Visiting the place where Thanh Nien Newspaper published its first issue.

In June 2007, a delegation from Hoa Binh Newspaper visited Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in southern China. This city boasts a rich history and culture with many famous tourist attractions. The delegation included Mr. Hoang Thu (now the Secretary of the Kim Boi District Party Committee), Mr. Van Tuong, Mr. Ngoc Vinh (currently the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Hoa Binh Newspaper), Mr. Minh Tuan, Ms. Minh Thu, Ms. Bich Di (retired), Ms. Ngoc Ly (currently working at Hanoi Moi Newspaper), and Mr. Duy Uy (deceased).

A delegation from Hoa Binh Newspaper visited historical sites related to leader Nguyen Ai Quoc in Guangzhou (China) in June 2007.

During that trip, we visited the Ho Chi Minh Memorial House, which was the first training school for revolutionary cadres in Vietnam, located at house number 13 (now 248-250) on Wenming Street, Dongshan District, Guangzhou City, in a large and quiet neighborhood opposite Sun Yat-sen University (now the Guangzhou Revolutionary Museum). This place is closely associated with President Ho Chi Minh 's revolutionary career in Guangzhou from 1924 to 1927. Surprisingly, over 99 years have passed, and this neighborhood has undergone many changes. Many old houses have been demolished and replaced by high-rise buildings, but house number 250 on Wenming Street, where President Ho Chi Minh founded and published the Thanh Nien (Youth) newspaper – the official organ of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association – on June 21, 1925, still retains its original architecture. It has endured through the years and is carefully preserved by the Guangzhou government and people.

The house had three floors; the "rooftop" had no roof and served as a kitchen for the trainees. Uncle Ho's living and working room wasn't large, just big enough for a single bed and a passageway; suitcases had to be stored under the bed. The middle floor had several rooms, and Uncle Ho chose the largest one as his classroom, furnished with four rows of small desks and chairs, and a small wooden shelf for books, notebooks, and pens.

According to the Chinese tour guide: In December 1924, Comrade Nguyen Ai Quoc returned to Guangzhou from Moscow (Soviet Union). Every day, Uncle Ho worked at the headquarters of the Communist International located in Guangzhou. In 1925, Uncle Ho reorganized the "Tam Tam Society," the predecessor organization of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth League, aiming to gather patriotic Vietnamese youth to educate and spread revolutionary ideas. Uncle Ho was in charge of the class and directly taught revolutionary ethics to the students. His lectures were compiled and published as "The Revolutionary Path"—one of the first theoretical documents of the Communist Party of Vietnam .

For over 100 years, since leader Nguyen Ai Quoc lived and worked in Guangzhou, this house at number 13 has preserved sacred relics, including many faded, old chairs that still carry the warmth of Uncle Ho and the first soldiers of the Vietnamese revolution who sat and studied here… The house has three floors. To get from the first floor to the upper floors, you have to pass through the printing room of the Thanh Nien Newspaper. Stopping here, we were able to see firsthand precious artifacts such as the rattan chair, the typewriter, the Roneo printer, handwritten manuscripts still bearing the marks of corrections and editing, the bamboo bookshelves containing publications of the Thanh Nien Newspaper, and the desk and chairs used by Uncle Ho and his comrades who directly participated in writing, editing, and publishing the newspaper.

In its early days, Thanh Nien Newspaper was published once a week, with over 100 copies printed. Later, due to various difficulties, the publication frequency was adjusted to 3 to 5 weeks apart. The newspaper's masthead was written in both Vietnamese and Chinese characters. Each issue was enclosed in a five-pointed star, with most issues having two medium-sized pages (13x19cm), and a few having four pages. The newspaper included sections such as: Editorials, Commentary, Women's Forum, Criticism, News, Poetry, Q&A, Reader Responses, and Job Opportunities. Some early issues featured articles written in Chinese characters, such as "Women's Discussions" and "New News." The articles used the term "Annam" (not yet "Vietnam"). Letters like d, c, ph, ngh... were replaced with z, k, f, ng... This abbreviation not only saved paper but also created a unique and innovative impression for readers, exclusive to Thanh Nien at that time. On the first page of each issue was a red stamp that read "Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association," and a blue ink stamp: The newspaper was not for sale. After printing, the newspapers were sent to Hong Kong and then secretly sent back to Vietnam via a communication network on ships. Some copies were sent to Association organizations in Thailand and China, to patriotic Vietnamese in France, and to the Communist International.

L. Marty, the chief secret agent of Indochina, who had been monitoring Nguyen Ai Quoc's arrival in Guangzhou since the end of 1924, remarked: "The owner of this newspaper proved to be extremely shrewd. For the first 60 issues, he never revealed the Marxist nature of his newspaper, only talking about patriotism, the nation, and hatred of our colonial regime. Then, from issue 61 (December 18, 1926), he led readers to the conclusion that to achieve independence, there was no other way than to follow Lenin and the Third International, and establish a Communist Party…"

With approximately 200 issues, Thanh Nien Newspaper played a crucial historical role in disseminating information and preparing the ideological, theoretical, and organizational foundations for the emergence of communist groups in late 1929 and the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam in early 1930.

The fact that the memorial house commemorating President Ho Chi Minh's time working in this land is so carefully preserved shows how much the Chinese people loved and respected his prestige, talent, and virtue, regardless of the passage of time and the changing tides of life.

Since that memorable trip, my awareness and pride in being a journalist, and that of my colleagues, have multiplied many times over. My understanding has also deepened of the immense contributions of President Ho Chi Minh and the revolutionary journalists of the past to the country and to the Vietnamese revolutionary press today.

Thuy An (Contributor)

Source: https://baohoabinh.com.vn/16/202193/Tham-noi-Bao-Thanh-nien-ra-so-dau.htm