Nam Ông mộng lục


Dream memoir of Southern Man is a memoir written by Vietnamese official Hồ Nguyên Trừng during his exile in Ming dynasty in the early 15th century.

History

was the eldest son of Hồ Quý Ly who was the founder of the Hồ dynasty, and a renowned military inventor of Việt Nam for his innovation in making cannons and warships. After the defeat of the Hồ dynasty by the army of the Ming dynasty, Hồ Nguyên Trừng was captured in Hà Tĩnh in 1407 and transferred to China. He was pardoned and granted a position of supervisor in the military industry of the Ming. He was eventually promoted to Deputy Minister of Industry in the imperial court of the Ming dynasty.
At the end of his life, Hồ Nguyên Trừng decided to write his memoir to express his nostalgia about his homeland Đại Việt. The memoir was first published in China in 1442. Later Nam Ông mộng lục was brought back to Vietnam by the Vietnamese ambassador Lê Quý Đôn and had a considerable significance on the historiography and literature of Vietnam. In the foreword of the book, Hồ Nguyên Trừng wrote that he wanted to recite the stories that he had known in order to praise exemplary figures in history and provide those stories for readers. Nam Ông mộng lục is considered the first memoir and one of the earliest novels written in Classical Chinese in the history of Vietnamese literature. However, Hồ Nguyên Trừng was not aware of the fact that his work belong to a new fictitious genre of literature instead of simply as an historical text.

Contents

Nam Ông mộng lục is arranged in 31 chapters, each chapter is a story about a Vietnamese legend or a historical figure of the Lý or Trần Dynasty that Hồ Nguyên Trừng considered typical of Vietnam. Today only 28 chapters remain while 3 chapters were lost. The subjects of the memoir come from relatives of the author, emperors and princes of the Trần Dynasty, to famous scholars, priests and physicians. Following is the table of contents of Nam Ông mộng lục:
ChapterTitleContent
01"Nghệ vương thủy mạt"
Story of Trần Nghệ Tông
02"Trúc Lâm kỳ tịch"
Story of Trần Nhân Tông
03"Tổ linh định mệnh"
Story of Trần Minh Tông
04"Đức tất hữu vị"
Story of Trần Minh Tông's dignity
05"Phụ đức trinh minh"
Story of Lady Lê, a concubine of Trần Duệ Tông
06"Văn tang khí tuyệt"
Story of Trần Thái Tông
07"Văn trinh ngạnh trực"
Story of the royal teacher Chu Văn An
08"Y thiện dụng tâm"
Story of the physician Phạm Bân
09"Dũng lực thần dị"
Story of the general Lê Phụng Hiểu
10"Phu thê tử tiết"
Story of the mandarin Ngô Miễn
11"Tăng đạo thần thông"
Story of the Buddhist masters Thông Huyền and Giác Hải
12"Tấu chương minh nghiệm"
Story of Prince Chiêu Văn Trần Nhật Duật
13"Áp Lãng chân nhân"
Story of the Taoist priest Áp Lãng
14"Minh Không thần dị"
Story of the Buddhist master Nguyễn Minh Không
15"Nhập mộng liệu bệnh"
Story of the Buddhist master Quán Viên
16"Ni sư đức hành"
Story of the bhikkhuni Phạm thị
17"Cảm kích đồ hành"
Story of Trần Nhân Tông and Prince Văn Túc Trần Đạo Tái
18"Điệp tự thi cách"
Story of Trần Thánh Tông's talent for poems
19"Thi ý thanh tân"
Story of Trần Nhân Tông's talent for poems
20"Trung thực thiện chung"
Story of the brothers Phạm Ngộ and Phạm Mại
21"Thi phúng trung gián"
Story of Marquis Chương Túc Trần Nguyên Đán
22"Thi dụng tiền nhân cảnh cú"
Story of the scholar Nguyễn Trung Ngạn's talent for literature
23"Thi ngôn tự phụ"
Story of Nguyễn Trung Ngạn's character
24"Mệnh thông thi triệu"
Story of the mandarin Lê Quát
25"Thi chí công danh"
Story of the general Phạm Ngũ Lão
26"Tiểu thi lệ cú"
Story of the talent for poems of members of the Trần royal family
27"Thi tửu kinh nhân"
Story of Hồ Tông Trạc
28"Thi triệu dư khánh"
Story of Lê Trừng
29"Thi xưng tương chức"
Story of Trần Nghệ Tông's mandarins
30"Thi thán trí quân"
Story of Trần Nguyên Đán's talent for poems
31"Quý khách tương hoan"

From its contents, Nam Ông mộng lục shows an important influence of Buddhism and Taoism during the reign of the Lý and Trần dynasties.