Ancient Poetry Club in Mo Trach Village

Truong Xuan Hien Thi Stele

In Truong Xuan church, Mr. Vu Xuan Am, the 17th generation of the Vu Cong family, carefully cleaned three stone steles erected solemnly in the church grounds. He introduced that one of the three steles was about the poetry club chaired by Mr. Vu Cong Dao.

Because he did not know Chinese characters, it was not until Mr. Dang Van Loc, a Han Nom researcher of the province, came to learn and recount, that Mr. Vu Xuan Am knew that the stele was engraved with typical poems recited by intellectuals, mostly from the Vu Cong family. Mr. Vu Cong Dao was the one who initiated the establishment of this poetry club.

According to Mr. Dang Van Loc, according to the Truong Xuan Hien Thi stele, the poetry club headed by Mr. Vu Cong Dao could have been established between 1699 and 1707, more than 300 years ago. "Within 8 years of operation, the club could have had many more poems, not just the 9 poems printed on the stele," Mr. Am speculated.

Over time, the Truong Xuan Hien Thi stele has faded. Many words cannot be read with the naked eye. However, through research by Han Nom scholars, the year Mr. Vu Cong Dao retired was also the year he was seventy years old when he founded this poetry club. He gathered his family, relatives, and neighbors to organize poetry commenting and painting sessions, and thus the club gradually grew.

During the Confucian period, the form of poetry recitation among intellectuals was quite developed. Thanks to that, the Truong Xuan Hien Poetry Club became a useful playground for poetry lovers. According to the documents recorded on the stele, at the poetry meeting, the host read a seven-word or eight-line poem. Then, he chose a main rhyme for everyone to respond to, from which many poems with the same theme were born.

The poems engraved on the stele are mostly by mandarins with the surname Vu such as: Deputy Vu Gian Than, Lang Trung Vu Cong Tuong, Tham Nghi Vu Dang Hien, Tri Phu Vu Cong Tao...; there is only one scholar named Vu Cong Uy. Mr. Loc said that the 9 poems engraved on the Truong Xuan Hien Thi stele are ancient poems. The content of the poems mainly talks about the spirit of a gentleman, enjoying nature, teaching future generations... In particular, the rhyming poems engraved on the stele do not have the same words or ideas. To write such poems requires talent and a lot of knowledge and rich language.

Talented choirmaster

Mr. Am proudly introduced the genealogy of the Vu Cong family and mentioned many times the Chairman of the Truong Xuan Hien Poetry Club, Mr. Vu Cong Dao. Mr. Am said that Mr. Vu Cong Dao was born in 1630, the 6th generation of the Vu Cong family, the eldest son of Mr. Vu Cong Hanh. Born into a family of 3 brothers, Mr. Vu Cong Dao was famous for being intelligent and a good student. He passed the bachelor's exam when he was only 18 years old. In 1659, he passed the third class of the same doctorate.

In the Vu (Vo) Family Genealogy, a book compiled by the Vu Family Liaison Committee, it is recorded that he was a great mandarin of the Later Le Dynasty and held many important positions such as: Son Tay Envoy, Tan Tri Thua Chinh Envoy, Pho Envoy, Pho Do Ngu Su... Good at poetry, when he was alive, he composed a funeral oration for himself: "Through many seasons of traveling to the Celestial Court, the lives of the common people were changed from death to life, and were reborn millions of times. How many times he gave advice to the king, the country's foundation was preserved, prosperous and lasting forever"...

His whole life was associated with many poetic and teaching activities. He had many famous students such as: Bang Nhan Pham Quang Trach, Tham Hoa Vu Thanh, Hoi Nguyen Danh Du... Therefore, in the Vu (Vo) Family Genealogy, it is written: "He taught all his life and trained many talented people. He was good at poetry and wrote many autobiographical articles about his life from the age of 18 to 86".

Mr. Vu Quoc Ai, who is interested in learning about the history of the doctoral village, said that currently in Mo Trach there are many stone steles of historical value, including the Truong Xuan Hien Thi stele. Mo Trach hometown is not only famous for being a land of many studious people, rich in the tradition of mandarin examinations, but also has a very rich spiritual life. Nowadays, in the village, there are also many people who love poetry and actively participate in the Duong An Poetry Club of Binh Giang district.