On 20 December 1969 the companion of thirty years of the writer Toan Ánh died at the Grall hospital in Saigon, aged 46, leaving him with their eleven children.
Six days later, on 26 December, he began writing "Nhớ Thương", and finished on 14 March 1970 — a memoir addressed to her rather than about her. Printing was completed on 10 August 1970 at the Chí-Thanh press in Saigon: no publisher, no cover price, never sold.
Toan Ánh, born Nguyễn Văn Toán in 1915, came from Thị Cầu in Bắc Ninh — the Kinh Bắc region of quan họ folk song and village festivals. He began writing in 1934, and across more than seven decades he recorded the customs, beliefs, festivals and folk verse of the Vietnamese, from the countryside to the cities and from north to south.
His given name was Nguyễn Văn Toán, and those who knew him called him "anh Toán" — brother Toán. Read backwards, the two syllables give the name he wrote under: "Toan Ánh".
The earliest of his books to survive, and little recorded in bibliographies today. All four come down to us through the legal-deposit copy held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, which has digitised each one complete. The facsimiles can be downloaded here.
Kịch
Comedy play — the only work of this genre in his entire career, and his earliest surviving book. BnF note: "[Le premier pas, comédie]".
Nhà in An-Thịnh, 181 Rue du Coton, Hà Nội, 1942 · 74 tr.
Printing completed on 7/7/1942. In addition to the regular paper edition, there were fifty vellum paper copies numbered 1–50, each with the author's signature — according to the last page of the book.
Digitised edition(PDF 41 MB)
Digitised by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica) ↗
Biên khảo
Study of Northern rural customs and country pastimes. The 1957 edition clearly states "3rd printing" — the 1958 date is often mentioned as the third printing, not the first.
Ánh Hoa, Hà Nội, 1943 · 152 tr.
Reissued: Hà Nội: Minh Tuấn 1952 · Sài Gòn: Nam Sơn 1957 (in lần 3)
Digitised edition(PDF 85 MB)
Digitised by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica) ↗
Truyện ngắn
Short story collection criticizing rural outdated customs.
Nhà xuất bản Hàn-Mặc, 26 Phố Hàng Quạt, Hà Nội, 1944 · 136 tr.
Reissued: Sài Gòn 1957 · Hà Nội: NXB Văn nghệ 2004 · có thể cả "Truyện ngắn làng quê", NXB Văn nghệ 1996 (chưa đối chiếu)
The first page of the book records the printing license issued on 1/7/1944 and the line "first printing"; therefore, 1944 is recorded here, while some library records state 1945. The 1957 date marks a reprint in Sài Gòn.
Digitised edition(PDF 78 MB)
Digitised by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica) ↗
Tiểu thuyết lịch sử
Historical novel set against the resistance against the Yuan-Mongols. BnF note: "L'épée du delta tonkinois, roman."
Nhà in Minh-Tuân xuất bản, 15 Phố Nhà Thương Chữa Mắt, Hà Nội, 1950
Digitised edition(PDF 63 MB)
Digitised by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Gallica) ↗
An eleven-volume study of Vietnamese daily life — from the passage of a single life to the village, its festivals, its beliefs and its quieter pleasures.
Nếp Cũ 1/11 · Biên khảo
The life cycle of Vietnamese people from birth to death — birth, study, starting a family, funerals, reburial.
Nam Chi Tùng Thư, Sài Gòn, 1965 · 422 tr.
Reissued: Khai Trí 1970 · NXB TP.HCM 1991 · NXB Trẻ 2023
Nếp Cũ 2/11 · Biên khảo
The system of Vietnamese folk beliefs — ancestor worship, deities, folk Buddhism.
Nam Chi Tùng Thư, Sài Gòn, 1967 · 475 tr.
Nếp Cũ 3/11 · Biên khảo
Continued research on beliefs — magic, fortune-telling, feng shui, funeral customs.
Nam Chi Tùng Thư, Sài Gòn, 1968 · 451 tr.
Reissued: Hoa Đăng 1969
Nếp Cũ 4/11 · Biên khảo
Village life — structure, village conventions, communal house, rural market, village solidarity.
Phương Quỳnh, Sài Gòn, 1968 · 471 tr.
Photos in the book by Nguyễn Cao Đàm, Nguyễn Mạnh Đan, Trần Lê Sinh and Trần Cao Lĩnh.
Nếp Cũ 5/11 · Biên khảo
Traditional Vietnamese festivals — communal house festivals, village festivals, rituals, palanquin processions, entertainment.
Nam Chi Tùng Thư, Sài Gòn, 1969 · 303 tr.
Reissued: Houston, Texas: Vietnamese Book Store, khoảng thập niên 1980
The reprint in Houston, Texas is the only overseas reprint found among all his books.
Nếp Cũ 6/11 · Biên khảo
Continued research on festivals — pagoda festivals, market festivals, spring festivals, games at festivals.
Nam Chi Tùng Thư, Sài Gòn, 1974 · 356 tr.
Nếp Cũ 7/11 · Biên khảo
The gentle, virtuous, and capable qualities of Vietnamese women in the Northern region.
Vạn Lợi, Sài Gòn, 1959 · 137 tr.
Nếp Cũ 8/11 · Biên khảo
Folk songs, proverbs, and love stories used to explain folk poetry — love for homeland and country.
NXB Thanh Niên, 1999 · 433 tr.
If 1999 is the year of creation and not a reprint year, then this is a book he wrote in his eighties.
Nếp Cũ 9/11 · Biên khảo
The four noble arts — music, chess, poetry, painting in the life of ancient Vietnamese people.
NXB Trẻ, 2023 · 446 tr.
Nếp Cũ 10/11 · Biên khảo
Traditional pastimes — Chinese chess, composing poetry, flower arranging, tea appreciation.
NXB Trẻ, 2023 · 376 tr.
Printed together with Bó Hoa Bắc Việt. This is the subtitle of Các Thú Tiêu Khiển Việt Nam.
Nếp Cũ 11/11 · Biên khảo
Vietnamese folk games — ô ăn quan, jump rope, stone skipping, kite flying, tug-of-war.
NXB Trẻ, 2024 · 500 tr.
The interview was conducted when he was old, on the occasion of signing a contract with NXB Trẻ to publish all 124 works. He talked about thirty years of living with his wife, about the memoir written after her death, and about the worry that cultural heritage is fading away.
Read the archived copy →A portrait written while he was still alive, on the occasion of a contract with NXB Trẻ for 124 published and unpublished works, to be released within the period 2004–2015.
Read the archived copy →Recreating the atmosphere of traditional Tết through his research writings, and recording his concern about the speed of custom changes.
Read the archived copy →