Writer Do Chu and Professor Chuc Nguong Tu (right cover) during writer Do Chu's trip to Nanjing - Photo: HUU VIET provided
The information was shared by poet Huu Viet with Tuoi Tre Online on April 9. Translator, Professor Chuc Nguong Chu is the one who translated the work The Advisor by writer Huu Mai (father of poet Huu Viet) and many works by Vietnamese writers into Chinese.
Some names that can be mentioned are Nguyen Huy Tuong, Ta Duy Anh, Bao Ninh, Ho Anh Thai, Tran Thuy Mai... He is also the person who translated most of President Ho Chi Minh's poems and literature into Chinese.
Through friends in China, poet Huu Viet's family sent condolences to the translator with the message: "Deeply mourning the loss of translator Chuc Nguong Tu, a great friend of many Vietnamese writers and our family."
Professor Chuc Nguong Tu sincerely loves Vietnam.
Poet Huu Viet learned about Professor Chuc Nguong Tu's death through Mr. Hoang Hoa Hien, Second Secretary of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Vietnam. Mr. Hien was a student of Professor Tu.
According to Huu Viet, translator Chuc Nguong Tu taught Vietnamese in Nanjing (China). He was an intellectual who loved Vietnam sincerely and generously.
Mr. Tu has opened his arms to welcome many generations of Vietnamese students to study in China. Not only did he guide them through the paperwork, he also invited them to his home for dinner.
He once went to Vietnam to participate in activities to promote Vietnamese literature abroad.
Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online , poet Huu Viet commented, "he is a sociable person who loves the country and people of Vietnam very rarely."
Tears at Huu Mai's grave, unfinished with Do Chu
When translating the work The Advisor, Mr. Chuc Nguong Chu and writer Huu Mai worked together via email.
Two years after the death of writer Huu Mai, in 2009, Mr. Tu was able to return to Vietnam. He brought the handwritten Chinese manuscript of the work The Advisor to the writer's family as a souvenir.
He asked his family to take him to the grave of writer Huu Mai at Van Phuc cemetery (Ha Dong, Hanoi ). When he got there, he cried loudly and called Huu Mai "brother".
"Brother, I'm too late. I came to see you but you're no longer here," Huu Viet said, "He stood at the grave for a long time, my family was very emotional."
In 2017, Huu Viet went to Beijing to study. Since Mr. Tu was from Nanjing, he asked a friend to come to school to give him 1,000 yuan (more than 3 million VND). Huu Viet said, "You are old, I should be the one to give it to you."
Translator Zhu Yang Tu said, "This is the Chinese custom of welcoming close friends. This is my affection, you cannot refuse."
After writer Huu Mai passed away, every New Year's Eve, he called to ask about and wish him a happy new year.
Translator Chuc Nguong Tu visits writer Do Chu's family home - Photo: HUU VIET provided
Huu Viet was also the person who connected Mr. Tu with writer Do Chu. A few years ago, writer Do Chu visited Nanjing, Mr. Tu dropped all his work to take Vietnamese writers everywhere.
He told Do Chu: "Next time you come, invite Viet. We will travel around the mountains and rivers, go to Nga Mi mountain to play."
However, after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, that promise was not fulfilled and he passed away.
According to poet Huu Viet, Professor Chuc Nguong Tu had expressed his desire to translate Do Chu's writings into Chinese many times. However, he admitted that his Vietnamese vocabulary was not good enough, and that Do Chu's writings were like those of a beautiful girl, and he did not want to turn his writings into those of an old woman.
"Mr. Chuc Nguong Tu is a great personality, honest and fair in academics. Farewell, dear uncle Chuc Nguong Tu!", Huu Viet said.
Professor and translator Chuc Nguong Tu was born in 1943. He has over 40 years of experience teaching Vietnamese language and culture at Chinese universities.
He has helped thousands of Chinese students, scholars, researchers and readers gain a deeper and more comprehensive view of Vietnam.
In the article "I'm afraid there's not much time left..." by poet Nguyen Phan Que Mai published in Tuoi Tre Cuoi Tuan newspaper in 2012, Professor Chuc Nguong Tu said: "Up to now, Chinese people have paid little attention to Vietnamese literature, but are more interested in the literature of economic powers such as the US, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea...
Vietnamese literature is still considered as literature of a third country. In addition, some Chinese people now "have a full stomach but a hungry mind". They read very little, mainly reading books and newspapers online. Therefore, publishing Vietnamese literary works in China is very difficult."
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