The researcher Vu Ngoc Lien has collected a valuable collection of Tuong or Tuong (Vietnamese classical drama) in the past 60 years. At the age of 87, he has still devoted all time to that work. He feels no tiredness on the lonely journey.
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The researcher Vu Ngoc Lien |
In Quy Nhon city, everyone knows him as they are Tuong lovers and it is said that any Tuong lovers must know Lien, a man who has devoted his life to classical drama.
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Lien often begins a working day at 8 am. He looks younger than his age and always shows great enthusiasm for his work. “I’m writing a new book. There are so many issues related to Tuong and I have to try my utmost to work,” he smiled and said.
His 700-page book Quynh Phu Nguyen Dieu will be published in the coming time. It is the latest work he writes about the Confusian scholar who used to be Dao Tan’s teacher (Dao Tan is considered as the founder of Tuong in Binh Dinh.
Lien said he sometimes forgot time and his age when focusing on his work; however, he clearly remembers anything related to Tuong which he selected as his fate.
After the success of the August Revolution, Lien became the Chairman of a commune’s revolutionary Committee in Nhon Ly, a suburban of Quy Nhon city. This place helped him nurtured his love for Tuong as it was one of cradles of Tuong in Binh Dinh.
There were not enough rice to feed soldiers at that time, Lien and his colleagues decided to open a Tuong troupe to earn money for the revolutionary cause. He had to play many roles in Tuong plays in many years.
Devoted all time to Tuong, his biggest concern is how to explore and popularize this type of culture heritage effectively.
When he was selected to go to study in China, he also majored in Tuong. Thanks to his experience and knowledge of Tuong, Lien has written scores of books describing Tuong activities in many places.
“I have spent many years studying a typical character in Tuong, that is Dao Tan as a long-standing traditional stage art must have a typical artist and his big works,” Lien said.
He added that he has always been lucky during his work. He masters Han (Chinese) script; also, he was taught by the best foreign teachers and the most important thing is that is he is healthy.
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As for him, Binh Dinh is a “great warehouse” storing many Tuong authors and artists. It is often considered as the cradle of Tuong with hundreds of troupes in the old days. He is now old and he usually stays at home, focusing on writing books to preserve Tuong in his own way.
“I focus on quality, not quantity when writing books,” he said. “I try to write in ways that help readers understand Tuong to love it.
Although the art of Tuong is given special concern in Binh Dinh, it has still faced many difficulties, requiring practical solutions. According to Lien, the role of senior artists and talent playwrights is very important in Tuong preservation.
“I’ve been studying Dao Tan so that I could find a measure to preserve Tuong as he is a good artist, playwright, and organizer,” he said. “We must follow his way to save Tuong.”
“I think that a research centre of Tuong should be set up in Binh Dinh as well as a school, training Tuong playwrights, directors, and artists,” he added.
Besides writing books, his happiness is to meet his friends, particularly those working at Tuong troupe. The most practical thing he studied abroad is the audience training.
“Universities and colleges must have syllabus of Tuong as well as big authors, making people love Tuong,” Lien expressed his hope. “In European countries, most people know and love Shakespeare in that way.”
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