The first national language newspaper in the Central region

In the atmosphere of the whole country celebrating the 100th anniversary of Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day, CAND Newspaper reporters visited 123 Hang Be Street (now 193 Huynh Thuc Khang Street, Phu Xuan District, Hue City) - where exactly 1 century ago, Tieng Dan Printing House and Tieng Dan Newspaper were born and operated...

Although it was established later than the press in the South and the North, Tiếng Dân newspaper played a role in publicly voicing the voice of the Vietnamese people who loved peace, independence, freedom, autonomy and were full of patriotic views of the Editor-in-Chief - Doctor of Confucianism Huynh Thuc Khang - who held the important position of Minister of the Interior (1946-1947) and especially, was trusted by President Ho Chi Minh, who assigned him to hold the position of President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (from May 31 to October 21, 1946) so that he could go to France to attend the Fontainebleau Conference.

Typical newspaper of revolutionary patriotic journalism

The history of Vietnamese press also clearly records: Tiếng Dân was the first national language newspaper in the Central region, playing an important political role in the lives of the people of the Central region. Cultural researcher Nguyen Xuan Hoa, former Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Thua Thien Hue province (now Hue city) said that in 1900, Huynh Thuc Khang took the provincial exam and passed the Giai Nguyen (first place), becoming famous in the Hue Citadel. In 1904, Huynh Thuc Khang passed the doctoral exam but did not become an official but, together with Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chau Trinh, and Tran Quy Cap, led the Duy Tan Movement. Because of those activities, Huynh Thuc Khang was imprisoned by the French colonialists in 1908, then exiled to Con Dao for 13 years, from 1908 to 1921.

The headquarters of the Tieng Dan newspaper is located on Huynh Thuc Khang street, Hue city (documentary photo).

On July 10, 1926, the first meeting of the Central Vietnam House of Representatives elected Huynh Thuc Khang as the Director, headquartered in Hue. After taking office as Director of the Central Vietnam House of Representatives, Mr. Huynh wished to establish a newspaper to speak for the people. Therefore, Mr. Huynh went to Hue several times to discuss with patriot Phan Boi Chau and to do some work for the House of Representatives. In early October 1926, from his hometown in Quang Nam, he sent a petition to the Governor General of Indochina Pasquier asking for permission to publish a newspaper in Quoc Ngu script, “Tieng Dan”, the name suggested by Mr. Phan Boi Chau, headquartered in Da Nang, but the French did not approve. The reason they gave was that the newspaper had to be based in Hue and Mr. Huynh agreed.

The Tiếng Dân newspaper was authorized to be published on February 12, 1927 by the Governor General of Indochina Pasquiet. The newspaper was 58 x 42cm in size, published twice a week. At that time, Mr. Huynh used the press as a means of struggle, a powerful weapon to serve the masses, especially oppressed and exploited workers. Because of its correct purpose and principles, in line with the times and current events, the Tiếng Dân newspaper of Huynh Thuc Khang received the cooperation of many famous writers such as: Sao Nam or Viet Dieu (aka Phan Boi Chau), Tran Dinh Phien, Dao Duy Anh, Lac Nhan (pen name Nguyen Quy Huong), Vo Nguyen Giap (pen name Vo Giap), Nguyen Chi Dieu...

According to the patriot Huynh: “The people are the source of the country, this newspaper is called Tiếng Dân because in reality, it is thanks to the press that the people’s voice can be expressed.” After publishing 1,766 issues during 16 years of operation, in 1943, the French colonialists forced Tiếng Dân newspaper to stop publishing.

Cultural researcher Nguyen Xuan Hoa, one of the people passionate about journalism, recalls that in his early days of practicing journalism, he always remembered the preface of the first issue of Tiếng Dân newspaper written by Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang, that: "If you don't have the right to say everything you want to say, at least keep the right not to say what people force you to say"...

Tiếng Dân is one of the typical newspapers of the revolutionary patriotic press, honestly reflecting the atmosphere and political life in the first half of the 20th century and has really made many contributions to the cultural history of Central Vietnam, to Hue, and to the Vietnamese press. "Through Tiếng Dân newspaper, Mr. Huynh Thuc Khang also published many valuable sources of documents on the history of the country, including evidence of Vietnam's territorial sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos," said cultural researcher Nguyen Xuan Hoa.

At the National Cultural Conference (July 1948) in the Viet Bac resistance zone, General Secretary Truong Chinh praised the 16 years of vibrant activities and revolutionary spirit of the newspaper Tiếng Dân with the vivid image of "Screaming Tiếng Dân in the middle of the Hue Citadel".

The first training class for press cadres of the revolution (opened on April 4, 1949) was also named after Huynh Thuc Khang because of his contributions and prestige to journalism.

Hope the headquarters of Tiếng Dân newspaper will soon be renovated and embellished.

“After the Tieng Dan newspaper closed, this headquarters later became the residence of the District Council (ie the Association of Fellow Countrymen - PV) of Quang Nam - Da Nang. At that time, under the direction of the City Party Committee, the Hue City Liberation Intellectuals and Teachers Committee was established to carry out revolutionary activities in the inner city of Hue. On the third day of the Lunar New Year in the year of Giap Dan (1974), I held an oath-taking ceremony to introduce the Committee at the headquarters of Tieng Dan newspaper…”, cultural researcher Nguyen Xuan Hoa emotionally recalled.

The historical site of the headquarters of Tiếng Dân newspaper is currently in serious disrepair and has been closed for many years.

One thing that makes many researchers as well as generations of journalists living in many provinces and cities, and many tourists and local people, worried and sad is that the headquarters of Tiếng Dân newspaper has been "closed" for many years. Researcher Nguyen Xuan Hoa said that if this place were to open, it would attract a large number of visitors because there are many valuable documents related to it and the writers of Tiếng Dân newspaper all have great influence.

Visiting the headquarters of Tiếng Dân newspaper recently, we witnessed serious degradation. Discussing the closure of Tiếng Dân newspaper headquarters, Mr. Nguyen Duc Loc, Director of the Hue City History Museum, said that in 2018, the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue province (now the People's Committee of Hue City) ranked the headquarters of Tiếng Dân newspaper as a provincial historical relic. "The headquarters of Tiếng Dân newspaper was originally a building rented from an existing house to be used as an editorial and printing office, operating from 1927-1943, officially dissolved in 1946. After that, Mr. Huynh let the Council of Quang Nam Chau use it as a dormitory for Quang Nam students studying in Hue. After 1975, this headquarters was arranged for a number of officials of Hue University of Medicine (now Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy) and became a collective housing area for 6 households," Mr. Loc added.

In 2021, the Hue City Museum of History prepared a dossier requesting approval of the investment policy to implement the project to restore and embellish the headquarters of the Tieng Dan Newspaper, in accordance with the direction of the Provincial People's Committee on unifying the investment policy to restore and embellish historical relics. This project is included in the list of preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of relics using public investment capital, period 2022-2023. However, up to now, the project has not been allocated capital to implement the next steps.

“Previously, the Inspection Department (Department of Construction) also warned the History Museum about the serious degradation and unsafety of the relic. Therefore, to ensure the safety of people and tourists, the relic is now closed,” Mr. Loc added, hoping that the locality will soon arrange funds to implement the next steps so that the relic of the headquarters of the first national language newspaper in Central Vietnam becomes an attractive and unique destination for tourists…

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Phong-su-tu-lieu/to-bao-quoc-ngu-dau-tien-o-mien-trung-i772039/