140th Anniversary of Yen The Uprising

Photo caption — Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai speaks at the Commemoration Ceremony

Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court Nguyen Hoa Binh; Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, representatives of leaders of ministries, central agencies, Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, leaders of Bac Giang province, Yen The district, and a large number of people and tourists from all over the country attended the ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, on behalf of the Party and State leaders, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai expressed his remembrance and gratitude to the national hero Hoang Hoa Tham - De Tham, along with the steadfast and indomitable peasant insurgents who fought against the French colonialists for 30 years to protect the country.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that in the history of our nation's resistance against French colonialism before the Party was established, the Yen The Uprising (1884-1913) was considered the largest, widest, longest-lasting and most glorious armed uprising of farmers.

With his brilliant tactics, many battles led by Hoang Hoa Tham made the French invaders terrified, and are still imprinted in the minds of the people of Yen The in particular and the people of the whole country in general, such as the battles of Ho Chuoi, Don Hom (Yen The), Cao Thuong (Tan Yen), etc., causing heavy losses to the enemy. Not only that, he forced the French colonialists to sign peace treaties twice in 1894 and 1901.

On February 10, 1913, Hoang Hoa Tham was assassinated by the enemy. Although the uprising was suppressed, it left a heroic page in the history of patriotism and the tradition of fighting against foreign invaders of our nation, contributing many valuable experiences to the treasure trove of Vietnamese military history; especially the unique features of guerrilla warfare, people's warfare, building forces, and village bases to fight continuously in a large area. History and the people will forever remember the great contributions of the generals and the Yen The insurgents, especially the cloth-clothed hero Hoang Hoa Tham. "Thirty years of defending the mountains and forests. Mr. De Tham's name resounded throughout the South" - Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai expressed.

The Yen The uprising, together with the Chi Lang - Xuong Giang victory, the battle on the Nhu Nguyet River defense line... wrote brilliant golden pages of history for the land of Bac Giang, "a land of talented people", one of the "four towns" of the ancient Thang Long citadel, rich in historical and cultural traditions; the homeland of many civil and military mandarins, scholars, and talented people of the nation.

The Deputy Prime Minister noted: from a purely agricultural province, with a low starting point and extremely difficult socio-economic conditions at the time of re-establishment of the province in 1997, the Party Committee, government and people of Bac Giang have always been united, diligent, creative, resilient, courageous, constantly striving, overcoming difficulties, overcoming challenges, rising strongly, becoming a bright spot in socio-economic development of the whole country. Along with economic development, the cultural and social fields have been given attention and care, many cultural heritages (including the Yen The Uprising National Special Relic Complex) have been preserved and promoted, associated with tourism development. The quality of education and training has been increasingly improved. The poverty rate has decreased rapidly.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the solemn organization of the 140th Anniversary of the Yen The Uprising is to review the glorious and heroic history, the steadfast and indomitable tradition of our nation; to express infinite gratitude and appreciation to National Hero Hoang Hoa Tham, our predecessors, and the heroic martyrs who sacrificed for the beautiful Vietnam and happy life today.

This is also an occasion to remind and review the glorious tradition of the land of culture, rich in revolutionary and heroic traditions, thereby adding strength to the Party Committee and people of all ethnic groups in Bac Giang province to continue to unite, agree, be unanimous, join hands, promote innovation, integration, comprehensive development in all fields, steadily move forward, achieve even greater achievements; strive by 2030, Bac Giang will become a modern, prosperous industrial province, contributing to building a prosperous and happy country.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Bac Giang province Le Anh Duong said that with the determination to preserve and promote the national cultural traditions, meeting the aspirations of the people, on March 16, 1984, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Yen The Uprising, the Yen The Festival was held for the first time. Since then, on March 16 every year, the festival has been maintained and organized, with more and more new, rich and attractive contents imbued with the cultural identity of the people of the Yen The ethnic groups in particular, and the people of Bac Giang province in general.

Continuing the heroic revolutionary tradition of the Yen The Uprising, remembering the blood sacrifices that generations of fathers and brothers left on this land, over the past century, the Party Committee, government and people of Bac Giang province have continuously overcome difficulties, promoted potentials and advantages, taken advantage of opportunities to boost socio-economic development, and become a bright spot of the country in many fields," emphasized the Chairman of the Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee.

After the ceremony, delegates and visitors enjoyed an art program with the theme "Yen The Epic", with the participation of many famous artists, such as: People's Artist Quoc Hung, Meritorious Artist Luong Huy, Dan Truong, Tung Duong ... The program consisted of two parts: "Yen The Tiger" and "Bac Giang - New Day Song", staged on a grand, elaborate, epic scale to praise the merits of Leader Luong Van Nam, National Hero Hoang Hoa Tham and the Yen The insurgents who fought bravely against the French Colonialists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Within the framework of the festival, many rich and meaningful activities were organized, such as: the ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the renovation and embellishment of Ha communal house and incense offering at Luong Van Nam temple (Tan Trung commune, Tan Yen district); the ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the Hoang Hoa Tham temple and Yen The insurgents (Phon Xuong town, Yen The district); opening ceremony of Yen The Uprising exhibition; sacrificial ceremony, incense offering ceremony, fishing and bird releasing ceremony; sports tournaments of football, badminton, volleyball, stick pushing, crossbow shooting, tug of war...

Source