Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community

Liam C. Kelley
Gerard Sasges Editors

Vietnam Over
the Long
Twentieth
Century
Becoming Modern, Going Global
Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space
and Community

Series Editors
Phan Le Ha, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, Universiti Brunei
Darussalam, Brunei-Muara, Brunei Darussalam
Liam C. Kelley , Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam,
Brunei-Muara, Brunei Darussalam
This book series is committed to advancing scholarship on Vietnam and Vietnam-
related issues and to nurturing a new generation of Vietnam scholars in arts, human-
ities, education and social sciences, and interdisciplinary studies. It engages with
Vietnam in global contexts and with global Vietnam across time, space and commu-
nity. It features new writings and understandings that reflect nuances, complexities
and dynamic that Vietnam in all of its possible meanings and constructs has inspired,
generated and pushed. It recognises the ever expanding circles of Vietnam scholars
around the world whose scholarship can be seen as the products of a new era when
knowledge production has become increasingly globalized and decentralized. All of
these have been reflected and in motion in the well-established over-a-decade-long
Engaging With Vietnam conference series, of which this book series is an offspring.
For more, visit: https://engagingwithvietnam.org/global-vietnam-book-series/
Liam C. Kelley · Gerard Sasges
Editors

Vietnam Over the Long

Twentieth Century
Becoming Modern, Going Global
Editors
Liam C. Kelley Gerard Sasges
Institute of Asian Studies Department of Southeast Asia Studies
Universiti Brunei Darussalam National University of Singapore
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam Singapore, Singapore

ISSN 2731-7552 ISSN 2731-7560 (electronic)

Global Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community
ISBN 978-981-97-3610-2 ISBN 978-981-97-3611-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3611-9

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2024. This book is an open access publication.

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Contents

1 Introduction: Documenting Vietnam over the Long Twentieth

Century—Becoming Modern, Going Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Liam C. Kelley and Gerard Sasges
2 Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study of Civilizational Discourse
in the Historical Narratives in Colonial Vietnam (1900–1915) . . . . . . 13
Ran Tai
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote
to Change Vietnamese Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Phuong Ngoc Nguyen
4 An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform in Late
Colonial Vietnam: The Journalistic Art of the Possible in Phụ
nữ tân văn’s “Travel Stories” and “Letters for You” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Thanh Phùng and Đăng Minh Vũ
5 Between the Sacred and the Secular: Publishing, Books,
and Everyday Life in Colonial Cochinchina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Vy Cao
6 Multiple Agents Involved in the Localization of Our Lady
of La Vang: From a Mythic Figure to the Mother of Vietnam . . . . . . 101
Van Bien Duong
7 Another Kind of Vietnamization: Language Policies in Higher
Education in the Two Vietnams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Hieu Nam Trung Le
8 Not so Honest Relations: Top-Level Polish-Vietnamese
Contacts 1965–1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Jarema Słowiak

v
vi Contents

9 New Voices in a New World—Media Portrayal

of the Experiences of German Reunification in 1990
by Vietnamese Contract Workers in East Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Julia L. Behrens and Nikolai Okunew
10 JICA’s Legal Technical Assistance Projects in Vietnam,
Cambodia and Laos Since the 1990s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Nobumichi Teramura
Editors and Contributors

About the Editors

Liam C. Kelley is an associate professor of Southeast Asian Studies in the Institute of

Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). He is an historian of Vietnam
and Southeast Asia. His research and publications have focused on premodern Viet-
namese history and the transition to modernity in the early twentieth century. For
roughly the past decade, he has, together with Senior Professor Phan Lê Hà of the
Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education at UBD, co-organized the Engaging
With Vietnam (EWV) conference series and in recent years has served as an editor for
various publication projects emerging from EWV conferences, including the volume
Vietnam at the Vanguard: New Perspectives Across Time, Space, and Community
(Springer, 2021).

Gerard Sasges is an associate professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies

at Singapore National University. He is an historian of technology, development, and
the environment, with a focus on Vietnam from 1900 to the present. His research uses
non-Western histories of technology to reshape our understanding of development
under capitalist and socialist regimes and its relationship to the environment and
to the lived experience. He has recently published a monograph entitled Imperial
Intoxication: Alcohol and the Making of Colonial Indochina (University of Hawaii
Press, 2017).

Contributors

Julia L. Behrens VLab Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Vy Cao Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France

vii
viii Editors and Contributors

Van Bien Duong Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam,

Gadong, Brunei Darussalam;
Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam
Liam C. Kelley Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Bandar Seri Begawan,
Brunei
Hieu Nam Trung Le Duy Tan University, Danang, Vietnam
Phuong Ngoc Nguyen Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, IRASIA, Marseille, France
Nikolai Okunew Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History in Potsdam, Potsdam,
Germany
Thanh Phùng VNU University, Hà Nội, Vietnam
Gerard Sasges National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, Singapore
Jarema Słowiak Institute of History at Jagiellonian University in Kraków,
Kraków, Poland
Ran Tai University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Nobumichi Teramura Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam,
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Đăng Minh Vũ VNU University, Hà Nội, Vietnam
List of Figures

Fig. 5.1 Number of non-periodical deposits in the Indochinese

Union (1930–1944). Source Author, based on Boudet
and Bourgeois 1922–1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Fig. 5.2 Number of non-periodical deposits in Cochinchina
(1930–1944). Source Author, based on Boudet
and Bourgeois 1922–1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Fig. 5.3 Temples and pagodas that gave money to print
at the Imprimerie du Mékong between 1933 and 1942.
Source Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

ix
List of Photos

Photo 5.1 Example of a donation record on Heurist database

with description and geographical coordinates. Source
Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Photo 9.1 Facing unemployment but relying on transnational
networks some Vietnamese opened illegal street markets.
A new phenomenon in East Berlin. Source Doc. 27; TC
17:12:25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Photo 9.2 Women arrested trying to cross the border
at the Brandenburg Gate while Germans passed back
and forth. Source Doc. 31; TC 11:08:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Photo 9.3 A recurring theme in memory and reporting is
the separation between Germans and Vietnamese
in everyday work, such as during the lunch break. Source
Doc. 31; TC: 10:21:43 and 10:32:369 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

xi
Chapter 1
Introduction: Documenting Vietnam
over the Long Twentieth
Century—Becoming Modern, Going
Global

Liam C. Kelley and Gerard Sasges

1.1 Introduction

Over the past century, Vietnam has undergone a remarkable series of transforma-
tions. If we could go back in time to the mid-nineteenth century, we would find
an early modern kingdom deeply influenced by Sinitic culture. By the end of the
nineteenth century, some members of that elite, now under French colonial rule but
still connected to a broader East Asian intellectual network, began to examine an
alternative to their cultural world, the world of Western culture. The door to that
world opened and new ideas and practices rapidly transformed elements of Viet-
namese society through a process that has often been labeled as “modernization” or
“Westernization.” While such terms suggest a uniform process, the reality was of
course very complex as there were different forms of modernity and the West was
not homogenous.
This complexity became extremely evident in the post-colonial era in Vietnam,
as the northern half of the country pursued a socialist vision of modernity following
such approaches in the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China while the
southern half sought to create a new society that was in part inspired by the philosophy
of Personalism. With the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the path to a socialist vision
of modernity became the official direction for the entire country to pursue, and with
the deterioration of relations with China following the 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War,

L. C. Kelley (B)
Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
e-mail: liam.kelley@ubd.edu.bn
G. Sasges
National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore, Singapore
e-mail: Gerard.sasges@nus.edu.sg

© The Author(s) 2024 1

L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges (eds.), Vietnam Over the Long Twentieth Century, Global
Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3611-9_1
2 L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges

the Soviet Union became the main guiding light for that journey. Soviet experts
visited Vietnam and Vietnamese students and workers traveled to the USSR and the
Eastern Bloc, while hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese who did not share this
vision of the future fled as refugees and established diasporic communities around
the globe. Finally, beginning with the Đổi Mới reforms of 1986, the doors to a wider
outside world gradually opened and Vietnamese began to consider how they could
integrate into a globalizing world.
In this synopsis of the history of Vietnam over what we can call “the long twentieth
century,” we can see two key points. First, we see Vietnam actively participating in
the global circulation of ideas and people. Second, we also see a perpetual effort
to achieve some form of modernity that is always imminent but seemingly never
achieved, as political developments have repeatedly changed the focus of the desired
form of modernity for the nation. The chapters in this volume document different
stages in these long and interconnected processes of engaging with the outside world
and seeking some form of modernity. Further, they do so by bringing together the
strengths of two approaches to historical scholarship, what we can call the Area
Studies language-based, nation-focused approach with the more recent transnational
or global approach to studying the past.

1.2 Area Studies and Global Studies

Modernity is, of course, an enormous topic that has been dealt with extensively
by scholars. Once seen as a uniquely European phenomenon characterized by a
move toward secularization, rationality and individualism that developed from the
Renaissance and the Enlightenment and then spread to other parts of the globe in
the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it is more common today to see
the term “modernity” used in the plural, with reference to “multiple modernities”
(Eisenstadt 2002). This concept of multiple modernities is employed by scholars to
argue that there are various forms of modernity that historically emerged across the
globe, and that each can only be understood in its specific historical, cultural, and
political context.
This task of understanding the specific historical, cultural, and political contexts
of places around the globe has long been the purview of the field of Area Studies,
with its emphasis on linguistic training and deep knowledge of individual societies.
However, in recent decades Asian Studies, a subfield of Area Studies, has undergone
an intellectual transformation that has moved Asian Studies scholarship from its
language-based and nation-focused origins to a new emphasis on researching transna-
tional topics, research that at times relies heavily, and at times even exclusively, on
Western-language sources.
With the end of the Cold War and the rise of globalization, there were Asian Studies
scholars who came to believe that their focus on individual, or at times national,
societies was insufficient for understanding the connections between societies and
nations that globalization was illuminating. Funding agencies agreed, and starting
1 Introduction: Documenting Vietnam over the Long Twentieth … 3

in the 1990s, there were calls for “border-crossing” scholarship and in the early
2000s for research that focused on “inter-Asian connections” (Kelley 2021: 362–
365). Further, in recent years such approaches have continued to be championed as
the way forward for Asian Studies (Chua et al. 2019: 45).
In response to these calls, numerous works have been published since the 1990s
that seek to examine various aspects of the history of Asia in regional or global
perspectives, from Asia as a whole (Gunn 2011, 2021; Tagliacozzo 2022), to sub-
regions like Southeast Asia (Reid 1988, 1995; Andaya 2006; Lieberman 2003, 2009;
Lockard 2009), to individual countries like China (Adshead 2000, 2004; Ropp 2010).
Additionally, leading journals like the Journal of Asian Studies have promoted such
topics as interconnections among Asian countries (Duara 2010; Sen 2010; Andaya
2010), and “Global Asias” (Yano 2021; Chen 2021; Ryang 2021), a new field that
seeks to merge Asian Studies with Asian American Studies. Finally, at the insti-
tutional level, the 2010s saw the emergence of various centers focusing on “global
Asia” or “global Asian Studies” (Sato and Sonoda 2021: 207–208). There are now, for
instance, global Asia research centers at Waseda University1 and National Taiwan
University.2 There is a Global Asia Institute at the National University of Singa-
pore3 , while the University of Hong Kong features an Asia Global Institute4 and
NYU Shanghai, meanwhile, is home to a Center for Global Asia.5 Beyond the Asian
region, there is a Stockholm Center for Global Asia6 and a Global Asia Institute at
Pace University7 in the USA as well as various programs and initiatives around the
world that focus on various forms of global Asian Studies (Sato and Sonoda 2021:
207–208).
While the above scholarship and institutions have responded to the call to examine
Asia from transnational and global perspectives in diverse ways, we can nonethe-
less identify certain commonalities. In terms of scholarship, many of the works that
promote this approach rely heavily on Western-language and secondary sources.
While one could argue that works of theorization and broad synthesis of regional
or global topics necessitate such an approach, we also can find an extremely heavy
reliance on Western-language sources, and particularly English-language sources, in
studies that deal with transnational topics that are more limited in scope. To be fair,
we are of course today the benefactors of decades of scholarship in that language and
English has now become the dominant and “desired” global language (Phan 2017);
nonetheless, we would argue that this emphasis on researching transnational topics
combined with the convenience of accessing abundant English-language scholar-
ship has nonetheless moved Asian Studies away from its professed core strength,

1 https://www.waseda.jp/global-asia/. Accessed 01 March 2023.

2 https://coss.ntu.edu.tw/cossEN/cp_n_1907.html. Accessed 01 March 2023.
3 https://www.gai.nus.edu.sg/. Accessed 01 March 2023.
4 https://www.asiaglobalinstitute.hku.hk/. Accessed 01 March 2023.
5 https://cga.shanghai.nyu.edu/. Accessed 01 March 2023.
6 https://www.su.se/stockholm-center-for-global-asia/. Accessed 01 March 2023.
7 . https://www.pace.edu/dyson/faculty-and-research/research-centers-and-initiatives/global-asia-

institute/institute. Accessed 01 March 2023.

