Timeline
Portraits
1915
Born in Thị Cầu, Bắc Ninh
Nguyễn Văn Toán was born in the Kinh Bắc region — the homeland of quan họ singing, festivals and village gatherings.
Thuở nhỏ
Learned Chinese characters from mother
His mother worked as a rice vendor, in the evening she both ground rice and taught Chinese characters. Later, he studied with teacher Chu Kinh Phượng — a renowned master of the Kinh Bắc region.
1934
Began writing
While a student at the private Gia Long school in Hà Nội, he published his first poem in the newspaper Loa under the pen name Đào Vân.
1935
Debut story: Chiếc Nhẫn Quý
First short story published in Tiểu thuyết Thứ Bảy newspaper — marking the beginning of a writing career lasting seven decades.
1935
Clerk at the Résidence
He joined the civil service as a clerk at the Résidence — work that took him across Kinh Bắc, following quan họ singing sessions with the liền anh and liền chị. That lived experience later became the foundation of his pages on festivals and song.
1936
First articles on quan họ
His series on quan họ folk song in Trung Bắc Tân Văn was praised for its national spirit. From these articles grew the skeleton of the later Hội Hè Đình Đám and Cầm Ca Việt Nam.
1939
Marries Nguyễn Thị Uẩn
The companion who would walk beside him for thirty years and raise eleven children with him.
1942
Bước Đầu — his first book
A comedy for the stage, printed in Hà Nội — his earliest surviving book, preserved through the legal-deposit copy at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
1943
Phong Lưu Đồng Ruộng
A study of northern rural customs and country pastimes, printed in Hà Nội. The 1957 Saigon edition is marked "3rd printing" — the 1958 date often cited is only a reprint.
1944
Trong Lũy Tre Xanh
A collection of village short stories. The book's first page records a printing permit dated 1 July 1944 and the line "first printing".
1957
Tiết Tháo Một Thời
A novel on the integrity of Vietnam's scholar class — his first book after moving South, printed at his own expense.
1959
Ký Vãng
A novel of manners, with a preface by Triều Đẩu — published in the years when Saigon was reprinting his Hà Nội-era works.
1963
Nếp Xưa
A customary novel evaluated as brilliant and captivating, yet still maintaining serious academic rigor.
1963–1966
Director of the Department of Psychological Warfare
Held the position of director in the Psychological Warfare Department of the Republic of Vietnam. This timeframe is recorded by only one source, and does not match his own memoir — where he wrote that until 1965 he was still working at the Tax Department.
1965–1971
Librarian, Ministry of Information
Left the Tax Department for the Ministry of Information in 1965, in charge of the library. In Nhớ Thương, written in 1970, he stated that he was still doing this work.
20/12/1969
Mrs. Nguyễn Thị Uẩn passed away
She passed away at Grall Hospital, Sài Gòn at the age of 46, after 30 years of living together, leaving him and 11 children.
1970
Memoir Nhớ Thương
In the months after her death, he wrote "Nhớ Thương" — the memoir he spoke to her. The book was privately printed at Chí-Thanh Printing House, 156 Hòa-Hưng, Sài Gòn: no publisher, no cover price, not for sale. He printed it to give to friends and family, each child kept a copy.
1972–1973
Vice Chairman, Council of Culture and Education
Served as Vice Chairman of the Council of Culture and Education.
2004
Toan Ánh Toàn Tập — NXB Trẻ
Signed an exclusive contract with NXB Trẻ to publish "Toan Ánh toàn tập" — comprising 124 published and unpublished works. The contract was valid from 2004–2015 and has now expired.
14/05/2009
Breathed his last
Writer Toan Ánh passed away at 23:50 at Bệnh viện Nhân dân Gia Định, TP.HCM, aged 94, after more than ten days of illness.