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Nguyen Trai (pseudonym Uc Trai) was born in 1380 in Nhi Khe Ha Dong province which is now the great capital of North Vietnam. He lived in a family close to the royal court. Tran Nguyen Dan, who was his grandfather, was a teacher under the reign of King Tran. Nguyen Trai father's name was Nguyen Ung Long although people called him Nguyen Phi Khanh. His mother's name was Tran Thi Thai. When Nguyen Trai was five years old, his mother died. After that he went to live with his grandfather on his mother's side. A short time later, his grandfather, Tran Nguyen Dan, also died. Then Nguyen Trai stayed with his father (Nguyen Phi Khanh) who lived in his grandfather's hometown in a small village in Nhi Khe.

In 1400, in order to save a feudalistic system which was in a serious crisis, King Ho (Ho Qui Ly) overthrew King Tran. After that, King Tran established some new policies, such as abolishing slavery, creating land reform, improving education and conducting reforms in many spheres. During the same year,1400, after King Ho was crowned king, he opened a post graduate examination. Nguyen Trai earned his master's degree when he was only twenty years old. He was appointed to the position of deputy head provincial administrator. His father(Nguyen Phi Khanh) was the second best examinee(second roster), and he was nominated for the Inspection Committee in charge of Examinations.

In China in 1406, King Minh Thanh To ordered commander Truong Phu to bring two million troops to invade Vietnam. King Ho brought many troops to resist the enemy, but he was finally defeated. As a result, King Ho and some court officials which included Nguyen Trai's father (Nguyen Phi Khanh), became prisoners of war. Then Truong Phu brought them to China.

When Trai's brother (Nguyen Phi Hung) and he received the bad news about their father's arrest, they took their families to meet their father at the border between Vietnam and China. They hoped they could accompany their father and take care of him to the end of his life. They were crying when they met their father at the border. Nguyen Phi Khanh told Nguyen Trai,"you are an educated person, and a smart person. If you wanted to be a pious child, I would hope that you would be a useful person to your country. You should find a good way to wash out this insult to Vietnam and avenge my capture. I do not want to see you crying as a woman would. That would not be a good son."

Nguyen Trai obeyed his father, and he came back to Thang Long to join the liberation army of King Le Loi. Many letters and pronouncements written by him and sent in Le Loi's name to the Ming generals have been preserved in "Quang Trung Tu Menh Tap" (letters and commands from the time of military service). His best known poem is in Chinese, the strategy "BINH NGO SACH" (great proclamation after the victory over the Ming) that said, " King Le should think of people firstly, and people were always root, so King Le had to take care of people's lives." Many of his poems were written in Vietnamese using the Chu Nom script, developed from Chinese characters, used before the Latin script was introduced as the official alphabet in the late 19th century. Collected in Quoc Am Thi Tap (Volume of Poems in the National Tongue), they are the earliest literature in Vietnamese language to have survived. He was also the author of the first geographical, Du dia chi (Geographical Notes, 1435). Also, he occupied important post after victory. After the war was over, Nguyen Trai came back home at Con Son where he lived a simple life with integrity. His assets were books. A close adviser of two successive kings, he was finally suspected to have plotted for regicide. His family was harmed by traitors to the court. He and entire family were executed. People regreted his terrible circumstance.

Nguyen Trai is not only a great person in the Vietnamese history, but he is also a hero, an idealist, a poet, and a highly cultured man in Vietnam. His heart, his mind and his great cause will live in the Vietnamese hearts forever as bright stars. King Le Thanh Ton was honored posthumously "UC TRAI TAM THUONG QUANG KHUE TAO." This means that "HIS HEART IS BRIGHT AS MIRROR, HIS MIND IS BRIGHT AS MOON, AND HIS CAREERS ARE BRIGHT FOR GOOD."

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