Monument of Nguyen Du
Ladies and gentlemen,
Before you is the monument of the great poet Nguyen Du - a project dedicated to his great contributions to the culture and core values of Vietnam.
The great poet Nguyen Du was born in 1765 and died in 1820. He was born into a prestigious family, and with his father’s homeland being Nghe An and his mother's homeland being Kinh Bac, his upbringing is the crystallization of two talented clans and two of Vietnam’s great cultures. His literary career made him an outstanding poet and a major cultural figure of the Vietnamese people.
During his tumultuous life, the great poet Nguyen Du spent a long time living in his homeland. It was during his middle-aged years, living the difficult and poor life as a commoner, that the great poet’s talent was at its zenith. He cherished the lifeblood and the soul of his homeland, concentrating on the great changes and the vicissitudes of human life in a turbulent society to conceive his lifelong masterpiece: The Tale of Kieu. Sculptor Le Dinh Bao chose that space, time, and circumstances to depict the monument of the great poet Nguyen Du.
Therefore, this is neither a young Nguyen Du with scholarly demeanors, nor is he a majestic mandarin. In this monument is Nguyen Du, who was full of life's pain and the desire to dedicate his great talent and his immortal works to Vietnamese and human culture. The poet is depicted sitting on a stone pedestal, pondering, his face donning a painful, longing, and hoping expression. It seems that, at that moment, the many vicissitudes of life, the many human affairs and destinies that he had witnessed through the years of traveling and through the days of immersing himself in his homeland are suddenly woken up, rushing to appear before his eyes. His right hand holds a pen and his books are stacked beside him, ready to record on paper the moment that resonates in his soul and the soul of humanity, and turning it into an immortal work: The Tale of Kieu. Along with that, Nguyen Du's elegant and refined posture, wearing a turban, sandals, and simple and rustic traditional clothes are descriptions that are not only realistic, but also typical of a great poet of the homeland and the Vietnamese nation - a person who was immersed in folk culture, and with intelligence and scholastic ability had became a great literature icon that will continue to be admired for thousands of years.
The Nguyen Du monument is based on a prize-winning portrait in a composition contest on the great poet Nguyen Du, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Department of Culture and Information of Ha Tinh from 2000 to 2001. The image of Nguyen Du chosen by sculptor Le Dinh Bao was the one when he was a court mandarin, wearing a turban and sandals, standing next to the great literary masterpieces that would become his legacy for the world. The statue is cast in bronze and is 4.5 meters high (including the pedestal), 3.4 tons in weight, and is placed on a sturdy green granite pedestal. It was cast by famous artisans in Nam Dinh, completed and displayed at the Nguyen Du Memorial Site in August 2002.
The Nguyen Du monument is not only a work of art but also has profound educational significance. Through the image of Nguyen Du depicted on the monument, we seem to be able to meet and talk in person with the talented poet, an outstanding son of the Vietnamese nation. The monument reminds us of the value of traditional culture, of patriotism, and of national pride.
Today, the Nguyen Du monument has become a cultural destination that attracts large numbers of tourists. Visitors to the monument not only can admire a unique work of art but also have the opportunity to learn about the life and career of the great poet Nguyen Du.
Next, we invite you to move towards the Nguyen Du exhibition house, where many valuable documents and artifacts associated with the life and career of the great poet Nguyen Du are displayed.