Kien Giang - Ha Huy Ha, a wandering life

Not only famous for the poem 'White flowers only pinned on purple shirts', Kien Giang - Ha Huy Ha is also a famous reformed opera composer and theater journalist of Saigon's press.

Poet Kien Giang - Ha Huy Ha, real name Truong Khuong Trinh (born in 1929, died in 2014), was "the house of many houses" but was very poor and at times... homeless.

Poet tells the story of the writer

Poet Kien Giang - Ha Huy Ha is very cheerful, generous, typical of the Southern style. At the opening of the Son Nam writer memorial house in 2010, from Ho Chi Minh City, poet Kien Giang took a bus to My Tho, holding Thanh Nien newspaper in his hand. As soon as he met me, he said: "I read your article. Very good. If I were you, I would reward you... 10 million immediately!".

Talking about Son Nam, poet Kien Giang - Ha Huy Ha said: "Son Nam and I are from the same hometown of Dong Thai commune, An Bien district, old Rach Gia province. We studied together in Can Tho and then joined the resistance war. When we went to Saigon, we both worked as journalists, so we became close friends." According to poet Kien Giang, when they met again in Saigon, he introduced Son Nam to write for Tin Sang newspaper to "earn a living" and later, thanks to Son Nam's instigation, he and Ha Trieu - Hoa Phuong became famous cai luong composers.

Poet Kien Giang next to the statue of writer Son Nam

PHOTO: HOANG PHUONG

Poet Kien Giang at 83 years old

PHOTO: HOANG PHUONG

At that time, although he was 83 years old, he was still very stylish and had the style of a real journalist. He said: "Son Nam likes to hang out and talk charmingly, thanks to that, he is better than me in terms of... love! For example, with his second wife, who was the principal of a private school in Saigon. When his friends rented a house for Son Nam, they said he was from the docks, so they were arranged to live in a corner. One day, while he was writing, he went out to buy something and the oil lamp suddenly caught fire. When the landlady ran in to put out the fire, she saw only books and was surprised about the "dock guy". So from then on, the two of them were... stuck together!".

In the poetry collection Southern Rice Sowing by poet Kien Giang, writer Son Nam wrote: "From White Flowers Just Pinned on Purple Shirts to Childhood Homeland and Southern Rice Sowing , Kien Giang still maintains the purest poetic style as commented by writer Thieu Son. However, in Southern Rice Sowing , Kien Giang immerses its poetic soul in the pain and spirit of the Southern people who have worked hard to reclaim land and expand the blue horizon, reflecting more or less the profound and flexible features of the garden civilization."

Home of many homes

In the book Artist's Life (Vietnamese Women's Publishing House 2025), writer Vo Dac Danh commented: "Kien Giang - Ha Huy Ha is a special phenomenon. He is the home of many artists: poet, journalist, stage, reformed opera and homeless philanthropist. In all genres, he has masterpieces that are considered classics. The most unique is when he puts poetry into reformed opera to create sweet, refined and very folk works".

Poetry collection Southern Rice Sowing by poet Kien Giang

PHOTO: HOANG PHUONG

Born into a peasant family, Kien Giang spent a difficult childhood in the poor countryside of U Minh Thuong. In 1945, he joined the resistance war against the French. When peace was restored, he went to Saigon to work as a theater journalist for many newspapers such as Tieng Chuong, Tieng Doi, Dien Tin... and participated in the May Tan poetry program on Saigon radio. Regarding the stage, he wrote many famous cai luong plays such as: Wedding dress before the temple gate, The beauty selling silk, Nguoi Lang - Chuc Nu, Son nu Pha Ca...

His poem "White flowers are only worn on purple shirts" became even more popular when musician Huynh Anh put it to music in 1962 and was sung by many famous singers.

Researcher Truong Minh Dat in Ha Tien said that in 1958, when he returned to Ha Tien to find materials to write an article, during a night of staying at Phu Dung pagoda, writer Son Nam met the abbot. The abbot was a commoner who was not familiar with history, so he came up with the idea of ​​creating a story about a tomb that was not in a normal shape but rather like a pot. He also heard that Mac Thien Tich had 2 wives. The second wife was Aunt Tu, when she passed away she was buried near the pagoda. The abbot thought that this woman was jealous, when she was alive, the first wife put a pot on her head, so when she was buried, people made a tomb upside down to remind people of the past.

The novel "The Princess in the Upside Down Pot" by Mong Tuyet was adapted into reformed opera by Kien Giang.

PHOTO: HOANG PHUONG

The above thrilling story was also written by Mr. Tran Thiem Trung in the Ha Tien local history book. This local history book was sent to poets Dong Ho and Mong Tuyet. After being checked, writer Son Nam rewrote it and published it in Nhan Loai magazine (December 1, 1958) with the title Ha Tien, Phuong Thanh land , in which there was a touching story about the jealous first wife who hid the second wife in a pot...

In 1961, the novel The Lady in the Upside-down Pot by Mong Tuyet was published. During the meeting on the first anniversary of the death of poet Dong Ho, poets Kien Giang and Son Nam attended. On this occasion, Kien Giang asked for permission from Ms. Mong Tuyet to adapt the novel into a reformed opera. From then on, the story of Aunt Tu had many more tragic details through the reformed opera The Wedding Dress Before the Temple Gate by Kien Giang - Ha Huy Ha, which brought tears to countless audiences at that time.

After 1975, poet Kien Giang was still wandering around, still a poor journalist and struggling with a wandering life, making people remember his poem "Dark Night in the Burning Land ": "Poor people become nomads/ Hiding under the bridge/ Dark night, wind and rain/ Breathing by oil lamp" . (to be continued)

Commenting on the poetry collection "My Childhood Homeland" by Kien Giang, poet Bui Giang once wrote: "Healthy, noble, altruistic and patriotic. Kien Giang is absolutely not fussy, not fake, but reaches the purest depths of people's souls in a natural way. Discussing his poems is doing redundant, useless work."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/kien-giang-ha-huy-ha-lan-dan-kiep-lang-du-185250625195407421.htm