Saint Joseph Nguyễn Duy Tuân was born in 1811 in the Trần Xá sub-parish, Cao Xá parish, Hưng Yên province. Raised in a poor but devout farming family, young Tuân felt the call to a life of consecration from an early age. After making his first confession and receiving his first communion, he left his family to embark on the path of religious life.

He entered the seminary, diligently pursued his studies, and was ordained a priest in 1857. Deeply influenced by Dominican spirituality, Father Joseph requested to join the Order and made his solemn profession in 1858, taking the religious name Hoan.

Amidst the brutal persecution under Emperor Tự Đức's reign, Father Tuân was assigned pastoral care in the Ngọc Đồng parish. He was forced to live in hiding, serving quietly and appearing only discreetly to care for the spiritual well-being of his threatened and scattered flock.

In the spring of 1861, an elderly, bedridden woman sent her son to bring Father Tuân to administer the Last Rites. However, the son, tempted by the reward money, betrayed the priest. He went directly to the district mandarin and reported the priest's hiding place. The mandarin immediately dispatched soldiers to surround the village, captured the priest, and escorted him to the Hưng Yên prison.

At the tribunal, the superior mandarin alternated between gentle persuasion and brutal torture, trying to force the priest to renounce his faith and trample on the Cross. Yet the priest remained steadfast and loyal, declaring: "This is not a false doctrine as the mandarin claims. Our faith teaches us to worship God, the Creator of heaven and earth and all things in the universe." In his prison cell, despite being tormented, he continued to preach the true faith, offering comfort and administering the sacraments to the faithful who secretly came to visit him. He joyfully awaited the grace of martyrdom.

On April 29, 1861, the death sentence by decapitation was approved by Emperor Tự Đức. Father Joseph Nguyễn Duy Tuân bravely suffered martyrdom by beheading at the execution grounds in Hưng Yên.

He was beatified on April 29, 1951, and was canonized by Pope John Paul II on June 19, 1988.