Reading the books of our ancestors Huynh Tinh Cua, Truong Vinh Ky, Vuong Hong Sen

Three books have just been republished by Tre Publishing House in early 2024 - Photo: Tre Publishing House

In the preface of the book Ancient Jokes , Mr. Vuong Hong Sen confided when talking about his book of jokes: "If you don't let me reprint this book, you will lose precious, rare documents about popular literature."

"Popular literature" - these words are often misunderstood today as a type of literature that takes little effort to polish words, is often simple, has few profound hidden meanings, and is meant to be understood by the general public.

But that literature still has its own beauty. Stories from the past still have value in the present. At least it has preserved a spiritual life of the past.

Lifestyles, customs, relationships in communities, villages, and ancient people's views on human relations.

Perhaps the most valuable thing when reading this literature is like looking at a Vietnamese dictionary that is preserving a precious, forgotten vocabulary.

"Because the way of speaking is pure Annamese; there are many words and sentences that are commonly used" - as Truong Vinh Ky wrote in the book "Old Stories", part "Ideas of Old Stories".

Reading Huynh Tinh Cua's Stories to Relieve Sadness is to filter out a Southern language, everyday speech, as if hearing the voice of the Southern people of the 19th century.

Those words no longer appear on written pages today, but silently flow in an underground stream of daily life.

The name of the story "Relaxing" shows that it does not try to take on a mission to educate or instruct anyone. As Nguyen Du said at the end of the Tale of Kieu, "it's enough to entertain for a few hours."

Whether to entertain or relieve boredom, authors like Huynh Tinh Cua, Truong Van Ky, and Vuong Hong Sen have tried to incorporate life lessons and life lessons that are still valuable today.

Huynh Tinh Cua (Huynh Tinh Cua) was the editor-in-chief of the first Vietnamese newspaper in Quoc Ngu, founded by Truong Vinh Ky - Gia Dinh Bao.

Huynh Tinh Cua is also a Vietnamese dictionary compiler with the work Dai Nam Quoc Am Tu Vi.

Compared to the two seniors above, Mr. Vuong Hong Sen belongs to the later generation. Besides being famous for playing ancient instruments, he is also the author of many memoirs and researches.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/doc-sach-tien-nhan-huynh-tinh-cua-truong-vinh-ky-vuong-hong-sen-20240316092102385.htm