Farewell to cultural researcher Vu Ngoc Khanh

(Baonghean) -At 7:00 p.m. on June 26, 2012, cultural researcher, Professor Vu Ngoc Khanh, author of "Nghin Nam Thang Long Dai Cao" passed away in Hanoi at the age of 87. Hearing the sad news, friends, relatives, students, colleagues and all those interested in the country's culture were shocked and shocked in their infinite grief!

Professor Vu Ngoc Khanh was born in the year of the Tiger (1926) in Hoi Thong village, now Xuan Hoi commune, Nghi Xuan district, Ha Tinh province. As a child, he attended primary school in his hometown, grew up and went to Vinh (Nghe An) to study at the Thanh Chung level, then went to Hanoi to study at Thang Long High School. Here, he was taught by famous teachers such as Bui Ky, Dang Thai Mai, Hoang Minh Giam, Vo Nguyen Giap,...

In 1943, he secretly worked in a Viet Minh cell in Hanoi. When the August Revolution broke out in 1945, he returned to his hometown and enthusiastically participated in seizing power and became a District Party Committee member and Vice Chairman of the Nghi Xuan District Uprising Committee at the age of 19.

With a bright future, Vu Ngoc Khanh could have become a high-ranking political officer, but this young intellectual with great will and determination turned to building the education sector, then continued to devote himself to the path of scientific research. Without hesitation, he happily accepted the task of teaching from primary, secondary and high school. In 1956, while teaching at Huynh Thuc Khang High School (Vinh), near his hometown, near his home, he packed his backpack and went to Thanh Hoa to take on the task of teaching at Lam Son High School. For the education of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa, in 22 years of teaching, he made many contributions. Teacher Vu Ngoc Khanh has trained many generations of students for the country, many of whom have now become prestigious researchers in the fields of social sciences and humanities.

Professor Vu Ngoc Khanh (1926 - 2012)

From a teacher passionate about collecting and researching folk culture, in 1970, Vu Ngoc Khanh was transferred to the Thanh Hoa Department of Culture, in charge of the Folk Arts Subcommittee. In 1980, he moved to work at the Folk Culture Department, the predecessor of the Institute of Folk Culture, under the Vietnam Social Sciences Committee (now the Institute of Cultural Studies, under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences).

It can be said that, in addition to researching books and ancient documents, Vu Ngoc Khanh is one of the few cultural activists who is willing to go on field trips and practice. He has set foot in many regions of the country. In terms of his writing ability, very few people can match him. To date, he has nearly 300 solid books, including books written individually and jointly, not counting articles...

Professor Vu Ngoc Khanh has strived to study all his life to gain encyclopedic knowledge in many fields, in which the treasure of traditional national culture is the field he "knows by heart". And he has become one of the leading experts on culture. But more importantly, he not only has extensive knowledge but also has a very deep experience of national cultural consciousness, throughout the long history of cultural activities of many communities in Vietnam. His research results cover many regions, areas, fields, and aspects, but there are two cultural regions that he has penetrated most deeply, which are Thang Long - Hanoi and Thanh - Nghe. Nghe is his hometown, his native land; Thanh is also considered his second hometown with 24 years of teaching and doing culture. In these two lands, he absorbed the quintessence and soul of traditional culture: with Nghe An, he had the "three in one" thesis about Nghe people (The peasant + the intellectual + the pioneer revolutionary soldier = Nghe people); with Thanh land, he discovered that the land of thang moc has always contributed proudly to enriching the Four Elements of Thang Long.

From the land of wood ladders, the modern Nghe scholar of the "three in one" era Vu Ngoc Khanh advanced to Thang Long. The historical lesson shows that any outstanding individual of the Thanh - Nghe region, if he did not go out to struggle in the land of the Flying Dragon, would find it difficult to achieve great success; any historical event that happened in the Thanh - Nghe region, if it did not end in Thang Long, would not be able to achieve great success. Indeed, during 32 years in the land of the cultural capital, Vu Ngoc Khanh was like a dragon meeting the clouds, freely roaming in research and writing.

On the subject of Thang Long Culture, Professor Vu Ngoc Khanh has dozens of valuable books. Regarding the Thang Long - Hanoi Cultural Area, he also has unique discoveries and generalizations: Thang Long Tu Khi (spiritual energy, prosperous energy, righteous energy and heroic energy). Especially, on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi, his great collection "Thang Long Thousand-Year Cultural Yearbook" and his article "Thousand-Year Thang Long Proclamation" became outstanding media events of the capital and the whole country. The proclamation "Thousand-Year Thang Long" was broadcast continuously throughout the 10 days of the Festival on Hanoi Radio.

Until now, not many people have won the honor like him!

During the 32 years of his career in Hanoi, Professor Vu Ngoc Khanh always remembered the Hong River and La Mountains; the souls of Nguyen Du and Nguyen Cong Tru were always in his mind. To prepare for the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long - Hanoi, despite being busy with dozens of research projects, he still took the time to return to his hometown and collaborated with two local cultural researchers, Vo Hong Huy and Thai Kim Dinh, to compile the work "Tieng Kieu Dong Echo Dat Non Hong" (Culture - Information Publishing House, Hanoi, 2010), creating a prominent echo of his hometown Nghe An in the thousand-year-old sound of Thang Long.

There is an African proverb that says "When an old man dies, a great library is lost." How great is our loss when someone like Professor Vu Ngoc Khanh dies?!

He left us, "passed away" to the eternal place, but his concerns, achievements, feelings, and wishes in his cultural discourses will forever resonate with his homeland and country!

Tra Son Pham Quang Ai -Ha Tinh Culture Magazine