Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh peacefully passed away at the age 103 on July 16, 2025 at Hoag Hospital, in Newport Beach, Southern California. News of his passing was only shared by his family two weeks later, in accordance with his wish for an extremely simple Buddlish funeral held privately within the family. There was no obituary, no eulogy and the family faithfully fullfilled his wishes. He was laid to rest at Loma Vista Memorial Park in Fullerton, approximately 20 km from Little Saigon, beside the grave of his late wife, who passed away in the year 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. His gravestone is remarkably simple, bearing no titles or honors – only his name and his Dharma name “Orgyen Karma, symbolizing enlightened activity”.
*
I dream of a Việt Nam at peace, and moving forward on the basis of the spiritual values that our history has thrust into the cultural heritage of our land. I have spent my whole life trying to contribute to this dream. Trần Ngọc Ninh, A Dream of Modernity, 2012
Image 1: left side: I visited Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh in Huntington Beach on June 21 & 29 of 2018, At the age of 95 his mind was still alert and sharp. On the table are issues of the journal Medicine & Compassion (Tình Thương; 1963-1967) with many articles by the Professor; right side: Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh inscribing a book he is presenting to Ngô Thế Vinh, What is to Be Done (Làm Gì; 1979). Next to him is the work Raising Scars (Nuôi Sẹo) from Thư’s Manuscript Library given to Prof.Trần Ngọc Ninh by Trần Hoài Thư. [personal archives of Ngô Thế Vinh]
BIOGRAPHY
Trần Ngọc Ninh (his real name) also used the pen names Kỳ Ngọc, Trần Ngọc and Trần Lê. He was born on November 6, 1923 in Hanoi, and his place of origin was Ninh Bình in North Vietnam. His father was a poor schoolteacher, and at times there was not enough to eat in his house. While going to school he also wrote articles for popular medical magazines such as The Joy of Life (Vui Sống) under the pen name Kỳ Ngọc in order to earn a living. A number of his articles are collected in The Snows of Yesteryear (Tuyết Xưa). (2)
- 1939: He was a student in the Bưởi High School, first studying science in the Mathematics Department with Triều Sơn, and then shifting to Medicine.
- 1946-1948: He was a resident in Hanoi Hospital.
- 1948: He completed his medical MD dissertation: "Contribution à la Physiopathologie des Traumatismes Thoraciques" (A Contribution to the Physiopathology of Thoracic Trauma)
- 1948-1952: Doctor in Yersin (Phủ Doãn) Hospital, Hanoi.
- 1952-1954: Studied spinal surgery abroad in France with Professor Robert Merle d'Aubigné in Cochin hospital and pediatric surgery with Professor Pierre Petit at the St Vincent de Paul hospital, then went to England where he completed a program in neurological and spinal surgery with Professor Herbert Seddon.
- 1954: emigrated to the South after the Geneva Accords division of the country, together with Professors Phạm Biểu Tâm, Nguyễn Hữu, Đào Đức Hoành, Ngô Gia Hy, Nguyễn Đình Cát... and became part of the faculty of the Saigon Medical School after the departure of the French.
- 1961: Obtained a France “agrégé” degree from Facultés Françaises de Médecine, Section Chirurgie Orthopédique.
- 1961-1967: Professor of Orthopecic Surgery and Pediatric Surgery at the Saigon Medical School in Vietnam.
- 1966-1967: Minister of Culture and Social Affairs in charge od Education in the Republic of Vietnam; advocated developing the youth movement; introduced scouting into school activities; introduced scouting into school activities.
- 1956-1977: Chief Department od Orthopedic Surgery, Bình Dân Hospital, Saigon.
- 1966-1975: Professor at Vạn Hạnh University, taught “General Overview of Civilization and Vietnanmese Culture.”
- 1967: founding member of the Southeast Asian Ministers Education Organization (SEAMEO) in Bangkok and Singapore
- 1968-1975: member of the Committee for the Creation of Technical Terms in Saigon.
- 1969-1975: member of the Committee on Cultural Education in Saigon
- 1977, June 6: escaped by sea from Vietnam; arrived at the Malaysian island of Pulau Besar, where he chose to emigrate to the U.S.
- 1978-1980: took the ECFMG and FLEX examinations as a foreign doctor, but for a period still had to undergo practical training at hospitals in Denver, Colorado; and then in Pittsburg Professors James S. Miles and William B. Kiesewetter and was also a professor of Pediatric Surgery with the former figure.
In after-hours, he also completed a book of essays on political subjects entitled What Are We to Do? (Làm Gì) with more than 300 pages, with this notation ear the end: “Finished around noon on March 24, 1979 in the American Trường Sơn Mountain range of the American continent [the Rockies in Denver, Colorado / author’s note) - 1980: returned to the practice of medicine in Southern California, but he was mainly preoccupied with cultural and educational activities. He wrote articles for the periodicals Doctor’s Journal (Tập San Y Sĩ), the 21st Century (Thế Kỷ 21), and Starting Forth (Khởi Hành).
- 2000: served on the Board of Advisors to the Vietnamese Studies Institute (Ban Cố vấn Viện Việt Học; Westminster, California) founded by Professor Nguyễn Đình Hoà.
- 2003-2008: Rector of the Vietnamese Studies Institute where, as a professor, he taught a course in Vietnamese grammar.
- 2018: still clear-minded at the age of 95, he now resides in the city of Huntington Beach in south California.
- 2025: Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh passed away on July 15, 2925 at the nenerable age of 103.
