Hồ chí minh

Mục lục 1 Thông dụng

Thông dụng

=====%%H? Chí Minh (Nguy?n ái Qu?c, 1890-1969) was an eminent revolutionary and cultural personality, President of Vietnam from the August 1945 Revolution ending the French domination until his death (1969). Though receptive to Western culture, he maintained the essence of the Eastern traditional culture, sharp-wittedly combined both. His works were B?n án Ch? Ð? Th?c Dân Pháp (Judgement on French Colonisation, written in French in 1920s), Ng?c Trung Nh?t Ký (Diary in Prison, written in Chinese language). This diary came into being between 1942 and 1943, when he was being imprisoned in Kwangsi (Qu?ng Tây) by Tchang Kai Shek (Tu?ng Gi?i Th?ch).%%THE STORY OF UNCLE HÛ's BROTHER

• In Uncle H?'s family, apart from himself, there were a brother and a sister, Ms Nguy?n Th? Thanh alias B?ch Liên (White Lotus) and Mr Nguy?n Sinh Khiêm. But little is known about them. Having been close to Khiêm for more than 20 years, I found the urge in me to share my information about Uncle H?'s family. Born in 1888 in the village of Kim Liên (Ngh? An province), the young Khiêm soon lost his mother. Khiêm travelled around with his father, Junior Doctor Nguy?n Sinh S?c, through his teaching career. From his father, the young boy learned the old scripts, both Chinese and Vietnamese until 1904 -1905 when the old man was designated a post in the ancient capital of Hu?. In 1906, he was admitted to the Vietnamese-French joint secondary school named Ðông Ba. Coming from a family with a revolutionary orientation a member of which was already abroad in order to seek a way out for national salvation, Uncle H?'s brother was constantly under the strict vigil of the French secret police. In 1915, he was arrested and put in jail at Nha Trang on the charge of "public riot incitement." In 1920, he was transferred to Th?a Ph? prison in Hu?, and then released but kept under surveillance in the region of Th?a Thiên - Hu?. Since then, Elder Khiêm devoted his life to his land, to Núi Ng? (Ng? Mountain), Sông Huong (Perfume River) and to his natural talent as a traditional medical doctor and a faith-healer as well. He was therefore rarely called Elder Khiêm, but came to be known as "Th?y Ngh?" (the doctor from Ngh? An). By the year 1929 (after the decease of Junior Doctor Nguy?n Sinh S?c), Khiêm started to practice his profession in the districts of Huong Trà, Qu?ng Ði?n and Phong Ði?n. His circle of friends grew quickly, and he decided to settle down and get married. This happened when he gave medical treatment to a young widow named Nguy?n Th? Giang, a vendor-cum-rice miller in the local market. She was living with her small son when they met. From sympathy, the two persons soon found love and decided to become husband and wife. The small child also found in the newcomer to his house a sea of love and did not hesitate to call him "father." Elder Khiêm took great care of the young boy and taught him and cared for him as if he was his own child. After primary school, the boy went to secondary school in Hu?. Later, he joined in the local activities associated with a national wave of general uprisings in 1948 that led him to become a member of the people's army. Today, he is a retired senior officer of the People's Army of Vietnam.

Khiêm and his wife Giang had triplets -- two daughters and a son, but unfortunately all of them died soon after birth. In 1936, Khiêm returned to Ngh? An to rebury his mother and visit the relatives and friends of his native place. There, he was again arrested and put into jail in Vinh by the French in 1940. The reason was he had earlier directed and attended the performance of a play about a local commander who led a famous resistance war against the French and was adulated by the youths. In 1941, the French authorities released him and forced him to return to Th?a Thiên - Hu? to live under strict surveillance. Khiêm was a Confucian teacher of great genius. He was passionately fond of reading, ardently studied on his own and could remember by heart every single page of the books he read. After getting married and having children, he led a simple and modest life of a lofty and magnanimous thinker, quite different from the lifestyle of contemporary intellectuals. This indeed won him the love, respect and admiration of many. He never considered the practice of traditional medicine as a means to get rich or to support the family. He did it for the sake of a good deed. Among other practitioners in the same business, he earned the name of "Th?y Ngh?" due to his efforts to treat persons with serious illnesses. In many a case, patients came to him with the last hope of being cured. Most of them were not disappointed and returned healthy. As a tradition, Khiêm rarely let patients come to his house. Instead, he would call on them, moving from one village to the other, from one district to another. He was seldom repaid with money but clothes or other things. He would donate all his money to the needy. His wife's anxieties were met always with a delighted smile and a short answer "All gifted". Khiêm also worked hard at home almost continuously. He instructed his son in studies, took the baby out, got together with friends for poetry recitation, a drink or two and sharing of their innermost feelings. Reading and fishing were his most favoured hobbies. The bookshelf was always full of books in ancient Chinese scripts including works of literature and medical texts. He was also very interested in the latest developments in domestic and world affairs. To many, he was a man with a vivacious, hectic and dynamic lifestyle. Elder Khiêm never idled away his time. For a man of his time, it is surprising that he did not shy away from household work. Many a time, people saw him fetching the water and cooking. In his house, it was normal to find a jar of pickled cabbage and eggplant that he made himself. He found it a pleasure to help his wife in such chores which most intellectuals of his time never did. But Khiêm was always aware of the strict surveillance upon him. In fact, he had to make out a monthly report to the French Resident Superior in Hu? on the first day of each month. He had to get a permit whenever he left the province. But on the pretext of treating the sick, he always managed to do so and taste some of the freedom that was denied to him. In 1944 -1945, time seemed to move fast with the increasing activities of the Vi?t Minh. The general uprising of August 1945 brought about limitless happiness to the whole nation as also to Khiêm. Yet seeing a picture of H? Chí Minh, he wondered who this man was. He picked his memories in an attempt to recall the names of Vietnamese revolutionaries who had gone abroad in search of the nation's freedom. One day, it finally dawned on him and he burst out with joy, "That's it. H? Chí Minh is nobody other than Nguy?n ái Qu?c. That is Nguy?n T?t Thành, my younger brother". He then tried to seek more information to confirm the discovery. Fired with a new enthusiasm, Khiêm then actively encouraged the local youths to participate in the revolutionary movements of the country. In the early half of 1946, he set off to Hà N?i to call on his younger brother, President H? Chí Minh. Just three weeks before the T?t of Bính Tu?t, he took with him a dozen books, two sets of traditional apparel and of course an old portrait painting of his father carefully wrapped in red cloth. One early morning, the two brothers were reunited amid eyes full of tears. Their sister, Nguy?n Th? Thanh, was still living in their native village. It was the first independent T?t when they got together. Since then, Elder Khiêm stayed and worked in Ngh? An. He had lost all information about his wife after the war of resistance against the French that broke out in late 1946, and died in 1950 in the old house of his forefathers in Kim Liên village at the age of 62. For his time, Nguy?n Sinh Khiêm was a rare phenomenon who preferred to live in his own way, finding freedom for his spirit despite the strict surveillance of the old regime through his services to save the sick and needy and in doing good deeds. (VNS)=====