HỒ CHÍ MINH MYTHS AND MASKS I * HO CHI MINH 'S CHILDHOOD

                                       

 CHAPTER I

HO CHI MINH 'S CHILDHOOD  

I. NGUYỄN TẤT THÀNH'S FAMILY

Ho Chi Minh' s real name was Nguyen Tat Thanh (1890-1969), born on May 19, 1890, in the village of Kim Lien, Central Vietnam. His father was Nguyễn Sinh Sắc (1862–1929), in 1901, he was successful in passing the official government examination and received title "Phó bảng" (Doctorate of the additional list, or sous docteur) .

Vietnamese communist said that Nguyễn Sinh Sắc "had resigned in protest against French domination of his country". ( Ho Chi Minh, Selected Works (Hanoi, 1960-1962), Vol. 2 - HCM, VII ). It is not true. While the true patriots such as Phan Bội Châu, Phan Chu Trịnh, Ngô Đức Kế, Nguyễn Thượng Hiền... resigned in protest against French, but Nguyễn Sinh Sắc did not. After his graduation, in May 1906, he went to Hue and worked for the Ministry of Rites (Thừa biện bộ Lễ). Vietnamese communist also said that Nguyễn Sinh Sắc slighted the way of the mandarin. For him, it is  the way of slave. After graduation, he became a mandarin of low rank, and always expressed his revolt against the colonialists, therefore he was dismissed"(HCM, I). 

If Nguyễn Sinh Sắc disdained mandarin, why did he work for the Ministry of Rites in Hue?
Some communists said that Nguyễn Sinh Sắc was warned because of his sons' attending the revolt against Taxes of  the peasants in the Central Vietnam in 1908. It is not true because in 1909, Nguyễn Sinh Sắc was promoted the head of district of Binh Khê ( tri huyện Bình Khê) in Quy Nhơn. In Bình Khê district, Nguyễn Sinh Sắc  put the end to his career of mandarin when he was drunk, he ordered the solders beating a man until death. He was fired because of his guilty of manslaughter, not by his patriotism.

According to Vũ Ngự Chiêu, the French document on January 1910 noted that Nguyễn Sinh Huy was suspended his position because of his "alcoholism and cruelty towards people". In  May 19th, he was imprisoned, and in August, 1910, he was absolved, but fired. (HCM, LXXXIV).
Nguyễn Sinh Sắc was addicted to drink. When he was drunk, he always beat his daughter, Nguyễn Thị Thanh, therefore she left Hue and her father to come back to Nghệ An.(Daniel Hémery.HCM,  LXXII).
According to Wikipedia and Duiker, Nguyễn’s father, Nguyễn Sinh Sắc, was a Confucian scholar and teacher, and later an imperial magistrate in the small remote district of Binh Khe (Qui Nhơn). He was demoted for abuse of power after an influential local figure died several days after receiving 100 strokes of the cane as punishment for an infraction  (HCM. I).

Although Hoàng Tùng, a Communist of high ranking cadre, defended Nguyễn Sinh Sắc, but he recognized Nguyễn Sinh Sắc 's guilty of manslaughter.( HOÀNG TÙNG * HỒI KÝ   )

A communist cadre, Trần Minh Siêu in his work entitled " The Members in the Ho's Family" confessed that by Võ Văn Kiệt 's help, he had  the document of Nguyễn Sinh Sắc so he could publish his book, and speak the truth.(HCM, CXXXII)

Acording to Trần Quốc Vượng, in his work entitled "TRONG CÕI, ch.XV. (In the World), it was rumored in Nghệ An that Nguyễn Sinh Sắc was not the son of Nguyễn Sinh Nhậm. He was the son out of wedlock of Hồ Sĩ Tạo, a native of  Quỳnh Đôi village, Quỳnh Lưu district ,  Nghệ An province. Hồ Sĩ Tạo (1841- ? was a Confucian, had passed the local examination, and received the title " cử nhân" (B.A). He was a private teacher working at the family of Hà Văn Cẩn, a rich peasant in Nam Đàn district. Hồ Sĩ Tạo loved Hà Thị Hy, the daughter of the this rich peasant, but when she was  pregnant, Hồ Sĩ Tạo quit. It was the shame for family Hà, therefore his father married her to Nguyễn Sinh Nhậm, an old and poor man.
 

