Hà Tĩnh

Từ điển Việt Anh (Vietnamese English Dictionary)

Hà Tĩnh is situated 340km from Hà Nội. Đồng Lộc is the meeting place of the two provincial roads 5 and 15 in the hilly area of Hà Tĩnh province. During the anti-US war, Đồng Lộc Forked Road was the main junction of the supply line from the North to Hồ Chí Minh Trail. US aircraft concentrated a great number of bombs and ammunitions in repeated efforts to destroy the junction and the surrounding area. This less than 0-km section of road had to undergo 2,057 bombardments. A memorable place is the native village of the great poet Nguyễn Du. Nguyễn Du was born in 1765 from a family of scholars and illustrious mandarins. Having successfully passed the provincial examinations at the age of nineteen, he served as military mandarin under Lê Cảnh Hưng. In 1789, Nguyễn Huệ (emperor Quang Trung) made a northward advance and drove 290,000 Qing invaders out of the country. King Lê Chiêu Thống cowardly fled the country and followed the invaders. After the fall of the Lê Dynasty, Nguyễn Du refused to serve Nguyễn Huệ. Instead, he chose to live in poverty for 10 years in his wife's native village in Thái Bình province In 1802, Nguyễn Du grudgingly accepted service under Gia Long, the founder of Nhà Nguyễn (Nguyễn Dynasty). However, in his heart, he did not like mandarin work and applied for retirement no less than three times, each time in vain. He was named Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Rites. In 1820, he died in the royal capital of Huế. His most famous work is Kiều Story, a narrative in 3,254 verses. With this work, Nguyễn Du stands out as the greatest poet Vietnam has ever produced There is a house in commemoration of Nguyễn Du in Tiên Điền village. About one kilometre from the house is his tomb