Comrade Tran Xy - a loyal cadre of his hometown Hong Loc - Loc Ha
During his revolutionary activities, he experienced many hardships, but comrade Tran Xy always maintained his stance and ideals, wholeheartedly following the Party.
“...Standing before the Party flag, standing before all the people, I promise: I have tried before but must try even harder, to be worthy of being a Party member. As a Party member, I vow to do my best to serve the people, the Party…”(1).That was the sacred oath of comrade Tran Xy in the memorable and proud moment when he was admitted to the Party. From the peak of the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement in 1930-1931 to the days of taking power into the hands of the people, through many hardships and challenges, comrade Tran Xy lived his whole life for the revolutionary ideal he had chosen. The echoes of those days of struggle still remain, and after more than 90 years, the story of the first party members of the Soviet movement like comrade Tran Xy is still mentioned.
Comrade Tran Xy was born in 1900 in Thuong Yen village, Phu Luu commune, Can Loc district (now Hong Loc commune, Loc Ha district), Ha Tinh province. Born into a poor farming family, it was not until the age of twelve that Tran Xy was sent by his parents to study with teacher Ho Quang, at that time learning Chinese characters with books such as Tam Tu Kinh or Analects.
In 1915, Tran Xy was fortunate to study the national language at a village school opened by the French colonialists, taught by Mr. Don Vi (from Tan Loc). After studying for 6 months, he transferred to a general school for 2 more years. In 1918, due to difficult family circumstances, Tran Xy had to drop out of school. Remembering his school days, he often heard teachers talk about the Russian revolution, about the emigration movement of patriots at that time... When he returned to his homeland, seeing the tyrants and feudalists still brutally exploiting the people, it inspired Tran Xy with a will and determination to fight for national independence.
Around mid-1928, the feudalists in Thuong Yen village tried their best to exploit the people. Unable to bear the situation, Tran Xy invited some villagers such as Nguyen Tho, Nguyen Thap... to discuss ways to mobilize the masses to fight to reclaim the extra money that had been illegally collected from the people that year. On the morning of June 5, 1928, while the officials were drinking after the Proclamation ceremony at the village communal house, Tran Xy and the masses came to protest, shouting slogans:It cannot be like that, what is eaten by the people must be paid to the people! Must be paid to the people!Faced with the strong protests of the masses, the fearful officials promised to return the money to the people. Promoting the spirit of that struggle, every year when there was a ceremony at the communal house, the masses organized a struggle, and the tyrants and feudalists in the village were filled with fear.
Immediately after the Can Loc District Party Committee was established (April 1930), comrades Ho Ngoc Tang (from Phu Luu Thuong, Hong Loc commune) and Hoang Khoai Lac (official of the Central Region Party Committee, from Dinh Lu village, Tan Loc commune) returned to Thuong Yen village, contacted members of the Tan Viet Party here such as Phan Buong, Cu Khan, Cu Diet, Ho Nguong, Cu Huy Hang... to establish the Thuong Yen Party cell.
Also during this time, comrade Nguyen Chuong (from Dinh Lu) returned to meet Tran Xy to organize mass organizations. Realizing that Tran Xy was an active person in the struggle against feudal mandarins, becoming one of the cores of the movement here, comrade Nguyen Chuong trusted him to be the leader of the Thuong Yen village agricultural association. Comrade Tran Xy was dedicated to his work, actively distributing leaflets to mobilize a number of enthusiastic, progressive-minded masses to participate in the agricultural association. Leaflets were often received from the district, with the district's seal at that time, and then distributed to other people in the agricultural association groups. The undistributed leaflets were brought to Bien Son temple behind the house by wrapping them carefully with clothes and placing them under the bottom of a tray of offerings. He checked them regularly every day, distributed them at night, and distributed them in the village. The leaflets were printed in two languages: Chinese and Vietnamese, so those who could read Chinese would analyze the content for those who could read Vietnamese and vice versa... As a result, in all hamlets and villages in Thuong Yen village, there were agricultural associations, from which a village agricultural committee was established and an Executive Committee was elected with comrade Cu Khan as Secretary and Tran Xy as Deputy Secretary.
Under the leadership of the Party Cell, comrade Tran Xy and the people of Thuong Yen actively participated in the struggles, typically: on May 1, 1930, they fought to demand their rights, hung red flags and distributed leaflets to expose the enemy's crimes...; on August 1, 1930, they fought on the occasion of the International Day Against Imperialist Wars, demonstrating at the district office to demand tax exemptions and redistribution of public land... On September 7, 1930, nearly 800 people from Thuong Yen, Phu Luu Thuong, Dai Lu villages, along with farmers from Noi Ngoai, Doai, Nga Khe, Lai Thach communes... marched to the Can Loc district office to demand that district chief Tran Manh Dan respond to the demands made in the August 1, 1930 protest. On November 7, 1930, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Russian October Revolution, nearly 2,000 people from Hong Loc marched to the district office to fight for their rights...
