POST 221 1OOCT2015 A SAXOPHONE PLAYER Charles Phan Hoang; THE SPIRIT OF VIETNAMESE KNIGHT TRANG SI; OTTAWA QUIET SUNDAY

POST 221 1OOCT2015 
-A SAXOPHONE PLAYER Charles Phan Hoang
-THE SPIRIT OF VIETNAMESE KNIGHT TRANG SI
-OTTAWA QUIET SUNDAY (pictures)

Blog www.clubmasterhoang.blogspot.com POST 221 – 10Oct2015  A SAXOPHONE PLAYER

A SAXOPHONE PLAYER   Sunday 04 October 2015  at The Aude Dubliner Evening, today On Spark street A man, alone, playing saxophone Made the song so nostalgic…                   *** I remember a story In 1975 Saigon fell under the communists A man was left, alone In the abandoned city All friends had gone Saigon had lost Its own name … One evening that man Came to the bridge Where friends often met And played his saxophone A long nostalgic song Reverberated through the night When the last sound died in agony He threw the saxophone into the river, then… He committed suicide.  Phan Hoang

                                                

www.clubmasterhoang.blogspot.com POST 221,  10OCT2015 from PHAN HOANG’S NOTEBOOK The spontaneous writings presented in this collection are first drafts, not edited texts

THE SPIRIT OF VIETNAMESE TRANG-SI (continued from Post 220) A decade later, in the province of Son-Tay (now Ha-Tay), in the area of Mount Ba-Vi (about 45 km nord-west Ha-Noi) appeared a mysterious master of sword who lived a solitary existence. He surrounded himself with only a few disciples. The local people called him “Thầy Núi”, meaning “The Master living at the mountain”. In Vietnamese History, at the last years of the 18th  century, a new dynasty emerged, the NGUYEN dynasty. The new king Gia-Long, although being victorious, was not a very virtuous man, and many valiant swordsmen, who refused to serve the new regime, withdrew to the countryside. Who was this master “Thầy Núi”?  He was the nephew of master Bao (Hoàng-Đình-Bảo), and more precisely he was the young man who finally acquired the precious sword of General Chinh at the contest that I mentioned in my previous letter.  His uncle, master Bao, was the venerated teacher of General Chinh, and was the one who defeated master Lê-Duy in a combat of sword against spear, on horseback riding. This extraordinary and memorable combat technique still exists today  in a chieu (sequence) inside the sword form Tam-nguyen-kiem.  Few people know about the life of master Bao because this was his name at birth. From many books of Vietnamese History, he is known as the famous duke Quận-Huy or Hoàng Tố-Lý, the one who commanded the Royal Guard to defend the king in troubled times, the one who did not fear to face thousands of military rebels at once. The great master HAI-THUONG in his important book ‘Travel to the Capital’ (ca 1781, Thuong Kinh Ky-Su), had respectfully referred to master Bao by his title: Quan Chanh-Duong, the Highest Chief.  It is very likely that the precious sword of General NGUYEN Huu-Chinh came from his venerated teacher, master Bao. Although no evidence could be found to ascertain its source, the fact that the precious sword had finally returned to master Bao’s nephew, “Thầy Núi”, might raise some clues about its origin.  In 1948, this sword was seen to belong to a gentleman aged about 30 years old, who lived in a small hamlet not far from the foot of the Mount Ba-Vi. Hanoi summer 1954.  I recall. This is a very painful period of my life. Since the 20th July 1954 Vietnam was partitioned into two mutual unfriendly countries, the North and the South, both did not understand each other for a long time. Within a limited time, people had to make quick decision to choose which country to go.  I was then eighteen, an age that young people are searching for their way and own identity and need advice from the elders. Before deciding to join those who leave Hanoi, my fatherland, to come to Saigon, the capital of the South, I paid visit to a few people who were my huynh-truong (mentors) in different fields, one of them I respected the most was a school teacher, Le Bang. He was a typical modern Trang-Si, from whom I have learned many things on Vietnamese art of sword, folk stories, history of  swords, and the “soul” of Vietnamese Knighthood, Hon Trang-Si-Viet . His house was built at the end of a small garden and was furnished and decorated with many things made from bamboo. That afternoon, I was offered a bowl of che-tuoi , a special green tea which was prepared with fresh tea leaves harvested from a field of Bac-Ninh, a province close to Hanoi. This was an unforgettable moment; since then I have been going around the world and enjoying many kinds of good teas but could never find something similar. Teacher Le Bang was planning to stay in the North which will soon be under communist regime, but quietly advised me to go South, which will become a new Republique. When I was about to leave his home he told me: “Em nên vào Nam đi. Lúc nào cũng giữ trong lòng tâm hồn người Tráng-Sĩ: chính trực, dũng cảm và hữu ích.” Go South my little brother; always keep the spirit of Trang-Si in your soul; be honest, be strong, and be helpful to others. I left Hanoi, my fatherland, forever, but I bring the soul of my fatherland with me going around the world and keeping the advice of my mentor in my heart. Phan-Hoang  November 2009

    END OF POST 221 -  OCTOBER 10, 2015