Like a crane flying to the sky

In 1946-1947, he joined the Independence Drama Troupe with artists Dao Mong Long, Si Tien... The troupe toured the Central provinces to propagate and encourage people to resist the French. In 1948, he was elected General Secretary of the Resistance Cultural Association of Hung Yen province, then appointed Principal of Phan Thanh High School (Thai Binh). In 1951-1952, he held the position of Principal of Viet Bac Pedagogical School. From 1953 to 1957, he held the position of Principal of the Central Intermediate Pedagogical School. From 1958 to 1980, he taught at the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi University of Science. From 1981 to 1990, he taught at the Faculty of Literature - Journalism, Ho Chi Minh City University of Science (now the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City National University). Since 1988, he was elected President of the Ho Chi Minh City Literature Research and Teaching Association. After his retirement, Professor Hoang Nhu Mai has also held the position of Principal of Van Hien Private University and Principal of Truong Vinh Ki Private High School, Ho Chi Minh City. In 1984, Professor Hoang Nhu Mai was awarded the title of Professor, and in 1990, he was awarded the title of People's Teacher. For his contributions to the resistance war and national construction, Professor Hoang Nhu Mai was awarded noble medals: Second-class Anti-French Resistance Medal (1961), First-class Anti-American Resistance Medal (1985), First-class Labor Medal (1995).

If counting from 1943, when he started participating in the education sector, until now, exactly 70 years, Professor Hoang Nhu Mai has devoted himself to the cause of cultivating people as President Ho Chi Minh taught: "For the benefit of ten years, we must plant trees, for the benefit of a hundred years, we must cultivate people". Professor Hoang Nhu Mai is a teacher, a cultural and social activist, and more than that, a multi-talented artist. In 2005, the Education Publishing House published the work Hoang Nhu Mai - Anthology (selected and introduced by Associate Professor Tran Huu Ta). This can be considered the work of a literary life, of high quality and especially rich in content. The work consists of two main parts: Part one (Research and criticism) includes research works on culture, literature and reformed theater. Part two (Memories and creations) includes memoirs, children's stories, plays and poems. As a generation of students of Professor Hoang Nhu Mai, and later a colleague who participated in teaching modern Vietnamese literature (after 1945), I was fortunate to enjoy the "broken furrows" of the Teacher when accessing the Modern Vietnamese Literature (1945-1960) textbook published by the Education Publishing House in 1961. Many generations of students of the Faculty of Literature (Hanoi University) still remember clearly the image of the teacher with silver hair like silk, bright eyes, a naturally resonant and warm voice, a demeanor that was both leisurely and like an artist on stage who inspired studious students, further increasing their love for the country and homeland through the poems and prose that suddenly "sprouted wings" from the Teacher's lectures. The secret to the Teacher's conquest of listeners, I always think, is nothing other than deep human love, love for life. Or in other words, from a boundless benevolence. He never talked too much, he was unfamiliar with the academic way, he had the ability to turn the most complicated things into simple, honest things. Only later, when I grew up, did I realize: beauty is simplicity, just as truth is always simple. In 1986, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Literature (Hanoi University), he came from Ho Chi Minh City with his colleagues and students of the Faculty on a big festival day. Standing next to him, I felt as if he had just brought the warmth of a sunny and windy land in the South to the North in the chilly month of October. On that occasion, he wrote simple, sincere and touching lines of poetry: "Teachers, some dead, some still alive/ Students buried in the graves of the battlefield/ Thirty years of a journey/ Coming back here brings both sadness and joy/ I pray to burn incense together/ Those who have passed away, please come back here" (Returning to the Faculty of Literature). In the work Hoang Nhu Mai - Collection, 36 of Thay's poems are selected to be published. Anyone who has the opportunity to read them will see a poet's soul, passionate about life and people. Seemingly without technique, seemingly unfamiliar with ideologies, Thay's poems spring up from life, a life that is never boring. I think it is the optimism and joy of life that has helped Thay live a long, healthy, and intelligent life as we see today, before his passing.

The career of cultivating people that the Teacher has devoted to for 70 years is a lesson, a shining example for generations of young teachers to follow. But I also think that, creating the thickness, height, and depth of a teacher in the true sense, from the beginning to the end of his educational career, the Teacher always had a deep and strong awareness of the connection between the school and society. I still remember the words the Teacher used to remind me when I was taught: "Theory is gray but the tree of life is forever green". During the years that I (and many other colleagues) were guided by the Teacher, the Teacher still only considered himself a patient ferryman, an eternal gardener. That modest quality is not easy to find in the people around us. Looking at the Teacher's biography, anyone can recognize a very simple thing: perhaps success in life, as someone said, is due to "fate". But through the example of the Master's tireless work, I see that it is the result of hard work, patience; the result of a strong belief in the final victory of justice and beauty. The Master's life was not simple, smooth, only walking on paths full of fragrant flowers, only full of ecstatic songs. After many years with the Master, I have come to deeply realize that: the Master himself was at ease, had attained enlightenment more than many people even in the most dangerous situations on the path of life. It seemed that I did not see the Master sad, even less did I see him falling into "extreme misery", as if he had the magic to turn nothing into something, turn defeat into victory. Not at all, on the contrary, the Master knew how to regulate his mind, knew very well the "threshold" of life, he knew how to "give" and "receive" in harmony according to the spirit of Buddhism. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, at this moment, I do not want to talk about what the Master has done, but only want to contemplate and share a very simple thing - how the Master lived among us.

But alas, how many people can overcome the harsh laws of nature “birth, aging, sickness and death”! Then comes the day that no one wants, but cannot resist – the last human being returns to the earth, perhaps because “people are flowers of the earth”? Professor Hoang Nhu Mai passed away on September 27, 2013. My article, at this moment, is like a stick of incense offered to the soul of my Teacher, of yours, of us. In me, at this moment, suddenly two special feelings are mixed: sorrow and pride. Sorrow for saying goodbye to a Human with a capital letter. Pride because this world once gave birth to a Human like Professor – People’s Teacher Hoang Nhu Mai.