University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU Hanoi

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Ha Tinh Province's People Committee and USSH co-holds conference on statesman Nguyen Cong Tru

On November 24th, the Ha Tinh Province's People Committee and USSH, VNU Hanoi co-held the conference "Nguyen Cong Tru with Vietnam's history and culture in the first half of the 19th century" in Ha Tinh. The Conference received 52 papers by scholars and researchers from different universities and research institutes in Vietnam such as USSH - VNU Hanoi, Hanoi University of Pedagogy, Vinh University, Saigon University, and VASS.

The conference was held to clarify the multi-dimensional context in Vietnam at the end of the 18th century and first half of the 19th century, thereby illustrating Nguyen Cong Tru's contributions to the Nguyen Dynastry and the country as a whole. Put in that historical setting and in relation to other military and scholarly officials of the dynasty, Nguyen Cong Tru emerged as a multi-talented individual and a strong, persistent governor.

Nguyen Cong Tru was born in November, 1778 at Quynh Coi district, Thai Binh Province. He was famous for being intelligent and outspoken but born to a poor family and struggled to find an official position. It was not until 42 did he become the First Laureate at the interprovincial examination (Giải nguyên), then he went through many positions from a low-ranking mandarin, Ministerial Advisor of the Right (Hữu tham tri), Governor (Tổng đốc), Censor-in-chief of the Left (Tả Đô Ngự sử), Counselor Minister (Tham tán đại thần) to  Ministerial Advisor (Tham tri), Officer of the Interior (Lang trung), Counselor Minister again and a mere soldier. Governor of Thua Thien Hue Province was his last position before he retired in 1848. After his request to go to the battlefield against the French was refused, he died in 1858 due to serious illness. 

Nguyen Cong Tru was evaluated as well versed in both governmental and civil affairs, skilled in both military and literary tasks, being a military general, agricultural officer, chairman of the examiners' board, and head of many Ả đào societies. He made political-security contributions such as developing coastal defenses and maritime sovereignty over the islands; economic contributions such as reforming the hydrocultural systems and mobilizing local people to expand their territories; and socio-cultural contributions by compiling many poems and literary works that combined Confucian-Buddhist-Daoist ideas about humanity and human life.

On behalf of Ha Tinh Province, Permanent Chairman of the People's Committee Dang Quoc Vinh said Ha Tinh was the homeland of many famous individuals, patriotic scholars, writers and poets in the past. He emphasized that Nguyen Cong Tru's life has always been a great topic for scholars and culturalists to study. The conference on Nguyen Cong Tru aimed to discover new facets about the life, career and contributions of this great personality to Vietnam.

Mr. Đang Quoc Vinh speaks at the conference

On behalf of VNU, Prof. Dr Nguyen Huu Duc said, this conference not only sought to analyze and point out Nguyen Cong Tru's contributions to the Nguyen Dynasty, but also helped preserve and promote the cultural values of Ha Tinh Province. In addition, the VNU's Vice Director hoped the topics at the conference be approached and analyzed from different perspectives and in different areas based on both specialized and inter-discliplinary points of views. The scholars were expected to suggest useful and practical solutions to developing sustainable development policies, contributing to national cultural values.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Duc speaks at the conference

At the planetery session, the participants listened to three papers:

The paper "The liberal idea of the age" by Dr. Dang Duy Bau (former Party Secretary of Ha Tinh Province) identified the liberal philosophies and acts of Nguyen Cong Tru, from his will to trangress the "imperial rules" to support and defend his fellow countrymen to his liberal style in poetry and literature. The paper then pointed out how the mindsets of later Vietnamese thinker inherited and upholded his ideas.

Dr. Dang Duy Bau presents his paper

The paper "Nguyen Cong Tru and the sea - thoughts and actions" by Prof. Dr Nguyen Van Kim (USSH's Vice Rector) analyzed the coastal and maritime economic thinking, the main policies and measures to extend economic territories towards the sea, and the protection of maritime security by Nguyen Cong Tru. The paper specified the contribution of this maritime thinking to maintaining economic stability and development of the Nguyen Dynastry.

Prof. Dr Nguyen Van Kim presents his paper

The paper "Theory of literary reading - the case of Nguyen Cong Tru" by Prof. Dr Tran Nho Thin (Faculty of Literature, USSH) pointed out the contradictions between Nguyen Cong Tru and his works; between his real life personality and that in his artistic products. The paper then concluded that to understand the works of such a medieval author, it is necessary to flexibly use intertexuality that puts the medieval context into account and puts the texts into the author's biography.

Prof. Dr Tran Nho Thin presents his paper

After the planetary session, the conference split into two panels: "Nguyen Cong Tru and literature, culture, family, homeland and lineage" and "Nguyen Cong Tru and history, politics, ideas and the historical era".

Author: Tran Minh

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