What was the name of the top-scoring scholar Nghia…?

The top scholar Bui Huu Nghia, also known as Nghi Chi, with the pen name Lieu Lam Chu Nhan, was born in the year Dinh Mao (1807), the sixth year of the Gia Long reign, in Binh Thuy village, Vinh Dinh district (now part of Can Tho city). This basic information about the biography of the top scholar Nghia is easily found by everyone. But the question is: are we pronouncing his name correctly?

The Gia Định newspaper in 1868 published an article about the French colonial authorities releasing Bùi Hữu Ngãi.

Vietnamese historical records from the feudal era were written in Chinese characters. A single Chinese character often had multiple pronunciations, for example: Huỳnh - Hoàng, Phúc - Phước, Vũ - Võ, Chu - Châu, An - Yên, Bình - Bằng... Chinese characters are pictographic, and when translated into the Vietnamese Quốc ngữ script, which is phonetic, there will inevitably be a certain discrepancy. Translators can only follow their intuition or establish certain rules by choosing pronunciations based on regional variations. For instance, the name of the wife of the high-ranking official Lê Văn Duyệt is recorded in history as 杜氏忿, transliterated as Đỗ Thị Phẫn. However, members of the Council of Elders in the book commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Left Army Commander and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Council of Elders, published in 1964, advocated that the Southern pronunciation should be "Đỗ Thị Phận" as the correct one. Furthermore, during the Tay Son dynasty, there was an Admiral named Dang Tien Dong, but historians debate whether it should be transliterated as his descendants called him, "Dang Tien Dong," or as dictionaries suggest, "Dang Tien Gian." The current name of Dang Tien Dong Street is based on the Dang family's pronunciation. Since our predecessors have suggested this, we can only accept it as is, as there is no definitive explanation.

The National Dynasty's Records of Provincial Examinations record information about the top-scoring scholar.

Fortunately, from around the 17th century onwards, written texts in the Vietnamese Quốc ngữ script began to appear. Thanks to this, we now know the correct pronunciation of some personal and place names from that era. For example, the name of the prefecture 長安 in Ninh Bình province , according to dictionaries, is pronounced Trường An. Translators of historical texts often pronounce it Trường Yên. However, based on the list of place names compiled by Bento Thiện in 1653, the correct pronunciation should be Tràng An. Similarly, the name of the province 潘安, which is often translated as Phiên An in current historical texts, is recorded as Phan Yên in the dictionary by missionary Taberd published in 1838, as well as in the accompanying An Nam Đại Quốc Họa Đồ (Map of the Great Kingdom of An Nam). Many European newspapers published during that period also pronounced it as Phan Yên. However, the name of the province 安江, from the same period, is pronounced An Giang in the aforementioned sources. The same character 安 (An), within the same region of the six provinces of Southern Vietnam, is sometimes pronounced An and sometimes Yên.

The top scholar Bui Huu Nghia is another such case. The "Quoc Trieu Huong Khoa Luc " (Records of the Imperial Examinations) records his Chinese name as 裴有義, transliterated as Bui Huu Nghia. However, Paulus Cua's Ca Tru The Cach (a form of traditional Vietnamese singing) published in 1907 includes a poem titled "The Scholar Ngai's Tribute to His Wife." In the series of articles in the newspaper "Lu Thu Van Dap Hi Su" (Que Thu Questions and Answers on Hi Su) in 1921, when mentioning the author of the play "Kim Thach Ky Duyen ," Nguyen Kim Dinh also called him "Scholar Ngai." People in the South have a habit of pronouncing the word "Ngai" as "Nghia." The scholar was born during the reign of Gia Long and died during the reign of Tu Duc, so his name should correctly be pronounced as Bui Huu Ngai.

Today, we still possess a document that clarifies this matter. The Gia Dinh newspaper, in its April 15, 1868 issue, published a news item: "The Grand Marshal released two men from prison: Bui Huu Ngai, sixty-one years old, from Binh Thuy village (Sa Dec), and Bui Huu Loc, fifty-seven years old, also from the same village." It is not difficult to recognize that Bui Huu Ngai, sixty-one years old (born in 1807) from Binh Thuy village (then part of Sa Dec district), was none other than the top scholar Bui Huu Nghia. This is a rare and valuable document that helps us know the correct name to use for him.

We don't know exactly when people started calling him Bui Huu Nghia. From 1909, Nguyen Lien Phong, in his book "Nam Ky Phong Tuc Nhan Vat Dien Ca," referred to him as Bui Huu Nghia. In 1936, the Tan Van newspaper published an article by Phan Van Thiet interviewing the scholar's brother-in-law. This brother-in-law identified himself as Luu Van Tau, 69 years old (born in 1867), who was then living on a boat moored in a canal near the Nga Tu bridge, Cho Moi, Binh Thuy. In the article recounting the interview, both Phan Van Thiet and Luu Van Tau referred to him as Bui Huu Nghia. What remains puzzling is Luu Van Tau's statement: "When you were in Tinh Bien , I was very young and didn't know anything… After you returned to Binh Thuy , I was 14-15 years old at the time, when I followed you to study." However, if it is true that Luu Van Tau was 69 years old that year, then when the top scholar returned to Binh Thuy, he was only 1 or 2 years old. When the top scholar was in Tinh Bien, Luu Van Tau had not yet been born. When the top scholar passed away (1872), Luu Van Tau was only 5 years old. From then on, surely few people still mentioned the top scholar's given name. (to be continued)

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