Twilight sunshine

Twilight is the emotional state when the afternoon sun gradually sets, a sentiment once expressed by Phan Khoi. But the "sunlight" still lingers somewhere on the pages of the newspapers we once loved.

Quang Nam Newspaper - a masthead about to slip from my grasp. Photo: Nguyen Tuan

1. In his Etymological Dictionary, Mr. Le Van Hoe wrote the following explanation of the two words "tang thuong" (桑蒼): "Three old men sat on the seashore, boasting and asking each other's ages; one boasted of being related to Pangu (the ancestor who created heaven, earth, and all things); another said that every time he saw the blue sea transform into a mulberry field, he would throw a stick to remember, and now those sticks filled ten houses; a third said that his teacher ate a peach of immortality (which only ripens once every three thousand years) and threw the seed at the foot of Mount Kunlun (the highest mountain in China), and now it has grown into a tree, and that tree is as tall as Mount Kunlun."

For some reason, every time I read this passage, I picture those three old men as three journalists from Quang Nam, randomly sitting together under an awning or on the sidewalk, over glasses of beer, chatting about everything under the sun after finishing their work for the newspaper.

Now that you've ventured into the world of literature and writing, the setting I just described will surely come to mind, along with the faces of three people—you can associate them with whoever you know, because I'm sure that if you've entered this literary world, you must at least know a journalist from Quang Nam or with roots in Quang Nam.

It's unclear what kind of auspicious geographical features led to the flourishing of journalism in Quang Nam province. If we count from the time of Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang, a native of Thanh Binh village who went to Hue to work for the newspaper Tieng Dan in the 1920s, to the present day, nearly a hundred years have passed, with one generation of Quang Nam people following another in the field of journalism. They pursue journalism to hone their talent for argumentation, to argue until the truth is revealed, and to argue until their reasoning is completely convincing.

However, considering the current explosion of social media, being "arguable" is no longer a trait that people from Quang Nam can identify with alone.

2. Of course, arguing isn't inherently bad. I think every era needs people who are "good at arguing" and "good at arguing," but being a "good argument" is the real challenge. The goal is to argue in a way that convinces others, to argue to the bitter end while maintaining harmony, and most importantly, to stop arguing when you realize you're wrong, admitting defeat and accepting defeat, rather than stubbornly insisting on winning at all costs, and to ensure that you can still look each other in the eye after the argument…

This shows that even arguing requires skill. In a community where everyone agrees (or worse, pretends to agree while secretly disagreeing) with what they see and hear, even if it's clearly wrong, and refuses to argue back, a healthy community cannot be built.

That kind of personality is perfectly suited to the journalistic environment. Therefore, it's no surprise that there are many journalists from Quang Nam today. That personality also proves effective in poetry and literature.

It is no coincidence that one of the first "modern poems" was by a journalist from Quang Nam - Mr. Phan Khoi, from Bao An village, with his famous poem "Old Love". But let's listen to the voice of "a young poet" of that time, Nam Tran, from Phu Thu Thuong village, to see how fiercely the spirit of poetic reform was:

Let's abandon the old style of poetry.
Because it's not in vogue.
The Law of the Road is summarized here.
Return the Son of Heaven.
In a competitive world,
National literature needs liberation.
The framework, just throw it away!
Activities aimed at survival.

This thematic poem is lengthy, and while its artistic value may not be high, it clearly expresses a determination to use the Vietnamese language to write Vietnamese poetry for Vietnamese people. It rejects the literary style that burdens an entire spiritual life with the constraints of another culture.

We already have our own pond...
Why keep bathing in other people's ponds?
[...]
Do not praise Lake Dongting.
Do not write poems about Mount Tai.
Don't describe random scenes.
My eyes have never seen anything like it.
[...]
The baby cries bitterly like Xi Shi.
Laughing arrogantly at Tai Bai,
The Five Emperors and the Three Sovereigns.

The poem is believed to have been sent to critic Tran Thanh Mai, presumably during the height of the New Poetry movement. The poet entered the world of poetry with poems about the ancient capital, perhaps because, as the folk song goes, "Students from Quang Nam come to take the exam / Seeing the girls of Hue, they cannot bear to leave," he was captivated by this capital city, and so the young man dedicated his first collection of poems to Hue, beautiful and poetic (1939)?

I've been rambling on, afraid that readers might misunderstand the typical Quang Nam personality as someone who only argues. And I imagine that when this article is published, some journalist friend of mine from Quang Nam will arrange to meet me at a roadside stall selling dried squid near the editorial office. After downing half a bottle of beer, he'll say, "I just read your article, it's good, but..." After all, every "argument" in the world starts with those two words, "but..."

But I knew he'd argue with me about printing less and finishing the remaining half bottle of beer, and the conversation would shift to more "current events." The separation, the merger, the survival, the loss of a name, a newspaper… in an era where people live a year that feels like fifty years, with so many dramatic changes happening in the blink of an eye. Like the scene of about to let go of the newspaper with the masthead I once loved: Quang Nam.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/nang-thoi-chang-vang-3157845.html