Photographers from all over the country make a pilgrimage to visit the Dang family temple in Thanh Luong village.

The love of celebrities for their homeland

Hue is proud to be the birthplace and growing up place of the famous Dang Huy Tru. Until now, there are still many villages bearing his mark such as: Thanh Luong village (Huong Tra town) where he was born; Hien Si village (Phong Dien town) is the famous person's ancestral home and also the place where the church and tomb of Dang Huy Tru have been ranked as historical relics by the Ministry of Culture and Information; Luu Bao village (Phu Xuan district) is his wife's hometown. An Nong village (Phu Loc district); Uu Diem, My Xuyen (Phong Dien town) are the villages where Dang Huy Tru used to open classes. Bac Vong village (Quang Dien district) still preserves a bell, which is a sacred instrument in the village's Van Thanh temple... In addition, there is a street named Dang Huy Tru in Hue (Truong An ward, Thuan Hoa district) and on the land of Huong Tra town there is a school named Dang Huy Tru High School.

Dang Huy Tru was a great poet in the mid-19th century, a realistic poet, always struggling with the daily life of the “four people, one hundred arts”, the hard-working, simple villagers. Poetry followed him from the time he was a student, a teacher, passed exams, became an official, went on diplomatic missions… Dang Huy Tru also wrote many poems about the traditional craft villages of Hue. His poems are still circulated today in many craft villages and localities in Hue, the poems of the famous Dang Huy Tru also created the premise for a number of craft products to arise…

In 1869, Mr. Dang Huy Tru imported photographic equipment from Hong Kong (China) to open the Cam Hieu Duong photo studio on Thanh Ha Street, Hanoi . This was the first photo studio in Vietnam, opening a page in the history of the development of the photography industry, of which he was the founder. Mr. Dang Huy Tru not only intended to open a photo studio in Hanoi , but also wanted to develop it throughout the country, first of all in Hue.

Continuing the tradition

Photographer Tran Thi Thu Dong, President of the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists (VPA), affirmed: “We have learned a lot from the famous Dang Huy Tru, first of all the spirit of innovation and creativity. Photography must always be closely linked to the reality of life and the mission of serving the Fatherland and the People”. At the same time, she hopes that local authorities will pay attention, soon have a plan and invest in expanding and embellishing the Dang Huy Tru church relic site to become more spacious and majestic, so that this place is not only a place of worship but also becomes an important cultural address, a tourist destination truly worthy of the origin of Vietnamese photography.

Photographer Luu Quang Pho, Deputy Head of the Theory and Criticism Department - Vietnam Association of Photographers, has a very noteworthy idea: Building Hue into a City of Photography; because Hue is the birthplace of the founder of photography Dang Huy Tru; Hue has the University of Arts as a criterion and foundation for photography cities abroad to operate in a fundamental and intellectual manner; Hue is a Festival city, Hue Festivals have long been known to the world. In 2023, Hue also successfully organized an international photography festival, an event commonly seen in photography cities around the world, but still quite rare in Vietnam. Another clear and outstanding advantage is that Hue has a profound photography community. The Vietnam Association of Photographers in Hue and the Hue City Photography Association are extremely strong hubs of Vietnamese photography.

Dang Huy Tru's ideology is still being passed down through generations of students at Dang Huy Tru High School. Principal Hoang Phon said: "Every year, the school organizes extracurricular activities to experience the famous Dang Huy Tru such as: storytelling contests to learn about his life and career; organizing incense offerings, cleaning and taking care of the church and tomb of Dang Huy Tru. Many generations of teachers and students of the school have become managers, scientists, culturalists, economists, military experts, soldiers, skilled workers in many fields, making many contributions to the country, contributing to building and embellishing the tradition of Dang Huy Tru High School to make it more and more vibrant."

Ho Dang Thanh Ngoc

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/xu-hue-va-danh-nhan-van-hoa-dang-huy-tru-153637.html