Nguyễn Quảng Tuân

Background

Nguyễn Quảng Tuân, who was born on June 11, 1925, during his studying at Bưởi School in Hanoi, already had poems published in Tia Sang and Thoi su Chu Nhat. He also wrote a play in verse, The Sound of Flute on the O River, which was performed twice: the first time on 4&5 May 1946 in the Grand Theater in Ha Noi and the second time on 23 & 24 of May, 1946 in Hà Tĩnh's local theater. He became a teacher at Ngô Quyền High School, Hải Phòng, in 1949, and by 1953 he had his Collection of Poems by Chu Mạnh Trinh and Thanh Tâm Tài Nhân published. He then had his mind set on studying The Tale of Kieu by Nguyễn Du. After he was promoted headmaster of Duy Tân high school in Phan Rang, he had his series of Vietnamese Literature textbooks successively published – grade 6 to 12 – as well as A Concise Comparative Spelling Dictionary.

After 1975, Nguyễn Quảng Tuân started his studies in Chinese Nôm characters, especially The Tale of Kiều, of which he had collected many ancient Nôm scripts.

The favourite genre of Nguyễn is hát nói and he is famous for his works of ca trù. Following are comments from Professor Trần Văn Khê, a well-known specialist in Vietnamese traditional music: "Reading ‘Vinh Kieu’ was such a surprise and delight. I know very well that Nguyễn Quảng Tuân is an expert in Kiều, but all his Kieu odes in hát nói genre are beyond my expectations. Writing 20 odes for the 20 episodes in the Tale of Kieu plus 6 odes for its 6 characters is no simple work. Such literary achievement must come from a poet who has not only deep understanding of Kiều but also comfortable use of the hát nói genre."

Professor Trần Văn Khê is very accurate in his description of Nguyễn Quảng Tuân, both as a scholar and a poet. Following is a Đường luật poem in which Tuân goes over his life story in eight simple lines:

A devoted educator, a reputed textbook author and an experienced researcher in Truyện Kiều, knowledgeable in both Oriental and Western studies, Tuân was invited to sit as head judge in the Judge Committee of the Gold Book Contest held every two years. To research Nguyễn Du's career, the great author of world culture, Tuân spent many years travelling to France, England, US, Japan and China in search of documents and Nôm scripts of The tale of Kiều. In France, Tuân asked for a copy of Kim Vân Kiều tân truyện inscribed in 1871 at Liễu Vân Đường's request. That was the only Nôm copy left, now stored in the Inter-university Library of Oriental Languages in France. In the US, he obtained from Professor Đàm Quang Hưng a copy of Đoạn trường tân thanh, revised, then copied by Hoàng Giáp Tiểu Tô Lâm – Nọa Phu – Nguyễn Hữu Lập at Tây hiên Ministry of Construction, Huế. This original copy of Truyện Kiều has now been sent to the Kiều expert, Nguyễn Quảng Tuân, by Professor Đàm Quang Hưng, so he can show it to those who need more information about it or who would like to see things with their own eyes. In England, he was able to hold a very beautiful handwritten copy of Kim Vân Kiều tân truyện with illustrations on every page and notes in Chinese. The book is an extremely valuable work of art. At the British Library, he was not allowed to copy the whole book but only a few pages for his personal library. In China, he traveled from Beijing to Hàng Châu, visiting the Tien Duong river to get to know more about the locations of Thúy Kiều's eventful life, and "to live the soul of each word of the book", as stated by Professor Dr. Mai Quốc Liên. In Vietnam, Tuân visited Nguyễn Du's paternal hometown in Tiên Điền, Nghi Xuân of Hà Tĩnh province. On the occasion, he wrote the following eulogy in honour of Nguyễn Du:

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And on November 15, 2004, on a trip to his own hometown – Yên Mẫn, Võ Giàng of Bắc Ninh province – Tuân also headed for Nguyễn Du's maternal hometown – Kim Thiều (previously known as Hoa Thiều), Từ Sơn (previously called Đông Ngàn) of the same town, in search of more documents. Following is an extract from Quê Mẹ (Maternal hometown), which he wrote during the trip:

During his trips in search of documents, he was lucky enough to meet Mr. Đinh Sỹ Hồng – head of the committee in charge of Nguyễn Du's commemoration. From him, Tuân obtained a copy of Kim Vân Kiều tân truyện, which Liễu Văn Đường had inscribed in 1866. This copy, discovered in Nghệ An in May, 2004, is now considered the oldest in the collection of Kiều's Nôm scripts. The Kiều expert, Mr. Nguyễn Quảng Tuân, immediately took to the transcribing, contrasting and annotating work, which was published by the Cultural House and Center of National Studies in September, 2004. Following is an extract from "The tale of Kiều. The oldest Nôm copy of 1886: A valuable literary work" (Jan. 5, 2005) by professor Trần Thanh Đạm: "Scholar Nguyễn Quảng Tuân, expert in Hán Nôm linguistics and literature, is well-known for his great collection of ancient scripts of Vietnamese literature, especially those of The tale of Kiều. As a result, the devoted researcher has now in hand almost all Nôm scripts of Kiều. This is a blessing which he deserves… Scholar Nguyễn Quảng Tuân is also appreciated for his use of modern computer technology: thanks to it, he has always provided us with Hán Nôm copies of good quality, well printed, accurate and so convenient for inspection and use by researchers."

Tuân has spent 40 years collecting Nôm scripts of The tale of Kiều inscribed in wood one or two hundred years ago. This collection has made it possible to contrast the different copies and add appropriate annotations. As a result, the version of The tale of Kieu can now be revised to be as close as possible to Nguyễn Du's original.

As stated above, Nguyễn Quảng Tuân is not only the expert in Kiều but also a poet. He published his verses in five books: Tiếng tri âm (Voice of a friend, including many verses in hát nói genre); Ca trù: Thú xưa tao nhã (Ca Trù, the refined entertainment of old days); Ca trù: Hồn thơ dân tộc (Ca trù, the poetic Soul of the people); Ca trù: Cung bậc tri âm (Ca trù: the musical notes of a friend) and Tập Kiều, vịnh Kiều (written in hát nói genre)

Professor Trần Văn Khê also had remarks on Nguyễn Quảng Tuân's works on Ca trù: "As a poet, Nguyễn Quảng Tuân not only expressed the feelings of the past generations but also expands the inspiring topics. He was not only inspired by beautiful sceneries within the country like Hùng temple, Hạ Long and many famous pagodas. He also wrote many odes praising the Eiffel tower, the Concorde Square during his visit to Paris. When he visited the US, he praised the state of California, the Pacific coast line and Washington, D.C. In China, he climbed the Great Wall, meeting the challenge that a great man should visit the Great Wall. When he composed about this construction he mentioned its historical background… Based on the number of hát nói poems written before 2000 and recently, I can conclude that Nguyễn Quảng Tuân has composed the most hát nói works in great diversity. I would like to express my deep admiration for the erudition and creative mind of this very special author, poet and researcher on ca trù."

The Nôm Preservation Foundation honored Nguyễn Quảng Tuân with the "Balaban Award" for his outstanding contribution to Nôm studies in 2010.

Artwork