4 L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges

language-based research. As such, while some may see such scholarship as the way
to move Area/Asian Studies forward, one could also argue that it is undermining that
field by neglecting its main contribution.
In terms of the “global Asian Studies” institutions that have been established,
we can also detect a commonality in that many are devoted to the examination of
contemporary affairs. The Global Asia Research Center at National Taiwan Univer-
sity, for instance, focuses on the following areas: Family, Population and Gender;
Ethnicity and Migration; Global Economy and Local Inequality; Civil Society and
Social Movements; Urban Development and Governance; Global Culture, Religion
and Consumption.8 The core research programs at the National University of Singa-
pore’s Global Asia Institute are Behavior Change, Health Care, Data Analytics, and
Interdisciplinary Research.9 The same focus on contemporary affairs can be found at
other centers and programs as well, with the result that historical scholarship plays a
minor role in how “Global Asia” is being envisioned (see the comments by Tamara
Sears in Isaac et al. 2021).
Alongside this trend to promote global and transnational scholarship has been a
move to globalize nation studies. This is a phenomenon that we can detect in the
emergence of programs and initiatives that focus on such topics as “Global Japan”
or “Global China.” While some, like the Global Japan Lab at Princeton University,10
focus on contemporary affairs, others, such as the Global China Studies major at NYU
Shanghai,11 attempt to meld the traditional Area Studies language-based approach
with the insights gained from an understanding of transnational and global contexts.
Finally, one graduate program that bridges the above two approaches is the PhD in
Comparative Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore.12 Among the
program’s requirements is proficiency in two Asian languages, as candidates are
expected to bring the language-based approach of Area Studies to their study of a
transnational or comparative topic.

1.3 The Field of Vietnamese History

This trend toward producing transnational or global scholarship, and particularly

the tendency to produce scholarship that is heavily based on secondary sources in
Western languages, particularly English, is one that has generally not been adopted
by scholars who work on Vietnam. While scholars inside Vietnam largely focus their
research on the nation, employ Vietnamese language sources, and have been less
influenced by international scholarly trends, for many of the foreign scholars who
work on Vietnam today, linguistic ability has served as an essential element in their

8 https://garc.ntu.edu.tw/en/. Accessed 01 March 2023.

9 https://www.gai.nus.edu.sg/#about. Accessed 01 March 2023.
10 https://gjl.princeton.edu/. Accessed 03 March 2023.
11 https://gcs.shanghai.nyu.edu/. Accessed 03 March 2023.
12 https://fass.nus.edu.sg/cas/. Assessed 03 March 2023.
1 Introduction: Documenting Vietnam over the Long Twentieth … 5

scholarship. Whereas there were foreign scholars who worked on Vietnam beginning
in the 1950s and 1960s who had limited or no linguistic ability in Vietnamese,
starting in the 1990s, a new and sizable generation of foreign scholars emerged
whose scholarship is defined by its reliance on Vietnamese language sources.
This transformation took place as Vietnam opened to the world in the 1990s and
foreign scholars were able to visit that country and conduct research. As such, just as
scholars who focus on other areas were beginning to examine transnational topics, a
new generation of Vietnam scholars were, for the first time, able to engage in serious
language-based and archival scholarship on Vietnam, which in the case of Vietnam,
includes the use of Vietnamese, French, and classical Chinese. In the late 1990s and
into the 2000s, numerous monographs on Vietnamese history emerged that were
marked by their significant engagement with Vietnamese language sources. To give
some examples, there were works that were primarily based on Vietnamese sources
(Ninh 2002; McHale 2004; Dutton 2006; Dror 2007), Vietnamese and French sources
(Zinoman 2001; Taylor 2004; Ramsay 2008; Goscha 2012), Vietnamese and classical
Chinese sources (Li 1998; Kelley 2005), as well as works on the Vietnam war that
made use of Vietnamese archival sources (Asselin 2002; Nguyen 2012; Miller 2013).
That said, this does not mean that scholars working on Vietnam are unaware
of or ignore the larger transnational or global contexts in which their linguistically
informed research is located. Instead, it is that this element of their research has
not been highlighted or made the focus. However, on close inspection, one finds
that particularly in recent years it has become ubiquitous. Such diverse topics as the
Catholic church (Keith 2012), the colonial alcohol monopoly (Sasges 2017), repub-
licanism (Zinoman 2013; Goscha 2016; Tran and Vu 2022), the Communist revolu-
tion (Vu 2016), the Battle of Điện Biên Phủ (Goscha 2022), land reform (Holcombe
2020), cosmopolitan nationalism (Nguyen 2020), and masculinity (Tran 2017) are
only understandable in larger global contexts and the authors of the above recent
works all examine and discuss those contexts.

1.4 The Chapters

The chapters in this volume reflect this approach to the study of Vietnam. All the
chapters have transnational or global elements; however, their authors are also deeply
attuned to language and highlight the importance of using sources in vernacular
languages, and classical Chinese in the case of the first chapter, to understand how
Vietnamese engaged with diverse currents of modernity across the long twentieth
century. This engagement with language and the documents that record it is what
the “documenting” in our chapter title refers to. Not only do the authors in this
volume “document” forms of modernity in their chapters, but many deal with actual
“documents” that were employed to promote various elements of modernity.
The opening chapter of the volume, Ran Tai’s “Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study
of Civilizational Discourse in the Historical Narratives in Colonial Vietnam (1900–
1915),” is a perfect example of this. Here the author examines the introduction into
6 L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges

Vietnam of the Western concept of “civilization.” This concept was appropriated by

certain members of the Vietnamese elite in the early twentieth century as it made
its way to Vietnam through the medium of Chinese, traveling across knowledge
networks in East Asia, from Japan to China to Vietnam. Ran Tai documents this
process by examining some of the actual documents that were written to promote
this new concept. Further, he makes the novel contribution of examining works
written by pro-French Vietnamese intellectuals, a group that has long been neglected
in the scholarship on modern Vietnamese history.
The Western concept of civilization encompassed many different elements that
were emphasized in varying ways by the Westernizing members of Vietnamese
society in the early twentieth century. One fascinating example is the subject of
Chap. 2, “Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change
Vietnamese Society” by Phuong Ngoc Nguyen. Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa was an early
modernizer who through her writings documented the possibilities for Vietnamese
women in the new world of “civilization.” This included research that she conducted
on the ancient kingdom of Champa as well as a novel about a French woman who
married a Vietnamese soldier in France during World War I and who traveled to
Vietnam to find him after the war had ended. Through these writings, Huỳnh Thị
Bảo Hòa sought to bring change to Vietnam, particularly to the lives of women.
In addition to Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa, there were other people in early twentieth
century Vietnam who sought to modernize the lives of women, and this is a topic
that is addressed in Chap. 3, “An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform
in Late Colonial Vietnam: The Journalistic Art of the Possible in Phụ nữ tân văn’s
‘Travel Stories’ and ‘Letters for You’” by Thanh Phùng and Đăng Minh Vũ. In this
chapter, the authors examine two regular columns in a newspaper called Women’s
News (Phụ nữ tân văn) and identify what they call an educational regime of truth for
social reform in late colonial Vietnam. In particular, Phùng and Vũ argue that while
there are elements about these columns, such as their supposed female authorship,
that are questionable, these writings sought to document a vision of a modern society
that served to educate their readers about the possibilities of the future.
For writings to serve this potential, they had to be able to reach people through
sale or dissemination, and this is the topic of Chap. 4, “Between Sacred and Secular:
Publishing, Books, and Everyday Life in Colonial Cochinchina” by Cao Vy. In this
chapter, Cao Vy examines the global circulation and manipulation of documents, first
from the archival services of colonial Indochina to the French National Library and
finally to newly digitized archives. Through a careful reading of these documents,
Cao Vy maps the extensive, vibrant landscape of colonial publishing. Focusing on
the practice of book donation, Cao Vy reveals the convergence of commerce and
religion in colonial publishing and shows how new technologies could be used to
create, rather than dissolve social ties. In this way, this chapter opens a window into
the social world of early twentieth-century Cochinchina and its complex mix of the
traditional and the modern, the local and the global.
A prime example of the convergence of publishing and religion that led to
enhanced social ties is the topic of Chap. 5, “Multiple-Agents Involved in the Local-
ization Our Lady of La Vang: From a Mythic Figure to the Mother of Vietnam,” by
1 Introduction: Documenting Vietnam over the Long Twentieth … 7

Duong Van Bien. In this chapter, the author examines how a version of the Virgin
Mary worshiped in central Vietnam, Our Lady of La Vang, was transformed over
the course of the twentieth century into a symbol of the Vietnamese nation and Viet-
namese indigeneity. This transformation relied heavily on the deployment of modern
print publications. At the same time, however, the novel ways in which Our Lady of
Vietnam was depicted and explained were also influenced by Vietnamese politics in
the post-colonial era. Indeed, politics became paramount in the post-colonial years
and that is evident in the following two chapters as well.
In Chap. 6, “Another kind of Vietnamization: Language Policies in Higher Educa-
tion in the Two Vietnams,” Le Nam Trung Hieu foregrounds the issue of language and
its role in processes of colonization, decolonization, and nation-building. After 1945,
leaders in both Vietnams prioritized the adoption of Vietnamese as the language of
instruction for new and modern national educational systems. Higher education was a
particular challenge, requiring the development of entire new vocabularies for topics
that had previously been taught in French. Le Nam Trung Hieu’s work highlights
the immense labor necessary to make ideas circulate, the crucial roles of individual
academics in both the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in the north and the
Republic of Vietnam (RVN) in the south, and the way processes of translation and
circulation are inherently political. In the end, the different processes the two regimes
employed to build new vocabularies and curriculums reflected their divergent visions
of a modern Vietnam.
Chapter 7, “Not So Honest Relations: Top Level Polish-Vietnamese Contacts
1965–1970” by Jarema Słowiak then looks more closely at one of those visions of
a modern Vietnam, the vision of socialist modernity that was pursued in the North.
Here, Słowiak uses a very different kind of document, the records of the Polish
Foreign Ministry, to locate the DRV in the larger socialist world. Slowiak reveals
intra-bloc relations as complex, multifaceted, and occasionally acrimonious. Polish
Communist Party First Secretary Władysław Gomułka actively avoided additional
aid commitments, questioned his Vietnamese counterpart Lê Duẩn’s understanding
of global politics, and deplored DRV strategies that he felt led to needless loss of
life. For his part, Lê Duẩn considered his Polish counterpart a revisionist with little
appetite for global revolution. Beneath a veneer of fraternal solidarity, erstwhile allies
pursued their own goals and followed their own paths to socialist modernity.
That one can use Polish sources to seek to understand North Vietnam in the 1960s,
as Słowiak does, points to an important issue. We listed above the various monographs
on Vietnamese history that have been published in the past twenty-five years that rely
on such languages as Vietnamese, French, and classical Chinese. These languages
have long been recognized as essential for researching about Vietnamese history.
However, starting in the second half of the twentieth century, Vietnam became ever
more interconnected with the rest of the globe, a process that particularly picked up
speed in the 1990s following the Đổi Mới reforms of 1986. As such, for scholars
who focus on historical topics in this period, there are other languages that can be
employed, and with the establishment of Vietnamese diasporic communities around
the world, “Vietnam” can be examined in multifaceted ways.
8 L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges

This is precisely what we find in Chap. 8, “New Voices in A New World—

Media Portrayal of the Experiences of German Reunification in 1990 by Viet-
namese Contract Workers in East Germany” by Julia Behrens and Nicolai Okunew.
In this chapter, Behrens and Okunew take us to the time of the dissolution of the
socialist bloc in 1990. They use a unique document—transcripts of a weekly radio
program produced in East Germany for Vietnamese contract workers—to broaden
our perspective on a turning point in global history. The loosening of censorship
allowed the program’s producers to call into question claims of “international soli-
darity” and reveal the insecurity and racism experienced by Vietnamese during what
East Germans call the “year of anarchy.” Media reports also demonstrate the agency
and resilience of Vietnamese as they adapted to rapid economic and social change.
Finally, Behrens and Okunew trace reciprocal flows of ideas about freedom, democ-
racy, and (post-)socialist modernity between Germany and Vietnam at a time when
the latter was experiencing its own process of reform and transition. When contract
workers eventually returned to Vietnam, they brought their experiences, networks,
and ideas with them.
Contract workers returning from East Germany were not the only people who
arrived in Vietnam in the 1990s with ideas about how the country could or should
be reformed. There were foreign specialists who did the same, and this is the topic
of Chap. 9, “JICA’s Legal Technical Assistance Projects in Vietnam, Cambodia, and
Laos since the 1990s” by Nobumichi Teramura. In particular, Teramura examines the
work of Japanese legal experts who were sent by the Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) to assist with legal reform in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. In doing
so, these legal experts found themselves competing with experts sent from other
international agencies as well as Vietnamese government officials who had clear
ideas about what kinds of legal reforms they felt were acceptable.
While the opening chapter by Ran Tai and the closing chapter by Nobumichi
Teramura are very different in content, those differences serve as ideal symbols
of the incredible transformations that Vietnam underwent over the course of the
long twentieth century, transformations that are documented in various ways in the
intervening chapters. At the turn of the twentieth century, Vietnamese intellectuals
struggled to educate their colleagues about the Western concept of “civilization” by
writing about this concept in classical Chinese while at the turn of the twenty-first
century Vietnamese officials used English to engage with experts from Japan, the
USA, and other countries about how to implement legal reforms. In both instances,
Vietnamese were attempting to establish a form of modernity in Vietnam. However,
we perhaps can see a change in scope, from an effort to “become modern” at the turn
of the twentieth century by engaging with new concepts from the West to an effort
to “go global” at the turn of the twenty-first century by taking the larger world as a
model for modernizing reform. Hence, the title of this volume.
1 Introduction: Documenting Vietnam over the Long Twentieth … 9

