Lê Quý Đôn


Lê Quý Đôn was an 18th-century Vietnamese poet, encyclopedist, and government official. His pseudonym was Quế-Đường. He was a native of Duyen Ha village in present-day Thái Bình Province. He is considered one of the most outstanding and prolific Vietnamese savants of the early modern period.

Life

Lê was born in the province of Thái Bình, and lived in the reign of Emperor Lê Hiển Tông.
The period of his life was marked by a split between the Trịnh lords of the north and the Nguyễn lords of the south, followed by the Tây Sơn rebellion.
In 1760, Lê Quý Đôn went to China as an ambassador. He later served as a government official in the ministries of war, finance and public works. He also served as the rector of the National University situated in the Văn Miếu in Hanoi and as Director of the Bureau of Annals.
It is said that Lê was traveling with some Qing officials, and along the way they saw a Chinese poem inscribed on a stone palette. Later, one of the Qing officials, to test his merit, asked him if he could remember what was on the stone palette. Lê recited the entire poem, word for word, in Chinese. That earned him a great deal of respect from the Chinese.

Writings

Lê Quý Đôn was responsible for a large number of encyclopedic, historical, bibliographical, and philosophical works.
It is estimated that he has the largest volume of works among the old Chinese-language Vietnamese literature.
Today, one of largest technical universities in Hanoi, Le Quy Don Technical University, and many schools in Vietnam are named after him. Most cities in Vietnam have named major streets after him.
Finally, "Lê Quý Đôn″ is also the name of a new Vietnamese sail training ship, built in 2015 by the Polish ship yard Marine Projects Ltd. on behalf of Polish Defence Holding in Gdynia. Some of its data: overall length: 65.0 m, breadth: 10.0 m, air draft: 42.0 m, sails area: 1395 m², propulsion: 880 kW, crew and cadets: 30 + 80 persons.