Phan Boi Can
From: VSG-owner@u.washington.edu [mailto:VSG-owner@u.washington.edu]
On Behalf Of Peter Hansen
Sent: Sunday, October 17, 2004 10:12 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group
Subject: Phan Boi Can
Dear List,
I was recently given a piece of calligraphy for which I am unable to identify the author, whose name is Phan Boi Can (as opposed to Chau). I looked him up in the standard dictionary of biography, and on Google, both without success. The piece reads:
Yeu nua Doi
An nua bua
Ngu nua dem
Duong cach mang
Khong bao gio
Di mot nua.
Can anyone assist in identifying Phan Boi Can?
Thanks in advance,
Peter Hansen
From sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca Sun Oct 17 11:48:15 2004
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:40:01 -0600
From: Sinh Vinh <sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: Phan Boi Can
Dear Peter and all:
I know something about Phan Boi Chau, and I might be able to recognize PBC's calligraphy, i.e. his handwriting in literary Chinese.
In your query, am I correct to guess that when you say "calligraphy" you imply Phan Boi Can's handwriting in modern/romanized Vietnamese? Is Phan Boi Can a real name, or just a pen name? I have not heard of this name. I hope some other VSG members might help you to identify this name.
Best,
VS
From sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca Sun Oct 17 17:00:59 2004
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 17:53:00 -0600
From: Sinh Vinh <sinh.vinh@ualberta.ca>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: Phan Boi Can
Dear Peter,
I suggested Phan Boi Can might be a pen name, because so far as I know, I have not heard of any one among Phan Boi Chau's descendants adopting Boi as their middle name. PBC had 2 sons, Phan Nghi Huynh and Phan Nghi De, and some of his grandsons used Thieu as their middle name (Phan Thieu ....).
To begin with, PBC's original name was Phan Van San, he only changed his name to Phan Boi Chau around 1900, when he was given a pardon to take regional examinations (thi hu+o+ng) again after an accident in 1897 when he was declared to be excluded for life from taking examinations. Phan Bo^.i Cha^u literally means Phan-who-wears-pearls/gems.
As for Phan Boi Can, I don't know how Can is fully spelled, I cannot therefore indicate if there is a relationship between his personal name Can and his middle name `Boi'. All I can speculate is that whoever adopted this name, that person might have been in some way conscious (or an admirer) of Phan Boi Chau.
Best,
VS
From johnev@netspace.net.au Tue Oct 19 01:57:04 2004
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 18:51:29 -0700
From: Peter Hansen <johnev@netspace.net.au>
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: Phan Boi Can
Many thanks for your kind response. I think I'll put the piece down as a phoney!
Regards,
Peter Hansen