Chu Manh Trinh (1862 - 1905)

Chu Manh Trinh was called Can Than and his pseudonym was Truc Van, a native of Phu Thi village, Me So commune of Van Giang district. He was born in a Confucian family. Chu Duy Tinh, his father, was a court counselor. He was very smart in study. He won a high-school diploma at the age of 19. At the age of 25, he won the position of the first laureate at an interprovincial exam. He also won the first position in the royal court competition at the age of 31. That is why contemporary people called him Phu Thi Doctor.

After winning the doctor’s degree, he was appointed to be the county Chief of Ly Nhan, Ha Nam province. He was said to be a truthful, upright and veracious mandarin.

Once he ordered the punishment of a French monk who had abused his power to do bad things. A short time after he became a county chief, his father died so he returned to his native land to celebrate his father's  funeral. After finishing the funeral, he was appointed the position of a provincial judge in charge of Ha Nam, Hung Yen, Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen provinces.

He was also a Confucianist well-known for his generosity and talent in music, chess, poetry and art. He was also good at architecture.

In 1905, Le Hoan, province chief of Hung Yen, held a poetry competition, whose chief judge was poet Nguyen Khuyen. Chu Manh Trinh won the first prize in Chinese-transcribed Vietnamese poetry.

He was very interested in Kieu story and so sympathetic with the character - Thuy Kieu that he made a collection of Chinese-transcribed Vietnamese poems about Thuy Kieu ( Thanh Tam tai nhan thi tap - Thanh Tam’s poem collection). The book’s preface written in Chinese characters (Translated into Vietnamese by Doan Quy) was a deep commentary on Kieu story, evidently expressing his living style as well as the writing one.

As a dilettante Confucianist in the decaying feudal society under French colonization, he tended to divorce himself from the society and express a hedonistic tendency. However, his literal works expressed his deep love for the country and gave prominence to its culture. He was fond of enjoying beautiful natural sceneries, historical relics as well as composing and reciting poems. His ca tru songs (Ca tru is an original art performance of academic character), especially "Huong Son phong canh ca" (Song about Huong Son scenery), were very skillfully composed, expressing his love for the nature and his patriotism. His works were rich in humanity and expressed his romanticism and emotionalism. One of his Chinese language poem collections was "Truc Van thi tap" (Truc Van’s poem collection) and one of his Chinese-transcribed Vietnamese poem collections was “Thanh Tam’s poem collection.”

He was also a talented architect. He made the design for the restoration of Thien Tru Pagoda (A pagoda outside Huong Tich Cave) and for the building of Da Hoa temple, Hoa Da Trach temple and Chu Dong Tu – Tien Dung temples in Khoai Chau district.