The teacher was deified by King Le while he was still alive.

Many times retired

Truong Luu ancient village (Kim Song Truong commune, Can Loc district, Ha Tinh) not only has 3 heritages recognized by UNESCO as world documentary heritage, but also has the famous Nguyen Huy family with many outstanding people. One of them is Tham Hoa Nguyen Huy Oanh, the founder of Phuc Giang School (also known as Phuc Giang library).

Tracing the family tree, Mr. Nguyen Huy Thien (80 years old, 7th generation descendant) proudly said that in the middle of the 15th century, the ancestor of the Nguyen Huy family, Mr. Nguyen Uyen Hau, who held the position of Ngu Kinh Bac Si at Quoc Tu Giam, returned to the ancient Lai Thach area (now Kim Song Truong commune, Can Loc district) to open a village, establish a hamlet, and named it Truong Luu village.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Thien next to the famous genealogical stele of the Nguyen Huy family. Photo: Dau Tinh

According to Mr. Thien, up to now, Truong Luu village has a history of more than 600 years. From the ancestor Nguyen Uyen Hau to the mid-19th century, 12 generations of the Nguyen Huy family had people who passed the exams with high scores and in each generation there were scholars who taught, many of whom taught at the Imperial Academy.

The period when the family was glorious and famous throughout the country was during the time of Nguyen Huy Oanh (1713-1789), the founder of the family, who passed the First Class Doctorate exam, the first of the Three Nobles (Tham Hoa) in the Mau Thin exam - Canh Hung 9 (1748) under King Le Hien Tong.

During his time as an official, Nguyen Huy Oanh was considered very honest and held many different positions, the highest being Minister, including many academic positions such as Examiner of the Royal Examination, promoted to Dong Cac Dai Hoc Si, Nhap Noi Thi Lenh and Tu Nghiep (Vice Principal) of the National University, Minister of Public Works and Te Tuu (Principal) of the National University.

National historical and cultural relic of Nguyen Huy Oanh and Nguyen Huy Tu churches in Truong Luu village. Photo: Dau Tinh

Mr. Thien said that Mr. Nguyen Huy Oanh passed the exams with high scores, became a high-ranking official, took care of many national affairs and was always dedicated to building a family school that was no less large than the school in the capital.

In 1766, after returning from his mission to the Qing Dynasty, he was appointed as the Imperial Censor. However, he asked for early retirement to return to his hometown. During his time in his hometown, Nguyen Huy Oanh, based on his previous plans, upgraded the Nguyen Huy family school to Phuc Giang School. When he was canonized, the school was changed to Phuc Giang Library Temple.

Phuc Giang School became more and more organized, so more and more Confucian scholars came to study. In 1768, Nguyen Huy Oanh was teaching at the school when the King invited him to return to the capital to resume his position. In 1781, while holding the position of Minister of the Ministry of Finance, he continued to ask for retirement to return to his hometown to teach, but was not approved.

The stele records the names of 22 people in Truong Luu village who passed the doctoral exam, with Mr. Nguyen Huy Oanh being the first to open the exam for his family. Photo: Dau Tinh

In the year of Nham Dan 1783, Nguyen Huy Oanh was given the position of Tham tung (Prime Minister) by King Le Hien Tong, but he resolutely refused.

"According to the family's historical records, the main reason Nguyen Huy Oanh refused the position of Prime Minister was because he wanted to spend the rest of his life teaching in his hometown," said Mr. Thien.

The first private school in Vietnam has 30 students who have passed the doctorate exam.

Professor - Academician Nguyen Huy My (7th generation descendant of Nguyen Huy Oanh) shared with VietNamNet : Third Prize Winner Nguyen Huy Oanh was the founder and pioneer of Phuc Giang School. The private school in the small village of Truong Luu was second only to Quoc Tu Giam in the capital city of Thang Long and was considered the first private school to train scholars in Vietnam during the feudal period.

According to Professor Nguyen Huy My, the consistenteducational philosophy of the Third Prize Winner Nguyen Huy Oanh was to promote the quality of education in schools. To serve the teaching in a systematic and quality manner, and at the same time to expand the knowledge of Confucian scholars, Nguyen Huy Oanh's family worked hard to produce a set of woodblocks to print books with more than 2,000 copies.

Professor - Academician Nguyen Huy My. Photo: Provided by the character

Professor Nguyen Huy My added that, from the discovered Han Nom documents, Phuc Giang School was the largest private school and the only private school in Vietnam in the medieval and modern periods that produced woodblocks to print textbooks for teaching and learning.

Currently, the Phuc Giang School Woodblocks are a special book collection of the Nguyen Huy family in Ha Tinh that has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Memory Heritage in the Asia- Pacific region.

According to the family's historical records, by the mid-18th century, Phuc Giang School had been built spaciously, with many books and materials to serve teaching, and at the same time, the teachers at the school were excellent and erudite teachers such as: Tham Hoa Nguyen Huy Oanh, Tam Giap Dong Tien Si Nguyen Huy Quynh, Huong Cong, Doc Dong Nguyen Huy Tu...

Woodblocks of Phuc Giang School. Photo: Dau Tinh

With its far-reaching reputation, the school attracted thousands of scholars from the North to the South. According to historical records, 30 students from Phuc Giang School passed the doctoral exam, and many more passed the bachelor's and bachelor's exams.

From the 18th century to the early 20th century, Phuc Giang School became increasingly famous, becoming a major private educational center in Vietnam at that time.

Recognizing the talent and dedication of Mr. Nguyen Huy Oanh to the cause of education, King Le Hien Tong bestowed a decree to confer the title of deity on him and recognized Phuc Giang School as a temple to worship the god Nguyen Huy Oanh. This was a rare recognition and appreciation for a former high-ranking mandarin and teacher while he was still alive.

“With the cultural and educational values ​​of Truong Luu village in general and of the Nguyen Huy family in particular, the name Truong Luu village was recently used as the name of a new commune when merging 3 units (Kim Song Truong commune, Thuong Nga commune and Phu Loc commune). That is the pride and honor of the ancient village rich in Truong Luu heritage," said Professor - Academician Nguyen Huy My.

The small village on the banks of the Ma River has hundreds of professors and doctors . Nguyet Vien village (Hoang Quang commune, Thanh Hoa city) is known as the "village of scholars", where there is still a stele recording the names of 11 doctors. Following the tradition of studiousness, up to now, Nguyet Vien village has hundreds of professors and doctors.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nha-giao-duoc-vua-le-phong-than-khi-con-song-2399286.html