Vice-Chancellor Nguyen Sinh Sac: A role model for the country and the people

NOBLE CHARACTER

Nguyen Sinh Sac was born in 1862 in Lang Sen, now Kim Lien commune, Nam Dan district, Nghe An province. His parents died early, and when he was 16 years old, he was educated by the Confucian scholar Hoang Xuan Duong.in Hoang Tru village(ie Chua village, also in Kim Lien commune) adopted and educated him. Being intelligent and studious, he soon became a famous good student, and was honored as one of the "Nam Dan four tigers" (including Phan Boi Chau, Vuong Thuc Quy, Tran Van Luong and Nguyen Sinh Sac). At the age of 22, his adoptive parents married him to their daughter Hoang Thi Loan.

In 1894, Mr. Sac passed the bachelor's exam. The following year, he went to Hue to take the imperial examination but failed. Not discouraged, he applied to be a member of the Ministry of Finance and studied at the Imperial Academy, determined to pursue the imperial examination. Mr. Loan brought his two sons, Nguyen Sinh Khiem and Nguyen Sinh Cung, to Hue to live with her husband, leaving his eldest daughter, Nguyen Thi Thanh, in the countryside to take care of her grandmother. Every day, she worked hard spinning silk and weaving, earning money to help her husband study hard and raise her children. In 1901, Ms. Loan fell ill and passed away after giving birth to her youngest son, Nguyen Sinh Nhuan (who also died a few days later). That same year, Mr. Sac passed the Pho Bang exam. In the beginning, after passing the Pho Bang exam, Mr. Sac refused to become an official, lived a frugal life as a teacher, studied new books every day, raised his children and made friends with patriotic scholars...

In 1906, Mr. Sac took office as the Minister of Rites. As a court official, he believed that: "The mandarin is a slave among slaves, even more so", "loyalty to the king is not patriotism, patriotism is love for the people". He often taught his children: "Do not take the style of the mandarin family as your own style". He taught his children strictly but also respected them very much. Originally agreeing with Phan Chu Trinh's reform policy, from 1905 he sent his two sons Nguyen Sinh Khiem and Nguyen Sinh Cung to study at the French-Vietnamese Primary School in Dong Ba, Hue...

In 1909, Mr. Pho Bang Nguyen Sinh Sac was appointed as the District Chief of Binh Khe (Binh Dinh province). As the District Chief, he often socialized with patriotic Confucian scholars, defended the poor, and hated the tyrants who oppressed the peasants. In early 1910, because he had a tyrant imprisoned, and shortly after his release, the tyrant died, he was punished and demoted by the court. He then resigned from office and traveled to the southern provinces, both earning a living and contacting and meeting patriotic scholars (including Phan Chu Trinh) to connect and find a way for his son to go abroad to find a way to save the country.

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It can be said that, up to this time, the virtues, character, especially the progressive, patriotic, people-respecting, and loving thoughts of the Vice-Chancellor Nguyen Sinh Sac had a profound influence and become an example for his son Nguyen Sinh Cung, contributing significantly to the formation of the personality and aspirations of the young man Nguyen Tat Thanh as well as the patriotism, revolutionary ideals, and ethical thoughts... of the leader Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh.

LIFE FOR THE COUNTRY, FOR THE PEOPLE

After Nguyen Tat Thanh left Nha Rong Wharf (Saigon, June 5, 1911), starting his journey to save the country on the ship Admiral Latouche Treville, Nguyen Sinh Sac continued to travel throughout the South, even to Cambodia, both to treat people and to wait for news of his son. Wherever he went, he tried to contact monks, patriotic Confucian scholars, and political prisoners who participated in the Can Vuong, Dong Du, and Duy Tan movements who were exiled or hiding from French spies... He helped many pagodas annotate scriptures and contributed ideas to the Buddhist Revival Movement. Some pagodas in the South still preserve his writings and parallel sentences.

