A few words to the teacher - Professor, Doctor, People's Teacher Nguyen Quang Ngoc - On the occasion of his 70th birthday

Hanoi is entering the most beautiful and romantic days of late autumn and early winter. In the hustle and bustle of life, however, what I am thinking about right now is not regretting the golden autumn sunshine and wind outside or the chilly first days of the season that make me feel surprised and hasty. But, if only I could stay at home every day, if only I could gather a large number of my Teacher's students, big and small, to organize a small, intimate and cozy meeting, with a backdrop, a gateaux printed with one or two carefully selected pictures of my Teacher, under the "collusion" of my wife and son, with a crowded and cramped photo session full of students, heavy like "a bunch of children and grandchildren" but filled with laughter - something that not every leading professor can have... Also these days, preparing to attend a conference on the History of the Port in Da Nang, presenting the Teacher's scientific results, as well as my own research, inheriting, developing and under the Teacher's guidance, I think that my career and what I have achieved in the past 20 years are all thanks to my Teacher and must have my Teacher. The folk saying "Without my Teacher, you cannot succeed" has been engraved in my bones for a long time, and at this moment it is more poignant than ever! On the occasion of the Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) celebrating the Teacher's 70th birthday, I, although I had the honor of writing about him exactly 7 years ago, this time I would like to focus on my personal memories and feelings for him!

