incompetence of the mandarins and the meaninglessness of the education system at that time. He read many books, knew medicine, had extensive knowledge, but did not take the exam, only focused on the practical path. He often traveled throughout the Central provinces, looking for like-minded people to make friends with, and was called "the rich kid" by his contemporaries.
At the age of 20, he married Tran Thi Nhan, daughter of Regent Tran Tien Thanh. It was in his father-in-law's office that he read many modern Chinese books, including Nguyen Truong To's documents, and was influenced by these reformist ideas.
In the 30th year of Tu Duc (Dinh Suu, 1877), the Hoi examination in Hue used the story "The French Ambassador visits the court, peace and harmony" as the exam topic. Although he did not take the exam, with a heart always troubled by the situation of the country, Nguyen Lo Trach submitted a "Timely Affairs Book", exposing the French colonialists' scheme to pretend to negotiate peace, and at the same time advised the court to "urgently focus on self-reliance and self-government" to save the country. Although " Timely Affairs Book" was not implemented by the court, it still caused a great stir.
In the beginning of the year of Nham Ngo 1882, the Privy Council intended to send him to Hong Kong to study engineering, but later it was not successful. After that, he sent a letter to his father-in-law, Tran Tien Thanh, asking him to remind the court that "we must know how to be self-reliant and self-governing, and at the same time must know how to secretly communicate with France's hostile powers such as England, Germany... to form a tripod to restrain France". Tu Duc read it and commented that "Ngon ha qua cao" (What a high speech!) and then stopped.
In April of that year, the French army attacked Hanoi for the second time. Nguyen Lo Trach immediately submitted the "Timely Affairs Book". In this book, he pointed out specific points that needed to be done immediately and advocated very strongly and resolutely: building the capital in Thanh Hoa to prepare for resistance, reorganizing the army, and diplomacy.
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with Germany and England to restrain France... However, this time, the Nguyen Dynasty also ignored his requests.
In January of the year of Giap Than (1884), the Grand Chancellor Nguyen Van Tuong invited him and Pham Phu Duong (son of Pham Phu Thu) to the capital Hue to discuss national affairs. To reiterate the basic arguments in his strategy against foreign invasion. Upon his return, Nguyen Lo Trach drafted a letter titled "Du Pham Phu Duong thuong Grand Chancellor" (Letter signed with Pham Phu Duong to the Grand Chancellor), and then presented it to Mr. Tuong.
In May of the year At Dau (July 1885), the capital Hue fell, King Ham Nghi fled to the Quang Tri war zone, and issued the Can Vuong edict. In 1888, King Ham Nghi was captured by the French army, and at the same time the Can Vuong movement was brutally suppressed. Nguyen Lo Trach had to retreat into seclusion but still did not stop caring about national affairs.
In 1892, under the reign of Thanh Thai, there was another Hoi examination in Hue. Although he did not take the exam, but because the topic was about "the great world", he also wrote an article called "Thien ha dai the luan" (Discussion on the great world situation) discussing the situation of East Asian countries facing the danger of annexation by some Western countries. After analyzing, he pointed out in general that: the French colonialists' ambition to invade had existed for a long time, not because we were afraid and asked for peace that they stopped, nor because we provoked them that they raised more troops. Now the king and the court had only one choice:
- Completely give up bureaucracy, corruption, and vanity... then "who knows, one day we might not be able to make a great career".
- We need to grasp and promptly reform politics and education so as not to disappoint the people's expectations.
He wrote this essay to inspire King Thanh Thai and the mandarins to urgently restore the country, but when it was published, it caused a stir.
widely known, read and appreciated by many scholars and people with reformist ideas, including Phan Boi Chau, Nguyen Thuong Hien, Tran Quy Cap, Huynh Thuc Khang, Vu Pham Ham, Truong Gia Mo...
Towards the end of his life, he continued to travel here and there, looking for talented people to make friends with. In the year of At Mui (1895), he made a trip to the South to Phan Thiet - the "refugee land" center of the South Central region's scholars at that time. He also planned to go abroad but before he could do so, he fell seriously ill and died in Binh Dinh in 1895, at the age of 42.
In 1957, Nguyen Lo Trach's descendants brought his remains from Binh Dinh to be buried at the cemetery of Ke Mon village, Dien Mon commune, Phong Dien district, Thua Thien - Hue province. His tomb is a simple circular shape, 3 m in diameter, 40 cm high, 20 cm thick; and has been recognized by the state as a national monument under Decision No. 52/2001/QDBVHTT dated December 28, 2001.
Career
Nguyen Lo Trach's works are mostly in Chinese characters, including:
- Quy Uu Luc: is a collection of his essays (including "Times and Events Book I, II", and "World History Treatise"), which he personally arranged in 1884.
- Kỷ trao lục (Mock yourself like a person from Kỷ country)
- Ky Am's rustic words
- Complete Poetry and Literature Collection of Ky Am (Complete Poetry and Literature Collection of Ky Am)
- National language song advising wife to go into hiding together.
However, most of the above poems and literature have been lost, only the collection Ky Am Nguyen Lo Trach di van (Remaining writings of Ky Am Nguyen Lo Trach) remains, collected by later generations. It includes Quy Uu Luc, some letters and 15 poems.
In general, his poetry has a melancholy tone. His argumentative writing, in addition to being passionate, also attracts readers with expressive examples that both affect emotions and have a humorous satirical meaning, leaving no reader indifferent.