1.5 Conclusion

All but one of the chapters in this volume (Chap. 6) were first presented as papers
at the 12th Engaging With Vietnam (EWV) conference, held 24–28 August 2021.
This conference was organized in conjunction with the 12th International Convention
of Asia Scholars (ICAS) conference and was scheduled to be held at Kyoto Seika
University in Japan; however, due to the pandemic, the conference was moved online.
The theme of the 12th EWV conference was “Engaging with Vietnam and ASEAN:
Mobilities and Identities in an Age of Global Transformation.” Of the roughly 200
presentations that were made at that conference, there were a good number that
dealt with historical issues, and some of those papers appear here in this volume.
Further, what we found that united these papers was the fact that they all addressed
topics that involved transnational or global issues, thus mirroring the development
we have seen in recent years in the larger field of Vietnamese history. Therefore, in
this volume, we have sought to highlight that transnational/global element but at the
same time to also recognize the degree to which these chapters, like much of the
recent scholarship on Vietnamese history, is still deeply grounded in traditional Area
Studies language-based research. We feel that this combination is a great strength,
and we wish to highlight and celebrate it here. Finally, we should note that many of
the authors in this volume are at the early stages of their careers. As such, not only
does the scholarship here indicate where research on Vietnamese history currently
stands, but also it points toward an exciting future for the field.

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Liam C. Kelley is an associate professor of Southeast Asian Studies in the Institute of Asian
Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD). He is an historian of Vietnam and Southeast Asia.
His research and publications have focused on premodern Vietnamese history and the transition to
modernity in the early twentieth century. For roughly the past decade, he has, together with Senior
Professor Phan Lê Hà of the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education at UBD, co-organized
the Engaging With Vietnam (EWV) conference series and in recent years has served as editor for
various publication projects emerging from EWV conferences, including the volume Vietnam at
the Vanguard: New Perspectives Across Time, Space, and Community (Springer, 2021).

Gerard Sasges is an associate professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the
National University of Singapore (NUS). An historian of technology, development, and the envi-
ronment, with a focus on Vietnam from 1900 to the present. His research uses non-Western histo-
ries of technology to reshape our understanding of development under capitalist and socialist
regimes and its relationship to the environment and to lived experience. He has recently published
a monograph entitled Imperial Intoxication: Alcohol and the Making of Colonial Indochina
(University of Hawaii Press, 2017).

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder.
Chapter 2
Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study
of Civilizational Discourse
in the Historical Narratives in Colonial
Vietnam (1900–1915)

Ran Tai

2.1 Introduction: The Duy Tân Movement

and the Emergence of Nation-Centered Historical
Writing

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the last traditional Vietnamese regime, the
Nguyễn Dynasty (1802–1945) suffered from a series of crises from French military
aggression. Having ceded to the French, three provinces in the Mekong Delta in 1862
and three more in 1867, the Nguyễn, in 1883, further agreed to let the remaining
central and northern territories become protectorates, namely, Annam and Tonkin.
The encounter with the French colonial power which claimed for itself the role of a
civilizing savior brought a great shock to the Vietnamese elite and their ideology.
Having a history of sharing Sinitic culture, writing Sinitic characters (Hanzi/Hán
tự 漢字)1 , and composing Literary Sinitic/Classical Chinese texts, the Vietnamese
elite had for centuries accepted a specific kind of civilizational discourse, to under-
stand the order of the world in which they lived. That civilizational discourse was
based on the concept of wenming/văn minh 文明.

1 In the early second millennium CE, there was a writing system called Chữ Nôm
that emerged as an extension of the Sinographic script designed to represent
the Vietnamese lexicon (Phan 2016: 277). According to John Phan’s analysis of the prefaces of an
early-modern Sino-Vietnamese dictionary (Chỉ Nam Ngọc Âm Giải Nghĩa 指南玉音解義), Chữ
Nôm should not be regarded as a vernacular alternative to Sinitic characters but as a legitimate
augmentation of the intellectual machinery of Sinitic writing and thus capable of “domesticating”
thought and culture perceived as wild or unorthodox into literate civilization (Phan 2013: 2).

R. Tai (B)
University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
e-mail: r.tai@rug.nl

© The Author(s) 2024 13

L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges (eds.), Vietnam Over the Long Twentieth Century, Global
Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3611-9_2
14 R. Tai

The word wenming originated in a famous East Asian divination book, the Classic
of Changes (Yijing 易經). The earliest parts of this book can be traced back to the
period between the fourth and second centuries BCE, during which time the word
wen 文 meant “patterns” and ming 明 denoted “illuminated and manifested bril-
liantly.” The compound word, wenming, referred to the patterns emerging from
people’s divination about and observation of heaven, earth, and human behavior.
These patterns, according to Yufen Chang, grew into China’s earliest writing script,
which gradually endowed wen with such meanings as “words,” “characters,” “writ-
ings,” “texts,” “learning,” “literature,” “belles-lettres,” etc., and covered it with an
aura of sacredness and magic (Chang 2020: 5–6). Around the middle of the first
millennium BCE, the concept of wen was used by the people who claimed them-
selves as civilized to differentiate themselves from people whom they perceived as
barbarian and illiterate. Through the effort of “a small group of masters of state-
craft and moral philosophy,” a collective “civilizational consciousness” emerged in
early China (Bergeton 2019: 3). As many scholars have pointed out, early Chinese
empires developed this “civilizational consciousness” as an important discourse to
help manage and control the empire (Brindley 2021: 5; Chang 2020: 6).
Having a millennium-long history under Chinese administrative rule, the Viet-
namese elite came to share this premodern civilizational discourse centered around
Confucian music-rites, traditions, and praxis, and viewed themselves as the legitimate
representative of wenming, or văn minh in Vietnamese, and their country a “domain
of manifest civility” (wenxian zhi bang/văn hiến chi bang 文獻之邦). Regarding
it as universalistic, they utilized the civilizational discourse to construct a powerful
imperial ideology and hierarchical ethnography which elevated them to a higher
civilizational order in the establishment of a dominant regional hegemony in the
early-nineteenth century—a period in which they conquered numerous peoples and
states to the south and west of Vietnam, Champa being the most famous example
(Kelley 2005: 30; Tran 2020: 170; Chang 2017: 57; Goscha 2016: 23).
With the Qing dynasty’s struggle to fend off Western encroachment in the middle
of the nineteenth century and particularly its defeat in 1895 by the Westernized Meiji
Japan, however, Vietnamese intellectuals realized that the order of the “Sinographic
cosmopolis”2 could no longer be universalistic—it could not provide a set of princi-
ples to explain the contemporary clashes with the West and the latter’s overwhelming
military victories (Tran 2020: 170; Gadkar-Wilcox 2014: 374; Nguyen 1998: 231).
Facing this declining world system, they had to seek a new paradigm that could help
to understand the position of their country in a new world political order based on
the new concept of sovereign nation states (Carrai 2021: 134).

2 I borrow this term from Ross King. As a response to Sheldon Pollock’s concept the “Sanskrit
Cosmopolis” in South and Southeast Asia, Ross King put forward this concept to refer to the intel-
lectual and literary space self-consciously shared between members of the Sinographic scriptworld
(Phan 2016: 278 and note 7). Here I use this term to not only refer to the long existing intellec-
tual and literary connection among the countries in Sinitic East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, and
Vietnam, in particular), but also to emphasize their long shared and practiced conceptualization of
the Sinitic world order in categorizing and dealing with various political and economic affairs, both
domestically and internationally.
2 Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study of Civilizational Discourse … 15

In the early 1900s, Vietnamese intellectuals launched a reform movement

called “Duy Tân” 維新, literally meaning “reform,” which was inspired by Japan’s
successful Meiji Reformation in 1868 and China’s failed Hundred-Day Reforms
in 1898. Most of the members who led this reform were born in the 1860s and
early 1870s into scholar-gentry families from north and north-central Vietnam,
which meant that they were highly educated in a tradition of Classical Chinese
literature and Confucian thought which emphasized the concept of văn minh (Bradley
2004: 67). Despite their different stances toward French colonization, participants in
this reform shared the same objective of transforming their country into an “enlight-
ened and civilized” nation. They eagerly devoured “new books” (tân thư 新書)
composed by influential Chinese reform scholars including Kang Youwei 康有為
(1858–1927) and Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (1873–1929), acquiring Western knowledge
through the mediation of the Sinographic translational network between Japan and
China (Chang 2020: 8).
New terms that these books introduced, such as state, race, society, sovereignty,
nationality, evolution, competition, were deeply engraved in the minds of these
reformists. They were convinced that without a thorough understanding of these
concepts, the Vietnamese would not be able to become a “civilized” (wenming/
văn minh) society and sovereign nation-state capable of defending its independence
in international competition (Chang 2020: 2). In both Classical Chinese and the
Romanized Vietnamese script (quốc ng˜ư), they wrote in various literary forms such
as journal articles and political pamphlets to passionately expound and dissemi-
nate these new ideas to their fellow Vietnamese. Among these writings, the general
history of the Vietnamese nation emerged as an important genre. Not only anti-
French revolutionaries but also mandarins working for the Nguyễn Dynasty under the
French protectorate actively engaged in the enterprise of composing national histo-
ries. In their writings, new terms pertaining to the ideas of civilization were frequently
used to periodize the history of Vietnam and construct a historical continuity of the
Vietnamese nation.
Most of the existing scholarship on modern Vietnamese historiography has a
particular interest in anti-French historical writings and has provided many insightful
discussions (Marr 1971; Duiker 1976; Woodside 1976; Tai 1996).3 However, little
scholarly attention has been paid to the historical works composed by the Nguyễn
literati-officials collaborating with the French colonial authorities. According to
Sarah Womack, “collaboration” is the mutual accommodation and manipulation of
colonizer and colonized in pursuit of separate agendas. In this sense, “collaborators”
can be regarded as indigenous agents who actively engage with colonial policy and
administration (Womack 2003: 4).
As will be shown in the following sections of this article, the writings of these
collaborating literati-officials not only indicated the complexity of the Vietnamese
perception of French colonization but also the efforts of Vietnamese to establish

3 For a meticulous review of the scholarly discussion about Vietnamese nation-centered historiog-
raphy and its influence, see Nhung Tuyet Tran and Anthony Reid’s “Introduction: The Construction
of Vietnamese Historical Identities” (Tran and Reid 2006: 3–17).
16 R. Tai

a national historiography in which they demonstrated the historical agency of the

Vietnamese people. Therefore, the imbalance in the extant English-language schol-
arship is problematic for three reasons. First, it neglects the dynamics of intellectual
interactions between the anti-French activists and their counterparts who collabo-
rated with the French colonial authorities, which, in turn, has narrowed the scope
of research on anti-French historiography. Second, it tends to simplify and even
caricaturize the picture of the collaborative historiography of Vietnam. Finally, the
omission of a meticulous analysis of the conception of văn minh in these collabora-
tive historical writings has obscured a better understanding of the broader and more
complex conceptual interactions in the Sinographic knowledge network at the turn
of the twentieth century.
Through close readings of the historical texts written by two reformist mandarins
loyal to the Nguyễn Dynasty during the Duy Tân movement, Hoàng Cao Khải’s
1909 Mirror of Việt History (Việt sử kính 越史鏡) and his 1914 Essentials of Việt
History (Việt sử yếu 越史要), and Ngô Giáp Đậu’s 1911 Việt History for Secondary
Schools (Trung học Việt sử toát yếu 中學越史撮要), this chapter will explore how
ideas pertaining to civilization were introduced into Vietnam through the mediation
of a Sinographic translational network and reconfigured into a localized concept of
“văn minh” in the construction of the national history of Vietnam, in this case by the
Vietnamese figures who collaborated with the French.
By placing these historical writings in a broader regional and global context, this
chapter makes two scholarly contributions. First, it challenges the conventional but
influential “Western Impact/Vietnamese Response” paradigm that depicts modern
Vietnamese history as a series of responses to exterior pressure, which risks voiding
all Vietnamese agency from history or subsuming all Vietnamese history into a
Western historical narrative (Wilcox 2010: 5). Focusing on pro-French reformist
historical writings and their interaction with other contemporary historical scholar-
ship produced in East Asia (Japan and China, in particular), this chapter provides a
complex picture of historical knowledge production in colonial Vietnam during the
reform movement in the early-twentieth century. Second, through investigating the
regional context, especially the Sinographic translational network, that shaped Viet-
namese national historical writings, this chapter demonstrates the regional connec-
tivity that mediated the process whereby Vietnamese reconstructed Western knowl-
edge. By focusing on the regional nature of knowledge production, this chapter tran-
scends the dichotomy between Western hegemony and local agency that stresses the
“autonomous” or “Vietnam-centric” point of view in much postcolonial scholarship
on the role of knowledge in modern nation-building.4

