Dr. Nguyen Tai Tuyen and memories with Mr. Nguyen Sinh Sac

Mr. Nguyen Tai Tuyen was born and raised in a locality with a patriotic tradition. Thanh Van Commune (Thanh Chuong) is a land with many successful people in historical periods. This is also a land with beautiful scenery, a ferry across the Lam River, Cam Thai communal house with 2 chimeras on the gate pillars as if welcoming guests.

In the Nguyen Tai family temple, there is a stone stele 1.8m high, 1m wide, with a dragon facing the moon on the stele's forehead, recording the career of Mr. Nguyen Tai Tuyen. "At the age of 24, he passed the bachelor's exam. At the age of 30, he passed the bachelor's exam. In the year of Mau Thin, after returning from the exam, he opened a school in the Nam Dan and Thanh Chuong areas, and many students passed. In the year of Dinh Suu, he passed the royal exam and passed the doctorate (1877) and was appointed to be the district chief of Nghia Hung (Nam Dinh), but because his mother died, he asked to stay and continue teaching.

In the year of Nham Ngo, the mourning period ended, and he was appointed as the district governor of Tuong Duong. When he arrived at the headquarters, he took care of the people, cultivated the land, and was praised by the king. In the spring of the year of Giap Than, he was appointed as Deputy Envoy of the mountain room. At that time, there were bandits harassing the Tuong Duong and Quy Chau areas, so he had to lead troops to appease them. On August 12 (lunar calendar) of 1884, he died at the station, at the age of 48. (1)

When Nguyen Sinh Sac went to teach in Vo Liet, Thanh Chuong, he brought Nguyen Tat Dat (aka Nguyen Sinh Khiem) and Nguyen Tat Thanh along. He went to Nguyet Bong village, Thanh Tan and all the way to Thuong Tho village (Thanh Van) to visit Nguyen Tai Tuyen, who was his classmate. Before that, when Nguyen Tai Tuyen took the imperial examination in Hue, after grading the papers, the court failed him and did not allow him to pass. King Tu Duc looked at Tuyen's exam paper and saw a straightforward statement: "When the French invade, we must be willing to fight, not surrender, we must fight to the end." Speaking so bluntly would offend the court, but he would not commit a crime against the world and posterity. King Tu Duc commented: "Van huu khi" (Literature has ambition) and allowed Phan Dinh Phung, Tran Huu Cap, and Le Phat to pass the doctoral exam together.

Mr. Nguyen Tai Ton was the second son of Nguyen Tai Tuyen. When he passed the bachelor's exam in the year of Binh Ngo - Thanh Thai 13 (1906), at the age of 35, Mr. Nguyen Sinh Sac wrote a couplet of congratulatory sentences as follows:

I am now a Chrysanthemum Gardener and I am currently in the year of the Rat and the Rat;

The ancestors used their great pen to revive the civilization and usher in the New Era.

(Translation: We came from the examination hall to advance our career, now we only discuss high and low rankings;

You used your powerful pen and powerful literature to awaken the world. Even if you were to come back to life, it would be difficult to carry out the work of Renewal.(2)

Mr. Nguyen Tai Ton also had anti-colonial and feudal ideology. His descendants also participated in the revolutionary movement of 1930-1931 such as Mr. Nguyen Tai Binh and Nguyen Tai Thuong. In the commune, there were also many soldiers imprisoned in Vinh Prison such as: Mr. Nguyen Nhu Canh, Nguyen Nhu Can, Ho Sy Co, Nguyen Nhu Cao, Nguyen Van Nhom, Nguyen Nhu Suu, Nguyen Nhu Tan, Phan Ba ​​Tich.(3)

In 1948-1949, Mr. Ca Khiem (Nguyen Sinh Khiem), Uncle Ho's brother, went to Thuong Tho village (Thanh Van) to visit Mr. Nguyen Tai Ton's family, lit incense before the family altar to pay respect to Mr. Nguyen Tai Tuyen, his father's friend.

The memories of Nguyen Sinh Sac with Nguyen Tai Tuyen's family contributed to the study of the personalities of Uncle Ho's relatives, serving the compilation of local history.

(1) Translation of the stone stele at the Nguyen Tai family temple, provided by Mr. Nguyen Tai Luong, 70 years old, hamlet 4, Thanh Van, Thanh Chuong, on March 2, 2010.

(2) Nghe An parallel sentences, volume 1, Nghe An Publishing House, 2005, p. 259.

(3) Vinh Prison, Nghe An Publishing House, 2005, p. 241.

Phan Xuan Thanh