Phan Tu and his mark on the Nui Thanh fire belt

Mr. Le Hong Cuong (left cover), son of writer Phan Tu, turns over the diary pages recorded from Tu My - Ky Sanh, Chu Lai - Nui Thanh.

From the literary space of Tu My - Ky Sanh

In 1961, writer Phan Tu went to B, to the fierce battlefield of Zone 5. As soon as he arrived in Quang Nam, the writer immediately appeared in the Tu My - Ky Sanh area, this was the first liberated plain area of ​​Zone 5 at that time.

Writer Ho Duy Le believes that writer Phan Tu's immediate access to the liberated zone of Tu My - Ky Sanh had great significance in his literary career.

“The documents that writer Phan Tu collected at that time were as precious as gold. The writer had the opportunity to approach many revolutionary families, exemplary guerrillas, brave liaisons, mothers devoted to the revolution… from which he wrote valuable novels such as “Man and I” or “Mother Bay’s Family”, “Returning to the Village” - writer Ho Duy Le said.

Coming to Tu My, Phan Tu was introduced by the organization to live and work in the family of Mrs. Tran Thi Tranh - the prototype of the character Ma Bay in the novel "Gia Dinh Ma Bay". Mrs. Bui Thi Loi - the youngest daughter of Mrs. Tran Thi Tranh (80 years old), still cannot forget the image of writer Phan Tu filled with memories with her family.

Mrs. Loi recalls: “Those who don’t know Mr. Tu say he is difficult because he is very serious and rarely jokes. But he is sincere and emotional. My mother considers Phan Tu as her own son.”

Mrs. Tran Thi Tranh's house at that time was just a simple thatched roof. Mrs. Tranh dug a basement for the writer at the end of the garden to hide and hide documents whenever there was a disturbance or the enemy dropped bombs.

Ms. Bui Thi Loi said: “During the day, writer Phan Tu sits alone in a thatched hut on the hill and writes. He writes hundreds, thousands of pages in many languages.”

From the land of Tu My - Ky Sanh, the writer lived with the people, participated in revolutionary movements and recorded documents.

In his diary, the writer wrote: “Private calculations burn away beside the shining heroic examples”…

While working, he wrote short stories arising from the war, giving them to cadres, soldiers and people to read. That is how the collection “Back to the Village” was formed.

Literary researcher Pham Phu Phong said: “The novel “Gia dinh ma Bay” is the first novel written about the Dong Khoi movement in the South. The writer was very sincere and honest in his writings about all the developments in life and the struggles of the people at that time. I think Phan Tu is the most representative writer of Vietnamese revolutionary literature.”

Ms. Dinh Thi Phuong Thao - wife of writer Phan Tu re-reads handwritten letters from the battlefield by writer Phan Tu.

...to Chu Lai fire ring

Along with the novels “Gia dinh ma bay” (Mrs. Bay’s Family) and “Ve lang”, his novel “Man va toi” (Man and I) created a great resonance and attracted readers. Poet To Huu called it “the bedside book of Northern youth”.

Through the two main characters Man and Thiem, representing the young, brave, and intelligent cadres, the author has realistically recreated the fighting of the army and people in the fierce belt area near Chu Lai base.

“Isn’t that right, Man, even though I’ve traveled all over the world, every time we go to war we meet again; is it true that right now you’re clinging to me, you’re so close that I just need to put my finger on my heart and immediately hear my lover whispering in my ear, telling me that our homeland won against the Americans very well and that the two of us are silver flowers waving two fingers in the middle of the stream… (excerpt from “Man and I”).

Writer Ho Duy Le acknowledged: “Man and I” is a work that has both literary and practical value for the struggle in the Nui Thanh belt at that time. The reality in the writer’s writings serves the struggle at that time and later. That is the reality of the people of Quang in particular, and the whole of the South in general, towards the revolution, which is unchanged…”.

Writer Bui Xuan - Vietnam Writers Association, former Deputy Head of Propaganda Department of Da Nang City Party Committee said: "The female characters in the novels of writer Phan Tu are extremely special, typical of the character of Quang Nam people, such as Man, Ma Bay...".

Because of the great value that "Man and I" achieved, when writer Phan Tu passed away, among the many wreaths brought to see him off, there was a wreath with the words: "Man and I" live forever.

And according to poet Thanh Que, that is the greatest happiness of a writer's life...

Also from the Nui Thanh fire belt, writer Phan Tu recorded thousands of diary pages in English, French, German, Lao... so that later his family could collect and form the diary "From the battlefield of Zone 5".

Writer Thai Ba Loi said: “When writing this diary, in addition to needing writers who understand the battlefield, it also needed people who are good at foreign languages ​​to complete it. This is my strong impression of a writer with profound knowledge and careful work…”.

Mrs. Bui Thi Loi, also known as Ut Ngan, recounts memories with writer Phan Tu.

Epilogue...

It can be said that the mark of writer Phan Tu on Quang Nam land, especially on Chu Lai and Nui Thanh belt, is extremely large.

When we returned to Tu My - Ky Sanh (Tam My Tay now), we were deeply moved to see that there was still a secret basement behind Mrs. Tranh's old garden - where the writer took refuge.

Unfortunately, there is still no stele engraved with the remains of the cellar, the hut and the garden full of memories of writer Phan Tu, to remind future generations of the contributions and sacrifices of his father and brother for national independence...

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/phan-tu-va-dau-an-o-vanh-dai-lua-nui-thanh-3151703.html