4 For a thorough analysis of the existing paradigms in Vietnamese studies, see Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox,
“Introduction: The Co-figuration of Vietnam and the West” (Gadkar-Wilcox 2010: 1–16) and his
“Autonomous Histories and World History” (Gadkar-Wilcox 2012).
2 Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study of Civilizational Discourse … 17

2.2 Translating Civilization: Văn minh as a Neologism

in Colonial Vietnam

Although the Sinocentric political system in East Asia began to collapse in the late-
nineteenth century with the defeat of the Qing empire in the First Sino-Japanese War,
the link between its former center and members based on the shared legacy of the
Chinese script and classical learning was reconfigured as a translational network in
the early-twentieth century. In this emerging network, as Yufen Chang has noted, the
relationship between the constituting societies was equal, at least theoretically, with
Japan as the new nodal point that provided source texts on how to attain enlightenment
and civilization for its East Asian neighbors (Chang 2020: 8). In these texts, the
concept of civilization based on Western experience was translated into the Sinitic
world. Ostensibly, the compound word wenming/văn minh (bunmei in Japanese) in
these texts appeared to be the matching word to translate the Western concept of
“civilization;” however, as the following part of this section will demonstrate, there
was a complex rupture in the meaning of the word as a neologism from its premodern
predecessor.
The first emergence of the Western concept of civilization in the Sinographic
world can be traced back to the missionary periodical, the Eastern Western Monthly
Magazine (Dong-Xi yang kao meiyue tongji zhuan 東西洋考每月統記傳) published
by a Prussian Protestant Missionary Karl Gützlaff (1803–1851) in the 1830s in
Guangzhou, an important port city in the south of China. The compound word
wenming appeared at least five times throughout the articles of that magazine,
according to Fang Weigui’s count (Fang 1999: 76). Every time this word appeared,
it was always linked to the compound word jiaoze 教澤, literally meaning “benefits
of teaching,” which, according to Fang, referred to the benefits of the teachings of
Christianity to the development of human society.
To the church, civilization was not the purpose but merely one of the achievements
that the religion brought (Fang 1999: 76). Readers in East Asia were of course
familiar with the word wenming; however, the notion underlying this very word did
not refer here to what they believed to be embodied in the Sinitic classics but a
novel concept which referred specifically to “Western, Christian civilization.” Fang
Weigui noted that “civilization” in the major European languages including French,
English, German, and Italian was initially used to describe the “process” rather than
the “achievements” of development. It was not until the late-eighteenth and early-
nineteenth centuries that “civilization” gradually came to denote the progressive
“state” and “level” of development, which made it a prevalent notion to describe
and examine the development of not only individuals but also communities, ethnic
groups, and nations (Fang 1999: 74–75). In the second half of the nineteenth and
in the early-twentieth century, those ideas related to this specific (and secularized)
notion of civilization including progress, race, society, sovereignty, people, evolution,
and competition, gradually replaced the premodern notion of civilization and gained
wide acceptance among intellectuals in East Asia (Fang 2019: 64).
18 R. Tai

An obvious example of this intellectual transition can be found in the compar-

ison of bilingual dictionaries compiled between the 1820s and the 1930s in East
Asia. In these dictionaries, as many scholars have noticed, there was a significant
change in the matching words to translate civilization (Fang 1999; Huang 2017). In
Sino-English dictionaries compiled in China in the late-nineteenth century, words
affiliated with “civilization” were usually translated into the concept of jiaohua 教
化, or “educational transformation,”5 a concept which emerged in the Warring States
period (476 BCE–221 BCE).
The same phenomenon can be found in Vietnam as well. The earliest appearance
of the French word “civilisation” in a dictionary can be traced back to the Small
French-Vietnamese Dictionary (Petit Dictionnaire français-annamite) compiled by
the renowned and erudite Vietnamese Confucian-Catholic scholar Pétrus Trương
Vĩnh Ký 張永記 (1837–1898) in 1887 in Saigon. Like his Chinese counterparts, in
that dictionary Ký did not interpret civilization as văn minh but giáo hoá ( jiaohua
in Chinese). He defined it as “Giáo hoá; to make (someone) well-trained; the way to
giáo hoá” (Giáo hoá; Sư. làm cho thuần thư. c; phép giáo hoá) ( Trương 1884: 386;
Chang 2020: 15). Considering that Vietnamese intellectuals had a long history of
sharing the Sinitic culture and classics with their Chinese counterparts, on the level
of the lexicon, the concept of this Sino-Vietnamese giáo hoá could be regarded as the
same as that of the Chinese jiaohua, a Sinocentric concept that means to educate and
enlighten people with classical learning (Chang 2020: 15, note 8). It was not until
the early-twentieth century that wenming/văn minh appeared, gradually replacing
jiaohua/giáo hoá as the equivalent word to translate “civilization.” Underlying this
change was a profound intellectual transition in the Sinographic world of East Asia.
In 1875, influential Japanese Enlightenment scholar, Fukuzawa Yukichi 福澤諭
吉 (1835–1901) published An Outline of the Theory of Civilization (Bunmeiron no
gairyaku 文明學概略) as a response to “old Confucian scholars” and the traditional
ideology of “harmony” and “order” in the early Meiji era (Fukuzawa 1969: 60). In
his book, Fukuzawa, for the first time in East Asia, linked civilization (bunmei or
bummei in Japanese) to the idea of “progress” in his discussion about the actualiza-
tion of human freedom around the globe (Hwang 2020: 76). Borrowing the unilinear
evolutionary historical view from the works of François Guizot and Henry Thomas
Buckle, Fukuzawa not only divided the history of human society into three evolu-
tionary stages: barbarian, semi-civilized, and civilized, but he also regarded European
countries and North America as the most civilized in his time and attributed their
national independence to the level of civilization they had achieved (Hwang 2020:
28; Sheng 2012: 398). Regarding civilization as the universal standard for the recog-
nition of sovereignty, he urged that Japan, as a semi-civilized nation, should not
follow the Sinitic model but rather the paragon of Western civilization to advance its
progress in civilization and attain national independence.

5For more sources of Sino-English dictionaries, see the Database of English-Chinese Dictionaries in
modern China developed by Academia Sinica. http://mhdb.mh.sinica.edu.tw/dictionary/index.php,
accessed 1 Feb 2021.
2 Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study of Civilizational Discourse … 19

Fukuzawa’s elaboration of the theory of civilization was echoed in the writings

of the prominent Chinese reformist scholar and public intellectual Liang Qichao.
During the period in exile in Japan, Liang wrote on this topic in “On Ten Aspects
of the Chinese Nation’s Invigoration” (Guomin shi da yuanqi lun 國民十大元氣論;
1899) and “On Liberty” (Lun ziyou 論自由; 1902). According to Ishikawa Yoshi-
hiro, Liang provided “a Chinese version of Fukuzawa’s An Outline of the Theory
of Civilization” in these two important articles (Fang 2019: 62–63). Through his
editorship of several pioneering newspapers, Liang Qichao established his influence
and intellectual authority in the Sinographic world of East Asia (Tang 1996: 49).
With the help of modern print technology and the existing readership linked by the
Sinographic translational network, Liang Qichao and other reformists’ elaboration
on civilization and progressive historical views were widely read and appropriated
by the elite in East and Southeast Asia.
In 1908, W. W. Yen’s (Yan Huiqing 顏惠慶; 1877–1950) English and
Chinese Standard Dictionary (Ying-Hua da cidian 英華大辭典) was published. As
missionary Francis Lister Hawks Pott (1864–1947) indicated in the preface he wrote
for this dictionary, the editors’ initial plan was to translate Webster’s International
Dictionary. As Table 2.1 shows, Yen’s dictionary consists of translations of the defi-
nitions of “civilization” from Webster’s dictionary, namely, “the act of civilizing”
and “the state of being civilized.” Yen, in his dictionary, further translated these two
definitions for “civilization” as “educational transformation, inspirational transfor-
mation” ( jiaohua, ganhua 教化, 感化) and “civilization, enlightenment, the state
of being educationally transformed” (weming, kaihua, you jiaohua 文明, 開化, 有
教化), respectively (Yen 1908: 379). Similar to earlier Sino-English dictionaries,
the word wenming, together with jiaohua, was employed to translate “civilization.”
Apart from the definition of “civilization,” a more profound change appeared in Yen’s
definition of “civility.” On the one hand, he followed part of Webster’s definition for
“civility” (“The [state] quality of being civilized”) and translated this definition as
“civilization, enlightenment, dignity” (wenming, kaihua, duya 文明, 開化, 都雅),
with the term “dignity” here, duya 都雅, being a term that first appeared in the
third-century Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo zhi 三國志), which indicated
gentleness and dignity (Huang 2017: 69, note 8). On the other hand, Yen linked a
progressive view of history to his interpretation of the entry “civility”—“as, from
barbarism to civility”—and translated it as “transform from barbarism to civility” (zi
yeman jinzhi wenming 自野蠻進至文明) (Yen 1908: 379). Based on the above anal-
ysis, the translation of “civilization” and “civility” in Yen’s 1908 dictionary suggests
both the interaction between the Chinese and Western missionaries and the influence
of the Sinographic knowledge production in East Asia at the turn of the twentieth
century.
In Vietnam, it was not until the 1930s that the word văn minh became the equivalent
word to translate “civilization.” In 1932, Đào Duy Anh (1904–1988), a historian and
linguist who was close to the leaders of the Duy Tân Reform Movement, defined
văn minh in his Sino-Vietnamese Dictionary (Hán Việt từ điển 漢越字典 Dictionaire
Sino-Annamite) as “the radiance of morality manifested in the areas of politics, laws,
learning, institutions, etc., is called civilization. The opposite of savagery” (Cái tia
20 R. Tai

Table 2.1 Entries for “civilization” and “civility” in the dictionaries of Yen (1908: 379) and Webster
(1898: 260)
Entries Webster’s International Yen’s English and Chinese Standard Dictionary
Dictionary
Civilization 1. The act of civilizing, or the 1. The act of civilizing, 教化, 感化 [ jiaohua,
state of being civilized; ganhua]
national culture; refinement 2. The state of being civilized, 文明, 開化, 有
2. (Law) Rendering a criminal 教化 [wenming, kaihua, you jiaohua]
process civil
Civility 1. The state of society in which 1. The quality of being civilized, 文明, 開化,
the relations and duties of a 都雅 [wenming, kaihua, duya]; as, from
citizen are recognized and barbarism to civility, 自野蠻進至文明 [zi
obeyed; a state of civilization yanman jin zhi wenming]
2. A civil office, or a civil 2. Good breeding, 禮貌, 禮體, 禮文 [limao, liti,
process liwen]; as, to treat one with civility,
3. Courtesy; politeness; kind [dai ren yi li, yi li kuan
attention; good breeding; a dai]
polite act or expression 3. pl. Acts or expressions of politeness, 禮數,
儀文 [lishu, yiwen]

của đạo đức, phát hiện ra ở nơi chính trị, pháp luật, học thuật, điển chương v. v., gọi
là văn minh. Phản đối với dã man) (Đào 1932: 537). Later, in 1939, another definition
appeared in the Vietnamese Dictionary (Việt Nam tư. điển 越南字典, 1931) edited by
the Association for Intellectual and Moral Formation (known by its French acronym
AFIMA) in Hanoi, an institute organized by a group of high-ranking mandarins
in 1919 under the sponsorship of Louis Marty, the head of the Indochinese Sûreté
Générale (Tai 1992: 121). In this dictionary, the entry văn minh was defined as “Being
refined and luminous. It refers to a society or an epoch that has achieved a high level
of enlightenment [khai hóa 開化]: civilized society” (Văn-vẻ sáng-sủa. Nói về xã-hội
hay thời-đại đã khai-hóa tới một trình-độ cao: Xã-hội văn-minh) (Hội Khai Trí Tiến
Đức [1931] 1939: 627).
It should be pointed out that in both W. W. Yen’s and Đào Duy Anh’s respec-
tive interpretations of the entry, “civilization,” the notion of jiaohua/giáo hoá did not
entirely disappear. As mentioned above, jiaohua remained as the first word choice for
Yen to translate “civilization.” In Đào Duy Anh’s definition of văn minh, there is an
obvious combination of the modern notion of Western civilization and the premodern
concept of jiaohua/giáo hoá. On the one hand, the way that Anh contrasted văn minh
with dã man (savagery) was obviously influenced by Fukuzawa’s An Outline of the
Theory of Civilization, in which he solidified the Japanese translation of the concepts
pertaining to “savagery” as yaban (Chn., yeman 野蠻) (Sheng 2012: 394–401). On
the other hand, by “radiance,” Anh, to some extent, presumed that there was a center,
be it as an individual or a political entity, exercising influence on the people or other
political entities because of its superiority in morality and culture. This notion resem-
bles what Brindley demonstrated in her analysis of the formulation and evolution of
the jiaohua discourse in the early Chinese imperial history. According to Brindley,
this discourse was associated not only with the ideal of a good education, but of an
2 Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study of Civilizational Discourse … 21

