present on the following two basic aspects: People and private life and Private relationships of the author himself. With that understanding, we have surveyed and counted a fairly large number of poems written on the topic of private life in the book Nguyen Khuyen's works. Specifically as follows: there are 102 out of a total of 353, accounting for 35.2%. Of which, there are 62 poems written in Chinese characters (see Appendix 1) and 40 poems written in Nom characters (see Appendix 2). Importantly, these two groups of poems written in Chinese characters and Nom characters have complemented and supported each other to create a rich, vivid and interesting appearance of Mr. Tam Nguyen very specifically and in detail: from the external form, inner life to personal relationships.
* Summary
From the above analysis, we can see that the theme of private life has appeared and developed in medieval Vietnamese literature. This development follows the development of the history of the national soul and the development of literature. The emergence of individual human consciousness is the condition for the appearance of the theme of private life. When individual consciousness develops to a certain extent, people become separate individual "I"s existing in opposition to society and the community, then the issue of private life will become a major issue, a central issue, a theme in the works.
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Through statistics and surveys of poems written about the theme of private life in Nguyen Khuyen's poetry, we realize that: the section of poems written about the theme of private life in Nguyen Khuyen's works is large in quantity, rich, promising many contributions. This section of poetry will contribute to affirming that Nguyen Khuyen is a person very close to everyday life, a poet of the Vietnamese people and villages. More importantly, the theme of private life in Nguyen Khuyen's poetry has marked a milestone in the development process of medieval literature in particular, and Vietnamese literature in general.
Chapter 2
PRIVATE LIFE THEME THROUGH SELF-PORTRAIT
As mentioned in the introduction, Nguyen Khuyen's poetry has a clear appearance of the theme of private life. It is conscious through the category of lyrical confessions. It is the result of the author's process of self-awareness, self-evaluation, self-description - which researchers generally call "self-portrait". Putting himself into poetry and literature, and thus there is a unity between the lyrical self in his writing and the poet's life. Studying the self-portrait that Nguyen Khuyen drew in poetry and literature, we see a vivid and complete individual person appear. The poet used his own "self" to describe in literature, turning himself into a subject to paint, to lament, to mock... The person with appearance, soul, personality,... is the portrait that Nguyen Khuyen drew for himself.
2.1. About form
Nguyen Khuyen considered himself a miserable old man: "dark face", "skinny face", skinny even to his figure: "skinny figure", "haunted", evoking sadness: "naive figure and naive shadow".
Dark face, silver beard, red eyes.
(Self-pity) Wrinkled skin, gray hair, I'm old.
(I am the one who gives camellia flowers) At fifty-one I know,
Look at the gray hair, loose teeth and blind eyes.
(Congratulations to Mr. Dang Tu Y on his seventieth birthday)
In the poem Than Gia, he also describes himself very carefully and closely, from his hair, teeth, to his eyes:
Hair in clumps, some with spots, Teeth falling out, some shaking. Four eyes blurred,
And especially the impressive posture of staggering on three legs, half-awake and half-drunk . In the poem " Self-mockery ", Nguyen Khuyen described himself as follows:
Neither rich nor noble, neither skinny nor fat, just average
The reduplicated words "lang nang", "nhap vam", "khap kheng" have sketched a portrait of old man Nguyen Khuyen with very humorous lines. It seems that every time he looks at himself, he is often filled with emotions. It is not only a lament but also a meaningful laugh:
Last night drums in the villages beat loudly, Everyone welcomes the spring.
................................................................ .
Every year God gives me a year older, The age I get, God gives me more...
(Old)
The same humorous way of speaking with a bit of arrogance "age is given to me by heaven", "age is given to me by heaven" and the way of addressing "I" shows Nguyen Khuyen's leisurely and cheerful attitude. It seems that his face does not show any worries but is full of vitality. "I am more and more..." "more and more" here means more and more resilient, human strength is more and more resilient and writing strength is also more and more resilient, originating from the proverb "the older you get, the more flexible you are".
There were times when Nguyen Khuyen used his foolishness to entertain others and also to secretly express his feelings. The image of a drunken man appeared in his self-deprecating poem:
When I'm happy and drunk, I don't know. I look up and see the distant mountains.
(Retired from office and returned home)
A "deaf guy": Cleverly pretending to be naive, naively pretending to be innocent
... I asked him, he just kept saying yes.
(He pretended to be deaf)
He is a crazy, eccentric, foolish man:
Cover your ears and turn a blind eye,
That smart is fine, that stupid is fine too.
(Mother Mold)
The author laughs at his own old age, foolishness, and uselessness. It seems that behind that is the poet's heart of sorrow and bitterness. In reality, Nguyen Khuyen was a very intelligent and alert person. Knowing that he had poor eyesight, someone tricked him and gave him a pot of camellia - a flower with color but no scent. He "thanked" him with the poem "Thanking the person who gave the camellia" with profound and poignant words:
Tet comes, someone gives me a pot of tea, I was drunk and didn't know it was a flower. Wrinkled skin, gray hair, am I old?
Purple shirt, yellow belt, that's you!
Light rain, the leaves pierce the wind! Strong wind, afraid it will fall.
For a long time I only looked with my nose, I couldn't smell a single scent!
(Thank you to the person who gave me the camellia)
In short, self-portraiting from his appearance: not skinny, not fat..., to his decrepit, crooked figure..., or specific details such as dark face, gray hair, gray beard, loose teeth, blind eyes, wrinkled skin... is the way Nguyen Khuyen caricatures himself in literature. Sometimes he draws himself humorously, sometimes with a realistic and serious tone. Basically, the self-portrait of Mr. Tam Nguyen is often internalized, intentionally drawing himself with unattractive features, in the description he almost wants to express the feeling of " red eyes again ".
