Tran Nhan Tong's poetry and the beginning of Vietnamese literature

Writer Nhat Chieu presents on the topic "Tran Nhan Tong's poetry and the beginning of Vietnamese literature"
at Can Tho University Library.

During the Tran Dynasty of our country, there were two great men, namely Saint Tran - Hung Dao Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan and Buddha King - Tran Nhan Tong. This story was suggested to make the listeners very interested. And from there, writer Nhat Chieu and the listeners sketched about Buddha King Tran Nhan Tong. He was a king, also a Zen master, also a poet. After all, Buddha King Tran Nhan Tong "threw away the throne like throwing away old sandals" to devote his life to Buddhism, carrying on himself profound wisdom and lofty philosophy: "If I think about it this week, I will forgive myself/ Satisfied in my heart, laughing heartily in my heart".

Along with the works of Emperor Tran Nhan Tong, or the works of Tran Thai Tong, Nguyen Du, Nguyen Trai... writer Nhat Chieu said that the more he reads and ponders, the more proud he becomes. Our nation does not lack great thinkers. Thus, among the sages, Emperor Tran Nhan Tong is a shining star in many fields, including poetry.

The two works “Cu tran lac dao phu” and “Dac thu lam tuyền thanh dao ca” are the two Nom poems that appeared earliest in the history of Nom literature in our country. According to writer Nhat Chieu, although there are other hypotheses, he believes that they are just legends, the work of Tran Nhan Tong is really the first literary work in Vietnamese. For example, “Cu tran lac dao phu”, a poem written by Tran Nhan Tong according to the law of poetry, expresses the most important viewpoint of Buddhist thought in the Tran Dynasty. This poem consists of 10 poems, in Nom and finally a Chinese poem. Speaker Nhat Chieu is extremely fond of the ending of “Cu tran lac dao phu”, translating the poem as: “In life, enjoy the path, follow your fate/ When hungry, eat, when tired, sleep/ In the house, there is treasure, stop searching/ When faced with a situation, be indifferent, do not ask about Zen”. That is the great thought of a great man, hidden in the Truc Lam Zen sect that has been passed down to this day.

Not only does it affirm that Tran Nhan Tong's poetry is the beginning of Vietnamese literature, but according to writer Nhat Chieu, author Tran Nhan Tong loved the Vietnamese language (specifically Nom script), and loved to use Vietnamese, even though he was very proficient in Chinese characters. For example, at least 20 times in his works, he did not use the word "heart" but replaced it with the word "heart"; he did not use "respect teachers and value morality" but chose to use "worship teachers and learn morality"... It is interesting to note that more than 700 years ago, a Buddhist emperor of our country had great thoughts about pride in the Vietnamese language, promoting the spirit of preserving the purity of the Vietnamese language.

Vinh Nghiem Pagoda (Bac Ninh province) currently preserves 3,050 valuable woodblocks of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect. Among them, the woodblock "Cu tran lac dao phu" by Buddhist King Tran Nhan Tong was engraved on fig wood, including 6 sides engraved with Nom characters. In 2012, "Vinh Nghiem Pagoda Woodblocks" was recognized by UNESCO as a Documentary Heritage under the Memory of the World Program in the Asia- Pacific region.

Article and photos: DANG HUYNH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/tho-ca-tran-nhan-tong-va-su-khoi-dau-cua-van-chuong-tieng-viet-a189031.html