education that involves inculcating people in the moral values and ways of Chinese/
Sinitic culture and civilization. More importantly, this concept was implicated in a
particular approach to state control and policies of cultural, even ethnic conversion
in the centuries following its emergence (Brindley 2021: 2). To some extent, jiaohua
could be seen as a premodern civilizational discourse in the formation of a centralized
Chinese empire.
Similarly in Vietnam, especially during the reign of the second emperor of the
Nguyễn Dynasty, Minh Mạng 明命 (1791–1841, r. 1820–1841), the discourse of
giáo hoá was integrated as part of his administrative policy in the imperial course of
southward expansion and assimilation of non-Viet peoples to a Sino-Vietnamese Han
culture, the Vietnamese language, and Chinese characters. Underlying this civilizing
mission, according to Goscha, was “an inclusive ‘Dai Viet’ (Great Viet) identity
defined from the capital, from the top down, as part of the East Asian Han civilization”
(Goscha 2016: 46–47; Weber 2011: 757).
Comparing this giáo hoá discourse to Đào Duy Anh’s interpretation of văn minh, it
is clear that both terms were implicated in a hierarchical, top-down structure of power
in which the center, claiming to represent civilization, could exercise its influence
on the periphery. Therefore, what differentiated văn minh from giáo hoá was not the
cognitive structure of the power relationship between the center and periphery but
rather the very nature of civilization which empowered the center to “manifest” and
“radiate” its influence. It is in this sense that văn minh became a neologism at the
turn of the twentieth century.
As Lydia Liu noted in her research on translingual practice in early-twentieth-
century China, modern Chinese words and concepts, as well as those from the clas-
sical Chinese language that have been mediated through modern Chinese, often
present hidden snares (Liu 1995: 17). These “hidden snares” that Liu observed can
also be found in the case of văn minh as a neologism in colonial Vietnam. Morpho-
logically, this word văn minh shares the same form with its premodern predecessor.
As the above analysis shows, however, in becoming the matching word to translate
“civilization,” it simultaneously included both the progressive view of history which
was based on the modern Western historical experience and interpreted via the Sino-
graphic translational network and the premodern Sinitic concept and its cognitive
framework of giáo hoá. As will be demonstrated in the next section, together with
văn minh, the discourse of giáo hoá played a significant role in the formation of a
collaborative Vietnamese historiography during the Duy Tân period.

2.3 The Discourse of Văn minh in Pro-French

Sino-Vietnamese Historical Writing

In parallel with the translation from civilization into văn minh was a transformation
in the ways of narrating Vietnamese history in the Duy Tân Movement at the turn
of the twentieth century. During this period, the Vietnamese intelligentsia, under the
22 R. Tai

influence of the “new books” imported from China through the Sinographic transla-
tional network, widely accepted the idea that becoming civilized was the prerequisite
for restoring national sovereignty and independence. And historical experience, they
believed, could bring out clearly the meaning of civilization. As the following part
of this chapter will demonstrate, the emergence of a new historiography in 1900s
Vietnam is inextricable from Liang Qichao’s nationalist historical thinking.

2.4 Liang Qichao’s New Historiography

Any set of new narratives needs to engage with the established ones. In his 1901 essay,
“Introduction to Chinese History” (Zhongguo shi xulun 中國史敘論), Liang Qichao
pointed out the difference of scope between traditional and modern historiographies.
According to him, traditional historians confined themselves to simply recording
historical events, while modern historians could articulate the causal relationships
between events and demonstrate the development and historical experience of a
nation (Liang 1999: 448). One year later, Liang systematically elaborated the above
opinions in his seminal article “New Historiography” (Xin shixue 新史學) published
in the twentieth issue of the journal Renovation of the People (Xinmin congbao 新民
叢報). In this manifesto of modern historiography, Liang lamented that traditional
Chinese history writing suffered from the following four problems: (1) it mistakenly
identified the royal family with the entire country and thus paid excessive attention
to the events that took place around the court; (2) it focused on a few individuals
while failing to investigate the activities of the people as a group; (3) it prioritized
ancient times; and (4) it could not articulate the nature and spirit of history implied
by those scattered historical events (Liang 1999: 737). To deal with these problems,
Liang proposed to restore the nation to the center of historical writing and investigate
its development throughout history.
Liang Qichao approached the issue of historical development with the notion
of “jinhua” 進化, literally, “progression and change.” For him, jinhua was an irre-
versible and never-ending process and constituted the only appropriate topic for
historical studies (Liang 1999: 739). To make out the direction of jinhua, modern
historians needed to shed light on the materials and data of the past with their
hermeneutic insight so as to tease out from the phenomena in the process of jinhua
“universal principles and examples,” namely, the philosophy of history. He believed
that these principles and examples could help to maintain the state of civilization
that people had achieved and advance its development in the future (Liang 1999:
740–741).
Liang’s conception of the new historiography was reflected in the history text-
books compiled in China at the turn of the twentieth century. The goal of these
textbooks, according to Peter Zarrow, was to delineate the evolution of the Chinese
nation and convey a sense of continuity with the past that provided students with an
identity in the present (Zarrow 2015: 147). Exposed to the copies of Liang’s works
and these newly compiled Chinese history textbooks, Vietnamese intellectuals of
different political stripes started to apply the view of history as a universal, linear, and
2 Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study of Civilizational Discourse … 23

homogenizing process in their construction of Vietnamese national history, through

which they endeavored to make the historical experience of Vietnam universally
relevant so as to justify their projects to make their country a civilized nation-state.
Because of the traditional educational background of these Duy Tân intellectuals,
most of their historical works were written in classical Chinese, as it was only
in the 1920s that modern Vietnamese written in the Romanized script started to
significantly replace the use of classical Chinese in the writing of history (Kelley
2012: 4).

2.5 The Emergence of a Reformist New Historiography

in Vietnam

The earliest appearance of the idea of a new historiography in Vietnamese histor-

ical writing can be traced back to the preface to the Complete Compilation of the
New Testament of Việt History (Việt sử tân ước toàn biên 越史新約全編) in 1906
compiled by Hoàng Đạo Thành 黃道成 (1835–1908), a mandarin and participant of
the Duy Tân Movement. In fact, Thành’s book was merely a recompilation of the
extant historical materials without providing a new narrative framework; however,
the preface written by his friend Đào Nguyên Phổ 陶元溥 (1861–1908) marked the
advent of the new historiography in Vietnam. A former Confucianist mandarin of the
Nguyễn Dynasty, Đào Nguyên Phổ resigned from his office and went to Hanoi as a
journalist in 1902. Together with Lương Văn Can and Nguyễn Quyền, he became a
cofounder of the renowned Free School of Tonkin (Đông Kinh Nghĩa Thục 東京義
塾) in 1907. He committed suicide to avoid arrest after the French colonial authorities
closed the Free School. In his manifesto-like text, Phổ articulated the significance of
history in constructing a modern and civilized nation:
Regardless of whether a country is large or small, it certainly has a history. That history
should reflect and take into account the whole nation as well as its people, its dynasties, and
its politics. Europe, America, and Japan are all civilized countries. In all of these places,
history is regarded as an important subject. They not only pay specific attention to the field of
world history, they also make the history of their countries a general course. Students from the
age of seven, when they first enter school, are requested to study their own country’s literature
and recite their national histories. Women also do this. The word “nation” is therefore etched
in each of their minds. When they grow up and finish school, none of them will be ignorant
about the close relationship between their fatherland and their own family. Thereupon, they
will view the nation’s territory as their own property and will treat their fellow countrymen
as compatriots. United as community, each of them will fulfill their obligation and provide
their efforts to protect the public security and interests. In this sense, it is not a coincidence
that their countries become prosperous and powerful. (Hoàng 1906: 1)

Similar to the problems that Liang Qichao had pointed out in his criticism of
traditional Chinese historiography, histories in Vietnam before the twentieth century
were mostly written as moral guides for monarchs and the officials who served them.
In contrast to his predecessors, Đào Nguyên Phổ proposed to place the nation at the
center of the new historiography, arguing that it was the national consciousness in
24 R. Tai

the Western countries that made them states of civilization. In Vietnam, however, the
idea of the nation was not a familiar one to most people. Phổ attributed the lack of
national consciousness to the civil service examination system, as the curriculum for
the exams was confined to the classics from China which did not include the history
of his own land. Therefore, to cultivate people’s national consciousness, he argued,
it was necessary to reform the current examination system and, more importantly, to
compose a national history for the Vietnamese people (Hoàng 1906: 3–4).
Although Đào Nguyên Phổ did not author a historical monograph, his brief
preamble nevertheless became influential among other Vietnamese reformist intellec-
tuals. In 1911, Ngô Giáp Đậu 吳甲豆 (1853–?), a Confucian scholar born in a family
renowned for traditional historical studies wrote a four-volume Summary of Việt
History for Secondary Schools (Trung học Việt sử toát yếu 中學越史撮要), in which
Đậu delineated the development of Vietnamese history from the legendary Hồng
Bàng era to the modern time under French administration. Three years later, Hoàng
Cao Khải 黃高啟 (1850–1933), the retired viceroy of Hanoi and the most famous
collaborator with the French colonial government, published the three-volume Essen-
tials of Việt History (Việt sử yếu 越史要) as an expansion of his 1909 work, the Mirror
of Việt History (Việt sử kính 越史鏡). The Essentials of Việt History was based on
a series of articles which Khải published in the Indochina Journal (Đông Dương
tạp chí 東洋雜誌), a newspaper funded by the French colonial government. Based
on his interpretation of Vietnamese history, Khải systematically elaborated his pro-
French proposition and harshly criticized his anti-French counterparts, especially the
revolutionary Phan Bội Châu (1867–1940) who encouraged young Vietnamese to go
east to Japan to study, in the hope of training a new generation of revolutionaries to
overthrow French colonial rule.
As will be shown in the following sections, both scholars adapted a narra-
tive framework from Japanese historiographical paradigms in their respective writ-
ings and employed ideas about evolutionary theory and Herbert Spencer’s Social
Darwinism that were translated through the Sinographic translational network in
their writings on Vietnamese national history.

2.6 Periodization and the Historical Continuity

of the Vietnamese Nation

As a hermeneutic method, periodization provided reformist Vietnamese historians

with an important tool to reinterpret the past. Through a reconfiguration of the tradi-
tional historical narrative based on dynastic succession, reformist Vietnamese histo-
rians rendered the past of Vietnam into a series of analytical stages, each of which
could be evaluated according to modern criteria. In the Summary of Việt History for
Secondary Schools, Ngô Giáp Đậu divided the history of Vietnam into four periods
and five time spans. As shown in Table 2.2, Đậu incorporated these periods and time
spans into four volumes named in sequence after the appellation of the four seasons,
2 Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study of Civilizational Discourse … 25

which, to some extent, resembles the vicissitudes of human history. He singled out,
in the autumn volume, the time span from the establishment of the Later Lê Dynasty
in 1428 CE to the fall of the Tây Sơn Dynasty in 1802 CE without attributing it to
any period.
As Ye Shaofei has pointed out, Ngô Giáp Đậu’s four-stage narrative frame-
work was largely inspired by the work of Japanese scholar Kuwabara Jitsuzō
(1871–1931) (Ye 2018: 64–65). In his 1898 book entitled Intermediate
Oriental History (Chūtō Tōyōshi 中等東洋史), which was translated into Chinese
as The Outline of Oriental History (Dongyang shi yao 東洋史要) and published
by The Commercial Press in Shanghai in 1908, Kuwabara employed the following
four-stage framework to periodize the history of China:
(1) Ancient times (shanggu 上古): from remote antiquity to the establishment of the Qin
Dynasty.
(2) Medieval times (zhonggu 中古): from the Qin to the end of the Tang Dynasty.
(3) Late medieval times ( jingu 近古): from the Five Dynasties to the rise of the Qing Dynasty.
(4) Early modern times ( jinshi 近世): from the early Qing to the first Sino-Japanese War
(Kuwabara 1998).