2.2. Personality and soul
The drawings of the figure are only one aspect of the external form, the real person of Nguyen Khuyen is the secretive person inside, the person carrying an inexpressible inner feeling.
2.2.1. A studious person
In 1952, Nguyen Khuyen got married and took the first regional examination with his father, but failed. The following year, there was a typhoid epidemic in the area, and his father, younger brother, and parents-in-law all passed away. Nguyen Khuyen's family fell into poverty, and life became increasingly cold and hungry.
From 1854, Nguyen Khuyen continued his father's profession of teaching to earn a living. He failed the next three regional examinations in 1855, 1858, and 1861. He could not hide his sadness and bitterness at this reality:
Thinking about myself makes me feel disgusted, I'm only thirty years old...
... The four incense offerings were all gone, and a piece of deserted garden was sold out.
(Mock yourself for not passing)
Although in debt: Interest on mother and child will continue to grow forever. (Debt complaint)
and so poor that this prestige is not worth selling.
(Poor coal)
The scholar was determined to overcome difficulties and bring home the gold medal after graduating.
I'm determined to pay it all off this time, so the world will see my face.
(Debt)
In the 1864 examination, he passed the bachelor's degree exam at the top of Hanoi University. Next, he won the royal examinations in 1865 and 1868 but failed. He stayed in Hue and studied at the Imperial Academy, but failed the 1869 examination again.
Youth is not discouraged, ideals, dreams open up bright hope for the children of Yen Do:
Meet the dragon group in the towering clouds. Up, up so high
(Carp jumps over the fence)
It was not until 1871 that he consecutively passed the Hoi and Dinh exams, at the age of 37. Nguyen Khuyen had to struggle for nearly thirty years studying, with nine courses of study in a tent. In Nguyen Khuyen's circumstances, that was an extraordinary effort.
Thus, throughout his life journey, from taking exams to failing exams, debt, poverty, old age, wanting to overcome his circumstances, Nguyen Khuyen encouraged himself many times. Despite his poverty, as a mandarin and a Confucian scholar, he was once full of spirit:
The will to conquer the deep sky is not something that only swallows and sparrows can do.
(Cloud and sky group)
In the poem “ Hỷ thủy thanh danh ” written in Chinese, we see in him an ego “full of dreams”. Below are two translated verses:
Wishes come true, the wind blows, Just a little joy can overcome thousands of miles
Clearly, right in Nguyen Khuyen's "self-mocking" poetry, the perceptive reader recognizes a dialogue and a self-dialogue between the poet and himself. Through that, the image of a studious person is clearly portrayed.
2.2.2. A bitter, sarcastic and also very humorous person
and:
Confession:
The king's grace has not yet been repaid.
Bow down, tiger on the ground, look up in shame at the sky
The chess game is in progress and there are no more moves. The silver has not yet been paid and the village has already been abandoned.
The image of Nguyen Khuyen appearing in his poems seems contradictory, both bitter and profound, yet humorous and rustic. That is the heart of a great Confucian scholar who aspired to rule the country and bring peace to the world, but was born at the wrong time , always feeling lost, helpless and useless in every aspect.
After struggling for half his life in the examination hall, when he reached the peak, he realized a harsh reality: even with “green beer and golden board”, in the end, it was useless for the country. He was extremely bitter about his career:
Thinking about myself is disgusting, right? Same green beer, same gold medal.
(Self-mockery) What use is studying at that time? Thinking back on my clothes, I feel ashamed of my old age.
(Spring Day Advice to Children)
Not only useless, but also with old age approaching, he felt old age was powerless and often wondered about it. Contrary to the usual habit of the rich who are satisfied with life, wanting to enjoy a long life, and being happy and celebrating each time they grow older, he found old age to be nothing to be proud of:
Now it's time to eat for free. If you have wine, you can use your cane.
(Old)
“An dang” means eating for free, meaning a burden for one’s children and grandchildren. The poem is simple and gentle but full of thoughts. Nguyen Khuyen used laughter to mock and deny himself in a bitter way. The laughter carries a heavy mood of worry, that is the pain of helplessness and shame for not being able to use his own resources to support the king and the country.
For bad phenomena in society, the poet uses laughter to attack the ridiculousness, the hypocrisy, the signs of moral degradation in the transitional period. That is the team of teachers, monks, to prostitutes, Western girls or other hypocrisy. That is the image of a teacher flirting with a widow:
The person who said that the teacher loves me, the teacher loves my mother, does anyone know?
Bridge the old sentence without indifference, Holding the old love in the mirror is still bitter
(The teacher who courted a widow)
From the folk song rich in moral meaning:
If you want to go, you have to build a bridge.
If you want your children to be good at reading, love their teachers (Folk song)
The author turns the story into a comedy, so the laughter is not obvious while there is still criticism and education. Behind the laughter also contains the author's sympathy for the difficult situation: " teacher loves my mother ", because " teaching me, my mother is naive ".
With that same tolerant and kind laughter, Nguyen Khuyen used it to mock the monk:
Bald head, lime pot, Jumped up to the temple to sit. He read a sutra,
The frog groped three times. (The Lion's Song)
The portrait of the monk appeared ridiculous, no longer having the usual halo and sacredness. Laughter was created by the use of humorous and witty language: “bald”, “jumping”, “ya”, “clacking”… laughter full of pity and sympathy.
In addition, with the French colonialists - the main and greatest enemy of the nation, Nguyen Khuyen satirized and criticized them deeply, making them appear in his poetry as truly miserable:
Three squares with flags flying vertically, One picture with a skirt rolled horizontally.
(Get Western)
By using the image of the tricolor national flag, a symbol of the soul of France, placed next to the woman's dress, Nguyen Khuyen showed us the misery and baseness of them. The sharp contrast between the two objects here has an artistic effect.