Nguyễn Tuân (July 10,ễnTuâ 1910 – July 28, 1987) was a renowned Vietnamese author. Books about public schools in Vietnam rank him as one of the nine most famous authors of contemporary Vietnamese literature. He wrote essays on multiple subjects, with clever and creative use of language. Hanoi has a street named after him, in the Thanh Xuan district.
Biography
Nguyễn Tuân was born on July 10, 1910, on Hàng Bạc street in Hanoi. His family lived in Thượng Đình hamlet, Nhân Mục commune (commonly known as Mọc village), today part of Nhân Chính ward, Thanh Xuân district, Hanoi. His family adhered to the traditional Confucianism, but by the time of his childhood, Confucianism and traditional Chinese-influenced education had started to decline, replaced by more modern French-influenced culture.
In 1929, during his last year of intermediate schooling (the equivalence of ninth grade in junior high school), Nguyễn Tuân was suspended because of his participation in a petition against a few French teachers, who demeaned Vietnamese people. Shortly after, he was imprisoned for illegally crossing the border of colonial French Indochina to Thailand. Upon his release, he started writing as a journalist and an author.
Nguyễn Tuân began his writings in the early 1930s, but only gained public recognition in 1938 with several essays and reports such as Vang Bóng Một Thời (Echo and Shadow Upon a Time), Một Chuyến Đi (A Trip), etc. In 1941, he was again imprisoned, this time for his communication with the political revolutionaries.
After the August Revolution in 1945, Nguyễn Tuân joined the Communist party and kept working as a writer. From 1948 to 1958, he held the position of Chief Secretary of the Vietnamese Art & Literature Association. His works during this time feature mostly the scenery and cultural color of Vietnam, such as the collection of essays Sông Đà (River Đà) (1960), a diary from the Vietnam War (1965–1975), among others.
Nguyễn Tuân died in Hanoi in 1987, leaving his readers a collection of exceedingly creative and artistic work. In 1996 he was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Award for Art and Literature.
A vignette of the character
Nguyễn Tuân was first a patriot, who expressed a deep love for traditional values and cultural beauties. Having a great appreciation of the Vietnamese language, he admired not only masterpieces from famous authors such as Nguyễn Du, Đoàn Thị Điểm, Tú Xương, Tản Đà..., but also the arts of the common people, like ca trù, a form of theatrical singing of northern Vietnam. The interest did not stop at being just a spectator, but helped him study and become knowledgeable at various topics, ranging from painting, sculpture, theater arts, to film. Nguyễn Tuân was also one of the first actors of the Vietnamese motion picture industry, with his participation in the first Vietnamese movie Cánh Đồng Ma (The Haunted Field).
Unlike the traditional Vietnamese people whose life and perception were often enclosed by the border of their village, Nguyễn Tuân was an adventurer. His early works, such as Thiếu Quê Hương (Without a Homeland), depict a strong character yearning for change and adventure, to learn about the world outside one's comfort zone, and to improve oneself. He is said to claim that his personality is guided by the principle of chủ nghĩa xê dịch ("motionism"), having coined the term himself. He also envisioned himself as having a mindset greater than that of the society at the time, which provoked dispute from readers and government officials. The conceited Nguyễn Tuân gradually gave way to a calmer character as he aged, which showed in the change of tone in his works, going from self-centered to seldom self-humored and mostly observant and descriptive of the surroundings. Throughout his life, Nguyễn Tuân stressed and highly valued individualism.
Literary career and the main topics of interest
Nguyễn Tuân was not a successful writer from the beginning of his career. Having tried a variety of forms and techniques, such as poetry, journal, realist satire in the form of short story, he only realized his forte in essays in early 1938. This resulted in several successes: Một Chuyến Đi (A Trip), Vang Bóng Một Thời (Once Upon an Old Time), Thiếu Quê Hương (Without Homeland), Chiếc Lư Đồng Mắt Cua (The Crab-Eyed Copper Censer)...