Most of my scientific achievements today began one autumn evening in 2001, when I was a third-year student in the Faculty of History, a suitable school year for student scientific research activities. I came to ask the Teacher for guidance and suggestions for a research topic. Sitting on the third floor, in the Teacher's office, full of books, the Teacher thought for a long time, until late at night, making me worried. As a new student, clumsy and shy, mustering up all my courage to go to the Dean's house (at that time also called the Head of the Faculty), to ask such a question was very bold, and I was only worried that the Teacher would not accept and would not trust me with the topic. Later, I learned that the Teacher did hesitate and consider, and those worries took up most of the time the Teacher and I sat silently in the attic that night, while the Teacher folded his arms and thought, while I felt like my heart was on fire, afraid of all kinds of things. Perhaps because of such impatience, when the Teacher began to discuss, the "deaf and unafraid of guns" student quickly accepted the Teacher's topic suggestion, without knowing what difficulties and challenges were waiting for him ahead, what had made some of his seniors give up - and the Teacher, more than anyone, had experienced that, so he had taken so long to decide. The "spoils of war" that day I brought back were heavy, both figuratively and literally, excited because the Teacher accepted, and carried back an ancient, large and thick book. That was the typewritten document British Factory in Tonkin (Phở Hiến period, 1672-1683) brought to Vietnam by Dr. Anthony Farrington, Director of the British Library (London). That night, I would not have been able to sleep well if I had known the horrors of the following days, when I opened the book, it was all in English, and it was 17th century Old English, so strange and complicated that it made me dizzy, while my foreign language and scientific knowledge was still immature.
In the E yard of the former School of Humanities, there was a “legendary” fountain, which became even more “classic” when it was… a hiding place for quite a few students, if they were lazy, incompetent and especially still indebted to their teachers: The teacher walked on the left, the students avoided on the right or vice versa, choosing the rotating ceramic ball and the water jets as a very effective cover. I don’t remember if I hid from Teacher Ngoc like that, maybe it was during my PhD period, but certainly after the day I went to Teacher’s house and when I glanced at the documents in panic, I quickly ran away many times when I saw Teacher’s figure in the distance. Until I could no longer avoid it, forcing myself to hit my head against the stone wall, under the pressure of my determined promise to my Teacher, of my great respect for my Teacher and even fear of his authority, I began to seriously read and translate documents, little by little, at first difficult and slow, then gradually breaking down and being able to speed up a little, then more... And when I had "installed" the "engine" of eager exploration, the times I discovered the passage with the name Mark talking about Mac Dang Dung, the variations of the place name Domea (Domay, Domee, Dome...), were all times I ran to my Teacher's house with my books; I remember the time I carried bricks, tiles, ceramics from the field, took the bus back to fill the Teacher's yard, just to see my Teacher's radiant face, his shining eyes, his mouth smiling widely with excitement...; that's how I started my scientific life!
Just like that, like that, the Teacher has guided me throughout the journey of the past two decades, with the erudition, profoundness of expertise, the majesty of a great Teacher, but also closeness, enthusiasm with students, with encouragement by the Teacher's own example of scientific enthusiasm as well as when students carried out his instructions. With his great position and prestige, he introduced me to domestic and foreign scientists who could help me with my research, regardless of whether it was just a student scientific report, a university graduation thesis, or a doctoral thesis later: A very profound and respectable teacher - Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thua Hy edited the first rough translations, experts at the Center for Human Geography (now the Institute of Human Geography, under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences) helped draw maps from field survey results, geologists, geomorphologists, especially the late Professor Dao Dinh Bac gave valuable professional advice, and especially Professor Leonard Blussé with the door opening the world to me, to Leiden University (Netherlands) and the first international academic experiences...
It can be said that Mr. Ngoc has always been present and played an important and essential role in my scientific and career paths. In research, what I have is thanks to Mr. Ngoc's transfer, inheritance, from orientation, documents, instructions from big to small. Besides encouragement and inspiration, Mr. Ngoc is also the one who worries and "reinstates" me when I am too drunk, like the time he went to Hai Phong, drove his motorbike from the city to Tien Lang to find and drag me back to Hanoi to write in time for the thesis deadline. At the same time and vice versa, Mr. Ngoc is a generous person, tolerant of the shortcomings and shortcomings of the little student: the crime of being slow, careful and greedy in writing, the thesis draft was submitted on time, luckily he did not have to make many corrections (and he was the one who was excited to show off his student like that); The first draft of the doctoral thesis was lengthy and voluminous, making the Teacher tired in many ways, but he did not forget to encourage and reassure the famous long-time PhD student. In particular, I know that the Teacher had expected and created conditions for me not only to fly high, fly far, but also to fly longer; but when that timid and incompetent "little bird" chose the way back, to shelter, to safety, the Teacher was not too angry, a little disappointed, but still opened his warm arms to me. It must be added that, at the postgraduate level, the Teacher inspired autonomy and independence in research, respected the decisions of the students, not only the path to determine the future, but also the scientific viewpoints in the very topic that the Teacher had taught me. The Teacher could be very passionate and fierce in debating, defending his hypothesis, but that did not mean that he did not support and value the other opinions of the students. Knowing how to “argue” with the Teacher, at that moment, I knew that in the Teacher’s arms, I was gradually growing up. Isn’t that the training success of a TEACHER!
My mother often said, “Mr. Ngoc” always played a decisive role in every step of my education and career: If it weren’t for him, as the Head of the Faculty, who was both decisive and flexible in applying practical skills (an excellent new student of the Faculty studying abroad at university), I, a student who passed the Literature entrance exam, would not have had the opportunity to fill that vacant position, to become a student of the Faculty of History; he was also the one who raised the issue of keeping me as a Lecturer of the Department of Ancient and Medieval Vietnamese History, creating conditions for me to study advanced English in Ho Chi Minh City, then I would have a certificate, then I could study abroad; when Hanoi National University allowed the transfer of PhD students from the Bachelor level if qualified, he was the one who informed me as soon as he received the document… Until I achieved the first achievements, from the research that inherited and developed the Teacher’s orientation, I was happy to always have him by my side. Even at the “89th minute”, before the first monograph was published, when I asked the Teacher to write the Introduction, he himself realized a rather dangerous mistake on the book cover, and only he could “rescue” me, helping me replace it with one of his precious maps. My achievements and awards, from when I was a student, a researcher, to when I became a young scholar, all have the image of the Teacher like that!
One more thing that I would like to share is that, as the saying goes, “If fate allows, we will meet”, even when I have grown up and worked independently, I have always “met” and, so to speak, been fascinated by the scientific topics of the Teacher, like the Teacher, and/or worked with the Teacher. The Dang Ngoai River, Domea in particular, the port issues and the industrial and commercial economy in general are very clear. But not only that, the Thang Long - Hanoi citadel, urban areas, the territorial - maritime process in the South, the study of the Ly dynasty, going up to the highlands with Tay Son Thuong Dao, are all areas where the Teacher left his footprints, and are just some of the many topics of the Teacher’s research career of more than 50 years, which I can follow and contribute to. Moreover, a very valuable thing, worth learning and following from the Teacher, as I have emphasized in the previous article, which everyone can easily recognize: Teacher Ngoc always chooses and maintains himself as a SCIENTIST, regardless of the management tasks or political crossroads that have come to him and are not not posed to him. In any position, any working agency, doing anything, the Teacher never leaves his profession, does not reduce his passion for research, and still firmly maintains the role and position of a scientific leader. "Each family has its own basket, each family has its own handle", many of the Teacher's students also have their own "quality", not arrogant, not too ambitious, but become famous in their profession, have been and will always be true scholars, regardless of their position.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quang Ngoc at the working session on Compiling Nam Dinh Gazetteer

This fall and winter, my teacher turns 70 years old, but the U40 - U50 class of students, despite that, still cannot compete with "The Old Man" (as we have recently started to affectionately call him) in terms of working capacity, work organization and scientific enthusiasm. He refused and gave up positions and titles to "Young people" (as he often called him), but he was still enthusiastic and played a key role in seminars and scientific activities, especially passionate about field trips along the territory of Vietnam. Busy with life and work, I sometimes could not keep up with him on all those steps, but following him, listening to him share, I was very admiring and proud. I, your little student, sincerely wish you good health, to always find joy in life, in the work and activities that you are passionate about and enjoy, and especially to always contribute to science, to always be a symbol of TALENT - VISION - HEART for generations of students to follow and rely on!

Yen Hoa, Cau Giay, Hanoi
October 2022