Following the footsteps of journalist Hai Trieu: A man passionate about Hai Trieu heritage

DIFFICULTY FINDING OLD NEWSPAPERS

"On the afternoon of May 12, 2014, I received an extremely valuable gift, which was the book Hai Trieu Complete Works (published by the National Political Publishing House) sent by the family of journalist Hai Trieu. Opening a few pages, I was so excited that I read it for 3 days straight," journalist Duong Phuoc Thu said.

According to Mr. Thu, compared to the book about Hai Trieu first published by Literature Publishing House in 1996 with 64 articles, Hai Trieu Complete Works published in 2014 has added 17 articles. Of these, 16 were found by poet Nguyen Khoa Diem - Hai Trieu's son - and 1 was collected by Dr. Pham Hong Toan. There are a total of 81 articles and 5 appendices with some additional images.

In 2014, implementing the policy of the leaders of Thua Thien-Hue province (now Hue city), the Provincial Journalists Association sent staff to many places to collect press materials.

Journalist Duong Phuoc Thu, the silent collector of documents about journalist Hai Trieu

PHOTO: HOANG SON

"I found all 9 issues of Nhanh Lua (the first issue was published on January 15, 1937, the last issue was published on March 19, 1937) and discovered that there were many articles by Hai Trieu that had not been reprinted in any book," said Mr. Thu. After finding all the issues of Nhanh Lua , he scanned the newspapers at a 1:1 ratio to give to poet Nguyen Khoa Diem. Mr. Duong Phuoc Thu's journey to find old newspapers was arduous, but according to him, there was also a lot of luck.

Mr. Thu continued: "There are some copies found not in Hue but in many northern provinces, in dusty libraries and archives. Many people have approached but could not find them. I asked the libraries to let me into the archives to search for them myself. As for copy number 7, I was lucky to find it in Vinh Phuc province. The thing is, when the newspaper was published, there was an article about a man in this province. Their family kept the newspaper as a souvenir for decades. Finding and buying a copy of the newspaper can cost only 100,000 VND, but the effort and cost to find it can be 100 times more."

Along with 9 issues of Nhanh Lua newspaper, journalist Duong Phuoc Thu also found 4 issues of Kinh Te Tan Van newspaper. With enough materials, Mr. Thu pondered day and night to produce 2 books about these 2 newspapers with profound analysis and commentary. Mr. Thu said that for a long time, including many researchers, because there were not enough issues, much information was only approximate. "If you want to write about Hai Trieu, you have to write about these 2 newspapers because at that time Hai Trieu was the General Secretary of the editorial board of Nhanh Lua and belonged to the editorial board of Kinh Te Tan Van ," Mr. Thu said.

ADD MORE VALUABLE MATERIALS

Understanding the history of Vietnamese revolutionary journalism, especially Thua Thien journalism, journalist Duong Phuoc Thu commented that during the period of the Indochina Democratic Front (1936 - 1939), senior journalists were excellent in taking advantage of the colonial government's licensing to promote the content of communist journalism. Under the control of the colonial government, publishing revolutionary journalism was extremely difficult. However, with their courage and intelligence, journalists including Hai Trieu skillfully kept the newspaper alive, even if only for a few short issues.

"The case of Nhanh Lua and Kinh Te Tan Van is a typical example. When the Central Vietnam press conference (March 27, 1937) took place, Nhanh Lua was suspended. But the conference content was still printed in Kinh Te Tan Van because although this newspaper was founded earlier, it was "waiting" for the right time to operate," said Mr. Thu.

The two books, which are a collection of issues of Nhanh Lua and Kinh Te Tan Van, are valuable sources of information collected, edited and introduced by Mr. Duong Phuoc Thu.

PHOTO: HOANG SON

Through collection and editing, Mr. Thu discovered that there were 9 articles by Hai Trieu published in Nhanh Lua that were not included in Hai Trieu Complete Works . For example: A letter returned to the sender ( Nhanh Lua No. 1, published on January 15, 1937); Words that the people of Indochina will never forget ( Nhanh Lua No. 2, published on January 22, 1937); We are very concerned about the recent ban of the two newspapers Tieng Tre, Ha Noi and other newspapers ( Nhanh Lua No. 3, published on January 29, 1937); More than ten thousand farmers, workers, students and small traders welcomed the Ambassador Laborer of the Popular Front Government ( Nhan Lua No. 8, special issue about welcoming Mr. Godard, published on March 5, 1937)... Continuing to collect, Mr. Thu found two more articles by Hai Trieu published in the newspaper Phu Nu Tan Tien (No. 3, published on March 5, 1934) and No. 4 (published on April 5, 1934).

From the survey results, Mr. Duong Phuoc Thu said that from March 1928 until his death in August 1954, Hai Trieu wrote many famous polemic articles in many fields for 27 major newspapers in the North, South and in Lien khu 4. Adding up all his articles, there are currently 93 works found.

Regarding some of the positions that journalist Hai Trieu had held, Mr. Thu discovered the newspaper Thi dua ai quoc of Lien khu 4 and learned that Hai Trieu had been the editor-in-chief of this newspaper since July 1948. By March 1949, Hai Trieu was the editor-in-chief of the magazine Hiem hiem of the Marxist Research Association of Lien khu 4...

"Regarding the "space" of documents about Hai Trieu, in my opinion, very few people know about the newspaper Thi dua ai quoc , edited by Hai Trieu. Research shows that the theoretical newspaper in Lien khu 4 at that time had not been fully exploited. Those are empty areas that those who want to research can learn more about," Mr. Thu shared.

As a former official of the Hue Journalists Association - a land with many contributions to revolutionary journalism, Mr. Thu studied and clarified the contributions of journalists and admired journalist Hai Trieu even more. "He was a talented and dedicated journalist, leaving behind works full of news agency qualities. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Vietnam's Revolutionary Press Day, Hai Trieu is a person who deserves to be honored," said Mr. Thu. (to be continued)