The journey to conquer the peaks of an artist teacher

Teacher and poet Dang An had a difficult journey to overcome himself in studying to become a teacher and in his old age continued to conquer the "roofs" of the plateau...

Teacher Pham Ngoc Don (pen name Dang An), was born in 1961 into a large family in the poor countryside of Kien Xuong (formerly Thai Binh province, now Hung Yen province). Malnourished since childhood, at the age of 18, young Pham Ngoc Don was only 139 cm tall and weighed 29 kg. Pham Ngoc Don was not selected for military service despite always being active in carrying cooperative fertilizer, doing farm work, and working hard in exchange for each work point to take care of his family.

Having spent two years at home plowing the fields because he failed the 10th grade entrance exam, Pham Ngoc Don watched his friends go to high school and pass by his house every day, feeling sad and regretful. Then the commune announced that it was recruiting students to study at a high school. His mother looked at Don and said: “You should submit your application and apply to study. Study so that you can build yourself up in the future.”

Mother's words were like a seed that awakened a dream that seemed to have been forgotten. Pham Ngoc Don decided to apply for a supplementary education and the journey of studying and striving began.

Poet Dang An conquers Chu Mu peak. Photo provided by character

From the cultural supplementary class, Don gradually revealed his outstanding learning ability. Studying with all his heart, understanding thoroughly to remember for a long time, Don quickly rose to the top, then passed the entrance exam to Da Nang Secondary School of Planning II, graduating with a Good grade.

After graduating, Pham Ngoc Don was assigned to work at a farm in Krong Pac (formerly Dak Lak province). But his “honesty, carefulness and straightforwardness” made it impossible for Don to integrate into the business environment. He was demoted to a worker. But it was here that his ability to manage his own finances and save money helped him rise up and have food and savings.

At the age of 37, his marriage broke down, Pham Ngoc Don had to start over: build a house, farm, rebuild his family, start a career and most importantly, continue his studies. He took the entrance exam to Dak Lak Pedagogical College, Faculty of Primary Education, 12+2 system. When the teacher asked his age, he humorously replied: "Twenty years ago I was seventeen". The teacher and the whole class laughed loudly but it was a laugh full of admiration.

After graduating and becoming a primary school teacher, Mr. Don worked in the most difficult places: the branch school was located in a free-migration area at the foot of Cu Kuin mountain. The classroom was a makeshift hut made of forest trees, the blackboard was made of thin boards, and students walked to class. A school that many female teachers did not dare to go to because it was too harsh.

In such difficult times, Mr. Don still took the opportunity to continue studying the elementary education pedagogy program through distance learning. In parallel with his teaching career, he also studied information technology and was a pioneer in designing and using student records management software for elementary schools since 2006, when the entire education sector had not yet popularized technology. In 2021, after 21 years and 8 months of teaching, Mr. Don officially retired and then began to conquer new heights...

In 2008, when he accidentally saw a pebble on a friend's table, Pham Ngoc Don was "fascinated". He confided: "I started to love pebbles from then on. Pebbles are the friends who led me to the path of suiseki (artistic landscape stones). I traveled, researched, and wrote about pebbles using my knowledge of psychology and aesthetics, drifting with pebbles to distant sandy lands. I found pebbles through rivers, streams, vast primeval forests, and cloud-covered peaks. I blended in with nature, the earth, the sky, the mountains and rivers. I was delighted when my footprints reached the top of the mountain so that I could proudly stand on the high peaks."

And from there, he began to conquer the "roofs" of the plateau: 10 times climbing to the top of Chu Yang Lak; 2 times climbing to the top of Chu Yang Sin; 3 times climbing to the top of Chu Mu to see the Vong Phu rock; setting foot on Bay waterfall and seeing the beautiful Pa Sol grassland (Ea Hiao commune)... Not only conquering the "roofs" in Dak Lak, he also went with the group through the roads to Phi Lieng waterfall (Lam Dong); Ta Nang - Phan Dung peak; Mui Doi, the easternmost point of Vietnam in Khanh Hoa...

Poet Dang An on top of Chu Yang Lak. Photo provided by the character

Pham Ngoc Don, with the pen name Dang An, wrote many poems rich in lyricism, Zen poetry and feelings about pebbles. The poetry collection “Love of the Forest” (The Writers’ Association Publishing House, 1999) helped poet Dang An become a member of the Dak Lak Province Literature and Arts Association. And the poetry collection “Soul of the Highlands” (The Writers’ Association Publishing House, 2025) is the brainchild, the result of trips to immerse himself in nature.

At the top of Chu Mu, where there is the Vong Phu rock, poet Dang An stood in the middle of the sky and clouds and heard the rock crying: "My mother and I have turned to stone!/ Don't cry anymore, my dear/ I know/ You have crossed high forests and deep mountains/ Looking for me/ But my dear.../ Please come back to where you are".

Dang An, a name that not only appears in Vietnamese poetry, through poetry, literature, pebbles and trips, he is not only a teacher of many generations of students in the highlands, but also an artist, a person who spends his whole life studying, living, and wandering in the wild nature.

"I am a speck of dust, wandering with the galactic wind and dust" - he wrote as a self-affirmation.

King Zhang Yi

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/xa-hoi/202507/hanh-trinh-chinh-phuc-nhung-dinh-cao-cua-nguoi-thay-nghe-si-b1814f5/