Lê Quý Đôn

Lê was born in the province of Thái Bình, and lived in the reign of Emperor Lê Hiển Tông. The period of his life was marked by a split between the Trịnh lords of the north and the Nguyễn lords, in the aftermath of an examination system scandal involving his son Lê Quý Kiêt (who was sent to prison for changing examination books), had been ordered south of the Linh Giang River to serve as an official ...As a member of the Trịnh lords' bureaucracy, Lê Quý Đôn was supposed to help restore civil government in a region of Viet Nam that had been separate from the Trịnh lords' control for over two centuries, and facilitate the reincorporation of the southern territories, particularly those controlled by the Nguyễn lords, into the authority of the Trịnh-led northern government.

In 1760, Lê Quý Đôn went to China as an ambassador. He later served as a government official in the ministries of war, finance and public works. He also served as the rector of the National University situated in the Văn Miếu in Hanoi and as Director of the Bureau of Annals. It is said that Lê was traveling with some Qing officials, and along the way they saw a Chinese poem inscribed on a stone palette. Later, one of the Qing officials, to test his merit, asked him if he could remember what was on the stone palette. Lê recited the entire poem, word for word, in Chinese. That earned him a great deal of respect from the Chinese.

Lê Quý Đôn was responsible for a large number of encyclopedic, historical, bibliographical, and philosophical works. It is estimated that he has the largest volume of works among Vietnamese literature using Chinese characters (about 40 series with hundreds of volumes).

• The Vân đài loại ngữ (Classified Sayings, 9 volumes) is Vietnam's largest encyclopedia, a landmark in Vietnamese science in the Confucian era.
• The history Đại Việt thông sử (30 volumes) contains many documents about the Lê dynasty.^[5][6][7]
• The Phủ biên tạp lục (Frontier Chronicles) (6 volumes) was a detailed description of Nguyễn territories in Thuận Hóa and Quảng Nam Provinces.

Today, one of largest technical universities in Hanoi, Le Quy Don Technical University (LeTech), and many schools in Vietnam are named after him. Most cities in Vietnam have named major streets after him.^[8]

Le Quy Don High School in District 3 is the first high school to be established in Saigon, Vietnam. The school was built in 1874 and it has been fostering generation of students up until this day. Despite being over a century old, Le Quy Don High School has still maintained most of its original architecture. The school's location in central Saigon makes it one of the most popular spots for filming.

Finally, "Lê Quý Đôn″ is also the name of a new Vietnamese sail training ship, built in 2015 by the Polish ship yard Marine Projects Ltd. on behalf of Polish Defence Holding in Gdynia. Some of its data: overall length: 65.0 m, breadth: 10.0 m, air draft: 42.0 m, sails area: 1395 m², propulsion: 880 kW, crew and cadets: 30 + 80 persons.

Anecdotally, the young boy Lê Quý Đôn was tested by Scholar Vũ Công Trấn, after visiting fellow graduate Lê Trọng Thứ (formerly Lê Phú Thứ), with the poem titled Rắn đầu biếng học ("Stubborn-headed snake, indolent in study" – a metaphorical rebuke for obstinacy and laziness in learning).

Lê Quý Đôn composed a poem in the classical thất ngôn bát cú form, embedding the name of a distinct snake species into each line as subtle self-deprecating wit, while adhering to rhyme, tone, and structure:

Chẳng phải liu điu vẫn giống nhà!

Rắn đầu biếng học lẽ không tha

Thẹn đèn hổ lửa đau lòng mẹ,

Nay thét mai gầm rát cổ cha.

Ráo mép chỉ quen tuồng lếu láo,

Lằn lưng cam chịu vết roi da.

Từ nay Trâu Lỗ xin siêng học,

Kẻo hổ mang danh tiếng thế gia!