There was a journalist Tan Da

Life of flying and struggling because of the press

In the book Vietnamese Poets, Hoai Thanh - Hoai Chan used Tan Da to open the literary circle of the book and called his poetry "unique freedom", "played the opening pieces for an upcoming modern concert". Both Hoai Thanh - Hoai Chan praised the style of a person walking in the chaos of Vietnamese society "with the serenity of a person of the past". The rebelliousness was not borrowed from the ancients, the boredom did not groan but carried the quality of a man.

That is how Tan Da's literature is, but what about the press? Tan Da is the youngest son of this talented man and beautiful woman relationship. His father was an official, also a romantic man and married a talented and beautiful actress in Nam Dinh . It was this "talented man and beautiful woman" love that Tan Da inherited his romantic nature from his parents.

According to records, in 1913, the eldest brother who raised Tan Da since he was three years old, Nguyen Tai Tich, passed away. Tan Da returned to Vinh Phu to work as a journalist. The first newspaper he collaborated with was Dong Duong magazine of Nguyen Van Vinh, in charge of the "A style of Nom literature" section. In 1915, he married Nguyen Thi Tung, the daughter of a district chief in Ha Dong. Also in this year, he had a good work published in Dong Duong magazine, quickly gaining fame in the literary world. In 1916, he took the pen name Tan Da, which was a combination of the name of Tan mountain and Da river. The name Tan Da matched his style and passion of "flying all his life": "The water ripples on Da river, fish jump/Clouds cover Tan mountain, kites fly!".

And from here, his career in journalism, literature, and leisure became legendary in the literary life of that time. The name Tan Da was so famous that newspaper owners always needed his articles. Pham Quynh founded Nam Phong magazine (1917), Tan Da's name appeared in this magazine from the first issue. In 1918, Pham Quynh praised the book Khoi Tinh Con I and criticized the book Giac Mong Con I, both praise and criticism used profound words, turning Tan Da into a phenomenon in the literary world.

Photo archive.

Tan Da became acquainted with a capitalist, together they traveled everywhere and worked as editors of Huu Thanh magazine for a while. In 1922, Tan Da founded Tan Da Bookstore (later changed to Tan Da Bookstore), which was his first private publishing house. At Tan Da Bookstore, many of his outstanding works were printed, such as: Tan Da Tung Van (a selection of both poetry and prose, including the story The Non Nuoc, 1922); World Stories, Volumes I and II (1922), Tran Ai Tri Ky (1924), Quoc Su Huan Nong (1924) and the collection of Tan Da's Poems (1925).

In 1926, Huu Thanh magazine ceased publication, Tan Da published the first issue of An Nam magazine with the editorial office on Hang Long street. The birth of An Nam magazine, the newspaper that Tan Da devoted all his heart to, began his difficult life.

In the early days of being the owner of An Nam magazine, Tan Da was a romantic, often traveling around the country. He was both a journalist and a traveler, so the magazine was published irregularly. Gradually, he became destitute, and his trips were to escape debt, relieve his sadness, or find sponsors for the newspaper. During this period, he also wrote a lot, the collections Nhan Tuong (philosophical notes, 1929), Giac Mong Lon (autobiography, 1929), Khoi Tinh Con III (reprint of old poems), The Son Nuoc (story), Giac Mong Con II (story), were published one after another.

In 1933, when the New Poetry movement was rising, Tan Da's An Nam magazine officially ceased publication after three suspensions and three reprints. Tan Da's life deteriorated severely, he had to run back and forth to make a living. The newspaper only lasted 48 issues.

When he was in Bach Mai area teaching Chinese characters. Sometimes in Ha Dong, he saw some newspapers advertising: "Receiving work on all kinds of happy and sad literature, commonly used in society - Tan Da Nguyen Khac Hieu". In 1938, he even opened a fortune-telling room in Ha Lac.

“The two words Tan Da have been around for a hundred years/As long as there are rivers, mountains, there is still entertainment/Good or bad, all things in life/Clouds fly, water flows, let the world do its thing”. The few verses he wrote about the pleasures of entertainment truly come from the man himself “there is a homeland, but no house”. A life of wandering!

The press to "diagnose" society

In the book 40 Years of Lying, Vu Bang emphasized the hardship of “a true journalist who fights without needing praise or fear of being cursed”: “A true journalist who fights for the nation, for the future, does he ever have free time to just sit back and look back at the past and ask himself if he is worthy of being a soldier and to what extent he is a soldier... I thought I saw friends who spent their whole lives writing for newspapers, suffering all their lives like Tan Da, Van Sen, Vu Trong Phung, Lan Khai, Le Van Truong, Dinh Hung, now dead but still holding their pens to write articles in the underworld”.

I think Vu Bang’s praise of Tan Da is accurate. A very vivid “sketch” of Tan Da’s portrait. Tan Da’s journalism and literature always hurt, that pain is like a thorn stuck in our foot that cannot be pulled out, sometimes it hurts, if we want to remove it, we have to have surgery to heal it, to be healthy. That is to cure the bad habits of people and society.

I read a very good article by Tan Da that until now this social evil has developed very unhealthy in society, especially in big cities, the proclamation is called Proclamation to expel beggars. The beggars here are beggars on the streets, but now there is also "begging on social networks", such as calling for charity and then profiting, or pretending to be poor to gain sympathy from the people. The proclamation has a very strange perspective, he thinks that beggars are just lazy, not willing to work. Tan Da quoted Mencius: "Giving to others can sometimes harm the grace".

Researcher Vuong Tri Nhan commented: “When we know that the things we are discussing today were mentioned by the poet of Tan Mountain and Da River more than half a century ago, we believe even more that we are not being cruel but thinking correctly. Especially when the habit of using poverty as a name is still being revealed in countless different actions, including things that are seemingly unrelated to begging.”

Vu Bang said about Tan Da's way of doing journalism: "... working as a journalist but only worrying about polishing a word in poetry, being drunk all day, not knowing anything about the domestic and international situation... I admire Tan Da for bringing a sublime beauty to the poetry section for the journalism community", in addition, Vu Bang also criticized Tan Da's "bad trait" "that is arrogance, considering the world as trash!".

Tan Da was also a person with a clear awareness of combining literature and journalism. He proved that a good journalist not only needs knowledge of current events but also a literary soul, patriotism and the courage to criticize. He also honored literary qualities to beautify and deepen the language of journalism. Tan Da's articles carry a voice of profound social criticism. He repeatedly criticized the colonial and feudal regimes, exposed social injustice, condemned backwardness, superstition and conservatism among the mandarin class. He used journalism as a tool to awaken people's knowledge and arouse patriotism... He also promoted honesty and integrity in writing. Tan Da was not afraid to clash with great contemporary writers if he thought it was necessary to protect truth and facts. This is a great lesson in professional ethics.

Talking about Tan Da, posterity like me dare not boast too much because he was so good: talented, passionate, loved his writing style to the point of “extremism”, but that “extremism” was too adorable. Without that “arrogance”, that steady composure, we would not have Tan Da’s pen in the literary and press world. Just counting from 1916 to 1939, Tan Da left behind thousands of articles, over 30 books of poetry, prose and translations.

I would like to borrow a line from the book Vietnamese Poets to end this article: “With you, people will clearly see that we are not monsters of the times, lost children with no connection to the past of our race. With you, on the Tao Dan, there still lingers a bit of peace in trust, a bit of joy that we have long lost.”

Tuan Ngoc

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/co-mot-tan-da-nha-bao-post552486.html