vie article_title hn
nguyễn thắng nguyễn khuyến
 阮 勝
nguyễn khuyến

nguyễn thắng , pen name nguyễn khuyến , -lrb- 15 february 1835 in Ý yên , nam Định -- 5 february 1909 in yên Đổ -rrb- was a famous vietnamese confucian scholar , poet and teacher living in the 19th century .
nguyễn thắng was born on 15 february 1835 in his mother 's hometown văn khế village , hoàng xá commune , Ý yên district , nam Định province .
his father 's home town was và village , yên Đổ commune , bình lục district , hà nam province .
his father nguyễn tông khởi -lrb- 1796 -- 1853 -rrb- was a teacher .
his mother was trần thị thoan -lrb- 1799 -- 1874 -rrb- and her father was trần công trạc .
nguyễn thắng studied to become a mandarin -lrb- the governing class of vietnam -rrb- .
his first teacher was phạm văn nghị .
although he was intelligent and knowledgeable , he did not initially fare well in his examinations .
in 1864 , he passed the cử nhân degree -lrb- or : hương cống , chinese : 鄉貢 , the lowest degree of vietnamese feudal educational system -rrb- at first-rate -lrb- masters level -rrb- in hà nội .
one year later , unfortunately , he failed his doctoral examination hội examination so he went to hanoi to study at quốc tử giám -lrb- national university -rrb- .
to instil himself with iron discipline and motivate himself , he changed his given name from nguyễn thắng to nguyễn khuyến .
in the vietnamese language , thắng only means success or victory but khuyến has a stronger meaning implying inspiration or stimulation ; thắng is the result but khuyến is the way toward the result -lrb- vietnamese people have a good tradition named `` khuyến học '' - study encouragement -rrb- .
after six years of preparation , he passed the hội nguyên degree and the Đình nguyên degree -- his doctorate -- continuously in only one year in 1871 .
this was an extraordinary accomplishment rarely seen throughout history , so people gave him an honourable name : `` tam nguyên yên Đổ '' -lrb- yên Đổ 's first-rate graduate in three times -rrb- .
nguyễn khuyến was a mandarin in the age of the french invasions .
history unfolded like the text he wrote in his Đình nguyên examination twelve years before : `` as a carriage does not come toward because the horses do not want to pull , the political situation does not improve when the people do not want it to .
are there no talents in life ?
it is completely untrue . ''
when patriotic movements such as `` cần vương '' -lrb- `` seeking the king '' -rrb- were extinguished and his dream of `` trị quốc , bình thiên hạ '' -lrb- leading the country , pacifying the world -rrb- was not realized , he landed in an impasse .
he recognized his powerlessness to change conditions in the country and was deeply aware of the decline of vietnamese feudalism .
he was one of first vietnamese people to criticize vietnamese feudalism as conservative and unrealistic .
in 1884 , he withdrew from public life and moved back to his home town yên Đổ to support the vietnamese resistance against the french enemy .
there he found peace in his soul through a simple and tranquil life in the countryside .
the more adversity he met in his life , the more talented he became in his writing .
he was the nexus between classical and modern vietnamese literature .
he was both a prominent lyric poet and an outstanding satirical poet .
he reached the peak of nôm letter 's literature .
he was the first vietnamese poet who put opinions about current matters in classical poems .
among his best poems are : `` group of three poems about autumn : fishing in autumn , drinking in autumn , versing on autumn '' which express sadness and loneliness and `` paper doctor '' which ridicules incapable scholars .
in addition , he was one of the few upper-class poets who wrote favourably about poor farmers .
throughout his life he taught his children to show deep gratitude toward farmers : `` even if you are a scholar , do not forget rice , beans and eggplants . ''
he died on 5 february 1909 in his hometown yên Đổ .
