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Ever wondered why the Chinese letters on local calligraphy looked a bit odd? That’s because they are Han Viet, the original Vietnamese script. In the past, the script was normally used by Confucian scholars, but when Viet Nam adopted the Roman alphabet, its use gradually disappeared. One man is dedicated to keeping its use alive.

t’s Sunday afternoon in Son Dong Village, Hoai Duc District, Hanoi. This is the day young and old people flock to the house of a wise teacher, Nghiem Quoc Dat, to learn an ancient form of Vietnamese. Dat, who is in his late sixties, has offered lessons on Han Viet script for the last five years and they have since become very popular. “First of all, I wanted to help the children in my family preserve our family’s traditional fondness for learning,” Dat says.

“Secondly, Han Viet script is still very important in my village. We are now making horizontal lacquered boards and pairs of wood panels which are all engraved with Han Viet characters so we need to teach the meaning to the younger generation so they can keep the village’s traditional trade alive.”

Located some 20 kilometres from Hanoi’s centre, Son Dong Village has been long known for producing lacquered boards and pairs of wood panels. That is one reason why the village has many old Confucian scholars who write very beautiful Han Viet scripts. However, fewer and fewer people can write the letters nowadays, especially young people.

Concerned by this, Dat proposed an idea to organize a Han Viet class with his clan’s Board for Study Encouragement, in which he was a member, and the first class opened in 2006 and continued every Sunday since.

At the beginning of his venture, although he himself was still very poor and struggling daily to earn a living, Dat spent his monthly allowance on buying ink and brushes for his students. His small house was rearranged to make it a classroom and the first students were children from his clan. The old man did all this work with great enthusiasm and accepted no fee from his students.

He named his class Sao Khue (Khue Star), a symbol of knowledge in Vietnamese culture. Having no teaching experience, Dat prepared for every lesson very carefully and tried to make his classes interesting via poems, puzzles and stories, which made it easier for the students to remember and understand the complicated Han Viet characters and their meaning. His efforts were fruitful and the reputation of his classes spread like wildfire.

As the class grew more and more crowded, his house became too small to host all of the students. But Sao Khue had a good reputation in the area and the local Son Dong Secondary School was willing to offer a classroom for the aging teacher.

Sao Khue not only teaches students how to write the elegant and culturally invaluable Han Viet script, but students are also offered moral lessons according to Confucian philosophy. As the old saying goes: “net chu net nguoi”- literally translated as: “handwriting reveals your character”. Villagers all agree that their children are better behaved after attending Dat’s class.

“Here we all know that teacher Dat has profound knowledge and, more than that, lots of personality,” said Van Thi Duyen who has a 10-year-old son following the instructor’s class. “We were all very happy to see naughty children become more obedient after studying with him.”

That is the most important reason that local parents want to encourage their children to attend the Sao Khue classes. “We don’t expect all of them to follow the traditional trade when they grow up,” Duyen added, “but Dat’s moral lessons are always helpful for them.”

The class is attracting hundreds of children around the area but also many adults who can be teachers, artisans, farmers, or Buddhist priests. The number of students varies at each class because they may sometimes be busy at work or school.

Besides teacher Dat, the class is often assisted by other Confucian scholars. One of them is Nguyen Trung An, who usually helps Dat mark the students writings.

Dat speaks proudly about his students, “I am also surprised to see my class becoming so popular,” he smiled, “some of my students are really making me happy with their good results and motivation.”

The wise teacher told us a moving story about one of his dear students. “Tien is a war invalid but has driven his three-wheeler some 20 kilometres from central Hanoi to attend the Sao Khue class for nearly two years,” Dat revealed. “He used to be a hot-tempered man but after a time studying Han Viet characters, Tien has gained much more self-control and better deals with any problems.”

Another student, Nguyen Phuc Hiep, a construction worker in Dong La Village (some 15 kilometres from Son Dong Village), was born to a poor family. Hiep had to leave school when he was just 13 years old but his fondness for studying has never died. Hearing about Dat’s class, Hiep came to enroll and after three years he had became one of the best students in the class.

“Studying Han Viet script is very interesting,” Hiep said. “Besides the great meaning contained in each character, I find learning to write the strokes is like an art. I really enjoy every lesson and want to organize a class to teach people in my village.”

Thanks to Dat, many young local students have become calligraphers who will help promote the traditional trade in Son Dong Village.

With such great feedback, Dat is set to continue his good work in the village. “I still want to have more students,” he says. “I will continue to teach for free until my health forces me to stop. The biggest reward for me is seeing my students being absorbed in writing the characters.”