Kuwabara’s periodization divided Chinese history into two parts, of which the
first half from the ancient to the end of the Tang witnessed the rise and expansion of
the Han people, while the other half belonged to the domination of the Mongols and
Manchus over the Han. Moreover, Kuwabara employed neither the modern discourse
of civilization, nor the traditional framework based on the dichotomy between the
Hua (the civilized) and Yi (the barbarous). Instead, his periodization of Chinese
history focused on the continuous competition between the Han people and other
ethnic groups living to the north of China. By doing so, Kuwabara challenged the

Table 2.2 Ngô Giáp Đậu’s historical periodization

Volumes Periods Time span
Spring Primordial times (最古辰代) From the legendary Hồng Bàng period to the
annexation by the Han Dynasty in 112 BC
Medieval times (中古辰代) From the period under the rule of the Han
Dynasty to Dương Đình Nghệ’s uprising
against the Southern Han around 931 CE
Summer Late medieval times (近古辰代) From the restoration of autonomy by Ngô
Quyền in 939 BC to the military intrusion of
the Ming Dynasty in 1407 CE
Autumn From the establishment of the Later Lê
Dynasty in 1428 CE to the fall of the Tây
Sơn Dynasty in 1802 CE
Winter Revival times (更新辰代) From the founding of the Nguyễn Dynasty to
the reign of Thành Thái under French
“protection” to 1907 CE
Source Ngô (1911: Vol. 1, 12–20)
26 R. Tai

Sino-centric historical narrative and deconstructed the continuity of the history of

China in which the Han people constituted the dominant ethnic group in China.
In contrast with Kuwabara, Ngô Giáp Đậu employed a dual narrative thread
throughout his four-stage periodization to emphasize the continuity of the Việt people
and the Việt-centric history of Vietnam. It should be pointed out that Đậu did not
provide a clear definition of the Việt people. According to him, Hua immigrants
from “the North,” as he referred to “China,” whose origin could be traced back to the
convicts sent by the Qin and Han dynasties to garrison the region of Lingnan up to
the Ming loyalists and who arrived when that dynasty fell to the Qing, constituted the
majority of the population of what he termed “the Southern Land.” Because of their
advanced civilization, these people “expanded daily and forced the original inhabi-
tants of Jiaozhi into the remote areas” (Ngô 1911, Vol. 1: 7–8). In his dual narrative
framework, Đậu on the one hand placed the Việt people as the major participants
in the international competitions and clashes between the regimes of Vietnam and
that of China over the past millennium. On the other hand, he devoted a good deal
of space to the territorial expansion and military conflicts between the Việt regimes
with other non-Việt peoples such as the Cham and Khmer. In both narrative threads,
Đậu viewed the Việt people as the historical subject of the Vietnamese nation who
had been constantly engaging with the missions of defending their national indepen-
dence and expanding their territory southward to the Mekong Delta. Similar to Đậu,
Hoàng Cao Khải also applied this dual narrative to divide the history of Vietnam into
five periods in his Essentials of Việt History (Table 2.3).
Compared to Ngô Giáp Đậu, Hoàng Cao Khải’s five-stage periodization combined
the formation of a unified Việt people with the process of competing against foreign
countries (mainly from the north) and expanding toward the south. Mirroring Liang

Table 2.3 Hoàng Cao Khải’s historical periodization

Periods Time span
The ancient times of the establishment of the From the legendary Hồng Bàng period (2879
kingdom 上古建國之時代 BC) to the reign of king of An Dương (275 BC)
The times under the rule of China 內屬之時代 From the establishment of the kingdom of
Nam Việt by Triệu Đà in 204 BC to the end of
the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
in the tenth century
The autonomous times 自主之時代 From the Ngô Dynasty (939–965 AD) through
the Đinh Dynasty (968–980 AD) to the Early
Lê Dynasty (980–1009 AD)
The times of the development of civilization/ From the Lý Dynasty (1009–1225 AD) to the
văn minh 文明長進之時代 early era of the Later Lê Dynasty (1428–1527
AD)
The times of conflicts and separation between From the restoration of the Later Lê in 1533
the South and the North of Vietnam 南北分爭 AC to the its fall in 1789 AD
之時代
Source Hoàng (1914: Vol. 1–Vol. 3)
2 Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study of Civilizational Discourse … 27

Qichao’s statement that “competition is the mother of progress” (Liang [1902] 1999:
683), Khải attributed the development of the nation, from a poorly organized cluster of
some primitive tribes to a civilized country, to internal and international competition
(Hoàng 1914: Vol. 1, 11). According to him, since the time of King An Dương who
had conquered the legendary state of Văn Lang in 258 BCE, competition emerged
among the peoples living in the land of what is today northern Vietnam. And since
being conquered by the Qin Dynasty in the third-century BCE and ruled by various
Chinese empires in the following one thousand years up until the late Tang Dynasty
in the tenth century CE, the scale of competition had significantly expanded from
domestic to international, which led to the unprecedented evolution of the Việt people
from the stage of savagery into civilization/văn minh.
Based on the discourse of giáo hoá, Khải argued that the earliest Việt people,
what he called “Jiaozhi people,” were descendants of generations of intermarriage
between Han immigrants from the North and the indigenous people in the South
since the invasion of the Qin Dynasty. During the period under the direct rule of the
Han Dynasty, administrative and educational institutes were established and the “old
race of Jiaozhi” was gradually assimilated into the Han civilization and eventually
became the Việt people who were racially the same as the Han people living in
China (Hoàng 1914: Vol. 1, 5). From the autonomous period onward, Khải pointed
out, the Việt people expanded southward the specific văn minh they obtained from the
North to the land of the Chams and other indigenous peoples whom they regarded as
barbarians. They launched several expansionist wars against these non-Việt peoples,
through which, “The barbarians were gradually transformed and assimilated into a
great nation of prosperity and văn minh” (Hoàng 1914: Vol. 3, 15–17). By “great
nation,” Khải referred to a homogenous Việt society that was created by eliminating
ethnic differences:
Since our Nguyễn dynasty moved its administrative capital to Huế, it, in the following
two hundred years, conquered the land of the Cham and established three prefectures (Phú
Yên, Khánh Hòa, and Bình Thuận). It also conquered Zhenla and divided the land into
six provinces. The Nguyễn arranged officials to manage the annexed land and gradually
transformed the barbaric peoples, which made the peoples living between An Giang and
Quảng Ngãi a great nation of văn minh (civilization) and prosperity. (Hoàng 1914: Vol. 3,
17)

In other words, Khải placed the historical continuity of the Vietnamese nation
in a dynamic process, central to which was the development and dissemination of
civilization. As will be demonstrated in the next section, the notion of civilization
that Hoàng Cao Khải and other reformist historians held was based on the social
organism theory of evolution.
28 R. Tai

2.7 Social Organism Theory, Văn Minh,

and the Pro-Collaboration Version of Vietnamese
Nationalism

Reformist Vietnamese intellectuals in their historical narrative combined the Viet-

namese people’s continuous competition and expansion toward the south over the
past centuries with their pursuit of civilization and regarded the latter as the crucial
impetus behind the formation and evolution of the Vietnamese nation. As will be
demonstrated in this section, Herbert Spencer’s social organism theory provided them
with an important theoretical basis to construct the internal logics of this narrative.
Spencer’s theory of social organisms entered the intellectual world of East Asia
during the early Meiji period of the 1870s and 1880s. As a specific version of Social
Darwinism, social organism theory provided the Meiji reformists with a “scientific”
model of progress to understand social development (Nagai 1954; Howland 2000). In
their adaptation of Spencer’s theory, the Meiji reformists, especially those who were
critical of emergent popular rights movements, placed the state as the basic unit in
the natural context of the “survival of the fittest” (Howland 2000: 67–76). According
to Shiraishi and Tai, this version of Social Darwinism was introduced to Vietnamese
intellectuals around 1900 through Chinese writings (Shiraishi 1990: 97; Tai 1992:
20–21), which provided them with a persuasive explanation for the origins of the
difference among nations, i.e., between the stronger and wealthier and the weaker
and poorer. This specific version of Social Darwinism was adapted by the reformist
Vietnamese scholars to understand not only the history of their country under the
rule of China in the past but also the present situation under French colonization.
Hoàng Cao Khải, for instance, believed that the collective ability to compete
was the decisive criteria to gauge the level of civilization. In the Essentials of Việt
History, he attributed China’s annexation of Vietnam to the former’s overwhelming
superiority in international competition. According to him, this superiority derived
from the achievements of the Chinese people in the domains of civilization/văn
minh, including the feudal system, bureaucracy, tax law, military organization, and
educational pedagogy. Again, according to Khải, during the long period of Chinese
rule, the inferior Vietnamese people were exposed to the advanced teachings of
Confucianism and obtained unprecedented and comprehensive development, which
eventually brought Vietnam into “the whirlpool of civilization/văn minh” (Hoàng
1914: Vol. 1, 11–14). Thanks to whole-scale assimilation for more than one thousand
years, argued Khải, Vietnamese people were transformed into civilized people and
acquired the “characteristics of civilization” as well as the “capacity to compete,”
which enabled them to restore their national independence (Hoàng 1909: 2). In
this narrative, China was viewed as the model of civilization for its superiority in
competition. In this sense, being assimilated into the Sinitic culture meant being
civilized.
With the defeat of China in its competition with the West in the nineteenth century,
however, the model of civilization for Vietnamese to follow shifted to “Great France”
(Đại Pháp 大法). Based on Social Darwinism, Hoàng Cao Khải explained this
2 Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study of Civilizational Discourse … 29

paradigm shift from a universalistic perspective and pointed out that this phenomenon
was inherent in the development of civilization:
The relationship between the strong and the weak determines the result of competition in the
present world. The inferior has to rely on the superior in order to develop and the weak has
to turn to the strong for survival. This principle is not only applicable to our nation… In the
past, we were under Chinese governance for one thousand years and France was ruled by
the Roman Empire for four hundred years. Eventually, our assimilation into China enabled
us to be independent, and France’s integration into Rome made it civilized. (Hoàng 1909:
Vol. 1, 1–2)

According to the original text of the above quote, Hoàng Cao Khải employed the
Sino-Vietnamese concept of 化 (hua/hoá, meaning “to transform”) which was based
on the discourse of giáo hoá to explain the historical relationships between Vietnam
and China and between France and the Roman empire.
The logic underlying this analogy was reminiscent of the ideas that French scholars
in the colonial period developed to understand the history of Vietnam. According
to these French scholars, Vietnam developed through its contact with China, and it
would only be able to advance its development through contact with France. In his
1909 Introductory Outline of the History of Annam (An Nam sơ học sử lược 安南初
學史略), for example, French Sinologist Charles Maybon (1872–1926) emphasized
the significant role that France played in enlightening and civilizing the Vietnamese
people and assisting them to obtain full independence from the Qing empire (Ye
2018: 68). In other words, this model of historiography emphasized that the major
transformation to Vietnam was brought about from nothing but external contact.
Since the 1990s, the ideas of French colonial scholars at the turn of the twentieth
century, especially the model they developed to understand the past of Vietnam,
became an important academic topic into which many modern scholars of Vietnamese
studies provided their insights (Cooke 1991; Pelley 2002; Kelley 2005). Despite the
nuances in their opinions toward such a model of narrative about the past of Vietnam,
most of these scholars generally agreed to refer to it as the “little China theory.” This
French theory argues, according to Liam Kelley, that Vietnam became a miniature
replica of China during the millennium under the rule of various Chinese empires.
Prior to its contact with the Chinese, the Vietnamese did not develop sophisticated
political and social institutions. It was precisely through adopting many of Chinese
customs and political institutions, that Vietnam was subsequently able to maintain
its autonomy for the next thousand year until the advent of French colonization in
the nineteenth century. By employing this historical narrative to interpret the past of
Vietnam, the little China theory implied that Vietnam, at the turn of the twentieth
century, would obtain its strength to become autonomous under the tutelage of the
French (Kelley 2005: 9).
Most of the criticism toward the little China theory revolves around its depiction
of the image of pre-colonial Vietnam as “nothing but China in all essentials” and
that “its people, culture, and institutions had remained unchanged from when China
had ruled a thousand years before and were thus fully understandable in Sinic terms”
(Cooke 1991: 37). In this perspective of viewing the past of Vietnam, argues Patricia
Pelley, the autonomy and subjectivity of the Vietnamese people as historical agents
30 R. Tai