WORKS
On Cultural Subjects
- Issues in Culture, Education, and Society (Những Vấn đề Văn hoá Giáo dục và Xã hội) [a collection of speeches by Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh, Minister of Culture and Social Affairs in charge od Education in the Republic of Vietnam. Saigon, Vietnam, 1966
- National Culture with Regard to The Needs of the Country (Văn hoá Dân tộc trước những Nhu cầu của Đất nước); Vovinam Publishers, Saigon Vietnam, 1969
- The Buddha Among Us. (Đức Phật Giữa Chúng Ta), Lá Bối Publishers, Saigon Vietnam, 1972
- What is to Be done? (Làm Gì?), A Collection of Studies.i September (Tập Luận đề Tháng Chín). Eith the pen name Trần Lê. Việt Nam Hải Ngoại publishing House, California 1979
- The Snows of Yesteryear (Tuyết Xưa); A collection of essays on Vietnamese cultural Issues, Khởi Hành Publishers. California: 2000
- Tố Như and his “New Lament of a Grief-stricken Heart (Tố Như và Đoạn Trường Tân Thanh) with new hypotheses with regard to Nguyễn Du and Đoạn Trường Tân Thanh, as well as the relationship between Nguyễn Du and Hồ Xuân Hương. Published by Khởi Hành & Viện Việt Học, California, 2004
- Vietnamese Syntax (Cơ Cấu Việt Ngữ), Lửa Thiêng Publishers, Saigon, 1973; republished by Viện Việt Học, California, 2009
- Vietnamese Reading and Writing Primer (Dạy Đọc Dạy Viết Tiếng Việt), published by Viện Việt Học, California, 2010
- A Dream of Modernity: Culture, Mythology, and Literary History (Ước Vọng Duy Tân. Văn Hoá, Huyền Thoại, Văn Học Sử) Collected works of Trần Ngọc Ninh. Viện Việt Học Publishers, California, 2012
- Vietnamese Grammar (Ngữ Pháp Việt Nam), [Viện Việt Học, California, 2017]
- First Vietnamese Lexicon / Ngữ Pháp Tiếng Việt Đầu Tiên
- Introduction to Vietnamese Grammar for Ages Five to Fifteen [Viện Việt Học, California, 2017]
Image 2: The covers of a number of Prof. Trần Ngọc Ninh’s books. [personal archives, Ngô Thế Vinh]
On Medicine
- On Hospitals (Nhà Thương), Interviews, Văn Hoá Publishers, Hanoi, 1946
- The Memoirs of Thượng Kinh (Thượng Kinh Ký Sự) Éthique Médicale de la Médecine Traditionnelle du Vietnam, d' après les Mémoires d'un Voyage à la Capitale de Hải Thượng Lãn Ông (18e siècle), Isis, Bruxelles, Belgique, 1950
- Urgent Care Illnesses (Những Bệnh Cần Cấp Cứu), pub. by Gió Việt, Saigon, 1956
- Notes on the History of Medical School in Saigon (Một Chút Lịch sử Y khoa Đại học đường Sài Gòn), pub. by Tập San Y Sĩ, Montréal, Canada, 2000
- The History of Two Medical Specialties in Vietnam: Orthopedic Surgery and Pediatric Surgery (Lịch sử hình thành hai Chuyên khoa Y Học: Phẫu khoa Chỉnh trực và Phẫu Nhi khoa ở Việt Nam), pub. by Tập San Y Sĩ, Montréal, Canada, 2000
- More than 200 specialized research articles published in medical journals in Vietnam, France, and the U.S.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF JOURNAL ARTICLES
In addition to his published books and specialized research papers featured in Vietnamese and international medical journals, Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh also authored numerous articles on cultural topics. Below is a bibliographic compilation of his contributions to three digitized journals: Tình Thương, Bách Khoa, and Thế Kỷ 21, collected by librarian Phạm Lệ Hương of the Vietnamese Institute of Culture and Literature (Viện Việt Học).
_ TÌNH THƯƠNG
https://vietecologypress.blogspot.com/p/tinh-thuong.html
- Medicine and Politics / Trần Ngọc Ninh. Tình Thương, No. 1 (Jan 1964), pp. 9–10.
- Fifteen Years Ago, Memories of Triều Sơn / Trần Ngọc [pseud. Trần Ngọc Ninh]. Tình Thương, No. 1 (Jan 1964), pp. 46–50.
- Current Issues in Vietnamese Education / Trần Ngọc Ninh. Tình Thương, Nos. 3–4 (Mar–Apr 1964), pp. 9–11.
- The Spirit of the University; or an Essay on the Concept of the University / Trần Ngọc Ninh. Tình Thương, No. 5 (May 1964), pp. 6–12.
- Interview with University Professors on Student Issues — Ngô Thế Vinh & Nguyễn Hữu Ân: Interview with Prof. Trần Ngọc Ninh. Tình Thương, No. 12 (Dec 1964), pp. 6–7.
- The Future of Vietnamese Medical Education / Trần Ngọc Ninh. Tình Thương, No. 14 (Spring Ất Tỵ, Jan 1965), pp. IV–VI.
- Issues of Youth and Students in Our Time / Trần Ngọc Ninh. Tình Thương, No. 20 (Aug 1965), pp. 17–20.
