President Ho Chi Minh's prediction from a spring poem in the Year of the Dragon.

Few heads of state are like President Ho Chi Minh , who, every time Tet (Lunar New Year) arrived, wrote poems to wish people a happy new year. Reading these poems by President Ho Chi Minh during the traditional Tet holidays always fills us with a sense of sacredness and pride.

A New Year's greeting card from President Ho Chi Minh in 1956 (Internet photo).

The New Year's greetings from President Ho Chi Minh were not ordinary congratulatory poems, but rather words of encouragement, advice, and appeal. For the traditional Tet holiday of the Year of the Dragon 1952, drawing from a great source of thought and optimistic inspiration about the resistance war against colonialism entering a new phase, President Ho Chi Minh wished the people and soldiers of the whole country a happy New Year with his poem "Spring":

This spring, the spring of the Year of the Dragon

The resistance war has just lasted six years.

Long and arduous

Guaranteed to win 100%

Soldiers compete in killing the enemy.

The people are competing to increase production.

New year, new competition.

Victory is ours.

A few straightforward, honest sentences.

It is both a call to action and a celebration of spring”(1)

That was a time when, under the leadership of the Party, our army and people continued to maintain the initiative, launching continuous attacks to annihilate many enemy forces, while simultaneously intensifying widespread guerrilla warfare. The verses resounded with the belief in victory: "One hundred percent victory," "Victory will surely be ours." This is also the essence of the poem "Spring." This is a congratulatory message, encouragement, and a brilliant prediction by President Ho Chi Minh about the resistance war. President Ho Chi Minh's prediction came at a time when the resistance war was intense and fierce, but under conditions where the strength and position of our army and people on the battlefields were growing, and we were proactively attacking to expand the liberated areas.

President Ho Chi Minh planting a tree in Ba Vi (Ha Tay) on the first day of Tet in the year of Ky Dau 1969 (photo: Internet).

He called for and stirred up the patriotic spirit of the entire people and army, encouraging them to actively compete in increasing production, fighting the enemy, and achieving meritorious deeds, thus quickly bringing the resistance war to victory. His New Year's greetings were quickly disseminated widely in all fields; encouraging and motivating the entire people and army to uphold the spirit of patriotic emulation, accelerating the implementation of the strategic offensive in the 1953-1954 Winter-Spring campaign to achieve complete victory. "One hundred percent victory..." - a decisive and certain affirmation.

Also on the occasion of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon in 1952, President Ho Chi Minh delivered a speech to the people, soldiers, and overseas Vietnamese about the world and domestic situation. After analyzing the situation and outlining the major tasks for 1952, he emphasized the need to resolutely eliminate three diseases, three problems that were causing obstacles: firstly, combating bureaucracy; secondly, combating corruption; and thirdly, combating wastefulness. This is a reality and a prediction that remains relevant today.

Twelve years later, celebrating the Lunar New Year of the Dragon in 1964, in his "New Year's Greeting Letter," President Ho Chi Minh wrote:

"North and South are like root and branch."

Brothers fighting together with one heart

Then, reunification will be successful.

North and South, we are once again united as one family.

A few simple, friendly words.

It is both a call to action and a celebration of spring”(2)

Uncle Ho's New Year's poem for the Year of the Dragon 1964 reflects consistency and unwavering faith in the strategic goal of the struggle for national reunification. It affirms the eternal and immutable truth of national unity: "North and South are like root and branch." North and South are blood brothers. It represents the resolute will, unity, and shared strength in the struggle for national reunification. It is the belief and prediction that "North and South will once again rejoice in one home," with the country united. His wish and aspiration have become a reality.

Interestingly, both President Ho Chi Minh's New Year's greeting poem for the Year of the Dragon 1964 and the New Year's greeting poem for the Year of the Dragon 1952 conclude with two lines of six-eight meter verse, sharing the same meaning. In 1952, he wrote: "A few simple, honest lines / Both a call to action and a New Year's greeting"; in 1964, he wrote: "A few simple, affectionate words / Both a call to action and a New Year's greeting."

Photo: Internet.

The New Year's greetings in his poems expressed all his heartfelt feelings and practical sentiments at the time of celebrating the New Year. It was a sincere expression of empathy, love, and the hopes he had for his compatriots, soldiers, and overseas Vietnamese whenever Tet (Lunar New Year) arrived. Therefore, these New Year's greetings and poems by Uncle Ho have deeply resonated with the Vietnamese people.

President Ho Chi Minh – a brilliant leader – always made accurate predictions that transcended time. As always, at the beginning of spring, the start of change for all things, for the earth, and for humanity, Uncle Ho always offered his best wishes and hopes for new successes. And always, there were predictions and forecasts to instill faith and a desire to strive for progress. That faith is the motivation and inspiration that he passed on to us every time Tet (Lunar New Year) arrives and spring comes.

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(1). According to Ho Chi Minh Complete Works, CD-ROM (3rd edition), volume 7, page 292.

(2). Cited book, volume 14, page 224.

Phan Trung Thanh

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/van-hoa-ha-tinh/tien-doan-cua-chu-tich-ho-chi-minh-tu-tho-xuan-nam-thin/261599.htm