who acted in specific ways in pursuit of specific goals were concealed (Pelley 2002:
7–8). This criticism rightly reveals the French hegemonic discourse of colonialism
underlying the seemly objective narrative of Vietnamese history; however, it fails
to include in its analysis the perspective of the Vietnamese elite that the French
concealed and scrutinize how these Vietnamese perceived, adapted, and transformed
the modern discourse of civilization in their construction of the past of Vietnam.
As has been analyzed in the previous sections, this specific discourse of civilization
was introduced into Vietnam through the interaction between Vietnamese and other
intellectuals of East Asia via the Sinographic translational network. Based on this
discourse, Vietnamese intellectuals, from anti-French revolutionaries like Phan Bội
Châu (1867–1940) to the reformist collaborators like Hoàng Cao Khải, developed a
narrative of văn minh in their construction of the national history of Vietnam.
In their Sino-Vietnamese history writings, both the anti-French revolutionaries and
the reformist collaborators shared a “contact and transformation” view of history,
which looks similar to the “little China theory” that the French colonial scholars
developed. Phan Bội Châu, for example, regarded the Vietnamese people and society
over the long stretches of time from remote antiquity to the Tự Đức reign (1847–
1883) as essentially stagnant and barbarous. In a writing from 1909, he stated that it
was not until the recent years of the early-twentieth century when “winds and rains
from Europe and America” blew into Vietnam that Vietnamese people ushered in
a time of enlightenment (khai-hóa 開化). Moreover, he envisioned that if Vietnam
followed the model of the West, it would eventually achieve the stage of văn minh
in the next couple of decades (Phan 2000: 456–58).
Compared to Phan Bội Châu who regarded the history of Vietnam as stagnant
and barbarous, other reformist intellectuals viewed it as a continuous process toward
văn minh. More importantly, they stressed the autonomy and subjectivity of the
Vietnamese people as historical agents in the pursuit of văn minh. According to
these scholars, the transition of Vietnam from barbarous to văn minh had already
began since the educational transformation (giáo hoá) initiated by the Chinese and
continued by various Vietnamese dynasties. Once independent of China, the civilized
Việt people launched their own mission civilisatrice over the past centuries to conquer
and colonize the “barbarous” regimes such as the kingdoms of Champa and Zhenla.
Through a series of direct and indirect methods of rule over distant, multi-racial
peoples, they established a Viet-centered imperial administrative order in the eastern
Indochinese Peninsula, a region that included today’s Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.
In the Mirror of Việt History, Hoàng Cao Khải regarded this process as the mani-
festation of the “universal principle of evolution” (Thiên diễn chi công lệ 天演之公
例) that no one could ever evade (Hoàng 1909: Vol. 1, 32). He highly praised the
Nguyễn Dynasty for its active participation in this process and its effort to conquer
and homogenize various peoples into a Việt-centered nation through this southward
expansion:
In fact, the conquered area was merely a cluster of wasteland. However, [our Nguyễn dynasty]
spared no effort in its administration and management. It transported landless people and
Chinese immigrants to the conquered land where they either constructed roads to commu-
nicate with the outside, or established villages to unite the various groups of people. Local
2 Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study of Civilizational Discourse … 31

customs were reformed and local education was revived. […] The peoples of Champa [Chiêm
Thành 占城], Zhenla [Chân Lạp 真臘], Jiuzhen [Cửu Chân 九真], and Jiaozhi [Giao Chỉ
交趾] became integrated into a great nation of Vietnam. (Hoàng 1909: Vol. 1, 36)

Furthermore, Hoàng Cao Khải employed a progressive framework to understand

the development of nationalism and broadly linked the formation of the Vietnamese
nation to a global process. According to him, nationalism originated in Europe in the
fourteenth century and had already developed into the form of imperial nationalism
since the nineteenth century. In the past, nationalism referred to the “integration of
multi-racial peoples within a state into a homogenous nation.” In his day, however,
Khải argued that it had evolved into “imperial nationalism” which is based upon “the
assimilation of the various races of different countries into a homogenous nation
of the world” ( HYPERLINK "SPS:refid::bib19" Hoàng 1909: Vol. 1, 37). In this
sense, the southward expansion of the Việt people and the attendant formation of the
Vietnamese nation represented the earlier phase in the development of nationalism.
In face of the dominant historical trend of imperial nationalism in the early-twentieth
century, Hoàng Cao Khải and other like-minded Vietnamese scholars on the one hand
warned their Vietnamese compatriots to take the historical lesson from the fall of
Champa and Zhenla. On the other hand, they encouraged the Vietnamese people
to follow the steps of their Việt antecedents and voluntarily participate in the self-
transformation under the tutelage of the French ( HYPERLINK "SPS:refid::bib19"
Hoàng 1909: Vol. 1, 39–40).
In the above historical image constructed by reformist Vietnamese historians,
Vietnam was by no means depicted as stagnant in pre-French times. Quite the
contrary, it actively implemented colonialist projects as a significant part of the
building of an imperial nation-state. Integrating the premodern discourse of giáo
hoá into the modern notion of civilization and nation, Vietnamese reformist histo-
rians related the model transition from China to France to an intersecting of imperial
projects that combined the unfinished Vietnamese imperial project of internal colo-
nization with the French colonial conception of the Indochinese Union.6 By so doing,
the reformist Vietnamese intellectuals provided a specific version of Vietnamese
nationalist historiography.

2.8 Conclusion

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, a Western version of civilization entered
East Asia and gradually replaced the hegemony of the Sinitic wenming, the central
ideology of the Sinocentric political system which had profoundly influenced the
political entities and the world view of elites in East Asia for millennia. In parallel
to this was the introduction of a specific perspective of philosophy of history based

6Christopher Goscha has pointed out that the French colonizers often reinforced the Vietnamese
imperial project in many places, by making them their privileged partners in building another
colonial state (Goscha 2016, xxxviii).
32 R. Tai

on the Social Darwinist ideas of evolution and competition. Through the mediation
of the Sinographic translational network based on the shared knowledge of Literary
Sinitic among East Asian intellectuals, these ideas pertaining to the Western concept
of civilization were widely adapted to understand and describe the development and
progress of human society. This process led to a significant reconfiguration of the
meaning of the Sinitic word 文明 (wenming/bunmei/văn minh) and eventually made
it a neologism and matching word to translate “civilization.” In the second part of
this article, I demonstrated that in the context of the early-twentieth century East
Asia, this neologism simultaneously included the Western experience-based view
of history on the one hand, and the premodern Sinitic concept and its cognitive
framework of “educational transformation” (jiaohua/giáo hóa 教化), on the other.
The conceptual transformation of civilization, as Yufen Chang pointed out,
ushered in the dual projects of nationalism and modernization, which manifested
through pan-East Asian reform movements aiming to achieve “civilization and
enlightenment,” first in Japan in the late 1860s, then in China in 1898, and finally
in French colonial Vietnam in the 1900s ( HYPERLINK "SPS:refid::bib7" Chang
2017: 649). Taking advantage of what Benedict Anderson termed the “print capital-
ism” emergent in East Asia (Anderson 2006: 37–40), participants of these reform
movements wrote in various literary forms to expound and disseminate their ideas
pertaining to civilization, among which national history emerged as an important
genre.
The conception of national history was meticulously elaborated by the promi-
nent Japanese reformist Fukuzawa Yukichi and his compatriot Tōyōshi, or “Oriental
history,” scholars in the second half of the nineteenth century and was theoretically
synthesized by the famous Chinese reformist Liang Qichao in his manifesto-like
article “New Historiography” in 1902. Based on the unilinear evolutionary historical
view, this nation-centered historiography rendered the past into collections of data
and materials awaiting illumination by historians with their hermeneutic insight (
HYPERLINK "SPS:refid::bib29" Kuo 2014: 278–79). As part of the Chinese “new
books” imported into colonial Vietnam at the turn of the twentieth century, Liang
Qichao’s historical theories were widely read and discussed among the Vietnamese
intelligentsia. Under his influence, Vietnamese intellectuals of different political
stripes started to apply the view of history as a universal, linear, and homogenizing
process in their construction of Vietnamese national history, through which they
attempted to make the historical experience of Vietnam universally relevant to justify
their projects to make their country a civilized nation-state. In their historical writ-
ings, the neologism văn minh functioned as the key concept that helped them to
interpret the past and envision the future of the Vietnamese nation.
This chapter analyzed a group of historical texts written in Literary Sinitic by
reformist Vietnamese intellectuals who chose to collaborate with the French colonial
authorities at the turn of twentieth century. These texts adapted the framework from
the Japanese writings of Tōyōshi to periodize the history of Vietnam into a series
of phases from the state of savagery to civilization. By employing the dual narrative
threads, namely, “competing with the foreign forces (Chinese, in most cases)” and
“expanding toward the south,” these reformist intellectuals constructed the historical
2 Pursuing Văn Minh: A Study of Civilizational Discourse … 33

continuity and subjectivity of the Vietnamese nation. In the first thread, China was
depicted as the representative of the civilizing force that transformed the barbarous
Vietnam into a domain of civility through assimilative and sometimes even oppressive
approaches. Under the rule of China, Vietnam adopted many of the Chinese customs
and political institutions, which enabled it to eventually restore its independence and
maintain its autonomy.
Superficially, this historical narrative is reminiscent of the “little China theory”
developed by French Orientalists during the colonial era to understand the colony
and, more importantly, to provide a justification for colonization. This theory, as
many modern scholars of Vietnamese studies have noticed, depicted the history of
Vietnam as stagnant and passive, which could not develop without external contact
and intervention, whereby concealing the autonomy and subjectivity of the Viet-
namese people as historical agents. Focusing on the theme of “expanding toward the
south” that appeared in the historical writings composed by the reformist Vietnamese
scholars, the last section of this article demonstrated how they depicted the image
of Vietnam as a positive if not aggressive force of civilization that engaged in the
mission of establishing a regional empire in the eastern part of the Indochinese Penin-
sula. In the historical narrative of these reformist scholars, the non-Việt multi-racial
peoples were barbarous. Therefore, the assimilation and homogenization of these
non-Việt peoples into a united nation and the southward aggression and expansion
of the Việt regimes were regarded a great yet unfinished cause that manifested the
“universal principle of evolution.” For them, the conception of the French Indochi-
nese Union shared the same object with Vietnam of establishing a nation-state with
regional imperialist hegemony.

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36 R. Tai

Ran Tai is a Ph.D. candidate in Asian History at the Research Centre for Historical Studies
(University of Groningen, the Netherlands). His academic interest is centred around the modern
intellectual history of Vietnam and China. For his doctoral research, Ran is exploring the intricate
transformation of the concept of civilization in Vietnam during the turn of the twentieth century.
His investigation aims to uncover how this conceptual transformation significantly influenced the
development of modern Vietnamese historiography in the colonial period and played a crucial role
in shaping the political identity of the modern Vietnamese nation.

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Chapter 3
Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982):
A Woman Who Wrote to Change
Vietnamese Society

Phuong Ngoc Nguyen

3.1 Introduction

At the beginning of the twentieth century, a radical change took place in French
colonial Vietnam: women went to school, wrote in the newspapers, gave lectures,
published novels and books, led associations, and campaigned for the status of
women. What happened in the lives of Vietnamese women? What happened such
that women began to think and act for themselves?
We propose to look at the life of an educated woman, Mrs. Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa who
was born in 1896 into a family of Confucian scholars. She is known for her activities
in favor of women, as well as for her writings. Her novel, The Western Beauty (Tây
phương mỹ nhơn), published in Saigon in 1927, tells the story of a young Vietnamese
man who fought in France during the First World War and married a French woman;
both of whom were highly critical of the colonial system. By using a biographical
approach and analyzing her writings, we hope to gain a better understanding of the
life of an educated woman who lived in Vietnam in the early twentieth century.
To understand Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s life, I propose first to analyze her novel in
which the main heroine can be considered a role model, as is expressed in the title.
Then, within the limits of the available sources, I will try to tell her life story. Finally,
based on her writings, I will analyze three aspects of her activities, as a feminist and
modernist, as a writer, and as a researcher.

P. N. Nguyen (B)
Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, IRASIA, Marseille, France
e-mail: nguyenpngoc@yahoo.fr

© The Author(s) 2024 37

L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges (eds.), Vietnam Over the Long Twentieth Century, Global
Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3611-9_3
38 P. N. Nguyen