_ BÁCH KHOA
https://www.nguoi-viet.com/ThuVienNguoiViet/BachKhoa.php?thuvien=1-30
- Ancient Vietnamese Society and Culture (Part 1) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 343, pp. 5–14. - Ancient Vietnamese Society and Culture (Part 2) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 344, pp. 29–37. - The Buddha and Social Reform (Part 1) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 345, pp. 9–16. - The Buddha and Social Reform (Part 2) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 346, pp. 31–39. - The Buddha and Social Reform (Part 3) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 347, pp. 33–41. - Our Future / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 348, pp. 9–12; 71–77. - Writing on Ancient Vietnamese Society and Culture / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 349, pp. 39–45. - The End of the Second Indochina War / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 351, pp. 9–11. - The Light of Buddhism in Community Life (Part 1) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 351, pp. 23–30. - The Light of Buddhism in Community Life (Part 2) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 352, pp. 23–27. - The Light of Buddhism in Community Life (Part 3) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 353, pp. 31–40. - Education as an Investment Requiring Management and Planning: The Economic Foundations of Education
(Part 1 – Writing for the Nation’s Future) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 368, pp. 31–38. - Education as an Investment Requiring Management and Planning: The Economic Foundations of Education
(Part 2 – Writing for the Nation’s Future) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 369, pp. 23–31. - Education as an Investment Requiring Management and Planning: The Economic Foundations of Education
(Part 3 – Writing for the Nation’s Future) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 370, pp. 23–29. - Discussion on the Etymology of the Words "Cái" and "Con"
(with Mr. Bình Nguyên Lộc) (Part 1) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 373, pp. 19–26. - Discussion on the Etymology of the Words "Cái" and "Con"
(with Mr. Bình Nguyên Lộc) (Part 2) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 374, pp. 29–37. - Culture and Medicine / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 374, pp. 43–50. - Discussion on the Etymology of the Words "Cái" and "Con"
(with Mr. Bình Nguyên Lộc) (Part 3) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 375, pp. 19–22. - Discussion on the Etymology of the Words "Cái" and "Con"
(with Mr. Bình Nguyên Lộc) (Part 4) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 376, pp. 23–30. - The Meaning of Truyện Kiều in Folk Culture (Part 1) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 381, pp. 13–22. - The Meaning of Truyện Kiều in Folk Culture (Part 2) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 382, pp. 23–31. - Nguyễn Trãi: Illusion, Reality, and Emptiness / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 390, pp. 9–15; 82–85. - Living with Ideologies (Part 1) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 394, pp. 9–17. - Linguistics and the Structure of the Vietnamese Language / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 395, pp. 21–28. - Living with Ideologies: The Ascetic and Brahmin Sects through the Buddhist Lens (Part 2) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 395, pp. 29–34. - Living with Ideologies: The Ascetic and Brahmin Sects through the Buddhist Lens (Part 3) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 396, pp. 39–42. - Living with Ideologies: The Ascetic and Brahmin Sects through the Buddhist Lens (Part 4) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 397, pp. 33–40. - Mythology and Mythological Logic in the Search for National Origins / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 413, pp. 39–46. - Medicine and Literature / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 413, pp. 73–79. - Vietnamese Thought (Part 1) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issues No. 421–422, pp. 49–54; 113–117. - Vietnamese Thought (Part 2) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 423, pp. 29–33. - Vietnamese Thought (Part 3) / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 424, pp. 31–37. - Discussion on Structure and Language / Trần Ngọc Ninh.
Bach Khoa, Issue No. 425, pp. 39–44.
_ THẾ KỶ 21
https://www.nguoi-viet.com/ThuVienNguoiViet/TheKy21.php
- In Memory of Journalist Trần Việt Sơn — Talk by Dr. Trần Ngọc Ninh, recorded by Bích Hằng. Thế Kỷ 21, No. 111 (July 1998), pp. 24–31.
- The Most Critical Issue of the Coming Millennium: Risks and Promises (Parts 1–6) / Trần Ngọc Ninh. Thế Kỷ 21, Nos. 132–137 (2000).
- The Hollow Men: A Poem by T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) — Translated and annotated by Trần Ngọc Ninh. Thế Kỷ 21, No. 148 (Aug 2001), pp. 38–44.
- In Memory of Writer Phạm Duy Tốn / Trần Ngọc Ninh. Thế Kỷ 21, No. 174 (Oct 2003), pp. 38–41 & 17.
- Forty Years Later / Trần Ngọc Ninh. Thế Kỷ 21, No. 175 (Nov 2003), pp. 15–19.
- Hồ Xuân Hương and "Đoạn Trường Tân Thanh" (Parts 1–2) / Trần Ngọc Ninh. Thế Kỷ 21, Nos. 193 & 196 (2005).
- Issues and Challenges of the Times / Trần Ngọc Ninh. Thế Kỷ 21, No. 207 (July 2006), pp. 18–23.
- Honoring a Vietnamese Intellectual / Trần Ngọc Ninh. Thế Kỷ 21, No. 215 (Mar 2007), pp. 23–24.
OUTSTANDING MEDICAL PROFESSORS
The medical career of Professor Ninh hasd been described by fairly comprehensively by his students. This study will be devoted chiefly to his cultural contributions.
WITH THE SAIGON MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENTS’ JOURNAL MEDICINE & COMPASSION
When studying medicine, I was not a student in the sense of being a close disciple of Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh: Professor Ninh's students at medical school could be counted on the fingers of one hand: very early there were Bùi Duy Tâm and Phạm Văn Biểu, both of whom dropped out, then Vũ Văn Nguyên died early while studying abroad in the US, and later there were Trần Xuân Ninh (whom I call “Ninh the Son,” to distinguish him from Ninh the Father, who was Professor Ninh), Võ Thành Phụng, Nguyễn Văn Quang, and Nguyễn Lương Tuyền... Unlike Professor Phạm Biểu Tâm, who was loved by medical students, Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh, though respected for his talent, knowledge, and authority, was disliked by some students because he was too strict.
