Vietnamese Stories for Language Learners. Tri C. Tran

      chứng nào tật ấy incorrigible

      nổi trận lôi đình to go through the roof

       Discussion Questions

      1 Analyze the concept of “expelling someone from Heaven to Earth.”

      2 What lesson does this story teach regarding Lieu Hanh’s punishment of the prince?

      3 What is the irony observable in the prince’s behavior at Lieu Hanh’s shop and the eight generals’ cure for his illness?

      Trang Bung Goes on a Mission

       An Accomplished Mandarin

       Throughout the several periods of Chinese rule that totaled up to nearly 1,000 years, many Vietnamese had acted in different ways in an attempt to gain back, step by step, national independence and sovereignty. Being a talented yet already aging mandarin, Phung Khac Khoan still contributed to his people’s common mission by employing his literary expertise as well as his debate skills to convince a Chinese emperor to partially recognize the autonomy of the Vietnamese king during his lifetime.

      Trang Bung was the nickname of Phung Khac Khoan. He was born in 1582 in Bung village, Phung Xa hamlet, Thach That district, Ha Tay province (now belonging to Hanoi). Phung Khac Khoan had literary talent. However, he refused to take the exam to become a mandarin under the Mac Dynasty because he asserted that they had usurped the throne from the Le family. Under the Trinh family, Phung Khac Khoan passed the Huong exam with highest honors when he was 29 years old (1557). Even after he was made a mandarin, he was still not very interested in the Trinh family. During the era of Le The Tong, in the Year of the Dragon (1580), Phung Khac Khoan asked to take the Hoi exam. He passed the exam as a second-rank doctoral candidate and was promoted. Two years later, he asked to resign from his position and return home.

      However, a short time later, King Le invited him to come back as a mandarin to help his country. In the year 1592, the Le family fought with the Mac family and returned to the capital, Thang Long. At that time, Phung Khac Khoan was given many important positions in the imperial court. People gave him the nickname “Trang Bung” (“Doctor from Bung”) out of respect for him, but in reality he had never passed the first doctoral candidacy, as many people believed.

      During that time, the country of Nam was still heavily influenced by the imperial court of the Ming Dynasty from the north. All the southern royal families still offered an annual tribute to the House of Ming and endured their indirect control. When it came to the Mac family, the dependency on the north became even more evident. All the rulers from the Mac family were cowardly and overly subservient to the Ming family. In addition to official offerings of tribute, those kings gave innumerable bribes to the imperial mandarins from the Ming court. Given that, the imperial mandarins became increasingly abusive with their authority.

      King Le ordered his people to bring a gold statue along with silk fabrics and jewelry to China’s gateway to ask for a personal audience with the Ming emperor, to request a conference on this matter—a conference that had been denied. He had to do this for the simple reason that the imperial mandarins had received so many bribes from the Mac family that they were always looking for ways to make things difficult for the Le family.

      By that time, mandarin Phung Khac Khoan was already 69 years old. However, because of word that he had superior strategic skills, King Le nominated him as the chief envoy to the Ming court to request the conference. When Chief Envoy Phung Khac Khoan led the delegation to the border, the imperial mandarins denied them entry into China. Phung Khac Khoan had to show his talent for coping with new situations: he reasoned with the imperial mandarins on the one hand, while bribing them on the other. The delegation was finally able to cross the frontier. By the time the delegation arrived at Yen Kinh (today known as Beijing), they had travelled for twelve long, miserable months. When they arrived, they still had to wait an additional five consecutive months before they were able to have an appearance before the Ming emperor.

      At the time, the Ming court was divided into two factions. One side wanted to recognize the Le family, but the other side still supported the Mac family. Phung Khac Khoan had to utilize all his strategies and diplomacy in order to get an appearance with the Ming emperor in order to submit King Le’s petition for a conference. Yet, the Ming emperor still did not agree to grant the title of “monarch” to King Le, and merely conferred to him the title of “co-regent.” Nonetheless, this was a significant diplomatic victory for Chief Envoy Phung Khac Khoan. Through this event, the Ming family tacitly recognized the Le family as official and lost the legal right to promote King Mac any longer.

      During this diplomatic mission, Phung Khac Khoan made a strong impression on the Ming emperor because of his outstanding literary talent and his clever debating skills. The day he returned, King Le received him solemnly yet jubilantly. Phung Khac Khoan even taught the people skills that he learned during his time in China, such as how to weave silk, and how to grow corn and sesame, and is considered the forefather for these industries. He passed away in the Year of the Ox (1613), after living to the ripe old age of 85, and was posthumously granted the title of the second-highest rank in officialdom.

Trạng Bùng Đi Sứ

      Công Trạng Của Một Vị Quan Lỗi Lạc

      Trải qua nhiều thời kỳ Bắc thuộc tổng cộng gần một ngàn năm, biết bao nhiêu người dân Việt đã có những hành động kháng cự dưới nhiều hình thức khác nhau để từng bước giành lại độc lập và chủ quyền cho đất nước. Là một vị quan có tài nhưng đã luống tuổi, Phùng Khắc Khoan vẫn đóng góp vào sứ mạng chung của dân tộc bằng cách đem tài nghệ về thi phú cũng như hùng biện để thuyết phục hoàng đế Trung Hoa một phần công nhận chủ quyền của nhà vua nước Việt thời bấy giờ.

      Trạng Bùng là biệt hiệu của Phùng Khắc Khoan. Ông sinh năm 1582 ở làng Bùng, xã Phùng Xá, huyện Thạch Thất, tỉnh Hà Tây (nay thuộc Hà Nội). Phùng Khắc Khoan là người có văn tài nhưng ông không đi thi để khỏi làm quan dưới triều Mạc mà ông cho rằng đã tiếm ngôi của nhà Lê. Dưới thời nhà Trịnh, Phùng Khắc Khoan đỗ đầu khoa thi Hương lúc 29 tuổi (1557). Ông được cho làm quan song cũng không tha thiết mấy với nhà Trịnh. Qua thời Lê Thế Tông, ông xin dự kỳ thi Hội vào năm Canh Thìn (1580) và đỗ Hoàng giáp, được thăng quan tiến chức. Hai năm sau, ông xin từ quan về nhà.

      Tuy nhiên, chỉ ít lâu sau, vua Lê lại mời ông trở lại để làm quan, giúp việc nước. Năm 1592, nhà Lê đánh đuổi được nhà Mạc, trở về kinh đô Thăng Long. Lúc ấy, Phùng Khắc Khoan được giao cho giữ nhiều chức vị quan trọng trong triều đình. Biệt hiệu Trạng Bùng là do dân chúng kính nể ông mà gọi, chứ thực ra ông chưa đỗ Trạng nguyên như nhiều người tưởng.

      Vào thời bấy giờ, nước Nam vẫn chịu ảnh hưởng nặng nề của triều đình nhà Minh ở phương Bắc. Các triều đại phương Nam vẫn hằng năm triều cống cho nhà Minh và chịu sự kiểm soát gián tiếp của họ. Đến thời nhà Mạc, sự lệ thuộc vào phương Bắc lại càng rõ rệt hơn nữa. Các vua nhà Mạc đã tỏ ra yếu hèn, quỵ luỵ quá nhiều đối với nhà Minh. Ngoài việc triều cống chính thức, các vua còn hối lộ cho vua quan nhà Minh nhiều không kể xiết. Được thể, vua quan nhà Minh càng ngày càng lộng quyền.