Who dares to compare the Qing Dynasty king and mandarins to 'a frog at the bottom of a well'?

In the feudal history of our country, there were many corrupt officials who made a request for change, and the Qing Dynasty kings and mandarins were like "the people here are the ones who are the most corrupt".

He was Nguyen Dang Cao (1619-?), from Hoai Bao village, Tien Du district, Tu Son prefecture, Kinh Bac town (now Tien Du district, Bac Ninh ). He was considered a third-rank scholar with a remarkable memory and was the only person to be awarded the title of Two-Country Grand Master.

Since childhood, Nguyen Dang Cao was famous for his intelligence, he could memorize a book after reading it once, and was called a child prodigy by everyone. In the 1646 examination, Nguyen Dang Cao passed the First Class Doctorate with the Third Rank (Third Prize). Because this examination did not select the first and second laureates, he was the top candidate among the successful candidates. In 1659, he passed the Dong Cac examination with the highest score and was appointed Dong Cac Dai Hoc Si.

Known for his uprightness and straightforwardness, Nguyen Dang Cao was not highly regarded by the court. He was dismissed from his position after less than three years in office. However, whenever a Qing envoy came to question or cause trouble, King Le had to invite him to respond. His talent for responding and his sharp writing embarrassed the Qing envoy many times.

With his intelligence and diplomatic talent, Nguyen Dang Cao was praised by the Qing Dynasty and awarded the title of Khoi Nguyen. (Illustration photo)

According to the book "Vietnamese Ambassadors", once he was appointed as the chief envoy to China, when he met him and saw that he was old, the Qing emperor immediately gave him a couplet: "The old dog lost its hair, but when it saw the moon, it still stood in the yard and barked" .

Knowing that it was the Qing emperor's intention to insult him, Nguyen Dang Cao immediately responded: "Little frog with short neck, dares to sit at the bottom of a well and consider the sky as a lid."

The antithetical couplet has a wild and sarcastic content, looking down on the ignorant and narrow-minded Qing Dynasty court, showing the intelligence and bravery of the Vietnamese people. From then on, the Qing Dynasty king and mandarins did not dare to look down on the envoys of the South anymore. When Nguyen Dang Cao's delegation left, the Qing King ordered his mandarins to send them off very solemnly.

Another time, when the Qing envoy brought an imperial edict with 10 squares of brocade, and packages of hats, dresses, and clothes, the court did not understand what the Qing wanted, and had to invite Nguyen Dang Cao back to the capital.

After looking at the object, he immediately reported that the Qing Dynasty wanted us to follow the Celestial Dynasty, dress according to Qing customs, and cut our hair into a pigtail. He also suggested that we should return this set of clothes and give them the Vietnamese national costume so that they would see that we would not accept it.

Sent by the king to the border to deal with the Qing envoys, Nguyen Dang Cao chose to pack skirts, shirts, and bibs… Vietnamese costumes to bring. After seeing them, the Qing envoys understood that Dai Viet wanted to preserve their country's traditional dress.

Nguyen Dang Cao also wrote the "Establishment of the vassals" to refute the arguments of the Qing Dynasty, then sent it to the envoy of this country to present to the king. After reading it, the Qing King said: "There are many talented people in every generation, but the one who is most outstanding from now on is only Dang Hao" (Dang Hao is another name of Nguyen Dang Cao).

With his talent and intelligence, Nguyen Dang Cao made the Qing court respect him and award him the title of Khoi Nguyen of the Northern Dynasty.

Libra

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/vi-nao-dam-vi-vua-quan-nha-thanh-nhu-ech-ngoi-day-gieng-ar924562.html