Nguyễn Du

Nguyễn Du, courtesy name Tố Như and art name Thanh Hiên, was a poet and scholar-official, widely acclaimed as one of the most important writers of Vietnamese literature. Fluent in both Literary Chinese and the Nôm script then used to transcribe the Vietnamese language, Du left behind a prolific body of works that demonstrates a mastery of various poetic forms, from Vietnamese adaptations of Tang-dynasty styles to folk forms such as song thất lục bát and lục bát. His most well-known work is Truyện Kiều, a novel-in-verse now considered to be the masterpiece of Vietnamese literature.