NGUYỄN TƯỜNG TAM (ALSO KNOWN AS WRITER NHẤT LINH, 1906-1963), “THE ADVICE”

Nguyễn Tường Tam was a writer, journalist with the pen names Nhất Linh, Tam Linh, Bảo Sơn, Lãng Du, Tân Việt, Đông Sơn (in painting); and also a famous politician in Việt Nam in the 20^th century. He was the founder of the Tự Lực Văn Đoàn and the group’s main writer, and was the editor-in-chief of the weekly newspapers Phong Hóa and Ngày Nay. Later, he was also the founder of the Đại Việt Dân Chính Party, served as Secretary General of Việt Nam Nationalist Party and held the position of Foreign Minister in the Coalition Resistance Government.

As a teenager, he was the valedictorian of Indochina Fine Arts College in 1925, but dropped out after only a year. “The advice” is one of the rare works he created while he was still studying at the college. Using traditional woodcut techniques, Nguyễn Tường Tam depicts a young woman from the North wearing a traditional dress and a conical hat, and a middle-aged woman in religious attire, wearing a headscarf and holding a wooden staff, seemingly giving valuable advice to the young woman who is listening attentively, in a peaceful atmosphere by the village pond.

The work was printed, with the seal of Indochina Fine Arts College. One of these prints bears the seal “阮祥祥三” (Nguyễn Tường Tam’s print). In the upper right corner, there is a signature written in Nôm script, read out by two researchers Lâm Hán Thành and Lam Điền: “The rain of Sở and the wind of Tần / When you marry, you have to shoulder the burden of your husband’s family / For a hundred years, you must fulfill your duty / How it can be disappointed”. In the lower right corner, there is the seal “大南高等美術學堂”, (Đại Nam Fine Arts College). Why “Đại Nam”, not “Đông Dương” [Indochina]? Is it possible that painter Nam Sơn, co-founder of Indochina Fine Arts College, was heavily patriotic, wanting to choose “Đại Nam” as the national title, implying the origin of the country and its people?

Regarding the meaning of the inscription, according to the story of the Warring States period, the King of Sở was once tired and sleeping at the foot of Vu mountain, when he dreamed of a goddess coming with him, when saying goodbye she said: “I am the goddess of Vu mountain, visiting Cao Đường land, originally had a predestined relation with the King, now meeting you is truly fulfilling my wish. In the heavenly palace, I have the duty to make clouds in the morning and rain in the afternoon at Dương Đài”. Because of this story, later people called the act of making love is “vu sơn” or “mây mưa”. Regarding the principle of Three Obediences and Four Virtues of women in traditional society, the Three Obediences are “At home, obey the father, when married, obey the husband, when the husband dies, obey the son”, and the Four Virtues are “Work, beauty, speech, and conduct”.

NGUYỄN TƯỜNG TAM (1906-1963)
“The advice”, circa 1926-1927
Woodblock print
Sealed “Indochina Fine Arts College”, inscriptive “Souvenir of Fine Arts College V. Tardieu” in the lower right corner
73 × 45,5 cm