The Don Thu village formerly belonged to Ung Thien palace, Son Nam Thuong town (now, Kim Thu commune, Thanh Oai district, Hanoi city). “Don” means bookshelves. “Thu” means books. Don Thu has the meaning of containing a message about the initiation of the village’s examination.
In the past, there were more than 30 people who passed the Baccalaureate, Bachelor, Doctorate, and Tham Hoa and worked as mandarins in the court and leader of districts in localities and made many great achievements handed down and remembered by generations. From the Tran dynasty, 17 people in the Nguyen Hau family were conferred honored titles. Through the Le and Nguyen dynasties, more than 30 families in Don Thu all had successful people on examination.
Don Thu Village today.
Photo: Do Minh
Vu Cong Tran (1685-1755) is the great pride of the Don Thu people. He has a famous literary talent, at the age of 40, he obtained a doctorate in Exam of 1724 Giap Thin, the fifth Bao Thai year of the Le Du Tong dynasty. He used to hold the position of Boi tung, Ta thi lang bo Binh cum Dong cac dai hoc si, and was conferred the title of Thu Trach Hau. In folklore, there are many stories about him as an example of virtue, the one who appreciates the kindness and the tradition of studiousness for Don Thu village. The Pham Vu family in Don Thu is famous for being studious with many academics. In the Nguyen Dynasty, there was Pham Vu Phac (ie Pham Vu Quyen) who passed Huong Cong along with his uncle Pham Dinh Du, exam of Dinh Mao (1807). Mr. Quyen participated in the exam when he was young and his name was not in the family’s book, so he had to use the name of his uncle, Pham Vu Phac. Mr. Quyen was selected to be in charge of Quoc Tu Giam agency and was awarded the title of Tu Nghiep. When he passed away, the King sent ten words: “Sự nghiệp tam triều vọng/Văn chương nhất quốc sư”. Tam nguyen Tham hoa Vu Pham Ham (ie, Pham Vu Ham) is also a follower of the academic tradition in Don Thu. He is the last Tam nguyen of the history of feudal education in Vietnam. Pham Vu Ham was born in 1864, the son of teacher Pham Vu Du. Since childhood, Pham Vu Ham was intelligent. Teacher Pham Vu Du wanted to apply for his children to study at Quoc Tu Giam which was only for the children of the royal family. Thanks to solving the couplet of the Doc hoc Mandarin Vu Nhu, Pham Vu Ham was adopted as the son of the Doc hoc Mandarin, named Vu Pham Ham to attend Quoc Tu Giam School. Vu Pham Ham was once appointed as the Doc hoc Mandarin of Hanoi province and An sat of Hai Duong province. When his career had just developed and his literary talent was developing, Pham Ham, unfortunately, fell seriously ill and died at the age of 43, leaving behind two works, Thu Tri thi tap and Tap Duong thuat hoai…
The personality and spirit of Dr. Vu Vu Tran, Tu Nghiep Pham Vu Quyen, and Tham hoa Vu Pham Ham will forever illuminate the learning path for Don Thu village and Kim Thu commune. The communal house of Don Thu village still preserves 16 ordinations, 6 horizontal phoenix paintings and many valuable couplets, including the “Van khi hao nhien” (the fine literature is natural), “Co dao chieu nhan” (morality in this land was brilliant from the past). The great painting “My tuc kha phong” given to the village by the Nguyen court in the 19th year of Tu Duc, has always been cherished by the Don Thu people with all respect and pride.
Currently, most of the families in Don Thu village have established a Study Promotion Fund to encourage the spirit of study and reward the people with high achievements in study. From Don Thu, there are many people awarded the titles of Professor, Associate Professor, Doctor, Master and there were hundreds of people with University and College degrees… who are continuing the tradition of studiousness of their forefathers and successful in the examination.
Mai Phuong