Lê Quý Đôn

A statue of Lê Quý Đôn in Lê Quý Đôn High School, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City.

Lê Quý Đôn (黎貴惇, 1726–1784) was an 18th-century Vietnamese philosopher, poet, encyclopedist, and government official. His pseudonym was Quế Đường. He was a native of Duyen Ha village in present-day Thái Bình Province. He is considered one of the most outstanding and prolific Vietnamese savants of the early modern period.[1][2]

Life

Lê was born in the province of Thái Bình, and lived in the reign of Emperor Lê Hiển Tông. The period of his life was marked by a split between the Trịnh lords of the north and the Nguyễn lords of the south, followed by the Tây Sơn rebellion.[3]

In 1760, Lê Quý Đôn went to China as an ambassador. He later served as a government official in the ministries of war, finance and public works. He also served as the rector of the National University situated in the Văn Miếu in Hanoi and as Director of the Bureau of Annals. It is said that Lê was traveling with some Qing officials, and along the way they saw a Chinese poem inscribed on a stone palette. Later, one of the Qing officials, to test his merit, asked him if he could remember what was on the stone palette. Lê recited the entire poem, word for word, in Chinese. That earned him a great deal of respect from the Chinese.

Writings

Lê Quý Đôn was responsible for a large number of encyclopedic, historical, bibliographical, and philosophical works. It is estimated that he has the largest volume of works among the old Chinese-language Vietnamese literature (about 40 series with hundreds of volumes).

Legacy

STS "Lê Quý Đôn″ at the port of Gdynia, Poland, September 2015

Today, one of largest technical universities in Hanoi, Le Quy Don Technical University (LeTech), and many schools in Vietnam are named after him. Most cities in Vietnam have named major streets after him.[7]

Finally, "Lê Quý Đôn″ is also the name of a new Vietnamese sail training ship, built in 2015 by the Polish ship yard Marine Projects Ltd. on behalf of Polish Defence Holding in Gdynia. Some of its data: overall length: 65.0 m, breadth: 10.0 m, air draft: 42.0 m, sails area: 1395 m², propulsion: 880 kW, crew and cadets: 30 + 80 persons.

References

  1. ↑ Patricia M. Pelley Postcolonial Vietnam: New Histories of the National Past 2002 - Page 125 "The considerable merit bestowed on Lê Quý Ðôn stemmed from the astuteness of his work overall and his phenomenal productivity: he authored at least three chronicles, several volumes of poetry, two encyclopedic compilations, and.."
  2. ↑ Bruce Lockhart A-Z of Vietnam 2010 p209 entry "Lê Quý Đôn"
  3. ↑ Essays Into Vietnamese Pasts - Page 158 Keith Weller Taylor, John K. Whitmore - 1995 "Lê Quý Đôn, in the aftermath of an examination system scandal involving his son Lê Quý Kiêt (who was sent to prison for changing examination books), had been ordered south of the Linh Giang River to serve as an official ...As a member of the Trịnh lords' bureaucracy, Lê Quý Đôn was supposed to help restore civil government in a region of Viet Nam that had been separate from the Trịnh lords' control for over two centuries, and facilitate the reincorporation of"
  4. ↑ 刘正 图说汉学史 2005 -Page 181 "著名的汉学家黎贵淳在《大越通史》一书中曾分析说: "我国号为文献之邦,上而帝王,下而庶民,莫不各有著述。"
  5. ↑ Barbara Watson Andaya - Other pasts: women, gender and history in early modern Southeast Asia -2000 Page 223 "In particular, I use Le Quy Don's Dai Viet Thong Su [Complete History of Dai Viet] , the one effort by a Vietnamese scholar in the standard Chinese topical mode, and his chapter on the females of the early Le royal family.
  6. ↑ India's interaction with Southeast Asia - Volume 1, Part 3 - Page 11 Govind Chandra Pande, Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy, and Culture, Centre for Studies in Civilizations (Delhi, India) - 2006 "One of the latest great figures was Le Quy Don (1726-84), who composed the following historical writings: the Dai-viet thong-su' ('History of Dai viet'), the Phu-bien tap- luc ('Miscellaneous writings about the administration of the border ..."
  7. ↑ Vietnam Country Map. Periplus Travel Maps. 2002–03. ISBN 0-7946-0070-0. Check date values in: |date= (help)
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