[5] His blindness prevented Chiểu from making a physical contribution to the guerrilla efforts of the likes of Trương Định, the leading southern anticolonial.

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 of the will of the Mandate of Heaven.

In an elegy to the fallen insurgents, Chiểu asserted that the resistance continued its struggle after the signing of the treaty by Huế "because their hearts would not heed the Son of Heaven's edict".

Chiểu strongly supported the partisans’ efforts in continuing their attempt to expel the French from southern Vietnam, a cause he considered righteous, yet his reference to Tự Đức as the "Son of Heaven" indicate that the legitimacy of the Emperor was not called into question.

In 1867, the French seized a further three provinces to complete their colonization of the south, using the pretext that the Nguyễn court was secretly assisting southern rebels and thereby disrespecting the Treaty of Saigon.

[4][1] Aside from various individual poems, pamphlets and essays, his major works are:[9] Chiểu's influence on morale-building and patriotic sentiment was felt long after the military defeat of the popular resistance.