Lê Quý Đôn

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Le Quy Don (Lê Quý Đôn 黎貴敦, 1726–1784) was an 18th-century Vietnamese philosopher, poet, encyclopedist, and government official. His pseudonym was Quế Đường. He was a native of Duyen Ha village in present-day Thai Binh Province. He is considered one of most outstanding and prolific savants of the Vietnamese middle ages.

The period of his life was marked by a split between the Trinh Lords of the north and the Nguyen Lords of the south, followed by the Tay Son rebellion.

In 1760, Le Quy Don went to China with an embassy mission. 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 Van Mieu in Hanoi and as Director of the Bureau of Annals.

Le Quy Don 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 the old Vietnamese savants (about 40 series with hundreds of volumes). The encyclopedia Vân đài loại ngữ (9 volumes) is Vietnam's largest encyclopedia, a landmark in Vietnamese science in the middle ages. The history work Đại Việt thông sử (30 volumes) contains many documents about the Lê Dynasty. The Phu Bien Tap Luc (Frontier Chronicles) (6 volumes) was a detailed description of Nguyen territories in Thuận Hoá 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.