In this work,Trần Quốc Vượng stated that before Nguyễn Sinh Sắc passing the Royal Palace examination, Hồ Sĩ Tạo supported him to enter Quốc Tử Giám (Royal  University of Capital Huế). It is not impossible. Nguyễn Sinh Sắc was not ineligible for Royal University, or College of Administration (trường Hậu Bổ)  because Nguyễn Sinh Nhậm was not a high ranking mandarin and Hồ Sĩ Tạo was not his formal father. Moreover, Hồ Sĩ Tạo was not a senior mandarin, and he retired so early. According to Vũ Ngự Chiêu, during that time, Nguyễn Sinh Sắc worked for Bùi Quang Chiêu before he worked for the Ministry of Rites (HCM, LXXXIV). 
According to History of Vietnamese Communist Party, his older sister Nguyễn Thị Thanh and his older brother Nguyễn Sinh Khiêm were the compatriots, they  joined the revolutionary movement therefore they were arrested by the French colonialists.(HCM, I)

The Vietnamese Police Document stated that Nguyễn Sinh Khiêm was born in 1888, and was imprisoned many times by French colonialists. On August 16, 1941, he was released from the prison in Vinh  (HCM, CXXXVI)

According to Sơn Tùng, a passionate communist in Việt Nam, wrote that after the departure of Nguyễn Tất Thành, Nguyễn Thị Thanh (1884 - 1954), and Nguyễn Tất Khiêm (1888–1950) were  imprisoned and tortured. The French policemen poisoned  Nguyễn Tất Khiêm, as a result, he became issueless, and  they burn  Nguyễn Thị Thanh's genitals, consequently, she could not get married. (HCM, CLIII)

But in fact, Nguyễn Thị Thanh and Nguyễn Sinh Khiêm cooporated with French. Nguyễn Thị Thanh was a clerk in the French Army (HCM, III), and Nguyễn Tất Khiêm worked at the French Resident Superior in Huế (HCM CXXXV;  (HCM, XLII). He was not an isueless and poor person. He had his houses in Nghệ An, and  in Huế (HCM, XV). Some one sai that he had a house in Hanoi but in 1945-1946, Ho Chí Minh did not visit him. He had many wives and many children, but they died in their infancy (HCM, CLII) . He had at least one daughter, whose name was  Marilyn Mai Nguyễn  (HCM, XV).
Nguyễn Sinh Khiêm died in 1950 but nobody knew the raison of his death. Nguyễn Thị Thanh was killed in 1954 by being acused "landlord" in "Land Reform" in Nghệ An.

Ho Chi Minh and his men tried to build a revolutionary family, but in vain. Every member in Ho Chi Minh 's family corporated with French. So did Nguyễn Tất Thành when he sent his letters to French authorities.

II . NGUYỄN TẤT THÀNH'S  EDUCATION

About 1900,  Vietnam had two systems of education: the old system and the new system. The old system was the system of Chinese characters, and the new system was the system which was influenced by French education. In the new system, students had to study French, and Quốc Ngữ (The modern Vietnamese writing system based on the Roman alphabet). Nguyễn Tất Thành anh his brother studied Chinese with his father. Nguyễn Sinh Sắc was a private teacher at the rich family, and he had to travel from district to district, and from province to province. Hence, his sons followed him everywhere.
In most public and private schools, education is divided into three levels: 
-elementary school, (tiểu học)
-middle school (Cao đẳng tiểu học or Trung học đệ nhất cấp, or cấp hai (communist education) sometimes called junior high school),
-high school (sometimes referred to as secondary education-Trung học đệ nhị cấp, or cấp ba (Communist system).
After pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, there are six years in primary school (normally known as elementary school). After completing five grades, the student will enter junior high or middle school and then high school to get the high school diploma.
Vietnamese elementary education consisted of six years as French and USA's system, and could devide into two stages:
1. Elementary

(1)-Cours Enfantin ( Lớp Đồng Ấu, or lớp Năm)
(2)- Cours Preparatoire (Lớp Dự Bị or lớp Tư)
(3)-Cours Elementaire (Lớp Sơ Đẳng or lớp Ba)
2. Primary

4-Cours Moyen Première Année (Lớp Nhì Năm thứ nhất )
5-Cours Moyen Deuxième Année (Lớp Nhì Năm thứ hai )
6-Cours Supérieur (Lớp Nhất ).

According to History of Vietnamese Communist Party, in September 1905, Nguyễn Tất Thành, Nguyễn Tất Đạt entered the first class (cours préparatoire ) of elementary school in Vinh.
-In 1906, Nguyễn Sinh Huy went to Huế to work for the Ministry of Rites, Nguyễn Tất Thành and Nguyễn Tất Đạt followed his father, and continued his education  at the first class of the elementary school in Huế in September, 1906. Hence, it seemed that Nguyễn Tất Thành and Nguyễn Sinh Khiêm began their elementary education in  September 1906. September 1907, they attended the second class (cours élémentaire).(HCM, I)

The communist document stated that in April,1908, Nguyễn Tất Thành and Nguyễn Tất Đạt attended the meeting of the peasants in Center Vietnam revolting against taxes. And August, 1908, he entered Quốc Học School. (HCM, I)


