From the story of naming the Voice of the People Newspaper

(DS 6/21) - In 1927, Huynh Thuc Khang and his "comrades" decided to open a national language newspaper in the Central region. Because according to him, "a hundred thousand soldiers are not worth one newspaper". In "Huynh Thuc Khang's Chronicle & Poetry in Response to Marquis Cuong De" (Van Hoa Thong Tin Publishing House, 2000), he said: "There is one thing worth telling: Mr. Sao Nam and his comrades organized a political party and simultaneously opened a newspaper. The majority agreed, but they hoped that a few famous people of the time would take charge. But in my opinion, a newspaper in the Central region is more necessary, and the issue of a political party is a secondary matter..." (page 62).

Therefore: “In the first year of Bao Dai (Binh Dan - 1926)… On the opening day of the parliament, I was again elected by the delegates as Speaker. After the first opening of the Council, my colleagues and I planned to open a newspaper, because there had never been a newspaper in Central Vietnam before” (pages 61, 62).

On October 8, 1926, he submitted an application to publish the newspaper, headquartered in Da Nang . On February 12, 1927, Governor General of Indochina Pasquier signed a decision allowing the newspaper to be published, but with strict regulations and the headquarters had to be moved to Hue.

The intention of this article is not to discuss the "characteristics" and the operation of the newspaper, but only to borrow the story of naming the newspaper at that time to think about a social phenomenon one hundred years later.

Many documents state that the newspaper was originally intended to be named “Trung Thanh” which meant both the voice of honesty and the voice of the Central region. Then someone suggested taking the name “Dan Thanh” which meant the voice of the people. Mr. Huynh came to ask Mr. Phan Boi Chau for his opinion, Mr. Phan said “Since it is a national language newspaper, wouldn’t it be clearer to name it Tieng Dan?”

So, two senior Confucian scholars agreed to choose a pure Vietnamese name for the newspaper: Tiếng Dân. From August 10, 1927, the newspaper appeared before the people with the word “Tieng Dân” printed in large, bold letters above; below was added the small French sentence “La Voix du Peuple”. Just by looking at the name of the newspaper, readers will easily see its purpose as well as the status of its founder.

The name shows that the newspaper’s founders have a spirit of radical “innovation and renewal”. They were not “slaves” but broke away from the old culture in which they were “bathed” to contribute to “purifying the Vietnamese language”.

Remember that at that time, although Sinology was not yet developed in the whole country, the national language was not yet popular. Most of the names of the newspapers were Sino-Vietnamese words such as Nu gioi chung (Women's bell), Phu nu tan van, Nong Co min dam (Drinking tea while discussing farming and trading), Huu Thanh, Nam Phong, Thanh Nghi, Tri Tan...

In the past, due to being dominated by the Chinese feudal regime, our ancestors had no other choice but to use Chinese characters in written documents and Vietnamese in daily communication.

Therefore, ancient Vietnamese texts were all written in Chinese characters, following ancient grammar and style. Therefore, texts, temples, shrines, clan temples, steles, parallel sentences, worship banners, etc., Chinese literature following ancient grammar and style were commonly used.

With the spirit of independence, our ancestors found a way to escape this situation by inventing Nom script. Nom script is actually modified Chinese characters, borrowing pronunciation or word meaning to create Vietnamese words, reading Vietnamese meaning. Therefore, when a person speaks or writes Nom script, that means that person writes Chinese characters but has been re-created into Vietnamese pronunciation, only Vietnamese people can understand when reading and listening.

Nowadays, although Chinese characters are only a means to study ancient culture, there are still many “nostalgic” people who, under the pretext of “preserving traditional culture”, “prefer” to use Chinese characters with grammar following the ancient style of Chinese (I am not talking about Sino-Vietnamese). This can be seen most clearly in the construction of churches, temples, tombs, etc.

Nowadays, how many people can read Chinese characters? Yet, on the steles and nameplates of many clan temples, shrines, etc., they are written in Chinese characters with ancient grammar. Instead of writing in Quoc Ngu: Nguyen clan temple (Le, Huynh, Tran...) or Nguyen clan temple (Le, Huynh, Tran...) are written in Chinese characters: 阮(黎,黃, 陈...) 祠堂 (Nguyen (Le, Huynh, Tran)... ancestral temple).

Sometimes, a Nom sentence with the same meaning is added below. With its Chinese writing and ancient grammar, few people can read and understand it today, let alone in the future.

In writing and reading prayers, Vietnamese people have always communicated with each other in Vietnamese, but when making offerings, people pray in Chinese characters with an ancient grammar style, which is still applied today. Here is an example of a passage in the memorial prayer: “Vietnam country, Quang Nam province, … district, … commune, … village, … region. This year… month… day… Today, for the sake of the inner grandson…, the seventh generation…, the whole family, men and women, of all ages, sincerely and carefully use the offerings of incense, candles, wine, green rice, flowers and fruits, and pay homage to the rituals of the second-class… Tri te vu…”. Reading/listening to this prayer, how many of you understand the meaning of the sentences and words?

Recalling the story of naming the newspaper back then to think about a social phenomenon today with the desire to have appropriate behavior in line with the so-called "preservation of traditional values"!

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