He said that his friends from the North included Vi Huyen Dac and Nguyen Hien Le; his friends from the South included Le Ngoc Tru and Le Tho Xuan... They were close friends with whom he had often chatted and exchanged ideas over tea and drinks.
However, through this document, I read for the first time some of his comments about the cultural figure Hoang Xuan Han. In terms of age, Mr. Sen was born in 1902, and Mr. Han in 1906. Certainly, they never met, but Mr. Sen's comments were full of affection: "In my opinion, only Hoang Xuan Han was truly a learned man. The North was fortunate to be occupied by the French late, from 1884, so the people of the North had time to learn Chinese characters, and those with ample resources allowed their children to study various subjects. Mr. Hoang Xuan Han was proficient in Chinese characters, had old Han Nom books left behind by his family, studied mathematics, arts, and French literature taught by his highly educated teachers, so he was a complete scholar" (written on July 21, 1996).
Scholar Hoang Xuan Han
This observation is correct, because as we know, Mr. Hoang Xuan Han became a brilliant figure in many fields, "the embodiment of Vietnam's encyclopedic mind in the 20th century" (Faces of Intellectuals - Culture and Information Publishing House - Hanoi, 1998). After his death, the publication of the book series La Son Yen Ho Hoang Xuan Han (3 volumes - Education Publishing House, 1998) was recognized by the Vietnamese press as one of the important events in cultural life in 1998.
Another close friend of Mr. Sển, also born in the North, was the scholar Nguyễn Thiệu Lâu. Mr. Lâu was an employee of the Indochina Institute of Archaeology, working under the guidance of Mr. Nguyễn Văn Tố, and was the author of the very valuable book "National History Miscellany". The memoirs of writer Sơn Nam also express great affection for Mr. Lâu.
The author of "Fragrance of the Ca Mau Forest" recounts that in 1963, he once met Mr. Lau while he was drinking three shots of rice wine at the Tan Cuc Mai restaurant at the Ly Thai To intersection: "Mr. Lau wore glasses, yellow khaki clothes, and his legs were bound together like someone on a field trip. I introduced myself, and he ran over and hugged me. When he asked what I needed help with, I said I wanted to follow him to secretly learn about the history and geography of our country." Son Nam's statement proves that Mr. Lau was already a well-known figure with a prominent academic position in the South at that time.
When reading the posthumous writings of Mr. Sển, I was surprised to learn about the funny anecdote about the relationship between Mr. Sển and Mr. Lâu. Mr. Sển wrote:
"Nguyen Thieu Lau (deceased) studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. He was eccentric, arrogant, and constantly reprimanded by Mr. Nguyen Van To, yet he refused to learn his lesson. He went to the South, disillusioned, and became close friends with me. My house had a square-necked bottle of Rhum Mana. When the bottle was empty, Lau and I went to a cocktail party at the French embassy. Lau kept calling me names, like 'this guy, that guy,' 'toi toi moi moi.' Slightly drunk, I said loudly:
- Long time no see, students in the South tend to be arrogant and conceited, so we should be cautious.
Long reply:
- Yes.
I said:
- I'm from the South, so you can call me "Grandpa Nam," and I call Lau "Grandpa Bac."
After a long while, he reluctantly picked up his glass of wine and shouted:
- Sển, I'm giving it back to you, I'm not going to act like "Old Man Bắc".
Mr. Nguyen Thieu Lau was tricked by Mr. Sen, who used wordplay – a skill Mr. Sen excelled at.
Regarding the cultural figure Nguyen Hien Le - pen name Loc Dinh, Mr. Sen wrote quite extensively about this late friend. In the 89/90 Miscellaneous Records, he confided: "Brother Loc Dinh graduated from Buoi School, continued his studies at Hanoi College, in the field of public works, and after graduation, was assigned to work measuring water levels throughout Dong Thap and many provinces in Hau Giang . He had a good command of classical Chinese, and being from a noble family, he taught himself English enough to read and understand English books. He passed away in 1984, leaving behind more than a hundred books, all meticulously compiled. Now, when I take them out to read, I am startled. Brother Le's learning is far inferior to mine; his writing is concise and without unnecessary words, I cannot keep up with him. Yet, I had the honor of sitting alongside him, and I feel ashamed of myself."
Scholar Nguyen Hien Le
Mr. Hien Le has formulated his own worldview and has confidently followed it on his writing journey. In contrast, I don't know what a worldview is; I write because I'm hungry and have many vices. I want more money to satisfy my two greedy desires: a desire for antiques and also to nourish my spirit, a love for old books, to learn more, and to enjoy learning."
Regarding Mr. Sển's comments about Mr. Lê, I believe they weren't mere modesty, but rather genuine expressions of his feelings. Mr. Lê was also close to Mr. Sển, so in his memoirs, he briefly summarized the character of this most erudite antique collector. Mr. Lê wrote: "He valued his time greatly, so some mistakenly thought he was difficult; in reality, he was always cheerful and hospitable to his serious literary friends, spending entire afternoons showing them antiques and explaining the era and value of each item. Every book and every item he owned was numbered, labeled, and had its own tag." It takes a close relationship and frequent visits for such detailed descriptions to be possible.
Mr. Nguyen Hien Le also stated: "Vuong Hong Sen, a close friend of Le Ngoc Tru, was also a renowned scholar." A passage from Mr. Sen's unpublished posthumous work reads: "Mr. Le Ngoc Tru, from Cho Lon, in the South. He left behind a Vietnamese orthography dictionary, which I need to use every day." It is known that the posthumous work, "Etymological Dictionary of Vietnam," by scholar Le Ngoc Tru was printed after his death, with the introduction written by Mr. Vuong Hong Sen.
(to be continued)
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