Uncle Ho's stilt house and his noble and simple lifestyle

Not only bearing a strong historical mark, Uncle Ho's stilt house at the Presidential Palace has entered the subconscious and heart of every Vietnamese person as a priceless cultural and spiritual heritage. Uncle Ho's stilt house was started to be built on this day 65 years ago, April 15, 1958.

Feelings about the stilt house, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong once wrote: "Uncle Ho's simple stilt house only had a few rooms, while Uncle Ho's soul was filled with the wind of the times, that small house was always filled with wind and light, filled with the fragrance of garden flowers, such a life was so pure and elegant!".

Photo caption — *Uncle Ho's stilt house in the President Ho Chi Minh Relic Site - Presidential Palace. Photo: Thanh Tung/VNA*

“A simple attic in a corner of the garden” In October 1954, after the victory of the resistance war against French colonialism, Uncle Ho returned to the capital from the war zone. With the desire to ensure the best working conditions for him as the head of the country and to meet diplomatic protocols when receiving domestic and international guests, the Politburo and the Party Central Committee respectfully invited Uncle Ho to live and work in the building that used to be the Governor-General's Palace of Indochina, but Uncle Ho refused. At the end of December 1954, Uncle Ho decided to live in the house of the electrician serving the Governor-General's Palace in the corner of the garden. During the 4 years that Uncle Ho lived and worked in the house of the person serving the Governor-General's Palace of Indochina, the Party Central Committee repeatedly proposed to build Uncle a new house to live and work in, but Uncle Ho refused because the North, which had just been liberated, was still facing many difficulties, while the South was focusing on fighting against American imperialism. It was not until March 1958, during a visit to Dai Tu district, Thai Nguyen province, seeing the people's lives improved, the people had many new houses, Uncle Ho was very happy and said that he wanted to build a small house next to a fish pond in the style of the Viet Bac people. After that, Uncle Ho invited architect Nguyen Van Ninh to talk about the design of the stilt house: "The house is small, just enough for 1 person to live in, the wood used to make the house is made of normal wood, the lower floor is airy, the upper floor has 2 small rooms, the stairs are wide enough for two people to go up at the same time, the hallway is wide enough to sit and read books and is convenient for daily activities". Uncle Ho also suggested building a low cement platform, with wooden floors on top, creating rows of seats around the room on the first floor, so that the children would have enough space to sit when they visited him. He also kept a goldfish tank to keep the children happy.

According to Uncle Ho's wishes, on April 15, 1958, the construction of the stilt house began. The stilt house was built on the land behind the Presidential Palace building, next to the fish pond, in the middle of a cool green garden. The house was made similar to the stilt house where Uncle Ho worked in the Viet Bac resistance zone: compact, rustic and simple. The house was built of common wood, roofed with tiles, and surrounded by blinds. In particular, around the stilt house were planted many flowers, fruit trees and shade trees, such as jasmine, oleander, tuberose, peony, royal poinciana, orange, grapefruit, banana, coconut, star apple, green apple, Buddha's hand, mango... recalling the scenery of the Vietnamese countryside - where he lived during his childhood. The stilt house has 2 floors with three small rooms. The office on the first floor is where Uncle Ho often worked with the Politburo, met with leading officials to report on work and where he received a number of domestic and foreign delegations. The upper floor has two small rooms, which are Uncle Ho's working and resting place. Each room is about 10 square meters wide, enough space to put a bed, a table, a chair, a wardrobe and a bookshelf; with very simple and plain furniture such as a single blanket, a rush mat, a palm fan and a typewriter. In Uncle Ho's office, the most prominent is the bookshelf with hundreds of books, covering topics on politics, economics , society, history, literature and art written in many languages, many of which have the authors' handwriting as a gift to Uncle Ho. These simple objects were depicted by poet To Huu in the long poem "Following Uncle Ho": "A simple attic in a corner of the garden The wood is often rustic and has no smell of paint The bed is made of rattan and rush mat, a single blanket and pillow A small cabinet, just enough to hang a few worn-out shirts..." After more than 1 month, on May 17, 1958, the stilt house was officially completed. From then on, Uncle Ho moved to live and work in this house for 11 years (from May 1958 to September 1969). After work, Uncle Ho often took care of the plants in the garden and the fish in the pond. In harmony with the natural landscape, different from the massive and imposing architectural works, Uncle Ho's stilt house at the Presidential Palace became very close and familiar to all Vietnamese people, especially to the people in the northern mountainous areas. It can be seen that Uncle Ho's choice of a small, simple wooden house when he was the head of state was a vivid symbol of the lifestyle of an elegant, modest, and simple person who reached the level of exemplary and touched people's feelings. "A life of purity without gold and silver" The simple stilt house in the middle of the capital Hanoi became the place where Uncle Ho lived and worked the longest in his revolutionary career. This place witnessed many important historical events of great significance in the final moments of Uncle Ho's revolutionary life. "Under this roof, our Uncle Ho spent many sleepless nights, thinking about the revolution in the South, thinking about socialism in the North, and thinking about the issue of international solidarity - It was during the years here that Uncle Ho proposed tactical and strategic guidelines, ensuring that the Vietnamese revolution would go from one victory to another" (Truong Chinh). Or as Prime Minister Pham Van Dong once said: Uncle Ho's life had countless simple things, but the stilt house where he lived and worked was the simplest thing, it became more magical, more attractive. Ho Chi Minh was so noble, "cherishing everything and forgetting himself". Because of his noble lifestyle, Uncle Ho trained himself to live a simple life, simple to the point of innocence, peace, and freedom, always happy and optimistic, to encourage, comfort, and cheer us on.

In this stilt house, during the years when the US imperialists escalated their fierce attacks on the North, on July 17, 1966, Uncle Ho sat down and wrote a call for the people to fight against the US imperialists. “The war may last 5 years, 10 years, 20 years or longer. Hanoi, Hai Phong and some cities and enterprises may be destroyed, but the Vietnamese people are determined not to be afraid! Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom." Also here, from 1965 to 1969, Uncle Ho spent time writing his historic Will, leaving behind countless affections for the entire people, the entire Party, the entire army, and for the teenagers and children. And from this place, he passed away. Today, the stilt house located in the President Ho Chi Minh Relic Site at the Presidential Palace has become a "red address", where the sentiments of the Vietnamese people and peace-loving people around the world converge. This place has welcomed tens of millions of visitors, including more than 100 delegations of heads of state and hundreds of thousands of international visitors from more than 160 countries around the world. No one who visits Uncle Ho's residence is not filled with feelings of respect and admiration for a great cultural personality who has become a legend in everyday life.

When visiting the stilt house, Russian President V. Putin was moved to write: I sincerely got to know the life of the great teacher of the Vietnamese people - a person whose name has been recorded in world history. With what I have "witnessed", what is being preserved and displayed at the stilt house relic, it can be said that President Ho Chi Minh's stilt house is not only a legacy of his life in the last years of his life, but also demonstrates the ideology, morality and revolutionary qualities of a man devoted to the cause of national revolution, for the prosperity and happiness of the people, for the friendship, peace and progress of humanity. As the poet To Huu wrote: "Uncle left us his love/A life of purity without gold or silver/Fragile cloth, a thousand-foot soul/More than a bronze statue exposed to the beaten paths".