I was close to Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh, not at the hospital bedside or in the operating room, but mainly through student activities with the journal Compassion (Tình Thương) during the period 1963-1967. Professor Ninh's articles in this medical student journal all had strategic vision, and raised major issues concerning Vietnam's Health, Education, and Culture, that are still relevant today.
TRẦN NGỌC NINH AND NUÔI SẸO
Right from the launch of Compassion, through Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh, the editorial board received the manuscript of Triều Sơn's long story Nuôi Sẹo, and began publishing it in installments in the newspaper with a solemn introduction: " Nuôi Sẹo is a work that many writers have been seeking to read for more than ten years now [as of 1964, author’s note]. The story could not be published in the communist North. It also could not have come out in the South, under the old regime. The author is Triều Sơn, a student who left school to join the revolution, worked at jobs, and set foot in many places around the world. And Triều Son died in Paris when he had almost finished editing the first volume of Nuôi Sẹo, which we are pleased to introduce here. But these few short lines are not enough for you, especially the young people, to know Triều Sơn and Nuôi Sẹo well. Therefore, we would like to give space to Trần Ngọc [pen name of Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh], a close friend of Triều Sơn, to write "Memories of Triều Sơn." Trần Ngọc met Triều Sơn again after fifteen years of separation and got to know Nuôi Sẹo at that time. Triều Sơn lived his last days with Trần Ngọc. That meeting was what has made it possible to introduce Nuôi Sẹo here. And we would like to express our sincere thanks to Trần Ngọc, who gave us the honor of welcoming this work to these pages." [Excerpted from Compassion, Issue 1, Jan. 1964]
Below is the. article “Nuôi Sẹo” by Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh, in itself a rare and valuable document that was thought to be lost, but has now been found again. Though written about Triều Sơn, it also affords us a portrait of Trần Ngọc Ninh in his youth, so it is also for that reason that we include it here.
Those Fifteen Years: Recollections of Triều Sơn ("Mười Lăm Năm Ấy, Kỷ Niệm về Triều Sơn") by Trần Ngọc.
I don't know how to detect seeds of talent in a young person. I started to know Triều Sơn when I entered the Specialized Mathematics class in 1939. I still remember Triều Sơn telling me, as we sat together:
“I have old friends who study Math for fun, but I also like studying Philosophy.”
"Old friends" referred to two other youngsters who had studied with Triều Sơn in previous years at the Bưởi High School; but from the very beginning, I was also Triều Sơn’s “old friend.” That year Triều Sơn was eighteen years old, a big fellow with full cheeks, a white face dotted with the small pimples of a teenager, thin hair combed back, and wearing a black silk shirt. In the whole class, only the two of us wore such a shirt, but perhaps those were our only similarity.
Triều Sơn liked studying Philosophy more than Mathematics, and I liked studying Mathematics more than Philosophy. Actually, Triều Sơn had been deeply involved in Philosophy for quite a long time. When he was in his third year of high school, he had read Kant, Fichte, and Hegel; and he was later influenced even more by German Philosophy, through Marx and Husserl, but Triều Sơn was not a person of one school of thought. He had studied both modern European Philosophy and ancient Eastern Buddhist-Taoist philosophy. Moreover, Triều Sơn’s native thoughtfulness would at length take him beyond the petty theories of the sects. However, in class, there was no sign that Triều Sơn had learned much: his grades were only average, even in philosophy. Perhaps his germ of talent was still hidden in the seed, or perhaps Triều Sơn's somewhat unique thoughts were not suitable for the superficial learning style of schools?
After graduating from high school, each of us went our separate ways. Triều Sơn, who did not like Math, entered the General Mathematics class. But he did not study Math for Math's sake. All day long I saw him in the library reading about the philosophy of mathematics. Books by Whitehead, Bertrand Russell, and Hamilton, dusted by time, were deeply ingrained in the young student's mind. At that time, he only talked about "infinity," about "imaginary numbers", about mathematical reasoning, and about the “foundations of understanding.” As a result, at the end of the year, after failing the exam, Triều Sơn dropped out of school but was satisfied because he had filled a gap in his thinking.
For a while, I did not see Triều Sơn again. This was the period when his talent blossomed. What made the sprout grow, penetrate the soil, and reach the blue sky? Later, when Triều Sơn wrote The New Path of Literature and Art, he would emphasize the importance of being close to the people; any artist who is far from the people, he said, would become barren or spiritually diminished. Going into the masses, living with the masses, and harmonizing one's life with the common life, must be the motto of the vanguard artist. His life exemplified that piece of advice. The masses had trained Triều Sơn 's talent, nurtured Triều Sơn 's spirit, and forged Triều Sơn 's ideology. He threw himself into the revolution, became a worker in the Hòn Gay coal mine, worked in administration in Hai Dương, taught in Phú Thọ, worked on a ship as a coolie, wandered through Guangdong to mingle with the new Chinese people, lived in Hong Kong and Sri Lanka, went to Africa to work as a mechanic, then returned to France, and lived with his fellow soldiers and workers in Marseille, Bordeaux and Paris.
I met Triều Sơn again in Paris.
