He was Le Quang Bi, born in 1506, with the pen name Thuan Phu and the pen name Hoi Trai, the son of the first-ranking scholar Le Nai, from Mo Trach village (Tan Hong commune, Binh Giang district, Hai Duong province).
According to the family genealogy, at the age of 5, Le Quang Bi was known for his studiousness and was called a child prodigy by his contemporaries. At the age of 20, he passed the imperial examination, ranking 4th out of 20 great scholars.
Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu records: "The Hoi examination in the 5th year of Thong Nguyen (during the reign of Le Cung Hoang, 1526), 20 people passed, three of whom passed first (First class doctoral degree) were Tran Van Van, Nguyen Van Du, and Luu Trung Doan. The group of four people from Le Quang Bi passed second class doctoral degree (equivalent to the title of royal degree at the beginning of the Le dynasty)".
Le Quang Bi was the person with the longest diplomatic mission in Vietnamese history. (Illustration photo)
During the reign of Mac Tuyen Tong, in the year of Mau Than (1548), envoy Le Quang Bi was assigned to bring tribute to the Ming Dynasty as per the annual custom. He followed the Guangxi route to Nanning but was detained on suspicion of forgery, and had to wait for investigation. The Ming Dynasty sent a letter demanding the Mac Dynasty to investigate, but there was no response.
At that time, Mac Tuyen Tong was facing many difficulties in the country due to crop failure and continuous war with the Southern Dynasty, so many things were delayed. That was why the envoy Le Quang Bi had to stay at the post office in Nanjing, unable to go or return.
Fifteen years later, the mandarin who came to govern Liangguang learned of the incident and allowed him to follow him to Beijing. However, when Le Quang Bi arrived in the capital, he was detained at the embassy for three whole years.
The book Hoa Viet Thong Su Luoc recounts an anecdote when Le Quang Bi was detained in Nanning, he remained calm and fearless. On sunny days, he would lie on his stomach outside. When the Ming asked, he patted his stomach and said: "I'm drying books in here to keep them from getting moldy."
The Ming people forced Bi to read the entire Great Learning, and he read it all the way through without missing a single word. The Chinese courtiers were impressed and asked the Ming king to let Bi stay at the guest house.
From then on, Le Quang Bi's talent was famous throughout the Chinese capital. His admirer, a Ming student named Dang Hong Chan (the history of Hoa Viet diplomacy records him as Dang Hong Than), passed the bachelor's degree and asked to become his student.
In the Ky Mui examination (1559), Chan passed the doctoral exam, was appointed District Chief in Quang Dong and then promoted to Chief in Yen Kinh. According to this book, Dang Hong Chan submitted a memorial telling the story of his teacher, contributing to helping Le Quang Bi be allowed to return to his country by the Ming emperor.
During his time in prison, Le Quang Bi composed the poetry collections To Cong Phung Su recounting the story of To Vu to convey his feelings and Tu Huong Van Luc, in which there were poems praising his ancestors Le Canh Tuan and Vu Quynh, with very touching words.
When Le Quang Bi returned to Thang Long to meet the king, he was rewarded and given the title of To Quan Cong, because his mission was no different from the story of To Vu herding sheep in China in the past. Historian Le Quy Don later wrote about Le Quang Bi as follows: "When he left, his hair was green and lush, when he returned, his beard was white and snowy."
It is not clear what year he died, but at the Le family temple in Mo Trach village, there is a stele in memory of Le Quang Bi, compiled by the doctor Do Uong in 1578, so he probably died before that.
Kim Nha
Source: https://vtcnews.vn/vi-quan-noi-tieng-di-su-lau-nhat-su-viet-la-ai-ar901821.html
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