Today, Nghi Xuan district (Ha Tinh) held a ceremony to celebrate the 245th birth anniversary (1778 - 2023) and the 165th death anniversary (1858 - 2023) of Nguyen Cong Tru. He was a famous mandarin, politician, land reclaimer, talented military man, and great poet of the nation.
Nguyen Cong Tru (1778 - 1858), was from Uy Vien village (now Xuan Giang commune), Nghi Xuan district, Ha Tinh province. His father was Duc Ngan Hau Nguyen Cong Tan, his mother was Nguyen Thi Phan - from Son Nam (now Hanoi). Thanks to the cultural and historical traditions of his father's homeland, his parents nurtured and formed the personality, intelligence, and bravery of a multi-talented celebrity, a brilliant politician, economist, military mandarin, and a benevolent mandarin who always cared for the people's lives. He passed the provincial exam, became a mandarin and was promoted to Right Tham Tri Bo Hinh, held the position of Dinh Dien Su, was appointed Bo Chanh Su Hai Duong, then held the position of Governor of Hai Yen province, and was later promoted to Phu Doan Phu Thua Thien.
Statue of Dinh Dien Su Nguyen Cong Tru at Nguyen Cong Tru relic site in Xuan Giang commune, Nghi Xuan district. (Photo: Khoi Nguyen).
Over the past two centuries, posterity has conducted many studies and researches on the life, career and great contributions of the cultural celebrity Nguyen Cong Tru, but there are still many things and contents in his thoughts and actions that we have not fully understood. He is one of the typical people with the strong characteristics of Nghe An and Hong Lam. He is a person who is active, non-stop and full of events. He left behind for the world the ideology of establishing virtue, establishing achievements, establishing speech and immortal literary heritages.
A career that was at the peak of glory and honor, even in times of bitterness and sorrow, at the end of fate, Nguyen Cong Tru was always proud of life, walking proudly in the world with thousands of eyes following, many generations admiring... What did that man think, wish for, and need from today's posterity?
Nguyen Cong Tru was a man who always thought and acted regardless of conditions and circumstances. According to him, "Having a reputation in heaven and earth/ Must have a name with the mountains and rivers", meaning that one must be dedicated and responsible for life and society. One must have the will to venture forth, cultivate a spirit, have a noble character, and integrity to overcome all the hardships of life. Nguyen Cong Tru's reputation was not in his academic degree or official position, but in his talent and work to bring glory to his homeland and country. Reading and pondering his words today, how profound they are!
Although in the feudal regime, thanks to his extensive knowledge and great talent, Nguyen Cong Tru inherited the thoughts of great men in the world to have a penetrating view of history, strongly inspiring future generations.
Uy Vien General Nguyen Cong Tru Temple in Xuan Giang Commune, Nghi Xuan District. (Photo: Khoi Nguyen).
With a long-term vision, Nguyen Cong Tru always carried within himself a great aspiration, the aspiration to govern the country and save the world. He was a talented person, wishing to establish the country and bring peace to the people. With the viewpoint of "taking people as the foundation" (taking people as the root), knowing that "tolerance and relaxation of the people is a deep and lasting plan", he actively entered the war with a spirit of daring. When there was chaos, he fought in the East and North, eliminating chaos and chaos; when there was peace, he set out policies to develop the economy, expand the land, and look to the sea.
In any era, the ruling regime always wishes for the people to live in peace, but the way to educate and care for the people's lives from the root is rarely paid attention to. That is, from food, clothing to necessary living conditions that are always protected so that people do not have to go far to make a living, are not oppressed, bullied, or forced to work... Nguyen Cong Tru saw this (of course, in his time there were still many obstacles and limitations) and he had a specific way. After reclaiming the land of Tien Hai (Thai Binh) and Kim Son (Ninh Binh) from established administrative units, Nguyen Cong Tru proposed to the king an experiment on how to organize and manage villages and communes. That is to operate the economic and security system, establish schools and granaries in communes, increase laborers, add village chiefs, and bind village and commune officials with strict punishments.
The stone stele house, which summarizes the life and career of Nguyen Cong Tru at the Nguyen Cong Tru relic site in Xuan Giang commune, Nghi Xuan district. (Photo: Khoi Nguyen).
A person who governs the people must be diligent, industrious, and frugal; must know how to use the right people for the right jobs. It is interesting to note that in any era, an official must have three qualities: integrity, diligence, and carefulness. Looking at him, we can see the personality of an official, having a long-term vision in planning policies, management methods, and development roadmaps to bring practical and sustainable benefits.
From his model with his aspirations and strategic vision, we think of and hope that the current cadres, especially leaders in any position or field, must always be enthusiastic in action, dedicated to work, dare to do, dare to take responsibility. In life, not everyone is endowed with many talents, all-round literary and martial arts like Nguyen Cong Tru, but the virtues of enthusiasm, determination, diligence, sense of responsibility... are something everyone needs to have.
The land reclamation work to establish new villages and districts by Nguyen Cong Tru in 1828-1829 shows his burning desire to bring farmers back to their land, to new villages, hamlets and villages, creating conditions for social order and stability, promoting agricultural economic development. At the same time, strengthening the protection of coastal security. Protection must rely on the people, production must be closely linked to protecting villages and protecting the country. Today, those wishes are also very close and practical to the people. Although his thoughts and actions were more than 2 centuries ago, we have been focusing on implementing them to build a peaceful society, creating a happy and joyful life for the people.
In today's terms, it means taking care of the material and spiritual life of the people, preserving and developing morality to raise awareness, fostering people's knowledge, creating community cohesion, preserving cultural values, establishing social discipline, maintaining national defense and security... In that process, the people are truly the main subjects, participating, being cared for, and developing their abilities to expand their land, settle down, find work and get rich. The contents in the thoughts and actions of the Dinh Dien Su at that time were not far-fetched!
Nguyen Cong Tru lived a life of tireless action with great contributions to history. It seems that today, his figure, thoughts and actions are still close somewhere around us. Because of his wishes, we have been and are doing them. The more we think about his thoughts, the more meaningful we find them. He is a concentrated, brilliant expression of the personalities of the people of Nghe An, the people of Vietnam. He is always imbued with the personality and qualities of a scholar of the future culture.
For him, as a scholar, when faced with the reality of social decline and a part of people degenerating and wavering, he must have positive thoughts to help the people and the country. He is a thinker and a humanist. He deserves to be honored by the people as a hero.
Market perspective of the stage of the ceremony to celebrate the 245th anniversary of the birth and 165th anniversary of the death of the famous person Nguyen Cong Tru, which will be held by Nghi Xuan district on the evening of December 9, 2023.
With the legacy of literary works passed down to posterity, with his talent for composing and participating in singing A Dao, he also wishes to bring this genre of spoken singing further and become more famous in the world. So that Ca Tru can always be sung to praise a peaceful life, and the cultural values of the homeland can be preserved and promoted in the new era.
Nguyen Cong Tru lived a lavish, carefree life, with thoughts and actions beyond his contemporaries; this unique man of literary and martial talents in history will continue to be discovered to spread and inspire the present and the future... That man contributed to making the land of Hong Mountain - Lam River famous.
Phan Trung Thanh
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