In between, I in fact met Triều Sơn a few other times in the haste of an overland land trip, but nothing significant occurred. One day he came in from outside the Zone, and talked about spiritual questions that historical materialism could not solve; another day he discussed Zhuangzi’s concept of freedom; another day he criticized literature and art, and talked about the depravity of intellectuals who were led by the imperial examinations to an easy path of fame and fortune, far removed from the lives of the working people. Then Triều Sơn went to Saigon to work as a journalist, honing his pen in short stories, in free verse (under the name Ninh Huy), or satirical poetry (under the name Thang Thang), or debating about Art, Philosophy or social issues. During this period, he wrote a verse drama that made skillful use of elements adapted from Greek tragedies to tell the story of the awakening of a soul imbued with Buddhism before the current spectacle of the suffering of a whole nation. The Black Flag Bandits (Giặc Cờ Đen) had a very classical structure; Triều Sơn skillfully wove Greek tragedies into a portrayal of Vietnamese society, and used ancient poetic words, sometimes gloomy, sometimes profound, sometimes intense, to portray the feelings of the characters. But Triều Sơn later said that in terms of poetry, The Black Flag Bandits had only a few lines that satisfied him; in terms of drama, success would have been more certain if he had had time to bring the play out on the stage.
But at that time Triều Sơn also had a big dream about Nuôi Sẹo.
What was this Nuôi Sẹo? I met Triều Sơn again in a small, narrow room, crammed with books, coal, and paper on Bièvre Street, in Paris’ fifth arrondissement, and that is also where I got to know Nuôi Sẹo.
“Nuôi Sẹo” is the main character of a long novel about Vietnamese society in the last days of the French colonial period. He works as a village crier, specializes in debt collection and burial. Nuôi Sẹo is a worm, a beetle, in the hierarchical society of a northern Vietnamese village. Triều Sơn wanted to use Nuôi Sẹo eyes to describe that feudal society, and then use Nuôi Sẹo’s personality to open up a concept of life.
This was not an easy task. A large painting required a lot of effort and time: Triều Sơn put in five or six years of his life on it, always carrying the manuscript tightly with him, from the Military Zone / chiến khu to Hanoi, and on all his journeys, shoveling coal to feed the furnace all day, in the evening taking off his green shirt as a ship's porter to correct a sentence or two; or lying in the Yễm Yễm library, revising a few unsatisfactory passages. Nuôi Sẹo was always in his mind; before Nuôi Sẹo was even published, the Vietnamese literary world already knew his face, publishers were competing to sponsor him, a French writer had already made an appointment with the author to translate his story into French, and an artist had gone looking for materials to redraw some scenes from his life. Triều Sơn kept pondering, editing, deleting, adding, and putting all his health into it, until the day he could no longer hold a pen.
But drawing a picture of society was not Triều Sơn's main concern. His main concern was Nuôi Sẹo, the person Nuôi Sẹo, the mentality of Nuôi Sẹo...
Sometimes I went out for a drink with Triều Sơn. In the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area, the artistic district of Paris, there was a café with a reddish-brown door, small and warm, always crowded with customers. Whenever he went there, Triều Sơn would sit for hours without getting up, with a forty-five-franc cup of “chocolat.” Why Triều Sơn liked that café, I don't know. In Paris, he had connections with the French writers Vercors, Marcel Aymé, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Perhaps it was because his meetings with those writers often occurred in the setting of that café. Perhaps Triều Sơn also often went to meetings of the Philosophical Society in that area. Sometimes he would go to give a lecture there and when he left, he would turn into that café. Sitting there with Triều Sơn, I would listen to him talk to me about his problems with Nuôi Sẹo.
I know that Triều Sơn had reviewed all aspects of Vietnamese grammar and had very special ideas on that subject. He did not back away when he saw points that needed to be supplemented to make his enterprises more refined. When using a word the spelling of which was uncertain, Triều Sơn would check it in dictionaries, and although he was careful, he was still worried that he had overlooked many misspelled words. As fond of philosophy as he is, he felt he had to refrain for months from opening a philosophy book, so as not to be influenced by the abstract writing style of philosophers...
Triều Sơn revised and revised Nuôi Sẹo, putting it through five or six versions, but still refused to publish it. The first volume, in its earliest version, was 900 pages long, but was reduced to 400 pages. Triều Sơn still thought that was not enough, "It's still too long, it should be only 300 pages", he said. His friends were afraid that if he shortened it too much, it would become dry. But Triều Sơn only promised that this revision would be "the last", and then he would let all his friends review and criticize it, and then revise it according to those criticisms, before publishing. He said: "When it's done, I will record my apprenticeship experiences in a book called “I am Learning to Write". (Tôi tập viết Văn) But Nuôi Sẹo was never completely finished. It was still unfinished when he became seriously ill and had to abandon it forever.