At the end of 1930, in the face of the strong struggle movement of the masses, the colonial feudal power apparatus in Thuong Yen in particular and Hong Loc in general was paralyzed and disintegrated, giving way to the Soviet government. At this time, all work in the village was handled by the commune and village agricultural committees. In Thuong Yen, self-defense teams, especially the suicide squad, were established to protect agencies, meetings, printing facilities, and to monitor and suppress secret agents working for the French colonialists in the villages and hamlets. During this time, comrade Tran Xy actively taught people how to read and write and trained suicide squad members.
In January 1931, with his active and enthusiastic activities, comrade Tran Xy was admitted to the Party. In April 1931, Tran Xy was elected Secretary of the Thuong Yen Party Cell.
During this time, the enemy sent legionnaires to station at Van Thai communal house to collect taxes from the people. Knowing the situation, Thuong Yen Party Cell and comrade Tran Xy mobilized the masses to bring sticks and spears to Lu market in Hong Loc to protest. The enemy sent soldiers to burn Lu market and many houses to threaten them, but the people did not waver and continued to fight.
In addition, the Thuong Yen Party Cell also paid attention to the enemy agitation work. Comrade Tran Xy was assigned to distribute leaflets to the posts for the soldiers to read. The leaflets were mainly distributed inside the posts, but there were also some on the streets, but in small numbers. The content called on the soldiers to turn their guns back, otherwise they would be punished appropriately. The content was printed mainly in French and English... The leaflets were the size of large sheets of paper (20cm x 15cm). This struggle was a threat and challenge from the mass movement to the soldiers, causing them to panic and leave the village without collecting any tax.
Faced with the achievements of the Soviet government, the enemy moved to Thuong Yen to hunt down cadres and suppress the revolution, so the movement here subsided. Comrade Tran Xy was assigned to the General Committee, in charge of the villages of Thuong Yen, Phu Luu Thuong and Dai Lu. The headquarters was located at Mr. Muu's house (Tan Loc). Comrade Tran Xy went to each village to restore the movement, mobilized the masses to donate money and rice to the printing establishments, and at the same time received news from higher levels and sent it down to the establishments.
At the end of 1931, while on duty, comrade Tran Xy was suddenly discovered by the enemy and chased by gunfire. Knowing that he could not escape, he pretended to fall into Bau Man field to drown the Party documents he was carrying in the mud and water, preventing them from falling into the hands of the soldiers. He was captured by the enemy shortly thereafter. Although he was imprisoned from one station to another and tortured with many different methods, he still upheld the spirit of a steadfast, indomitable communist, consistently answering that he did not know, did not have. In mid-1932, at the Can Loc district station, the enemy sentenced comrade Tran Xy to 13 years in prison.
In March 1933, he was taken to Ha Tinh province prison, where he was imprisoned for 4 months before being exiled to Hoi An prison (Quang Nam). During the first time in prison, Tran Xy and his fellow prisoners fought to be given clothes, and as a result, they had to give in and give each person two more sets of clothes. On the winning streak, the comrades fought to demand improved meals, to demand the distribution of books and newspapers, and to demand the release of political prisoners...
By the end of 1936, when the French Popular Front came to power, life in prison improved, and comrade Tran Xy was assigned to be in charge of communications from inside to outside the prison.
In mid-1945, after being released from prison, Tran Xy returned to his hometown to establish contacts, accept the policies and regulations of the Viet Minh Front of Can Loc district to establish the Viet Minh Front in Thuong Yen village.
On August 17, 1945, Can Loc district gained power. On August 18, 1945, implementing the order of the Can Loc district uprising committee for all cantons and villages to rise up in revolt, the Viet Minh Front Committee of Thuong Yen village and comrade Tran Xy gathered the masses to confiscate the seals and records of the canton chief and village chief, and declared the establishment of a revolutionary government. The provisional revolutionary committee of Thuong Yen village was established with comrade Tran Xy as chairman. At this time, the Thuong Yen and Dai Lu areas were under the charge of comrade Tran Xy and Nguyen Vuong, and the Phu Luu Thuong area was under the charge of comrade Duong Thuy.
In October 1945, comrade Tran Xy was elected to the Provisional Executive Committee of the 4th term of the Can Loc District Party Committee.
In August 1948, comrade Tran Xy was elected Secretary of Hong Yen commune.(2)In May 1949, comrade Tran Xy was assigned to work at the Administrative Resistance Committee of Can Loc district.
Later, comrade Tran Xy continued his revolutionary activities and made many contributions to the local movement.
During his revolutionary activities, he experienced many hardships, but comrade Tran Xy always maintained his stance, ideals, and wholeheartedly followed the Party. Comrade Tran Xy's vibrant fighting life deserves to be one of the typical examples in the heroic Soviet homeland.
Note:
(1) Excerpt from the memoirs of comrade Tran Xy (Preserved at the Nghe Tinh Soviet Museum).
(2) Hong Son commune was established at the end of December 1945, including the villages of Phu Luu, Thuong Yen, and Dai Lu. In early 1948, Hong Son and Kim Tan communes (Tan Loc today) were merged into one commune called Hong Yen commune.
References:
History of the Party Committee and people of Hong Loc commune in 1930-2010; Culture and Information Publishing House, Hanoi, 2011.
