The Ho Dynasty Citadel (Tay Do) in Vinh Loc District - Thanh Hoa has just been recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage. Seven hundred years have passed, many ups and downs have passed, now coming to the foot of the Citadel, looking up at the solid stone wall with large stone slabs weighing tons pressed together, we think of many things. Thinking about the stone citadel and the people's hearts. The stone citadel is precious, but it cannot compare to the citadel in the people's hearts. The Ho Dynasty, as Nguyen Trai said: "A hundred thousand people are a hundred thousand hearts". Great national unity, gathering the hearts of the people is invincible, what use is a high citadel and deep moats! Ho Nguyen Trung, the Left Prime Minister of the Ho Dynasty, saw that, so he told the king: "I am not afraid of fighting, I am only afraid that the people's hearts will not follow". It was indeed correct. Yet more than 10 years later, when the Lam Son uprising broke out, "farmers and serfs from all directions rushed to come", creating a force that could move mountains and fill seas.
So who built the Ho Dynasty Citadel? It was Ho Nguyen Trung, the person who said the famous quote above.
He was the eldest son of Ho Quy Ly (1336-1407), the year of birth and death are still unknown. His younger brother Ho Han Thuong became king, and he became the Left Prime Minister. He was a scholar, with many scientific and technical talents. When the Ming invaders attacked, his father, younger brother, nephew and grandfather were all captured and taken to Yen Kinh (present-day Beijing). Ho Quy Ly and Ho Han Thuong were sentenced to death for the crime of "treason", while his grandfather and nephew were pardoned because they were "talented". Then they were forced to become officials to demonstrate their talents, serving the Ming court, and were promoted to "A khanh" (Deputy Minister - similar to Deputy Minister). Books record that he had the talent to make magical guns, which could cause great damage.
If only he had been so loyal that he died! But that was a long time ago, and today we have a tolerant view of him. Especially because around 1438, he completed the book Nam Ong Mong Luc (Recording the Dream of an Old Man of the South). The book consists of 31 chapters, of which 28 remain, and is reprinted in China.
Those are notes like diaries, memoirs about some stories, history, culture... of Vietnam, which he is from: "Nam Ong" but now, thinking about it, he is just a dreamer.
Ho Dynasty Citadel is recognized as a World Cultural Heritage.
Explaining the word "dream", in the preface of the book, he said: The book is named "dream", what is its meaning? I answered: "The characters in the book were very rich in the past, but because life changed, almost no traces were left, so only I knew the story and told it, what is a dream? Do the great gentlemen understand?". As for the two words "Nam Ong" are my own name (title - 1438).
Therefore, Nam Ong Mong Luc has valuable historical and literary value.
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The story of Tran Nghe Tong (1322-1395) is a memory of a wise king of the Tran Dynasty, “a loyal and honest person, who served the king and father attentively. He was neither too close nor too distant in his dealings with people, and in matters of state, he had nothing too much to criticize nor too much to praise. When Minh Vuong (Tran Minh Tong - the father king) passed away, he mourned for three years without a single tear in his eyes. During the mourning period, he did not buy colorful silk clothes; he did not need to eat delicious food”. After ascending the throne, he “turned chaos into order, followed the old order, rewarded and punished clearly, and employed virtuous people…”. Ho Nguyen Trung concluded the story with an exclamation: “Is there such a good person among the kings of this land?”. The records about Tran Nhan Tong, about Chu An “nganh truc” (hard-working, upright)… are all valuable and interesting. But perhaps the most interesting story is Y thien dung tam (Doctor with a kind heart).
“My ancestor’s maternal grandfather was Pham Cong, whose name was Ban, a descendant of a medical family. He was appointed by Tran Anh Tong to hold the position of Royal Physician. He often spent all his money to stock up on good medicine and rice. He would let anyone who was orphaned, miserable, or sick stay in his house to provide food and medicine, and even if they were covered in blood, he would not be disgusted. Suddenly, for several years, famine and epidemics spread, so he built houses for the poor to live in. Thanks to that, the number of hungry and sick people who were saved reached more than a thousand. His name was respected at that time. One day, someone knocked on his door and urgently invited him, saying: “There is a wife in the house who suddenly started bleeding profusely, her face pale.” After hearing this, he hurriedly left. As soon as he left the door, he met someone sent by the king, who said: “There is a noble lady in the palace who is suffering from malaria. The king has summoned you to see her.” He replied: “That illness is not urgent. There is a person whose life is only a matter of time. Let me go save him first, and I will go to the palace soon.” The messenger angrily said: “As a subject, how can I do this? You want to save that person’s life but not your own?” The old man replied: “I am truly guilty, but I don’t know what else to do! If I don’t save that person, he will die in a moment, and what can I hope for? My humble servant’s life depends on Your Majesty, and if I can survive, I will accept all other sins.” Then, the old man went to treat the other person, and indeed the person survived. Immediately after, the old man went to see the king. The king reprimanded him, and he took off his hat to apologize and express his true feelings. The king was delighted and said: “You are truly a good doctor, not only skilled in your profession but also kind-hearted enough to save the people, truly worthy of my expectations.” Later, two or three of his descendants became good doctors and held the positions of fourth and fifth rank officials. Everyone praised him for not losing his family's career.
The medical ethics of Mr. Pham, later Tue Tinh, Lan Ong inherited and made more brilliant, in our time Pham Ngoc Thach, Ton That Tung... All those examples make us think about medical ethics today and wish to be worthy of our predecessors.
- Translated by Nguyen Duc Van and Tuan Nghi. Ly - Tran Poetry and Literature, Volume 3. Social Sciences Publishing House, 1978.
Mai Quoc Lien
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