Triều Sơn also left behind a collection of long stories in six-eight couplets, several short stories, a few poems, a half-written introductory philosophy book, and manuscripts of letters discussing philosophy and sociology with several professors at the Collège de France and the Sorbonne (Jean Wahl, Gurwich). As for Nuôi Sẹo, he had almost finished editing the first volume, but the second volume was still a jumbled pile / một mớ hỗn độn of manuscripts. As for all his other commitments, he took them away to his place of burial deep in the soil of Paris... [End of quotation, Compassion No. 1, 1-1964] (4)
And then, unexpectedly, more than half a century later [1963-2018], I had the opportunity to meet Professor Ninh again, and give him the pages of the extended story Nuôi Sẹo from the past, in the form of Nuôi Sẹo Reborn of It was not complete, but had benefitted much from efforts of the writer Trần Hoài Thư and his associates in the Thư’s Manuscript Repository (Thư Quán Bản Thảo). (5)
And on this occasion, I learned that Triều Sơn had a son still living in Vietnam. His daughter Minh Chân, who calls Triều Sơn Bùi Văn Sinh "Grandpa", currently lives in Southern California. Four years ago, she came to visit Professor Ninh. Through Professor Ninh's introduction, I got to talk to Minh Chân and learned that her father's name is Nguyễn Vân Sơn, born on October 7, 1951 [her father has the last name of his mother, the female writer Nguyễn Thị Lan Phương, born in 1921, now deceased].
I really hope that in the future, when I can contact Triều Sơn’s son, there will be a special edition of the novel Nuôi Sẹo from the Manuscript Library send to him, as the heir to the spiritual legacy of his father, whom he probably never knew and only heard about from his mother in later years. Triều Sơn Bùi Văn Sinh died in Paris in 1954, due to cirrhosis of the liver. At that time Triều Sơn was only 34 years old.
WITH CYCLOPEDIA, A CULTURAL PORTRAIT
It was not only through the student publication Medicine & Compassion (Tình Thương) that I came to be close to Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh, but also through the journal Cyclopedia (Bách Khoa) of Mr. Lê Ngộ Châu, the office of which was located on 160 Phan Đình Phùng in Saigon. His activities there provide us with another portrait of Trần Ngọc Ninh in the field of culture.
Through reading Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh’s articles in Cyclopedia, I became familiar with his very diverse cultural personality. The articles were on diverse subjects such as: the Buddhist religion in our common life, the Buddha and Social Reform, anthropology as exemplified by Claude Lévi-Strauss, ethnology as evidenced in myths and legends, and even linguistics. In discussing structure and language, he very early introduced Noam Chomsky and his discoveries in Structural Linguistics, and his theory of a Universal Grammar. Later, he pursued these ideas further and and sought to apply them in his books on Vietnamese Grammar. (7)
Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh was not only an outstanding professor of medicine, but also a culturalist with extensive knowledge in many fields, a model of intellectual training according to the classical European educational concept. As a professor of medicine, he was also invited to teach such subjects as General Civilization and Vietnamese subjects at Venerable Minh Châu’s Vạn Hạnh University. Some articles of his appeared in the journal Thought (Tư Tưởng) as well.
A BOAT-PERSON WHO WAS AN INTELLECTUAL
The upheaval of 1975, was a second life-changing event in Vietnam, the first being the division of the country in 1954 dictated by the Geneva Accords.
After 1975, many medical professors who migrated from the North to the South remained in Vietnam, such as Professor Phạm Biểu Tâm, Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh, Professor Hoàng Tiến Bảo, Professor Nguyễn Đình Cát. These professors were now old and had to go to work by bicycle every day to the hospital, or further to the Medical School on Hồng Bàng Street in Chợ Lớn. In addition to taking care of patients and teaching students, these professors also had to do additional non-medical work, such as cleaning toilets and taking out trash. I can't forget the scene of Professor Phạm Biểu Tâm who while cleaning toilets at Bình Dân Hospital fell and suffered bruises. Professor Tâm was very afraid that his wife would worry, so he told his colleagues not to inform her.
As always, and in all circumstances, the professors maintained the lofty character of intellectuals, never uttering words of praise for the new regime. They could not help but feel heartbroken when they every day had to witness the ignorance that was rife in the people's health care system in consultations or meetings with revolutionary doctors, most of whom had not finished high school. They were "red” only and devoid of specialized training. And, whether coming from the North or from the jungle, they were very arrogant.
A typical example took place during a morning meeting at Bình Dân Hospital after 1975. Dr. Lê Quang Dũng, a long-time intern of the hospital, recounted that when he reported on a case of breast abscess surgery, a Việt Cộng military doctor questioned him: "Why did you perform surgery on a breast abscess?" Dr. Dũng replied: "Because the breast abscess had pus, so it had to be drained." The Việt Cộng doctor scolded Dũng: "You’re so ignorant! In the war zone, I chewed Kalanchoe leaves (lá cây sống đời) and applied them to the patient’s breast. Five minutes later, the abscess disappeared without any surgery." Professors Phạm Biểu Tâm, Trần Ngọc Ninh, and Hoàng Tiến Bảo, who were also present at the meeting, could only shake their heads in dismay.(3)
Having to live in adversity and witness such discouraging scenes, Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh once told his students in a sour and contemptuous tone: "A consultation with ten zeros added together is still zero."
Professor Vũ Quí Đài, the last dean of Saigon School of Medicine, still remembers that when the Việt Cộng Military Administration came to take over the Medical School, they convened a meeting of students and the entire Faculty in the lecture hall. This was supposedly to reassure them, but their tone both boastful and threatening. Professor Vũ Quí Đài recounted: "At that time, Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh leaned over to me and whispered a quote from the Tale of Kiều: “A flippant servant to foes – what fate awaits such shame” (Hàng thần lơ láo phận mình ra đâu?)
Listen to a further remark made by Trần Ngọc Ninh:
"On the scientific level, after North Vietnam had defeated the South, the struggle began between the scientific medicine of the South and the people's medicine of the North. In this struggle, the people were the victims, but they were also the court, the “people's court.” The prize to be gained was the future of health in Vietnam. Health means the strength to perform labor. Ideology cannot hide truth...
