About the two tombstones of the famous person Dang Thai Than

At Bau Non field, Nam Thanh commune, Nam Dan district (Nghe An), a brick tomb stands out. On the roof of the tomb are two stone steles clearly inscribed with the full name, hometown, and achievements of the deceased - patriot Dang Thai Than. At the end of the stele is also clearly inscribed the full name of the person who composed the stele - Phan Boi Chau. The content of the stele in Chinese characters, roughly translated as follows:

Stele No. 2

Summer, Year of the Rooster (1933)

(Compiled by Phan Boi Chau).

Stele No. 2: Patriot Dang Thai Than, from Hai Con commune, Nghi Loc district, nicknamed Mr. Ngu Hai. For more than ten years, he forgot himself, far from home, devoted himself to the Duy Tan cause, saving the nation. He died heroically on February 1, Canh Tuat year (1910).

Alas! Great! After 31 years of martyrdom, who will be the next to follow?

Date... month... year Canh Thin (1940)

Compiled by Phan Boi Chau.

Scholar Dang Thai Than, whose given name was Ngu Hai, was born in 1873 and died in 1910. He was from Hai Con commune, now Nghi Thai commune, Nghi Loc district, Nghe An province. He was Dang Tu Kinh's nephew. He was intelligent and famous for his literary talent in the locality when he was young. He was Phan Sao Nam's best student. At the age of 32, he wrote a pair of parallel sentences "Thu trai" (Posted at home to read books).

Translated by Huynh Thuc Khang:

- Thirty-two years old, still not grown up, sighing, heart and soul burning like fire;

- Read hundreds of books, still can not read, sit alone and watch, the fire of enthusiasm lights the torch of the sages.

Although he was a good student, his ambition was not to borrow letters to seek wealth and honor. Born at a time when the country was lost, the family was broken, and our people were living in misery under the brutal domination of the French colonialists and feudal lackeys, so he had the ambition to work to save the country and save the people. He followed Phan Boi Chau and Cuong De to establish the Duy Tan Association from the very beginning, and became one of the most important figures of the Association. He specialized in fundraising; mobilizing young people and organizing a network for them to go to Japan to follow Phan Boi Chau.

The French were furious at the Duy Tan and Dong Du Association movements and were determined to capture the important organizer, Ngu Hai. They always had secret agents follow him and when they discovered he was having a secret meeting with his comrades at Phan Thon (now Nghi Kim commune, Vinh city), they immediately mobilized 500 soldiers to surround and arrest him. He let his comrades withdraw, while he held a pistol and waited for the enemy. He shot dead the dangerous Mot Do henchman, then shot himself to avoid falling into the enemy's hands. He sacrificed heroically, setting an example of patriotism and love for the people for the world!

After his death, the French brutally dragged his body through the streets of Vinh and his hometown, in an attempt to intimidate and crush the patriotism of the people of Nghe An. His comrades and people were very sorry and tried every means to retrieve his body, then secretly brought it back to bury in Bau Non field, Thanh Tuyen commune (now Nam Thanh commune), his wife's hometown and also the place where he had opened a school.

Phan Boi Chau was so heartbroken when he heard the news of Ngu Hai's sacrifice that he thought his right arm had been cut off. In the year of Quy Dau (1933), Phan Boi Chau composed an epitaph and sent it back to his hometown to be engraved on stone and placed on Ngu Hai's grave (Stele No. 1). He was always troubled about his beloved student, his closest and most trusted comrade, until one day at the end of his life, before "closing his eyes", he composed another, more complete epitaph about patriot Dang Thai Than and clearly stated the name of the composer (Stele No. 2). Stele No. 1 only stated "Chau Chi", perhaps because he was afraid that the enemy would spy on and destroy it. The following stele with more complete content was solemnly mounted on the front of the tomb.

The two epitaphs on Dang Thai Than’s tombstone, composed by Phan Boi Chau, have honored a shining example of a Nghe An native in the South. The tomb and these two steles are rare relics of the homeland and country, which need to be protected and honored to contribute to educating the tradition of patriotism for the young generations today and tomorrow!

Dao Tam Tinh