soldier who likes to talk about the past, wishing to contribute to preserving for my descendants the good traditions of my ancestors and my village."

Mr. Hieu and the stele of the first-class and doctoral graduates that he built.

After many years of tirelessly wandering around the villages, he had dozens of works and articles published in magazines, news sites of the clans, and presented at national conferences, including many typical works such as: The coup of Crown Prince Le Nghi Dan and his son and its consequences; The Dao family in the ethnic community; Phan Dinh Ta, a bright star in the sky of Vietnam...

For the past 4 years, he has been focusing his efforts on the creation of the work "Feng Shui", which he says is his "brainchild" in which he has invested the most effort.

The works he writes are only for the community, without asking for any fees, as he said, "I am a writer without royalties." He is also often invited by organizations, individuals, and families everywhere to attend traditional ceremonies and talk about history. He is currently the Vice President of the Duong Family Council of Vietnam.

Another special thing is that he spent all his retirement savings to restore the 3-room Duong Thanh temple in a 1000 m2 area near his house. He was also the one who directly took care of the incense offerings for the national heroes worshiped in this temple. In addition, he also built a stele house next to the temple, carved steles to record the names of Vietnam's top scholars and doctoral steles of the families.

In the near future, he plans to continue to complete the restoration of Duong Thanh Temple and the stele recording the names of feudal Nghe doctors. At the same time, he wants to open a Nom class for those who love this type of writing in his hometown and neighboring areas.

Huy Thu