Uncle Ho and Phan Boi Chau

(Baonghean.vn) - The patriotic scholar Phan Boi Chau was born in 1867 in Dan Nhiem village (now Xuan Hoa commune, Nam Dan district, Nghe An province). He belonged to the last generation of Can Vuong scholars. President Ho Chi Minh once said, "Phan Boi Chau was a hero, a messenger of heaven, a selfless figure who sacrificed himself for national independence, revered by 20 million people under colonial rule." He was also a man with a vision ahead of his time, who opened a new path to national salvation…

Mr. Phan was a classmate of Mr. Nguyen Sinh Sac (Ho Chi Minh's father). Coming from the same hometown, studying together, and often visiting each other's homes to discuss literature and current affairs, Mr. Phan Boi Chau knew the young Nguyen Sinh Cung from childhood. In 1900, Phan Boi Chau passed the provincial examination in Nghe An with the highest score. A few years later, he founded the Duy Tan Society and in 1905 went abroad to Japan to "seek a way to save the country." In 1925, he was arrested by the French colonial authorities and placed under house arrest in Hue, known as "The Old Man of Ben Ngu."

Statue of Phan Bội Châu on the banks of the Perfume River (Hue).

During the Tet holiday of the year 1905 (Year of the Snake), Phan Boi Chau returned to his hometown to tend to his ancestors' graves before heading to Japan to "seek a way to save the country." That Tet, Phan Boi Chau visited Nguyen Sinh Sac. After a few drinks, the Vice-Minister inquired about his friend's upcoming work. Phan Boi Chau spontaneously composed a couplet: "After Tet, I will set out on my journey, enduring countless hardships, hoping to repay the debt of foreign aid."

Mr. Nguyen Sinh Sac sympathized deeply with his friend but couldn't find a suitable counter-verse. Nguyen Sinh Cung, who was serving wine, immediately responded: "Before winter, I will set out on my journey, traveling thousands of miles, hoping to find the right strategy." Both Mr. Phan and Mr. Pho Bang were astonished by the perfectly balanced and unusual couplet of the 15-year-old boy!

Six months later (1906), Mr. Phan returned from Japan to organize the Dong Du Movement and sent Vietnamese youth to Japan to study. Nguyen Sinh Cung was on the list, but he politely declined, feeling that the path Mr. Phan was pursuing was not yet right, as "it's no different than letting a tiger in through the front door and a leopard in through the back door!"

Although aware that Phan Boi Chau's chosen path was flawed, Nguyen Ai Quoc always supported him while operating abroad. A notable example is the essay "The Ridiculous Tricks of Varen and Phan Boi Chau," signed Nguyen Ai Quoc and published in the newspaper "The Oppressed People" issues 36-37 (October 1925). The article criticized the deception of the French colonialists, specifically the representative of the Governor-General of Indochina, Varen, who pretended to welcome Phan Boi Chau back from abroad, but in reality, "with his right hand outstretched to shake Phan Boi Chau's hand, his left hand was lifting the enormous shackles that were tightly binding Phan Boi Chau in the gloomy prison." Nguyen Ai Quoc's newspaper, "The Oppressed People," promptly spoke out in France about Phan Boi Chau's arrest in Vietnam.

The Farce or Varen and Phan Boi Chau - A work by Nguyen Ai Quoc published in the newspaper The Oppressed People, issues 36-37, September-October 1925

According to researcher Chương Thâu, in December 1924, after meeting, exchanging ideas, and receiving advice from Nguyễn Ái Quốc, Phan Bội Châu planned to reorganize the Vietnam Nationalist Party, which he founded, in 1925, following the model of Sun Yat-sen's Chinese Nationalist Party, in the most progressive direction. However, before the plan could be implemented, Phan Bội Châu was arrested in June 1925. In 1929, while under house arrest in Bến Ngự, Huế, Phan Bội Châu mentioned Nguyễn Ái Quốc's name three or four times (according to the Phan Bội Châu Chronology).

Scholar Dao Duy Anh, in his book "Some Unpublished Memoirs of Phan Boi Chau," recounts that on a boat on the Perfume River, while conversing with patriotic intellectuals in Hue, Phan Boi Chau confided: "My revolutionary career ultimately ended in a great failure. That's because although I had the will, I was truly incompetent. But our nation will eventually achieve independence. Currently, there are others far greater than us... Have you heard of Nguyen Ai Quoc? Because he was brilliant, unlike me. He also had many allies and friends all over the world..." When Dao Duy Anh asked Phan Boi Chau about the prophecy "Bo Dai loses its voice, Nam Dan gives birth to a saint" circulating in Nghe An, whether it referred to Phan Boi Chau, Phan Boi Chau immediately replied: "If Nam Dan truly has a saint, it is Nguyen Ai Quoc and no one else!"

While in France, Uncle Ho wrote four letters to Phan Chau Trinh in 1914, but there was no contact with Phan Boi Chau. It wasn't until Phan Boi Chau returned to China to engage in revolutionary activities in Huangzhou (Guangzhou, China) on January 21, 1925, that he sent a letter to Ly Thuy (i.e., Uncle Ho). This letter was found in the archives of the Overseas Archives Center in Aixen Provence (France), along with two other letters from Phan Boi Chau to the revolutionaries Ho Tung Mau and Lam Duc Thu.

The Phan Boi Chau Memorial House has just been inaugurated in Nam Dan (Nghe An).

In his letter to Ly Thuy, Phan addressed him as "uncle" and "nephew." In the letter, Phan mentioned receiving a letter from Comrade Nguyen Ai Quoc, delivered by Ho Tung Mau. Phan wrote: "...your learning and intellect have matured so much... I remember twenty years ago, when I came to your house to drink wine and recite poetry, you and your brothers were still minors. At that time, I, Phan Boi Chau, never imagined that you would become such a young hero. Now, comparing this old man to you, I feel very ashamed... Receiving two letters from you in quick succession, I feel both sad and happy; sad for myself, happy for our country... Besides you, who else can I entrust with the task of rebuilding our nation...?"

In that letter, Mr. Phan expressed his desire to travel to Guangdong to meet with Nguyen Ai Quoc to discuss matters, as he had many things he wanted to ask his nephew's opinion on. Mr. Phan requested: "If you don't consider old age and weakness as worthless, then please write to me often; I sincerely ask you to do so!...". The letter included a passage where Mr. Phan highly praised Nguyen Ai Quoc: "You are widely learned and have traveled extensively, far surpassing me by ten or even a hundred times. Your knowledge and plans are beyond my comprehension. I wonder if you could share one or two things with me?...".

Sadly, Phan Boi Chau's desire to collaborate with Nguyen Ai Quoc was never realized, as he was later arrested by the French colonialists. Otherwise, the history of the Vietnamese revolution, with the combined efforts of these two great patriots, would certainly have taken a more powerful turn.

Peace

(Synthetic)