According to Wikipedia, Quốc Học is a senior high school in Huế, Thua Thien - Hue, Vietnam, founded on October 23, 1896.(1)
Nguyễn Tất Thành began his education in 1906, hence in1912 he would finish his elementary education. After finishing his elementary education, he had to pass an examination to receive his Certificat d'Études Primaire Complémentaire Indochinoise (Certificate of Primary Education). Quốc Học was a High School In 1908, Nguyễn Tất Thành could not enter Quốc Học High School because he did not finish his elementary education. Moreover, if he was punished by meeting the peasants revolt, he could not enter Quốc Học School.
According to Vietnamese  Communist history, in 1909, he  followed his father to Bình Định, and continued his education at the cours supérieur of the Elementary School, in Quy Nhơn. In June 1910, he finished his elementary education.(HCM, I).
While Wikipedia told that Nguyễn Tất Thành finished his elementery in 1907, but Vietnamese Communist Party History said in 1910.
If he finished his elementary education in 1010, he  could not register in Quốc Học high school in 1908. If he finished his primary education in 1907, he did not need to go to the elementary school in Quy Nhơn.
In Phan Thiết, Nguyễn Tất Thành was a "moniteur" at Dục Thanh School. In French, "moniteur" is a teacher of sports".

 Although Nguyễn Sinh Sắc was a Confucian, he did not have the revolutionary spirit like Phan Bội Châu, Phan Chu Trinh, Huỳnh Thúc Kháng, Ngô Đức Kế, Nguyễn Thượng Hiền. He followed the career of mandarin until he was fired because of his "alcoholism and cruelty towards people". He liked to work for French, and he wanted his sons following his way. Unlike his contemporary Confucians, he pushed his sons pursue the new education like Phạm Quỳnh, Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh, Phạm Duy Tốn, Phạm Duy Khiêm when many students who had the same age of Nguyễn Tất Thành such as Tản Đà (1889-1939), Phan Khôi ( 1887-1959), Nguyễn Sĩ Giác ( 1888-197?), Bùi Kỷ (1888-1960) continued the old education. 

In a word, before 1911, Nguyễn Tất Thành did not finish his elementary education, and when he went to Phan Thiết, he worked for the Dục Thanh school, as a  "moniteur", a teacher of sports.

The monarchy and the capitalism focused on the education when the communism highlighted the workers and disdained the intellectuals.  In USSR, Lenin and Stalin killed and expelled them. So did Vietnam and China. They neglected education, and they looked upon the intellectuals, why did they try to embellish Nguyễn Tất Thành, in changing him from a primary school boy into an intellectual ?
Nguyễn Sinh Sắc was an alcoholic and a bad mandarin, he was not a compatriot. Following the
communist social classification, Nguyễn Sinh Sắc belonged to the feudal class, the enemy of the People, why did they say that he was a compatriot when he kill and imprison a lot of  the mandarins of the Nguyen Dynasty? 
Although we did know much about Nguyễn Sinh Khiêm and Nguyễn Thị Thanh, but around 1915, both of them worked for French , and at that time, Nguyễn Tất Thành also looked for a position in French government. They never revolted against French colonialism.

III. NGUYỄN TẤT THÀNH'S BIRTHDAY, AND HIS NAMES

When he left Vietnam, Nguyễn Tất Thành became another man, a man of hundred faces. 

He had many birthdays.According to Nguyễn Thế Anh, the birthdays of Nguyễn Tất Thành were: 1892; 15-1- 1895;  19-5-1890 (HCM, XX)

Wikipedia stated that he had 5 birthdays:

-In his resumé, his birthday was 19-5-1890.

-In 1911, in a letter asking for the Colonial School, he said he was born in 1892.

-In 1920, at a French Police Office in Paris, he confessed that his birthday was 15-1-1894.-Document of French "Deuxième Bureau" in 1931, stated that he was born in April 1894. -In 1923 in the USSR Consulat in Germany, he confessed that he was born in 15 February 1895.

History of Vietnamese Communist Party wrote that in 1905, he began his study at the Elementary School in Vinh, and he said that when I was thirteen year old, it was the first time I heard the words Freedom, Equality and Fraternity.(HCM, I)

Hence, we can say that he was born around 1892.

According to Wikipedia, Nguyễn Tất Thành had about 60 names and alias.

Hồ Chí Minh; C.M.Hồ; Nguyễn Ái Quốc; Bác Hồ; Chú Nguyễn; Culixe; Lê Thanh Long;Loo Shing Yan:Trầm Lam;Tuyết Lan;Việt Hồng...
Hoàng Anh Tuấn, stated that Ho Chi Minh had 174 names and alias. (HCM, IV)

Generally, the writers have some pen names, but Ho Chi Minh had so much alias. He had so many faces consequently he needed a lot of masks in according with his faces and his roles. He was a man of darkness.

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(1). Trần Bích San. Thi Cử và Giáo Dục.http://cothommagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=278&Itemid=49