Quản Thiện Khải
Quản Thiện Khải | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Khải by Tiêu Dạ Lan, 1617 | |
| Born | 12 September 1557 Ngọc Đạo, Tuy Ngãi Province, Quenmin |
| Died | 6 August 1648 (aged 90) Trảng Cửu, Bạch Đặng Linh Province, Quenmin |
| Other names | Lòng Tiếng, Mạch Phi Luận |
| Known for | The Azure Lotus, Wandering Among the Rocks, Song of the Miracles of Phan Ðình Trung, Climate of Ngọc Nhiều Sắc and Its Influences |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Influences | |
| Influenced | Trịnh Cẩm Nguyệt |
Quản Thiện Khải (12 September 1557 – 6 August 1638), courtesy name Lòng Tiếng (𢚸㗂) and pen name Mạch Phi Luận (麥非論), was a Quenminese polymath who lived during the Trịnh dynasty. He is an accomplished novelist and poet, known for producing the fantasy novel The Azure Lotus and the song thất lục bát poems Wandering Among the Rocks and Song of the Miracles of Phan Ðình Trung; the former, in particular, is considered as one of the Seven Classic Novels of Quenmin. Khải is also an agronomist, aromatherapist, botanist, doctor and meteorologist, and diligently applied these occupations while serving as a mandarin in the Ministry of Finance. He also authored writings on these fields, whch included a number of books on crops, plants, diseases, medicines and essential oils and a famous meteorological treatise on the mountains of Ngọc Nhiều Sắc. Khải is also a philosopher, and was deeply involved in the Chieuthanistic school of thought; his novel was also an expression of his belief as a response to Hoàng Quốc Mạnh's written critique against the philosophy.
Life
Birth and youth
Khải was born on 12 September 1557 to a father who is a wealthy farmer in Ngọc Đạo. In the early years of his youth, Khải assisted him in the fields, and his interest in agronomy piqued as his father explained the practices of agriculture. His mother, a herbalist, would also spark his interest in medicine, and upon finishing dinner, she would take Khải to her working room and educate him on materials and processes of producing them, alongside distributing them to his family's neighbors and other interested people in their community. At the age of 15, the Cyclone of 1572 destroyed a major portion of the family's farmland and injured his father, prompting Khải and his mother to oversee the restoration of their damanged lands to rejuvenate their crop production. During this aftermath, Khải's interest in meteorology blossomed, and often pondered about the effects of weather, especially storms.
At the age of 20, Khải served in minor government offices connected to the Ministry of Finance. His vast knowledge of agronomy and soil science and his ability to analyze, plan and design were noticed by his superiors, and was sent a tutor to help him prepare for the civil service examinations. As he studied, Khải developed an interest in literature, and wrote numerous poems inspired by the material given to him; his progression of creative writing became distracting at times as he grew fonder of the practice.
Official career
In 1581, Khải passed the civil service examinations, with his score within the top 15%. Working now as a mandarin in the Trịnh government, Khải was appointed as an official in the Bureau of Agriculture in the Ministry of Finance. He had a brilliant and prolific career as his agricultural projects within the central provinces garnered the notice of Lương Thịnh Cường, the Prefect of Móng An. Consequently, he was appointed Director of Agriculture at the Móng An Imperial Office. On the side, he worked as a doctor by treating illnesses and recommending medicines. Appending to his medicinal career, Khải took notice of aromatherapy and immersed himself with the subject. He would write plenty of books describing various essential oils and practices that were bestsellers.
In his free time, Khải wrote poems in and outside his home to luxuriate himself from government work. In 1593, while taking a vacation, Khải met a priest who was reciting a prayer for Mộng Diễm. He visited his temple numerous times, and managed to get a copy of the The Canon of Duality. While reading the religious manuscript, Khải took notice of the Proclamation of the Night Goddess, a story of Mộng Diễm and Vũ Hiển regarding ambition. At the same time, he read the Ballad of the Black Tigress, a fictional retelling of the life of Kiều Thạc Nhu. Both the manuscript and the novel served as the catalyst for drafting the novel that was to be titled The Azure Lotus. Alongside, Khải became a practitioner of Chieuthanism, a philosophical thought that provides a somewhat negative perspective of ambition and different practices for better life. Khải would be inspired by its teachings aside from the Haimeist lore, and influenced the theme of his novel.
Works and achievements
Literary
Khải's renowned literary work is his novel The Azure Lotus. It is a fantasy adventure novel interwined with philosophical thought. Upon its publication in 1602, the novel became widely popular among the nobility and the common citizenry.
He also wrote numerous poems, mostly in the song thất lục bát format. His famous, selected ones are Wandering Among the Rocks and Song of the Miracles of Phan Ðình Trung.