Which scholar once chased away the Mongols with a stone?

He was Nguyen Quan Quang (year of birth and year of death unknown), from Tam Son commune, Dong Ngan district, Tu Son prefecture, Kinh Bac town (now Tam Son commune, Tu Son, Bac Ninh ), the top scorer in the 1246 exam, during the reign of King Tran Thai Tong.

According to the book Vietnamese Prodigy, Nguyen Quan Quang was born into a poor family. As a child, he did not have enough conditions to study, so he often had to hang around near the class to learn by stealth, using hard objects to write on the ground.

One day, the teacher saw many beautiful words written on the ground, like dancing dragons and phoenixes. He looked and realized that they were the writings of the boy Quang. The teacher thought that this boy could be a future talent, so he called Quan Quang in to clarify the situation and then let him into the class for free.

Before long, the whole class was amazed at Quan Quang's strange intelligence, as he learned one thing and knew ten things. When it came to the provincial exam, he took the exam and passed first, called Giai Nguyen. When it came to the national exam, he again passed first. When King Tran Thai Tong opened the Dai Ty exam (at that time, it was not called the Dinh exam), he again passed first.

Painting of Nguyen Quan Quang's dialogue with the Mongolian general. (Illustration: Binh Phuoc Newspaper).

After returning to his hometown to honor his ancestors, returning to the royal court, the new top scholar Nguyen Quan Quang was allowed to attend the king's court. Seeing him tall and imposing, King Tran Thai Tong showed his affection for him, bestowed upon him the national surname - Tran, and changed his name to Tran Quan Quang.

At that time, the Mongol army was approaching the border, threatening to invade our country. The King issued an edict to send Tran Quan Quang to negotiate with the enemy. The Mongol general was famous for his arrogance, brutality and profoundness. He thought that Quan Quang came to use his three-inch tongue to persuade them, so he thought of a way to use his power to suppress them.

While passing the pond, the enemy general picked up a duckweed, held it in his palm and squeezed it tightly. After a while, he opened it up and showed Quan Quang the crushed duckweed. The general laughed loudly and looked very pleased. Quan Quang understood that the enemy general was showing that Vietnam was like a weak duckweed that could be broken with just a light hit. He then picked up a large stone and threw it into the middle of the pond. The duckweed drifted to an open space but in a moment it pulled back together again.

The Mongol general understood that the Vietnamese people were united to protect their country and no force could subdue them. He chose to delay and did not dare to advance any further.

According to Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu, Nguyen Quan Quang, although a talented man, did not like the officialdom. He only stayed in the capital for a while before resigning and returning to his hometown to open a teaching class. He lived a simple life, taking teaching as a source of joy. To him, training talented people for the country was also a way to show his loyalty and patriotism.

Tam Son people believe that he was the founder of the Chinese studies of his homeland. After Nguyen Quan Quang passed away, to commemorate him, the villagers built a pagoda where he used to teach, built a temple on the mountain and honored him as the village's tutelary god of Tam Son.

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