BELOVED SCHOLAR: A collection of three books on the South’s history and culture by late cultural reseacher, historian and Professor Ca Văn Thỉnh has been released in HCM City. — Photo courtesy of the HCM City General Publishing House

HCM CITY — A collection of three books on the South’s history and culture by late cultural reseacher, historian and Professor Ca Văn Thỉnh has been released in HCM City.

The publication celebrates Thỉnh’s 120th birthday.

The three books include research works, writings, and news articles written by Thỉnh before 1945 and after 1975.

The first book is entitled Di Sản Văn Hoá Nam Bộ Nhìn Từ Danh Sĩ Nam Bộ Thế Kỷ XIII-XIX (The South’s Culture through the Life and Career of Heroes and Scholars).

It features the history of the South’s beginning and development in different periods.

Southern heroes and scholars, such as Trịnh Hoài Đức, Võ Trường Toản and Huỳnh Mẫn Đạt, are also highlighted.

The highlighted pages are about Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, a patriotic teacher, physician and poet of southern Việt Nam in the second half of the 19th century.

Chiểu (1822-1888) was born in Bình Dương District, Gia Định Province (now District 1, Hồ Chí Minh City).

His famous literary works include the epic Lục Vân Tiên (The Tale of Lục Vân Tiên), a 2,076 line-work written in nôm (the old Chinese-based Vietnamese script) in the 1850s.

The epic highlights the culture and lifestyle of southern people. Topics of love, loyalty, bravery and fair justice are featured.

It is one of the two most celebrated Vietnamese epic poems, along with Nguyễn Du’s Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kiều) in the early 19th century.

The collection’s second book, Di Sản Văn Hoá Nhìn Từ Lịch Sử Nam Bộ (The History and Cultural Heritages of Southern Việt Nam), focuses on the South’s history, society, culture and lifestyle in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Southern people, particularly farmers, and their contributions to the fight against the French colonialists, are featured.

The third book, Di Sản Văn Hoá Nam Bộ Nhìn Từ Văn Học Nam Bộ (The Literature of Southern Việt Nam), highlights the folk literature and music of the South.

Contemporary literature and famous writers, such as Phan Văn Trị and Tôn Thọ Tường, in the 19th century are also included.

Professor Thỉnh, known by the pen name Ngạc Xuyên, was born in 1902 in Bến Tre Province.

He studied in the Hà Nội Indochina College of Pedagogy from 1925 to 1927.

He worked as a teacher and a senior official in education in Bến Tre Province from 1928 to 1945.

He began his research into Southern history and culture in 1945, and studied the region’s traditional culture and literature for several years.

In 1955, he was among the first scholars in Việt Nam to be honoured with the title Professor.

Thỉnh’s collection of three books on the South’s history and culture is printed and distributed by the HCM City General Publishing House.

“Through Thỉnh’s books, we hope that readers, particularly young people, learn more about Southern culture and lifestyle through the region’s history,” said a representative of the collection’s publisher. VNS