What I write is a tribute to the miners.

At the age of 84, author Dang Huynh Thai still remembers like it was yesterday the memories of when he was in Cam Pha. At that time, he was still young and a mining engineer, but author Dang Huynh Thai actively participated in writing, he accumulated for himself every life experience, every story he saw and heard, collected every painful story, every joy in the Mining Region. He spent many years researching, collecting documents, combined with 37 years of life experience in Cam Pha, Quang Ninh to write "Northeast Coal Basin". On the occasion of writer Dang Huynh Thai launching the novel "Northeast Coal Basin", reporters from the Quang Ninh Provincial Media Center interviewed him.

- Sir, can you share how you gathered the materials for this novel?

+ I started working in Quang Ninh from 1960 until 1997 when I returned to Hanoi to live. For nearly 40 years I lived in Cam Pha and then Hon Gai. During those years, I met so many people, heard so many stories. There are so many memories when we lived together with the workers in the workers' village. Every event, every person I met, every face is imprinted in my mind. I write to tell today's readers how hard and arduous the miners were, how diligently and passionately they created, contributing their sweat, tears, even their blood to the Mining Region, but they always lived to the fullest and loved with all their heart. To complete this novel, besides the memories, I also consulted a series of valuable documents of Quang Ninh as well as the Coal industry. I also relied on the stories of dozens of previous living witnesses and my own memory...

- In the stories collected in the Mining Region, is there any detail that you remember forever?

+ There are many stories about miners. I often write while holding the pen and crying. I always remember the stories about lost souls. They have always haunted me over the years. It was in 1944, the mine flooded and killed 100 people in Mong Duong coal mine. At that time, the technology was not advanced, rainwater flooded the mine at a depth of hundreds of meters, causing the miners to die tragically. The mine owner immediately closed the mine. The souls of the 100 miners were trapped... I think they were lost souls. Those 100 dead miners left behind 100 families who lost their husbands and fathers. There is an anecdote in the Mining Region, those souls kept coming back at night, lamenting. So, coal is not only glory but also sweat and tears, even blood, soaked in the blood of the miners.

Nearly 90 years old, writer Dang Huynh Thai is still diligently composing literature on the computer. — Nearly 90 years old, writer Dang Huynh Thai can still diligently compose literature on the computer.

Or like the story of a miner who was raped by a foreman in a blackberry bush until she became pregnant. She used a piece of coal to beat the foreman to death, then she was pregnant and lived in hiding, waiting for the day of birth. After giving birth, she put the piece of coal on the baby's hand to mark it, then took it and left it under a blackberry bush for someone to pick up. Then that woman lived in torment and pain, not knowing who picked up her child and raised it. One day, she was in the emergency room at Uong Bi Hospital and accidentally saw a charcoal mark on the female doctor's hand. She wanted to recognize her child, so she told this story, but her child did not recognize her because she blamed her mother for abandoning her child in the blackberry bush. The child could not save her. She died but her child did not recognize her. The pain followed her to the other world .

The writer couple donated the novel to Quang Ninh Library. — Writer Dang Huynh Thai and his wife donate books to Quang Ninh Provincial Library.

There are many more heartbreaking stories like the scene where a young child carried his younger sibling to collect coal, and the younger sibling died on his back without him knowing. He found out at the end of the day and dug up the ground to bury the younger sibling. There are also some funny stories, but they made him laugh until he cried. After the peace, miners lived in cramped 18m2 houses. Families had many members, working 3 shifts and coming home, they couldn’t sleep with their wives. There was a time when miners lived like that.

- What is the shortest message you want to send to readers in "Northeast Coal Basin", writer?

+ I am always grateful to the miners. I write novels as a tribute to the miners, the predecessors, the contemporaries who have been with me and helped me grow up. It not only talks about history but also reminds future generations of the tradition, sacrifice, and indomitable spirit of the miners, so that together they can strive to continue building a beautiful and rich homeland and country. It is coal that burns everything, cooks steel into water, but cannot cook the hearts of the miners. Of course, those messages are told through words and the readers will have to imagine with the writer. It is very different from the documentary I made.

Writer Dang Huynh Thai gives books and talks with miners at the Ha Tu Coal Joint Stock Company mine.

- Are you referring to the movie "The Mine, the People and History"?

+ Yes. That's right. Watching a movie, the images are more intuitive. The movie "Mining Area, People and History" was completed by us in 1985, with me writing the literary script, Meritorious Artist Vu Pham Tu directing, People's Artist Nguyen Dang Bay and artist Pham Phuc Dat filming, music by musician Cao Viet Bach. The movie can be considered a brief history of Quang Ninh through images throughout a century. Although it is a historical documentary, the film was produced by the Vietnam Feature Film Studio. This is because we want the film made here to be more artistic.

- Can you tell us a little about the content of this movie?

+ The main content has 3 parts spanning a century of history from when the French occupied the Mining Area to exploit workers; the second part is about workers fighting under the leadership of the Party; the third part is from the liberation of the Mining Area in 1955 to 1985. The film introduces many touching images, examples of fighting, working, production and building the Mining Area and the presence of many historical figures. There are characters such as: Comrade Dang Chau Tue, the first Party Secretary of the Cam Pha - Cua Ong Mining Area, Comrade Ha Ba Cang (Hoang Quoc Viet)... and the workers who participated in the strike in 1936 all appear in the film. We meet again historical places, old landscapes that may not be the same as before today. Then there are events such as: the Coal Corps going to battle, the "open-mouthed" ship carrying the last French soldier withdrawing from Hon Gai, the heroic atmosphere of the day of the liberation of the Mining Area on April 25, 1955... There are also scenes of military rallies and parades with full tanks and rockets; scenes reenacting the 1936 strike with the mobilization of 3,000 people.

- It is known that the film was made with such great care, but it had a rather turbulent life...

+ Unfortunately, at that time, due to limited technology, films had to be shown in theaters to be seen. The Coal Industry also lost this film. Even at the feature film studio, this film was damaged. Meanwhile, my family and my agency could not find a way to show it so we had to keep it as a family heirloom. We moved several times, but wherever people went, the film went.

After more than 3 decades, I thought I could not keep the film for myself. If so, only I would know, only I would be good. I brought it to the Vietnam National Film Institute to restore and convert it to HD digital format to upgrade the film in a higher, more convenient mode. After about 2 months, this work was completed. We gave both the original and the re-edited version to Quang Ninh province and the Coal industry for full use.

- Thank you very much for this interview!

Writer Dang Huynh Thai was born in 1939 in Thai Binh, then moved to the Mining Region to work as a technical officer, then worked on a radio program for miners, wrote for newspapers, and promoted culture and arts. He was a member of the Quang Ninh Literature and Arts Association. After nearly 40 years in Quang Ninh, he moved to Hanoi to settle down. In 1985, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Mining Region's takeover, Mining Region Artist Dang Huynh Thai wrote the script for the documentary "Mining Region, People and History". After that, he drafted the 452-page novel "Northeast Coal Basin" about miners, creating a realistic picture of the miners, full of living materials, convincing readers with a modern writing style, fast tempo, many dialogues with strong and decisive language. The novel "Northeast Coal Basin" won third prize in the "Literary composition on the theme of workers and trade unions" contest directed by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, organized by Lao Dong Newspaper in collaboration with the Vietnam Writers Association for 3 years 2021-2023. In early 2024, the manuscript of "Northeast Coal Basin" was published by Lao Dong Publishing House.

Source