On the morning of March 1, a delegation from the Ministry of Health, led by Ms. Dao Hong Lan, Minister of Health, paid tribute by offering incense to mark the 235th anniversary of the passing of the progenitor of Vietnamese traditional medicine, Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac (1791–2026).
The commemorative activities took place at the Great Physician’s tomb in Hai Thuong Hamlet in Huong Son Commune and at the Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac Memorial Site in Bao Thuong Hamlet in Son Giang Commune, Ha Tinh Province.
Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan and members of the delegation solemnly laid wreaths and offered incense, expressing their heartfelt remembrance and profound gratitude for the immense contributions and distinguished service of Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac to national and global medicine and culture.
The Great Physician bequeathed to future generations a rich and invaluable legacy encompassing medical knowledge, literature, cultural thought, medical ethics, and the philosophy of healing. His life and career remain a shining moral exemplar for successive generations of medical practitioners in particular and for the Vietnamese people at large to study and emulate.
Hai Thuong Lan Ong's real name is Le Huu Trac. He was born in 1724 in Hung Yen Province and spent most of his life in his mother's hometown in the former Huong Son District, Ha Tinh Province. He passed away in 1791. The medicine man, the best-known and most celebrated doctor in Vietnamese history, made great contributions to the country’s traditional medicine. He was not only a precious image of a great physician with significant contributions to traditional medicine but also a writer, a poet, and a prominent thinker of his time.
The progenitor of Vietnamese traditional medicine, Hai Thuong Lan Ong Le Huu Trac, was honored as an eminent personality by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Accordingly, the UNESCO General Conference on November 21, 2024, passed a resolution on the list of eminent personalities and historical events commemorated in 2023-2024 at its 42nd session in Paris, France.
