Pham Cong Tru (1599-1675)

Pham Cong Tru was a native of Lieu Xuyen village, Duong Hao district (Now belonging Thanh Xa hamlet, Nghia Hiep commune, Yen My district). He was born on March 17^th, 1599. His father was Pham Cai, chief of Hoai An district in Son Nam (Now belonging to Chuong My district of Ha Tay province). His mother was Nguyen Thi Lien.

Pham Cong Tru was a plain, upright and good-hearted man. When he was over ten years old, he was well known for his excellence in literature. When he grew up, he went to Duong Hao district school and was considered to be "Man of distinction". When he was 29 years old, he won the doctoral title in the royal court competition in 1628 and was then assigned the minister's position.

In 1631, he was assigned to hold the position of Hien sat (Chief Officer) in Thanh Hoa. In 1639, he was the Governor of Phung Thien district (Hanoi today) and then became the mandarin of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1642, he was promoted to the position of Tan Ly dao Son Nam (A military officer in charge of Son Nam region).  In 1643 and 1644, he followed Trinh Tac Lord (1657-1682) to lead troops to attack Nguyen Phuc Lan's rebellion in the south and the Mac's rebellion in the north. In 1645, he was assigned the position of Khanh Yen Ba duke and promoted to the position of Ngu su dai chinh chuong (Chief court counselor). 

In 1657, he became Minister of Rites cum Dong Cac academician and Tuoc Yen duke.

In 1660, he submitted an official letter to the King requesting the establishment of a clear and fair justice system which was approved by Trinh Lord in order to maintain the social stability. In 1961, he took the position of Chief Commander to put down Nguyen Phuc Tan’s rebellion in Thuan Hoa. Returning with the victory, he was bestowed the title of Thieu Bao duke.  In 1662, he was in charge of Temple of Literature and the attache of Trinh Lord. During this time, he built the Doctorate stelae in Duong Hao district (In his home land) to encourage the learning motivation of local people.

At the beginning of Canh Tri period, he was bestowed the title of Minister of the Interior.

In 1665, as requested by Trinh Lord, he participated in reviewing the "Su ky toan thu" (Vietnamese History). He, together with his fellows, collected historical information from Hong Bang period to the tenth century to create "Dai viet su ky ngoai ky toan thu" and from Dinh Tien Hoang period to Le dynasty to create "Ban ky toan thu" - based on previous works of Ngo Si Lien. He also used other historical reference sources to incorporate in this book to create Vietnam's history with 25 volumes. In addition to that, he also wrote the works "47 dogmas" which was incorporated into the criminal law to strengthen the country's law system.

In 1667 and 1669, he followed Trinh Can Lord to defeat the Mac's rebellion in Cao Bang and stopped the Qing dynasty's plot to invade Vietnam.

After his 40 years of service to the country, he was assigned the position of Quoc Lao and participated in deliberating important and secret departments of the country. At this time, he also made three resignation proposals but the King only agreed on his third proposal. He was promoted the title of the great tutor and conferred parallel sentences to praise his talent and contributions.

In 1673, the royal court invited him to be the prime minister in charge of six ministries and take part in secret and important departments. 

He died in 1675 at the age of 76 in his hometown. He had devoted all his life to the construction and reinforcement of the royal court and the country. He made a lot of important contributions in the fields of politics, military affairs, literature, history and law. He was considered as the key person of Vietnamese feudal government at that moment. His contributions were highly appreciated by Phan Huy Chu in "History of Vietnamese Dynasty”: "….. In 49 years of working for the country, he - a political genius - established the legal framework which encouraged the talented and righteous people and dealt with the corrupt and imperious ones…..”

His works include:

• Dai Viet Grand Historical Records (Including royal annals and continuation).
• 47 dogmas
• 17 poems written in Toan Viet poem collection.