In 1977, after hearing the order from the leaders of Northern medicine that from now on, no "lofty" medical procedures (thủ thật y khoa cao cấp) that could be utilized in Vietnam. This included the transformation of water and electrolytes or the use of antibiotics subsequent to the era of penicillin, or surgeries considered to be overly complicated or difficult. I took the liberty to say at the beginning of my surgical pathology class (bệnh lý phẫu khoa): "You are the last students to whom I will teach Scientific Medicine. I will teach it no more. From next year, I will teach only People's Medicine. And you must try to follow what I teach. Don't forget that you are the last heirs of Scientific Medicine."
“When the medical student Nguyễn Chí Công [before 1975, an undercover communist student living in the area who was imprisoned in Chí Hoà, who was visited by Professor Ninh himself and afterwards released, and who in 1976 had returned to the Medical School to be in charge of student management], heard those words, he planned to set up a ‘People's Court" to impeach me.’ But that's not why I left Vietnam."
Professor Ninh continued: "He said this because he realized that the entire policy of the Communist Party of Vietnam was just fake socialism that would lead the Vietnamese people into a life of endless suffering. And what is even worse is that "The Party and the State want to require that Scientific Medicine be exclusively reserved for cadres, while “People's Medicine” is to be applied to the people." (6)
And then very soon, just two years after April 30, 1975, on June 6, 1977, Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh and his family boarded a boat to cross the ocean in search of freedom, while at the same time he was being congratulated as one of only four people retained by the Government Council in the position of Professor with the highest salary.
He and his family eventually reached the Malaysian island of Pulau Besar, and he chose to settle in the United States, where he would have to start over, instead of going to France where he had been educated and made his name.
The early departure from the country of an intellectual of his stature was at that time a great shock to the leaders of Hanoi and to all the intellectuals of the South.
THE HIDDEN STORY OF NGUYỄN TUÂN’S TEAPOT
I came to America more than six years after Professor Ninh, but after a period of study, both of us eventually returned to our old professions. From New York, I returned to work at a VA hospital in Southern California, and though I was busy, I still had the opportunity to see the Professor on weekends.
During a meeting at the home of Võ Phiến, the famous writer of casual essays (tuỳ bút) in the South before 1975, when Võ Phiến was still in Los Angeles; our host happily showed off a teapot that had belonged to the writer Nguyễn Tuân. Võ Phiến greatly cherished the work of Nguyễn Tuân. Đặng Tiến had been given the teapot by Nguyễn Tuân himself after he had used it for many years. Later, Đặng Tiến passed it on to Võ Phiến when the latter a trip to France in 1987, the year that Nguyễn Tuân passed away in Hanoi.
The small, simple teapot made of blue-glazed porcelain, with the word Tonkin printed on the bottom, was quite old and looked very ordinary, but it had belonged to Nguyễn Tuân, the Nguyễn Tuân with the smooth essays of Echoes of a Bygone Time (Vang Bóng Một Thời), and of A Bowl of Tea in the Morning Dew (Chén trà trong sương sớm) with the character Cụ Ấm, for whom tea drinking was almost like a tea ceremony.
Between the first two cups of tea, Mr. Ấm said to his eldest son:
"Cả, the water for making tea is as fragrant as the water that collects on lotus leaves. Each leaf has only a little bit. You have to collect from many leaves to make a pot. When I was young, every time the Governor ordered me to go on a basket boat to scoop up those silver drops from the lotus leaves on the surface of the pond, I thought it was the most wonderful thing in the life of a student who was loved by his teacher like his own son...
Then Mr. Ấm lamented that the autumn had passed, leaving the lotus pond with all its leaves and tattered branches." [end of quote, from Echoes of a Bygone Time]
That was the style of Nguyễn Tuân in the pre-war era, Echoes of a Bygone Time.
Then, during the Resistance war (Kháng Chiến), Nguyễn Tuân transformed himself. He was afraid of tyranny and wished to survive, so he quickly followed the current trend and joined the Party, after which he climbed to the position of General Secretary of the Vietnam Literature and Arts Association. Not stopping there, during the Land Reorm Campaign (thời kỳ cải cách ruộng đất), Nguyễn Tuân also wrote an energetic self-criticism, "Clearly grasping my mistakes." (Nhìn Rõ Sai Lầm) He was determined to break away from his petty bourgeois romantic past, resolutely rejected his own work Echoes of a Bygone Time, which had made his name. After that, he became a Nguyễn Tuân who knew how to use his literary talent to praise the socialist paradise to the skies.
If, with Echoes of a Bygone Era, Nguyễn Tuân was praised as a master of the casual essay genre in Vietnamese literature, then later, with literary pieces that wholeheartedly served the Party and socialism, Nguyễn Tuân was worthy only to be ranked as a second-rate propagandist. Nguyễn Tuân is also remembered and mentioned for saying: "That I am still alive today is because I knew enough to be afraid..."
My close friend Nghiêu Đề recounted that after 1975, when Nguyễn Tuân went to Saigon to the City's Literature and Arts Association, and saw Echoes of a Bygone Time printed beautifully by the Cảo Thơm Publishing House in 1962 with Nghiêu Đề’s illustrations, Nguyễn Tuân was delighted to be reunited with that offspring of his imagination that he had firmly rejected more than once.
The small teapot that Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh held in his hand and admired was not the one of Mr. Ấm with the “Cup of Tea in the Morning Dew,” but of a Nguyễn Tuân who followed the resistance, pouring out bitter cups every day during the tragic journey of more than half of his life.
