Journalist Tran Mai Ninh: Living and writing

In the essay “Live first... then write”, Tran Mai Ninh wrote: “Let’s not talk about writing yet. I ask you, have you ever looked closely at an object, a person, a scene? Answer first, then we will discuss literature”. With that thought, in his life, writer - journalist Tran Mai Ninh always believed that, in order to have good works, the writer must truly “live” a meaningful life. From his own life, he devoted himself and was willing to endure imprisonment, created literary works, wrote articles full of fighting spirit and high humanistic values.

Journalist Tran Mai Ninh: Living and writing The name of martyr and soldier Tran Mai Ninh was given to one of the schools with a long history of achievements in Thanh Hoa City - Tran Mai Ninh Secondary School. Photo: KIEU HUYEN

Tran Mai Ninh's real name is Nguyen Thuong Khanh. Born into a family of civil servants during the French colonial period, Tran Mai Ninh was influenced by Confucianism and French culture from a young age. Because of this, he soon had progressive ideas.

When mentioning Tran Mai Ninh, many people remember him as a poet during the resistance war against the French with poems such as: Love of mountains and rivers, Remembering blood, Wondering, Rhythm of eternity, Sun in prison, New rice... expressing "extreme hatred but utmost love".

The late poet Mai Ngoc Thanh in the book “Thanh Hoa Modern Vietnamese Writers” recounted the story when he met musician Van Cao, the musician said: Hey! Thanh Hoa, you have Tran Mai Ninh, you should be very proud. With only two poems, Tinh Song Nui and Nho Mau, Tran Mai Ninh was a shining star in the Vietnamese revolutionary poetry scene. A series of poets of our generation were influenced by Tran Mai Ninh's poetry. We must bow our heads and learn from him”... The verses he left behind are also the experiences of revolutionary life, the days of working and writing for newspapers.

According to many recorded documents, when he was still studying in Thanh Hoa, Tran Mai Ninh participated in writing articles and drawing cartoons to decorate the "hand-held newspaper" with content criticizing the corrupt habits of some teachers and students.

In 1935, after passing the high school exam, he went to Hanoi to continue his studies for a bachelor's degree. Here, he truly became enlightened about the revolution and was guided by the Party. He joined the "Marxist study" group, actively participated in the Indochinese Democratic Youth movement and soon became a revolutionary soldier. He was active in the press and literary and artistic fronts with the pen names: Tran Mai Ninh, Hong Dien, Mac Do, To Chi, TK...

In 1937, Tran Mai Ninh joined the Party's press work published in Hanoi. He wrote articles, poems and worked as a painter mainly for many Party newspapers such as Tin Tuc, Ban Dan, The Gioi, Thoi Moi...

However, since 1939, World War II broke out, the French colonialists suppressed the Vietnamese revolution, they abolished the democratic freedoms that our people had won during the Democratic Front period (1936-1939). Progressive newspapers were closed one after another, some newspaper offices were threatened, Tran Mai Ninh was followed by secret police, he had to retreat to revolutionary activities in Thanh Hoa town (now Thanh Hoa city). He wrote articles for the Ban Duong newspaper, and was the key editor of the Tu Do newspaper, the secret propaganda and fighting agency of the Thanh Hoa Anti-Imperialist National Salvation Front. This was the time when he made many contributions to the revolution in the fields of culture and ideology when he used poetry and journalism to praise love, freedom and revolutionary manifesto.

In September 1941, Tran Mai Ninh joined the Ngoc Trao War Zone, serving as the leader of the Assault Team. During that period of fighting, he continued to work hard to encourage the people's spirit, and his comrades to believe in the Party's ideals through many poems and an autobiography. When the Ngoc Trao War Zone was broken, Tran Mai Ninh was captured by the enemy and imprisoned in Thanh Hoa prison. In early 1944, the French colonialists exiled him to Buon Ma Thuot. Taking advantage of the Japanese coup against the French, he escaped from prison, returned to work in Zone V, and then participated in the uprising to seize power in Quang Ngai during the August Revolution of 1945. In May 1946, he joined the army and was the Head of the Propaganda Department of the 27th Division (later renamed Military Region 6). At the end of 1947, at the request of the work behind enemy lines, he was sent to the far South Central Coast to work. During this time, Tran Mai Ninh continued to work as a journalist at Tien Hoa newspaper - the agency of Literature and Arts for National Salvation of Quang Ngai province.

At the peak of his writing career, Tran Mai Ninh fell into the hands of the enemy during a business trip. They took him to Nha Trang prison, brutally tortured him, and cowardly killed him. Tran Mai Ninh's death remains a mystery. Some say he was blinded by the enemy for drawing revolutionary paintings, others say his tongue was cut off because he always cursed them. Later, the enemy even used a cart to drag his body through the streets... in the end, it only confirmed his patriotism and selflessness.

Not only a poet and a journalist, Tran Mai Ninh is also a painter. His paintings are liberal, easy to understand and have a high propaganda value. Currently, the Vietnam Revolutionary Museum still preserves more than 30 of his caricatures and posters scattered in newspapers: People's Friend, World, Today, Friends... He is also a prose and playwright. In particular, he was the first person to translate the novel "The Mother" (M. Gorky) in Vietnam. He also translated and introduced Soviet literature in the newspaper Tien Hoa; wrote about the Russian writer Ilya Erenbua in the magazine Tien Phong - the agency of the Vietnam National Salvation Cultural Association...

Journalist Tran Mai Ninh: Living and writing Tran Mai Ninh and his writings live forever with readers.

It can be affirmed that in any field, Tran Mai Ninh is above all a revolutionary. Right from the beginning of the 40s before the August Revolution, he had the concept that, first of all, he must live, must work and reflect the human condition. "For a writer, to create something truly valuable throughout his life, the most important thing, the most important thing is that throughout his life, that writer must immediately learn with his own flesh and blood, put it out into the open to work, in a reckless life, diligently without stopping for a minute" (Tran Mai Ninh, Live... then write, Thanh Nghi No. 42, August 1, 1943). And in fact, he lived and wrote with all his soul and heart. That heart never stopped beating, never stopped cheering; a will that knows no fear, that refuses to submit like the passionate verses in the poem Remembering Blood:

"Living... in silence

But firmly grasp the supreme honor

Staring into the abyss of the future

Firmly believe in the mighty

And win

Vietnamese sentence: "nation!".

That is why we have his good poems, revolutionary stories, and fighting articles to this day.

In recognition of the great contributions that Tran Mai Ninh made to the cause of national liberation on the cultural and ideological front, in 2007, our State decided to posthumously award Tran Mai Ninh the State Prize for Literature and Arts.

In Thanh Hoa, his hometown, since 1996, the Provincial Journalists Association has named its most prestigious award after Tran Mai Ninh and the Vietnam Revolutionary Press Day on June 21 every year is an occasion to honor and reward the excellent authors and works of journalists in Thanh Hoa province.

Professor, Doctor, People's Teacher Ma Giang Lan in the article Tran Mai Ninh, poet - soldier affirmed: "That person, that poetry. A shining example like many other examples of the life of our soldier - artist in the Vietnamese revolutionary literature rich in fighting spirit and realism".

Tran Mai Ninh passed away too soon. But his revolutionary life will forever be cherished by later generations, and his poems deserve to be placed in a prestigious position in the country's literature. The land of Thanh Hoa is forever proud to have a son like writer and journalist Tran Mai Ninh.

KIEU HUYEN

(The article uses materials from the books Tran Mai Ninh's Poetry and Literature, People's Army Publishing House, 2000; Thanh Hoa Modern Vietnamese Writers, Writers Association Publishing House, 2015).

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