Lê Ngô Cát
Proper Noun: - Lê Ngô Cát: A 19th-century Vietnamese scholar, historian, and poet during the Nguyễn Dynasty, specifically under Emperor Tự Đức. He is best known for his editorial work on the historical epic poem "Đại Nam quốc sử diễn ca" (Versified History of the Great South).
Historical Figure: - Lê Ngô Cát (1827–1875) was a mandarin, historian, and literary figure. He passed the provincial imperial exam (cử nhân) in 1848 and held various government positions, including a role at the National Historiography Institute (Quốc sử quán). His most significant contribution was revising and expanding the "Đại Nam quốc sử diễn ca," a major work of Vietnamese history written in vernacular verse (lục bát). He was known for his literary talent and his disinterest in official rank, eventually retiring to a private life.
- Proper Noun:
- Lê Ngô Cát là một sử gia nổi tiếng thời Nguyễn. (Lê Ngô Cát was a famous historian of the Nguyễn period.)
- Công trình chính của Lê Ngô Cát liên quan đến "Đại Nam quốc sử diễn ca". (Lê Ngô Cát's main work is related to the "Versified History of the Great South.")
- Historical Context: The name is used in academic discussions of Vietnamese historiography and 19th-century literature.
- The revisions by Lê Ngô Cát made the historical narrative more accessible to the public.
- Đại Nam quốc sử diễn ca: The title of the versified history he helped edit.
- Sử kí quốc ngữ ca: An alternate name for the same work.
- Tự Đức: The reign name of the emperor during his time.
- Historian: A scholar who studies and writes about history.
- Scholar: A learned person, especially in the humanities.
- Mandarin: A historical term for a bureaucrat in imperial Vietnam.
- Anecdote: A famous story recounts that Emperor Tự Đức, after reading a section about the Trưng Sisters riding elephants to fight invaders, commented, "This shames the men of our country," and rewarded Lê Ngô Cát with silk and two coins. Cát later wrote a self-deprecating couplet about the reward.
- Literary Style: He was particularly skilled in the "lục bát" (six-eight) verse form, the most common meter in Vietnamese poetry.