A FEW PERSONAL MEMORIES
In 2004, when The Green Belt (the English version of my novel Vòng Đai Xanh) was published by Ivy House, Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh wrote:
"Ngô Thế Vinh started writing when he was still a student. Starting in 1963, together with his friends at the Medical School, he created the journal Compassion (Tình Thương) as a forum for humane ideas, aiming for an ideal society and not heavily influenced by any "ism". Even as a student journalist, Ngô Thế Vinh was very concerned with issues facing the Montagnards.
After graduating from medical school, he became a Green Beret doctor of a Special Forces Airborne unit that mainly operated in the mountainous areas of the Central Highlands. The Green Belt has as its setting the Vietnam War in the Highlands with real scenes and real people. Even “more real” is its portrayal of the suffering of the Montagnards during and immediately after the war. And we cannot forget how tragic the peace was for the defeated side after an ideological war. The Green Belt is a work of conscience and courageous commitment. As soon as it was published, the book was widely received and praised by Southern intellectuals but at the same time was condemned by the Southern government as sabotage.
Now 30 years after the war’s end, a superb English edition by Nha Trang and Pensinger will certainly be as widely welcomed as the first edition was, because the issue of the survival of the Montagnards of the Central Highlands addressed in Green Belt remains relevant today.
For the Vietnamese, the tragedy of our time is that every present and future war carries the seeds of destruction, for which the Green Belt bears multifaceted and multi-exemplified witness. Those ethnic minorities have no voice. When will their “silent voice” be truly heard?” [Trần Ngọc Ninh, Institute of Vietnamese Studies, author The Snows of Yesteryear / Tuyết Xưa]
Later, whenever a new work of mine was about to be released, I sent it to Professor Ninh and asked him for a comment. He frankly refused with the answer: "Vinh, you are now well-known and do not need my introduction anymore." I received his opinion with all humility and gratitude.
A BIOLOGICAL DESTINY
Unlike the person he had been when young and passionate, involved in politics and parties, Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh was now about to enter his centenary, so, in writing about him, I had the impression that politics was now a phase he had left behind and that he only wanted to be mentioned as a person with cultural views and contributions."
Speaking of culture, Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh chose an excerpt from his Snows of Yesteryear (Tuyết Xưa; p.100): "For human communities, culture serves both as means of mutual recognition and as a means of distinguishing ‘the other.’ It is also tool used to explain and guide the life of the group in the natural landscape that they have mastered..." (2)
To write satisfactorily about Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh would probably require more than a book. I would also like to suggest to young people at home and abroad who are preparing their doctoral theses that a cultural portrait of Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh make a very rich and attractive topic to explore and engage in.
As if making final confession, when answering Trần Uyên Thi, who later was a very young student at the Institute of Vietnamese Studies, Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh expressed himself as follows:
"Now that I've reached old age [89 years old, as of 2012], I see even more that my understanding, my knowledge, and my sight have been superficial; they have extended only to the surface of things (including history and science). That is the biological fate of humans on this earth." (1)
THE PASSING OF A RESPECTED PUBLIC FIGURE
Professor Trần Ngọc Ninh peacefully passed away at the age 103 on July 16, 2025 at Hoag Hospital, in Newport Beach, Southern California. News of his passing was only shared by his family two weeks later, in accordance with his wish for an extremely simple Buddlish funeral held privately within the family. There was no obituary, no eulogy and the family faithfully fullfilled his wishes. He was laid to rest at Loma Vista Memorial Park in Fullerton, approximately 20 km from Little Saigon, beside the grave of his late wife, who passed away in the year 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. His gravestone is remarkably simple, bearing no titles or honors – only his name and his Dharma name “Orgyen Karma, symbolizing enlightened activity”.
NGÔ THẾ VINH
Hà Nội 1954 - Sài Gòn 1975
California, July 11, 2018 – August 16, 2025
[ CREATIVE WORLD OF SOUTH VIETNAM
& OVERSEAS TO THE PRESENT VOL.2 ]
References:
- A Dream for Vietnam / Ước Vọng Duy Tân /. Tuyển Tập Trần Ngọc Ninh. [chủ biên Trần Uyên Thi]; published by Viện Việt Học, 2012
- The Snows of Yesteryear (Tuyết Xưa); Tuyển tập các Vấn đề Văn hoá Việt Nam, Khởi Hành Publishers California Hoa Kỳ 2000
- Professor and Doctor Phạm Biểu Tâm (Giáo sư Bác sĩ Phạm Biểu Tâm), Biểu tượng của Y đạo Y học Y thuật. Tập San Y Sĩ Canada 201, tháng 05.2014
- Mười lăm năm ấy, Kỷ niệm về Triều Sơn [Trần Ngọc Ninh, với bút hiệu Trần Ngọc], The monthly Periodical Compassion (Tình Thương), no 1, January, 1964
- The Writer Triều Sơn (Nhà Văn Triều Sơn) (1921-1954). Trần Hoài Thư, Manuscrip Library (Thư Quán Bản Thảo), No. 77 November,.2017
- Glimpses of the History of the Saigon Medical College (Một Chút Lịch sử Y khoa Đại học đường Sài Gòn), Trần Ngọc Ninh, et al. Hội Y Sĩ Việt Nam tại Canada 2002
- The journal Cyclopedia (Tạp chí Bách Khoa: The Online Library of Người Việt (Thư Viện Người Việt Online)
