“Nguyen Dinh Chieu Thi Tuyen” : The World’s Largest Poetry Anthology Written In Vietnamese Calligraphy (Vietnam)

Nguyễn Đình Chiểu (1 July 1822 – 3 July 1888) was a Vietnamese poet who was known for his nationalist and anti-colonial writings against the French colonization of Cochinchina, the European name for the southern part of Vietnam.

He was the best-known opponent of collaboration in the south of Vietnam and was regarded as the poet laureate of the southerners who continued to defy the Treaty of Saigon which ceded southern Vietnam to France, disobeying the royal orders of Emperor Tự Đức to continue harassing the French forces. His epic poem, Lục Vân Tiên, remains one of the most celebrated works in Vietnamese literature.

In 1859, the French started the conquest of Cochinchina and attacked Gia Định. As a result, Chiểu fled south to the Mekong Delta region of Bến Tre. His blindness prevented Chiểu from making a physical contribution to the guerrilla efforts of the likes of Trương Định, the leading southern anticolonial. Chiểu was known for his vivid and highly proficient writing of poetry of chữ nôm, which was widely circulated in the south, mainly by word of mouth.

On November 23, 2021, at the 41st UNESCO General Assembly session in Paris (France), UNESCO approved the list of Cultural Celebrities and Historical Events for the 2022-2023 academic year for UNESCO to honor these celebrities. At this meeting, 60 nominations for World Cultural Celebrities from other countries were approved, including Vietnamese Celebrity Nguyen Dinh Chieu and Female Artist Ho Xuan Huong.

SPECIFICATIONS OF THE POETRY ANTHOLOGY BOOK:

The “Nguyen Dinh Chieu Thi Tuyen” poetry anthology was created by record holder and calligrapher Vu Dang Hoc in more than 05 months (from January 2022 to May 2022). This 209-page poetry anthology is hand-crafted by the creator and is written in Vietnamese calligraphy on Xuan paper. The poetry anthology measures 180cm in length, 140cm in breadth, 25cm in thickness, and weighs 500kg. The book is packed in a box made of oak and red doussie, its cover embossed with the portrait of cultural celebrity Nguyen Dinh Chieu. The book consists of two main parts: the literary works of Nguyen Dinh Chieu and the poems of the next generation written about him.

The book was created to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of cultural celebrity Nguyen Dinh Chieu (1822-2022), which has contributed to storing, preserving, and widely spreading the cultural and historical values of Vietnam to the world.

The book consists of two main parts: Part 1 – The works of the famous celebrity Nguyen Dinh Chieu and Part 2 – A collection of poems by later generations written about the famous celebrity Nguyen Dinh Chieu.

PHOTOS OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST POETRY ANTHOLOGY BOOK:

Mr. Vu Dang Hoc – The author of “Nguyen Dinh Chieu Thi Tuyen”