Pétrus Ký facts for kids
Trương Vĩnh Ký (born December 6, 1837 – died September 1, 1898), also known as Pétrus Ký, was an important Vietnamese scholar. His writings helped people in Vietnam and Europe understand each other better. He also helped make the romanized script of the Vietnamese language, called Quốc Ngữ, very popular. This script later became the official way to write Vietnamese. He worked for the French government as a language expert and translated many books into modern Vietnamese.
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Trương Vĩnh Ký's Life Story
Trương Vĩnh Ký was born on December 6, 1837, in a village that is now part of Ben Tre Province. His father was a commander, and his mother was Nguyen Thi Chau. He started learning the Mandarin language when he was only five years old. When he was nine, his father passed away.
Early Education and Languages
In his hometown, there was a Christian missionary who taught Latin. At age 12, Trương Vĩnh Ký began studying the Christian Bible with a priest named Father Hue. He then followed Father Hue to a school in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In 1851, he received a scholarship to study at the Penang Seminary. This was a main center for Catholic training in Southeast Asia.
At the Penang Seminary, Trương Vĩnh Ký showed amazing learning skills. He was very good at both science and social studies. People were surprised by how smart he was and how much he knew. He was also very good with languages. Besides French, English, Latin, Greek, Hindi, and Japanese, he also knew Chinese, Spanish, Malay, Lao, Thai, and Burmese.
Trương Vĩnh Ký mostly worked in cultural areas. However, he also spent eight months working for the Secret Affairs Institute in the court at Huế. He also worked for eight months as an interpreter for the Vietnamese group that went to France. When French troops attacked Gia Dinh Province in 1859, he became an interpreter for them.
A Trip to Europe
In June 1863, Trương Vĩnh Ký traveled to France with Phan Thanh Gian. Phan Thanh Gian was the main person sent by the Huế court to try and get back provinces that France had taken. This trip was a great chance for Trương Vĩnh Ký to meet famous people like Victor Hugo. He also visited countries like Egypt, Portugal, Spain, and Italy.
This trip helped him understand more about his own country and the difficulties his people faced. After all six provinces of Cochinchina were lost to the French, Trương Vĩnh Ký became the first Vietnamese official to work under French rule.
Working as a French Professor
From 1866 to 1868, he was a professor of French language at the Interpreter School. In 1868, he became the chief editor for the newspaper Gia Dinh News. In 1872, he was the director of the Pedagogic School and also the secretary of the City Council of Cho Lon. In 1874, he taught French to French and Spanish people at the Collège des Administrateurs Stagiaires. In February 1876, Trương Vĩnh Ký was chosen to supervise King Đồng Khánh at the Secret Affairs Institute. He stayed in that job until October 1876, then returned to Saigon.
Later Years and Legacy
After the sudden death of Governor-General Paul Bert in 1886, Trương Vĩnh Ký was no longer in favor with the French government. He then spent most of his time doing research and teaching at the Interpreter School. He passed away on September 1, 1898, in Saigon, at the age of 62.
During his 40 years of work in culture, Trương Vĩnh Ký created 118 works. These included research, collections, translations, and transcriptions. Many of them were written in French. He was also a member of science groups and associations in Europe.
At a time when Western and Eastern cultures were mixing in Vietnam, Trương Vĩnh Ký had a huge impact. A French scholar named J. Bouchot called him "the only scholar in Indochina and even modern China." In Vietnam, Trương Vĩnh Ký was praised as an excellent language and culture researcher. While some people have criticized him for working with the French, everyone agrees that he was incredibly smart and knowledgeable. His contributions to Vietnam's cultural growth during the start of modern times were very valuable. Many books have been written about his life and work.
Translations and Publications
In the world of culture, Trương Vĩnh Ký was greatly admired as a scholar. He had wide and deep knowledge in many areas, including both social and natural sciences. He achieved a lot by collecting, transcribing, and translating works from other languages into Vietnamese.
Some of his most famous transcription and translation works include:
- Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kieu)
- Lục Vân Tiên (by Nguyen Dinh Chieu)
- Phan Trần
- Gia huấn ca (Book of Familial Educating)
- Lục súc tranh công (The Six Animals Vying for Services)
See also
In Spanish: Trương Vĩnh Ký para niños
