Nguyen Dac Xuan was born on 15 July 1937 in Huế, Central of Vietnam. He spent his childhood in Dalat with his mother. From 1954 to 1966, he studied in Da Nang, Quang Ngai and Huế. At the first years of Secondary School, he started to write poetry.
His first publication was in 1959. In 1963, Nguyen became a member of Hue Buddhish student group. Since then, he joined in Anti-war Movements in the Southern urban area of Vietnam. From 1964 to 1966, He wrote Peace Poetry together with contemporary musician Pham Duy and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. In 1966, after finishing his study in Sinology from the University of Pedagogical, he continued to join in the activities against the war.
He had to live in the Pagodas and then escaped to Thua Thien Hue Base. During this period, he continued to write poetry, articles to call the youths in urban area in 1974, he attended the International Student Festival in Budapest.
In 1975, following the ending of war, the restoration of peace and reunification of Vietnam, he continued to write poetry and became a member of Vietnam Writers' Association.
In 1989, he was voted to be the General Secretary of Literature and Art Association in Hue; In 1990, he was Vice Chief Editor of Song Huong (Perfume River) Magazine.
In 1993, he worked for Lao Dong (Labour) Newspaper.
In 1994, he became the Chief of Lao Dong Representative Office in the Central and Highland Vietnam. In 1998, he retired at the age of 61.
NGUYEN pursues his passion in doing research on the culture and history of the Nguyen dynasty[3] and Ancient Hue. He had spent time in France and US to search for documents on the culture and history of Vietnam.
He had more than 50 publications and attended tens of Conferences on the Nguyen Dynasty and Ancient Hue.
In 2007, He presented the subject "Peace Music and Poetry Movement during the period 1964–1966 in Sounthern Vietnam" at the invitation of William Joiner Center.
His main contributions to Hue are noted as followings:
- Clarification on the exile of King Ham Nghi, Thanh Thai, Duy Tan, Bao Dai in abroad.
- Writings on Ho Chi Minh's childhood in Hue
- Discovery on the vestiges of Dan Duong Palace[4] and Emperor Quang Trung's mausoleum[5]
- Decoding some mysteries of the Nguyen dynasty and Ancient Hue
- Building a new study – Hue study.
- Having a unique collection of books and documents on the Hue dynasty and Ancient Hue