>>Part 1: Paris, my two worlds
>>Part 2: A journey in search of freedom
>>Part 3: Nguyen the Patriot
>>Part 4: Indochina and little emperors
The Vietnamese were able to prolong France’s war of conquest until 1896. The installation of Paul Doumer as Governor-General of Indochina in 1897 marked a new century of French domination. The colonial regime carried full political, economic, administrative, and military power.
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| National Academy of Hue |
Ho Chi Minh was born as Nguyen Sinh Cung, in Nghe An province. The family lived in Hue, where his father had a teaching position. In 1900, when Cung was 10, his father went to Thanh Hoa for an imperial appointment, accompanied by the eldest son. Back at home in Hue, Cung was left looking after his pregnant mother. Without access to a midwife, she went into labor and died during childbirth. Shocked at her sudden death and in great distress, Cung was also responsible for the baby, with help from neighbors. Returning from a long distance through the treacherous mountain roads, Cung’s father was too late for his wife’s burial. With the loss of his beloved mother, Cung endured a period of profound grieving.
The following year the family moved to Kim Lien village. Cung’s father renamed him Nguyen Tat Thanh (Nguyen the Achiever). They lived in a charming thatch cottage in an area of forested hills, small valleys with fishponds, and views of the mountains in the far west. Thanh had received an early education from his father and a scholarly relative before he was sent to study with Vuong Thuc Qui, a renowned teacher of Confucian classics. Excelling in school, Thanh was also inspired by patriotic essays and lectures from Vuong Thuc Qui.
In 1907 Thanh and his brother won their entrance to the National Academy of Hue. This school was established by the decree of Emperor Thanh Thai in 1896. It was placed under the authority of the Résident Supérieur who governed Central Viet Nam. The French system of education was introduced in parallel with the study of Confucian philosophy and Vietnamese literature. This cross-cultural curriculum was established by the French principal, who was married to a Vietnamese. Students thrived at this school. The Academy would become the top educational institution in the country, educating many of Viet Nam’s future leaders and renowned revolutionaries, historians, teachers, novelists, poets, artists, musicians...
Outside the classroom, Thanh was regularly exposed to informal lectures by progressive intellectuals and their demands for political freedom and social reforms. He heard many stories about the Can Vuong movement and those who had sacrificed their lives. Sometimes Thanh and his brother attended memorial services at a local temple for the country’s heroes and heroines.
In 1908, Thanh witnessed one of the largest peasants’ demonstrations along the coasts of Central Viet Nam. Being reduced to extreme poverty, they resented high taxation, hard labor, and rampant corruption in the French bureaucracy. Watching the crowds from the Academy, Thanh and a friend decided to join the demonstration. He became the interpreter, helping the peasants to present their grievances to the colonial authorities. While standing in the front row to translate, Thanh was beaten by the French police with their batons. Refusing to give up, the peasants gathered themselves along the Perfume River. French troops opened fire on them, killing many of the demonstrators. Thanh escaped unhurt. The next day, a French police officer searched for Thanh and found him in class. The principal was ordered to dismiss him. That was Thanh’s last day at the Academy.
A close friend of Thanh’s father, Phan Chu Trinh, who had joined the mandarin rank under the turbulent Nguyen dynasty, became disillusioned with the colonial regime. He left the royal court and became the leader of a non-violence reform movement. In early 1907 Trinh and some colleagues founded the free-tuition school, Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc, in Ha Noi. Classes from elementary to university levels were offered to students of both sexes. With a liberal curriculum taught by distinguished scholars, the free school quickly gained a national reputation.
Following the peasants’ demonstration in Hue, tension was built up. An angry anti-French group tried to poison French officials at a banquet in Ha Noi. Nobody died, but thirteen Vietnamese were executed and many were imprisoned. Although Phan Chu Trinh wasn’t involved, he and all the teachers at the school were arrested. In November, the French closed down the Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc. Trinh was sentenced to death by guillotine. The Résident Supérieur was sympathetic towards him and the death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment and forced labor. He was kept in the high security prison on Con Dao Island. With active intervention from French friends and admirers in France, Trinh was released in 1911. He was deported to France to live in exile. In 1917, Nguyen Tat Thanh arrived in Paris to join him.