Chapter 1 Summary
In chapter one, we have studied the issues of the genre in Vietnamese medieval literature. We also gave a basic overview of the issues of: concepts, appearances, and characteristics of the genre in the second half of the 19th century. At the same time, we studied the authors Nguyen Truong To and Nguyen Lo Trach. The works of Nguyen Truong To and Nguyen Lo Trach have strong characteristics in terms of content and art of the genre of the genre. Approaching the works of Nguyen Truong To and Nguyen Lo Trach is the right direction, contributing to evaluating the position of the political literature of Nguyen Truong To and Nguyen Lo Trach in the flow of medieval political literature.
Chapter 2: SYSTEM OF MAIN DISCUSSION ISSUES
IN VIETNAMESE DISCUSSION IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY
In the process of medieval literature, the genre with its main content on politics - military, economy, culture - society... made an important contribution to the struggle to build and defend the country and deeply expressed the thoughts of the Vietnamese people. When the country fell into a state of crisis, backwardness, and desolation, the genre appeared and achieved typical achievements. That was specifically demonstrated through the strategy of national renewal and the strategy of fighting against the enemy of Nguyen Truong To and Nguyen Lo Trach. Because it is like a dagger, an explosive against all injustice and tyranny.
2.1. National renovation strategy
2.1.1. Political and military
In the Great Treatise on the Division and Unification of the World, Nguyen Truong To presented basic strategies on the major divisions and unifications of the world. He proposed that the court advocate peace but not surrender.
In the essay Te Cap Luan, Nguyen Truong To mentioned the renovation and development of the country. Regarding the situation of our country, he proposed things that need to be done immediately.
First: urgently amend the urn. Originating from the danger of invaders, rebellions in the country and the weak and incompetent imperial army, he was very concerned about the urn. He told the imperial court to "Quickly reorganize the border... Tighten the ranks", "Must have a strong ranks", "Then we will not be visited by Western countries". He emphasized that if we have a strong army, we can protect the country, so the state must respect the urn. He opposed the notion that "a word is more powerful than a word".
"One hundred thousand troops", that is, the contemporary concept only valued frivolous literature.
He mentioned measures to reform the army. According to him, the army must be trained in a new military science with the motto that theory must be combined with practice, and learning must be learning military books and maps. Whatever you learn, you must practice it. The practice content includes many aspects such as: how to shoot, how to stab a bayonet, how to attack a fort, ambush, how to use terrain. He also suggested that the court compile military books for soldiers to study. In compiling military books, the court must rely on old military books, remove inappropriate parts and refer to Western military books to supplement them. In addition, it must collect opinions from good military people in the country to add to the military books. This shows that Nguyen Truong To had the clear thinking of a military reformer, reforming but not meaning completely denying the progress of his ancestors, learning good and new things, even those of the enemy. Regarding organization, he suggested that the court should follow Western countries to build regimes for soldiers and mandarins. When officials retire, they still receive the same salary as when they were in office, and the same when they die. If officials commit crimes, they will be punished, but their salaries should not be reduced, demoted, or their bodies should be made to suffer. With such policies, soldiers will wholeheartedly serve the court, which is a good way to do it. He suggested that the court should dismiss incompetent people. According to him, officials need to be good, not too many, and if there are fewer officials, there will be conditions to increase salaries for soldiers. Generals only need good people, because even if there are many bad people, it is useless... Therefore, he believes that if officials are incompetent, even if they are descendants of former meritorious officials, they should be dismissed because letting them command the military would be more harmful than letting them sit around and enjoy their salaries. This is his very wise point of view. He also mentioned the ignorance of officers at that time, such as many people who only knew how to write two words
“obey” and suggest that those who have passed the bachelor’s and master’s degrees must be recruited and sent to study. For soldiers, he suggested that the state must recruit soldiers from 20 years old and above, without wives or children, and dismiss the old and weak ones to return home to use that salary to give more to soldiers on active duty. Officials must spend time for soldiers to practice military training and should not force them to do other work. If there is construction work, they should mobilize civil servants and prisoners to do it. Officials must not treat them as servants in the house or humiliate or mistreat them. The material life of soldiers must be paid attention to, soldiers should not be given old rice, cold clothes... Wounded soldiers must receive salaries and be taken care of carefully. This is a military policy full of humanity and progress. Through that, it shows his far-sighted talent. In addition, to strengthen the military force to protect the village and the country, he suggested that the court must pay attention to building the army and people. This is a very important force. When there is chaos or invasion, the militia will perform self-defense duties and coordinate with the royal army to fight. This army is organized into teams, has common weapons such as spears, and mainly guards the village and protects local security. They still participate in production and business like ordinary people, when needed, they also perform the tasks of transporting food, building roads, dredging rivers and other public works. They do not have salaries like soldiers, so when mobilizing them to do public works, the state must provide them with money and rice. This is one of his very good reform ideas about the army, not only strengthening and expanding the strength of the royal army but also strengthening the spirit of solidarity between the army and the people, mobilizing the strength of the people, on the other hand creating a second solid protective circle, blocking the enemy's footsteps, creating a solid rear for the front line. We still use this policy effectively in every locality today. He also asked the court to establish a number of new military branches. In addition to the infantry, there must also be a cavalry team.