Legendary heroes: Nguyen Trai
Nguyen Trai, is a great politician, writer, and cultural figure of the Vietnamese people. He actively participated in the Lam Son Uprising led by Le Loi against the invasion of the Ming Dynasty (China) against Dai Viet. When the uprising succeeded in 1428, Nguyen Trai became one of the founding heroes of the Later Le dynasty in Vietnamese History.
- Nguyen Trai and his father dream (Nguyen Phi Khanh).
When he was six years old, he lost his mother. When he was ten years old, his grandfather passed away and he returned to Nhi Khe, where his father taught. At the age of twenty, in 1400, he passed the university entrance exam and father and son both became mandarins with the Ho Dynasty. In 1407, the Ming invaders invaded the country, and Nguyen Phi Khanh was taken to China. Nguyen Trai and a younger brother followed to take care of him. Listening to his father’s advice, he returned, but was captured by the Ming army. After that, he followed Le Loi. During ten years of fighting, he contributed greatly to the nation’s glorious victory.
- Nguyen Trai joined the flag of Le Loi.
Thanks to Binh Ngo Dai Cao, Nguyen Trai was able to attend day and night to discuss military matters, devising plans to fight the invaders. Joining the Lam Son insurgent army, Nguyen Trai proposed a wonderful plan to propagate prestige for the insurgent army. Nguyen Trai came up with the idea of using fat to write on the leaves in the forest the eight words “Le Loi vi quan, Nguyen Trai vi than” (Le Loi is king, Nguyen Trai is servant). Ants eat fat and carve words into the leaves, then the leaves fall along the water and drift away, bringing news of Le Loi and Nguyen Trai’s uprising to everyone, making everyone believe in the insurgents.
In addition to determining strategies and tactics to fight the Ming, Nguyen Trai also did all the work of communicating with the Ming dynasty by drafting diplomatic documents. In June 1423, Le Loi sent messengers to bring gifts and letters written by Nguyen Trai to ask for peace to have time to consolidate his forces. The words in the letter were so flexible and clever that the Ming army immediately accepted.
In 1424, when the Lam Son insurgent army advanced to the south, attacked Da Cang fortress, Tra Lan citadel and besieged Nghe An citadel, combining military activities, Nguyen Trai wrote many letters to Ming Dynasty general Phuong Chinh to provoked war to make the Ming army vulnerable. In early 1427, Le Loi appointed Nguyen Trai the title of Great Minister of Internal Affairs and Control of the Ministry of Ministers, concurrently holding the position of Executive Secretariat. Thus, under King Le, Nguyen Trai was an advisor and effective supporter, contributing significantly to the victory of the insurgents by not only building strategies but also helping Le Loi draft documents. diplomatic correspondence with the Ming army.
- Nguyen Trai and his heritage: poem , literature, geography…
Nguyen Trai lived in an era of social upheaval and chaos – internal conflicts in the feudal court, the country had foreign invaders, people’s lives were miserable and people’s uprisings broke out everywhere. … This directed his pen towards the reality of life.
During his creative career, Nguyen Trai was an excellent author of many literary genres, including Chinese and Nom. His compositions written in Chinese include: Quan Trung Tu Menh Tap, Binh Ngo Dai Cao, Uc Trai Thi Tap, Chi Linh Son Phu, Bang Ho Di Su Luc, Lam Son Thuc Luc, Vinh Lang Epitaph, Van Loi. As for the compositions written in Nom, there is the Quoc Am Thi Collection, which includes 254 poems written in the Tang luat or Tang luat mixed with six languages style.
In addition to his literary compositions, Nguyen Trai also left behind the book Du Dia Chi, the oldest geography book in Vietnam.
Nguyen Trai’s writing style is political, his political works have solid arguments, tight arguments with a flexible tone and he is also a profound lyrical poet. Overall, his contributions to literature and art are huge and rich.
- The death of Nguyen Trai and his family.
Nguyen Trai is married to Nguyen Thi Lo. According to historical documents, Nguyen Thi Lo was especially trusted by King Le Thai Tong and often discussed with her. On July 27, 1442, when King Thai Tong made a tour in the East and visited Chi Linh citadel, Nguyen Trai welcomed the king at Con Son pagoda, a place he was closely attached to. On the way back to Thang Long, on the same day, the king and his entourage were present at Le Chi Vien (Gia Binh, Bac Ninh), including Nguyen Thi Lo. According to history books, that night, the king passed away after staying up with her, leading to questions about his sudden death. Immediately afterwards, Ms. Lo was arrested and interrogated by the royal court, headed by Queen Nguyen Thi Anh. Accused of conspiring to kill the king, Nguyen Trai was sentenced to exile from three clans. However, he was later exonerated and Le Thai Tong’s death remains a mystery. Overall, Nguyen Trai’s story is still considered a tragedy.
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