Nguyễn Đình Chiểu (; 1 July 1822 – 3 July 1888) was a Vietnamese poet who was known for his nationalist and anti-colonial writings against the French colonization of Cochinchina, the European name for the southern part of Vietnam. He was the best known opponent of collaboration in the south of Vietnam and was regarded as the poet laureate of the southerners who continued to defy the Treaty of Saigon which ceded southern Vietnam to France, disobeying the royal orders of Emperor Tự Đức to continue harassing the French forces. His epic poem, Lục Vân Tiên, remains one of the most celebrated works in Vietnamese literature. Life Nguyễn Đình Chiểu was born in the southern province of Gia Định, the location of modern Saigon. He was of gentry parentage; his father was a native of Thừa Thiên–Huế, near Huế; but, during his service to the imperial government of Emperor Gia Long, he was posted south to serve under Lê Văn Duyệt, the governor of the south. There, he took a second wife, who bore him four sons, one of whom was Chiểu. In 1843, he passed the regional imperial examinations, and in 1846, he traveled to the capital, Huế, for the opening of the metropolitan examinations. However, while in Huế, he was informed of the death of his mother, so he withdrew from the examinations and returned to Gia Định. However, on the journey south, he contracted an eye infection and was soon completely blind. In spite of his disability, he opened a small school in Gia Định and was soon in high demand as both a teacher and a medical practitioner. Flight to Bến Tre In 1859, the French started the conquest of Cochinchina and attacked Gia Định. As a result, Chiểu fled south to the Mekong Delta region of Bến Tre. His blindness prevented Chiểu from making a physical contribution to the guerrilla efforts of the likes of Trương Định, the leading southern anticolonial. Chiểu was known for his vivid and highly proficient writing of poetry of chữ nôm, which was widely circulated in the south, mainly by word of mouth. In 1862, Emperor Tự Đức's court signed the Treaty of Saigon, which ceded three southern provinces to become the colony of Cochinchina. Đình and his colleagues refused to recognize the treaty and continued to fight on against the French, thereby disobeying Tự Đức and being in violation