Uncle Ho's mark on old newspaper pages

HNN - Uncle Ho's mark on the pages of old newspapers is vivid and cheerful despite the hardships of the war to defend the country. Uncle Ho worked as a journalist, and was also a torch that lit up each page of old newspapers, so that today when we look back, we can still see lessons of humanity, courage and infinite tolerance.

President Ho Chi Minh - the great teacher of Vietnam's revolutionary press. Photo: Document

After decades of collecting and compiling the history of Hue journalism, from the first newspaper published in Hue in 1913 to the present, journalist Duong Phuoc Thu now has a rich and rare source of documents. I was fortunate to have a look at this source of documents, which contains many important events related to Hue, especially Uncle Ho's imprints on old newspaper pages. Some articles have been published, some are still being exploited to introduce to readers, with many almost brand new facts, supplementing the flow of Hue culture and history.

Since the birth of the Communist Party, the patriotic and revolutionary press in Hue has become a source of encouragement for the army and the people to overcome difficulties and fight until the day the city was completely liberated and the country was unified. As journalist Duong Phuoc Thu commented: “Hue press has contributed to creating a unique position for Hue land according to the natural order of the cultural environment and heritage. Through each press publication left behind and still existing, the land of Hue, full of pride and responsibility, has been the cradle of the press center of the Central region and the whole country in the past as well as the present, and possibly in the future.”

Looking through the history of more than 300 large and small newspapers, including those that have made important milestones in the history of the country's press as well as the press in Hue past and present; in addition to valuable data, it also provides experience and journalism skills. The most important newspaper is Thanh Nien Newspaper, issue 1 published on June 21, 1925; the first 88 issues were all directly managed by leader Nguyen Ai Quoc. Thanh Nien Newspaper actively contributed to the ideological, theoretical, political and organizational preparation for the establishment of the Communist Party of Vietnam in February 1930. The front page of issue 1 has a beautiful, elegant and luxurious cufflink design. Later, the date of birth of Thanh Nien Newspaper was taken as Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day.

The information seems not new, but to find the root of the event, to find its originality is the interesting thing. That is the saying: "President Ho - the old father of the Vietnamese people" that few people know is by revolutionary Huynh Ngoc Hue - who used to be the Chief Editor and Secretary of Tay Tho Newspaper of the Central working class based in Hue. That is the role of revolutionary activist Tran Huy Lieu with the press, who represented the Government delegation to Hue, reported on the abdication ceremony of King Bao Dai and presented the seal and sword to President Ho Chi Minh. Regarding this event, through old newspaper documents, the information is more clearly verified about the historical moment of "King Bao Dai's abdication", the exact time is August 30, 1945. After the abdication ceremony, on August 31, 1945, with the working delegation, former King Bao Dai went to Hanoi at the invitation of President Ho Chi Minh.

The story of Mr. Ca Khiem meeting Uncle Ho at the end of 1945 brought warmth. It was a surprise when one afternoon he saw his younger brother Nguyen Sinh Cung - Nguyen Tat Thanh in the photo hanging in the house "resembled" the Chairman of the Provisional Revolutionary Government at that time, Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh. After knowing for sure, about three weeks before Tet Binh Tuat in 1946, Mr. Nguyen Sinh Khiem boarded a train to Hanoi to visit President Ho. "The brothers met, shook hands, smiled happily, and their eyes filled with tears". It was an extremely emotional meeting of the two brothers after more than 35 years apart.

Through books and newspapers, we also learn more about the affection between Uncle Ho and the revolutionary intellectual who devoted himself to the cause of national liberation - Mr. Dang Phuc Thong, former member of the first National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Deputy Minister of Transport and Public Works, member of the Government in the early years of its establishment. He was given a new sweater and a quatrain by Uncle Ho on the occasion of the Mau Ty New Year in 1948 in Viet Bac: “…The sweater you gave me, I gave it to you/ You wear it to keep warm, just like me”.

Another touching story, “The story between Uncle Ho and poet To Huu” is extracted from a tape recorded in 1966 at the National Congress of Heroes and Emulation Fighters in Hanoi. After speaking affectionately to the heroic Vietnamese youth, Uncle Ho introduced poet To Huu to read poetry. The story unfolded joyfully and sincerely, bringing out a surprisingly profound humanistic lesson.

Uncle Ho was a poet and highly respected patriotic poets. During a visit to the Cao Bang War Zone, journalist Duong Phuoc Thu discovered the poem “Welcome to 1945” by author X…, printed in the Literature Garden section of the Tet issue of the Independent Vietnamese Newspaper (the first mouthpiece of the Independent Vietnamese League, abbreviated as Viet Minh). This was the newspaper founded by Uncle Ho and directly served as Editor-in-Chief from the first issue on August 1, 1941 to issue 135, August 1942. Through verification and comparison, it was discovered that the author X… was Uncle Ho himself. The poem analyzed the world revolutionary situation and affirmed that the opportunity for victory for the Vietnamese revolution would come in 1945, when power would be returned to the people. This was an accurate prediction by Uncle Ho about the success of the August Revolution.

Another important topic: Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang and the newspaper Tiếng Dân; the newspaper was published with 1,766 issues, the first Vietnamese-language (large-format) newspaper in the Central region with a name entirely in Vietnamese. Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang was an exemplary patriot, once the President of the Central Region House of Representatives; especially, Mr. Huynh was trusted by President Ho Chi Minh, entrusted with the Acting President of the country during the period when the country was facing a life-threatening danger. "The first meeting between President Ho Chi Minh and Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang" was recorded in the newspaper Quyết Thắng No. 56 published on July 20, 1946. "The meeting between two cultural celebrities" highlighted an event that became a milestone in the history of the country: Before leaving for Paris as a distinguished guest of the French government, President Ho Chi Minh trusted and entrusted the Acting President of the country to Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang to shoulder with the motto "With the unchanging, responding to all changes".

On the pages of old newspapers, we know about his work “Reforming the way of working”, discussing the responsibilities of leaders, mistakes, shortcomings and ways to overcome and handle them in the work of cadres, party members, and human resources, both profound, serious, and full of kindness. The information collected on the Cuu Quoc Newspaper is very valuable: The issue published on September 8, 1945 published the entire Declaration of Independence read by President Ho Chi Minh on the afternoon of September 2 at the historic Ba Dinh Square… “79 years have passed, but the teachings are still valuable for today”.

TRAN NGUYEN

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/theo-dong-thoi-su/dau-an-cua-bac-ho-tren-nhung-trang-bao-xua-154779.html