At the end of 1916, through meeting some dignitaries, including his former students in Saigon, Mr. Sac was introduced to Mr. Hoi Dong Hien (Le Quang Hien), a native of Cao Lanh, then part of Sa Dec province. Through discussions, he developed a liking for the land and people of Cao Lanh, so in 1917 he followed Mr. Hien here. In Cao Lanh, he met the son of an old acquaintance, Mr. Tran Ba ​​Le (Ca Nhi Nguu), who was a patriotic landowner who had contributed money to the Dong Du movement. Later, he was arrested by the French colonialists and had his property confiscated, so he had to sell his house and fields to pay bribes to avoid prison. Mr. Le built a small house for him on his garden land.

Every day, in addition to prescribing medicine and treating people, he interacted with dignitaries, scholars, and patriotic Confucian scholars such as Le Van Dang (Chanh Nhat Dang), Vo Hoanh (Cu Hoanh)... But he only stayed here for a short time, until 1919 when he left Cao Lanh, continuing to many provinces and cities in the South to meet like-minded people and spread patriotic ideas. Through scholars such as Phan Chu Trinh, Nguyen An Ninh..., he learned that the famous Nguyen Ai Quoc at that time was Nguyen Tat Thanh. Because of his relationship with the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association in the Mekong Delta, he was followed by secret agents but they did not have enough evidence to arrest him.

In 1927, Mr. Sac returned to Cao Lanh. The Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association in Cao Lanh arranged for him to stay at Mr. Nam Giao's house on the bank of Cai Tom canal in Hoa An village (now Hoa An commune, Cao Lanh city, Dong Thap province). Every day, he went to Hang An Duong herbal medicine shop in Cao Lanh market to examine patients and dispense medicine, and in the afternoon, he made medicine at home. For the poor, he not only did not charge for examination but also gave medicine.

In Cao Lanh, he was loved, protected and sheltered by the people. Whenever guests came to visit him, Mr. Nam Giao would go to the yard to do odd jobs and stand guard. Ms. Ba Enh (Nguyen Thi Be, 17 years old) was assigned to clean the house every day, go to the market and cook for the two old men, and occasionally row a boat to take the Vice-Principal to see a doctor or meet friends. At this time, despite his old age and weak health, he still often went to Sa Dec, Saigon, Long Xuyen, Chau Doc... and many times sent letters to Phnom Penh to the address of Ms. Luong Van Can - a base of the Vietnam Revolutionary Youth Association in Cambodia, but all the letters fell into the hands of French secret agents.

At the end of November 1929, Nguyen Sinh Sac fell seriously ill and passed away. He was buried by the Cao Lanh people next to Hoa Long pagoda. Many newspapers in Saigon simultaneously published news of his death, showing the influence and respect of the intellectuals at that time for him. An article by journalist Phan Khoi in Than Chung newspaper on December 22, 1929 had a passage: “What kind of person was he that he suddenly abandoned his official position and left like a drifter?... What kind of person was he that while his family was in ruins, his children were gone, and he was an old man wandering in a foreign land, he still acted as if nothing had happened, not feeling sad, and not complaining to anyone?... He was truly a citizen... His death was truly the loss of a typical citizen...”.

After decades of dedication to the world and wandering in foreign lands, Mr. Pho Bang Nguyen Sinh Sac remained forever in the Southern land. He passed away without waiting for the return of his son to whom he entrusted so much of his spirit and ambition, without waiting for the day when the Revolution would succeed, the country would be independent, the people would be free, and he did not know that after years of wandering "looking for the shape of the country", his son Nguyen Sinh Cung - Nguyen Tat Thanh had become the leader Nguyen Ai Quoc - Ho Chi Minh, a great man of Vietnam and humanity.

In 1954, Nguyen Sinh Sac's tomb was restored by soldiers and local people, then photographed and sent to the North for President Ho Chi Minh. Immediately after the liberation of the South and the reunification of the country, in response to the people's wishes, in August 1975, the Sa Dec Provincial Party Committee built his tomb, which was completed in February 1977.

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Presently, after many renovations, the tomb of Vice-Chancellor Nguyen Sinh Sac has become a national historical and cultural relic complex, located at 123/1 Pham Huu Lau Street, Ward 4, Cao Lanh City, Dong Thap Province. Every year, the relic attracts hundreds of thousands of domestic and foreign tourists to visit.