3.2 Body of Work and Sources

I first came across the name Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa during my dissertation research,
because of her essay on the kingdom of Champa, and I read her novel at the French
National Library in Paris around the year 2000. At that time nobody knew her name.
In 2003, Mr. Trương Duy Hy wrote a short biography of Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa and
re-edited some of her writings.
In recent years I have become interested in the subject of Vietnamese migration
to France during the First World War and last year I translated her novel The Western
Beauty into French. To study Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s career more fully, we identified
the corpus of her writings and now have access to the first editions of three of her
publications:
(1) The novel, Tây phương mỹ nhơn [The Western beauty] (Saigon: Nhà in Bảo Tồn,
1927), seventy-six pages; prefaces by Huỳnh Thúc Kháng, Tản Đà, Bùi Thế Mỹ.
French translation: La Belle d’Occident (Fuveau: Decrescenzo Editeurs, 2021).
(2) The reformed tuồng drama (tuồng cải lương), Huyền Trân công chúa [Princess
Huyền Trân] (Hue: Imprimerie Tiếng Dân, 1934), thirty pages; forewords.
(3) The scholarly synthesis work, Chiêm Thành lược khảo [Summary study of
Champa] (Hanoi: Imprimerie Đông Tây, 1936), sixty-four pages; seven photos
and one color drawing; preface by Phạm Quỳnh; forewords in Vietnamese;
afterwords in French.
We also have at our disposal:
(1) A travel story, “Banà du ký: Mấy ngày đăng sơn lên thăm núi ‘Chúa’” [A story
of the trip to Banà: A few days in the mountains visiting the Mount Lord], Nam
phong [Southern breeze] 163 (June 1931): 552–559.
(2) An article, “Nhân cách phụ nữ” [Women’s personality], Nam phong 191
(December 1933): 545–551. This is record of a speech given at a market in
Tourane (now Đà Nẵng) on December 31, 1933, as part of a charity event.
(3) An interview, “Vì sao tôi cúp tóc?” [Why did I cut my hair?] Phụ nữ tân văn
[Women’s news] 244 (August 31, 1934): 17–18; two photos. This interview was
conducted by the Women’s News team and is also published in Nam phong 197
(1934): 390–392, one photo.
As for the other activities of Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa, we have some documents
published during the colonial period, such as press articles and book reviews. For
this study, articles in periodicals or books published before 1945 have been very
helpful. We have the publications of the Women’s Work Learned Society (Nữ công
học hội) in Hue of which Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa was a member, namely four volumes
of General Knowledge of Women’s Work (Nữ công thường thức) published between
1928 and 1931. The association also published revolutionary Phan Bội Chau’s Things
Female Citizens Should Know (Nữ quốc dân tu tri) in 1926 (second printing in 1927).
After a long period in which nothing seems to have been written about Huỳnh
Thị Bảo Hòa, Lại Nguyên Ân published an article about her in 2001 (Lại 2001),
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change … 39

followed by a book by Trương Duy Hy (2003, 2010). Trương Duy Hy carried out a
field investigation in Đà Nẵng and with the family of Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa. Various
articles subsequently published in the Vietnamese press are mainly based on his
publications. Thanks to his work, Mrs. Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa is now known in Vietnam
and in her hometown, Đà Nẵng, where a street now bears her name.
As for archival records produced during the colonial period, the research I have
conducted on Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa as well as on her family at the Archives nationales
d’Outre-Mer in Aix-en-Provence has been fruitless. We can hope that the archives
in Vietnam, the Center No. 4 in Đà Lạt in particular, in the series on the control of
the press and associations, can reveal some information.
To answer our initial questions, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s writings, especially the
prefaces to her three publications in which she takes care to explain her ideas and
positions, are essential. However, it is her first fictional text that should be of particular
interest to us. The first known publication, signed only by her name Huỳnh Thị Bảo
Hòa as a woman of letters (unlike the two following publications which are signed
by her married name, followed by her name), the novel, presents the ideal of a
modern woman, embodied here by a Frenchwoman, who is a responsible citizen,
while demonstrating feminine qualities in accordance with Confucian tradition.

3.3 A New Model of an Ideal Woman

The Western Beauty tells the story of Tuấn Ngọc, a young man from Tam Kỳ, a
village in central Vietnam, who goes to France as a colonial soldier. He is wounded
during the great battle of Verdun and sent to a military hospital. There he meets a
French nurse, Bạch Lan (her French name is transformed into Vietnamese). After
many difficulties, they are allowed to marry, and they have a baby girl. In 1918, at
the end of the war, Tuấn Ngọc asks the authorities to be allowed to stay in France
with his family, but he is sent to Indochina and cannot return to France. When his
wife receives his letter, she decides to go to Indochina with their little daughter. She
discovers the racism in the colony: the French authorities do not want her to find her
husband, because he is Vietnamese. She has to fight, with great courage, and in the
end, they are allowed to meet, but are not allowed to live in Indochina. The reason is
that, according to the authorities, a colonized man should not marry a French woman.
Bạch Lan’s fidelity, uprightness, and courage are admired by the Vietnamese
people. When she leaves Indochina with her family, many Vietnamese people come
to the boat to say goodbye. The title of the novel, The Western Beauty, pays tribute
to this woman whose beauty is complete: in her soul as well as in her physical
appearance.
What does the novel have to tell us about women in modern society and how
they should be? In this novel, there are many female characters, both French and
Vietnamese. Some may represent the traditional model of a woman devoted to her
family, like the mother of Tuấn Ngọc and his brother Minh Châu, as well as Minh
Châu’s wife. On the other hand, Tư Hiệp, a young and educated Vietnamese girl, does
40 P. N. Nguyen

not hesitate to help Bạch Lan, going so far as to try to get her out of her guarded hotel
in secret. On the French side, the figure of Bạch Lan’s mother, a loving mother but
not always understanding of her daughter, is opposed to Duy Liên, her older sister,
who brings her moral and financial support to help her sister leave for Indochina.
Sa Nhi, her servant, is very kind and ready to follow her mistress. Other female
figures appear throughout the story, especially in the eyes of the main hero, bringing
complementary touches and nuances. Unlike Bạch Lan who signs up as a volunteer
nurse, Vietnamese women have no idea of their responsibility in society, but not all
French women are like her, as other nurses at the hospital are quite racist toward the
colonial soldiers who have nevertheless come to risk their lives for France.
Among all these female characters, Bạch Lan, which means “White Orchid,”
a very noble flower in the Vietnamese imagination, is the embodiment of moral
values. The first time she appears in the novel, she appears in Tuấn Ngọc’s eyes like
a wonderful apparition:
One day, suddenly awakened from a bad dream, Tuấn Ngọc saw a young woman of great
elegance beside his bed. She was holding a glass of milk. She smiled at him and said:
“Are you feeling a little better already? Drink some of this milk to regain your strength.”
Tuấn Ngọc, who was gradually healing from his wounds, grabbed the glass and thanked
the young woman while looking at her more carefully. Oval face, eyebrows like willow
leaves, skin white as snow, lips vermilion red, teeth shining like pearls, hair as light as silk
thread, eyes like autumn water, a smile like a spring flower. (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 1, 13–14)

The description is conventional, but a Vietnamese reader accustomed to the criteria

of traditional female beauty will certainly appreciate it. This beautiful woman works
as a volunteer nurse in a military hospital. Tuấn Ngọc admires her courage and her
spirit of a citizen. He contrasts her to the Vietnamese women from rich families who
know nothing beyond their comfortable daily life.
This very elegant young woman must have been from a good family. Yet she is not afraid of
hard work and volunteered for the Red Cross to help wounded soldiers. She really deserves
to be praised (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 1, 14)!

Knowing her better through their discussions, Tuấn Ngọc appreciates her
respectful behavior, as well as her knowledge and open-mindedness:
Sometimes, at quieter times, she would stay and talk with him for a while. He learned that
her name was Bạch Lan and observed that she was the only one among the orderlies who
treated all the soldiers from different countries fairly, while the others were contemptuous
of the wounded, soldiers from overseas who had risked their lives to defend France. Bạch
Lan also enjoyed discussions with Tuấn Ngọc about life and current events and often asked
questions about the society and customs of the country of Annam, which he was happy to
answer. Sometimes they talked about literature and history, commenting on the exploits of
heroes, and they understood each other as long-time friends. (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 1, 15)

The reader then sees Bạch Lan in the next chapter presented in her family envi-
ronment. In fact, she is the daughter of a high-ranking French officer in “the city of
Alsace”:
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change … 41

. . . the youngest, named Bạch Lan, was just twenty-nine years old. She was of remarkable
beauty and virtuous character but did not abuse her freedom like so many other young women
born in a civilized country. She held her parents in great respect, observed the rites, was very
talented in needle and thread work. Beauty and talent, she had all these qualities, but she
placed virtue above all and paid no attention to stories of butterflies flirting with flowers.
So, she remained single while waiting for a soul mate, and shunned gold and honors. Her
parents let her do as she pleased and allowed her to volunteer for the Red Cross. (Huỳnh
1927: Vol. 1, 16).

In the meantime, Tuấn Ngọc is assigned to the service of a French officer, as his
personal secretary, who is none other than Bạch Lan’s father. Their reunion, warm
and friendly, is followed by regular meetings where they play music and discuss
everything. She even asked very direct questions: Why did he become a soldier?
Why did he not avenge an injustice done to his parents? Why did he not enjoy a quiet
life in the village instead of risking his life in the war in France? Having understood
that he is not a coward, but a man who has a high opinion of his responsibility as
a man (xả thân vì nghĩa), she falls in love with him (yêu vì hạnh, phục vì tài), but
remains reserved (không điều gì trái lễ ) (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 1, 21). Tuấn Ngọc is
also in love with this “admirable woman” (bực hiệp nữ), but remains discreet, being
aware of his condition as a colonial soldier. Scenes are described where two lovers
are courting Bạch Lan, one from an influential family in politics, the other with a
large fortune. Jealous, they manage to make her father feel that he could not allow
Tuấn Ngọc into his house. Then forced to be separated, they finally find each other
thanks to a combination of circumstances that allows them to declare their mutual
love. Bạch Lan has the courage to ask her parents for permission to marry Tuan Ngoc,
arguing: “Since he saved my life, it is not necessary to consider wealth or poverty”
(Chàng đã có công cứu tử, sự giàu nghèo có đáng kể chi) (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 1, 32).
Their marriage takes place “in church” and the couple live in respect and harmony:
Since this couple of a European woman and an Asian man lived under the same roof, united
by the bonds of marriage, the understanding and harmony were perfect, a rare thing, even
among spouses from the same country. However, they did not live in ease, for the monthly
salary of a soldier was quite modest. Fortunately, Bạch Lan knew how to be thrifty and often
took on sewing and embroidery work with her golden fingers so as not to waste her time and
to bring some income into the home, which she did with grace and devotion, not wanting to
be a burden to her husband. A woman of high moral qualities, she did not abuse the word
“equality” like so many others, despite being born in a civilized country. Since her marriage
to Tuấn Ngọc, she dressed simply and took care of everything in the house, showing love and
respect to her husband, like how in the old days the lady Mạnh Quang served her husband at
every meal.1 With this newlywed couple, it was only agreement and harmony. She excelled
in the household arts, he showed his talent in poetry and music. The spectacle of this happy
family life was a joy to witness. (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 1, 35–36)

Unfortunately, with the end of the war Tuan Ngoc is sent back to Indochina,
officially because his contract has ended. Having no way to return to France, even

1Mạnh Quang, Meng Guang in Chinese, is the name of a woman who lived during the Eastern Han
period (206–220 CE). She did not marry until the age of thirty as she was determined to marry an
upright, but poor, scholar by the name of Liang Hong. She would have dinner ready for him when
he returned after a day’s work.
42 P. N. Nguyen

clandestinely on a ship, he decides to write to his wife to give her back her freedom.
Dated June 12, 1919, the letter arrives in France in the fall. The news is like a
thunderclap for Bạch Lan who refuses the idea of remarriage suggested by her mother.
On the contrary, she decides to defend their love:
We hoped, she said to herself, that we would soon meet again, without suspecting that by
saying goodbye, we were separating forever! She silently blamed this arbitrary and perverse
power that had separated a couple who lived in harmony, wondering why her letters written to
her husband had never arrived. There were still many revolting things in Vietnamese society!
If I marry again, she thought, it is against the moral code; if I stay here alone, life will be too
hard. The right decision would be to find my husband. Should I cross the ocean to join him,
following my role as a wife? I am not afraid of rough seas, high mountains or the dangers
of the long road, I will not spare myself the pains to fulfill my duties. I will honor my duty
of love. But if I leave, who will take care of the parents? (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 2, 49)

Encouraged by her elder sister who assured her that she would take care of their
parents, she decides “to find her husband to fulfill her moral obligations” (đi tìm
chồng cho trọn đạo) (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 2, 50). After a long journey, she arrives in
a colonial city and has to confront the reality of a racial hierarchy. Faced with an
administrator who advises her to take a return ship to France, she replies in a dignified
manner:
In this world of five continents and six races, all individuals are equal as human beings, no
one can be looked down upon. In any society, morality dictates our duties, and mine is to
follow my husband. Should I abandon him because he is poor? A French citizen who acts
according to the law and fulfills her duties is rather a subject of pride for the people of France.
(Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 2, 55)

The struggle to find her husband begins in this way, with still worse obstacles to
overcome, eventually leading to the desperate act of a suicide attempt. In front of the
same stubborn French administrator, she says:
Sir, the people of Annam are of another race, it is true, but they are a people with a culture
and rituals, and moreover they have helped us in a difficult time. I hold them in respect, and
that is correct. How can you say that it is shameful? My daughter and I came from far away
and spent a lot of money, hoping to see my husband, her father, without knowing that here
we would be oppressed and that you would use force to make us leave. I would rather die
than live to suffer like this! (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 2, 67)

As she speaks these words, Bạch Lan pulls out a pistol, determined to end her life
to free herself from this arbitrary power. The administrator is seized with panic, but
nevertheless manages to take the gun from her.
Advised by a Vietnamese employee who “praised her uprightness and fidelity”
and who assured him that “the people of Annam would... be very admiring of the
fidelity of a woman of noble France” (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 2, 67), the administrator
finally summons Tuấn Ngọc to come to his office to find his wife. Bạch Lan finds
her husband and requests to go to the village to meet his family. Her wish, however
simple, is forbidden “so as not to make France lose face” (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 2, 74).
In order not to cause more trouble to her family-in-law and the village, she has to
comply with this order. The solution is to invite her sister-in-law, her brother-in-law,
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change … 43

and two other relatives to come to the town: “When they arrived, Bạch Lan welcomed
them warmly and respectfully, although they were country folk. The visitors were
delighted and, on their way home, spoke highly of her qualities” (Huỳnh 1927: Vol.
2, 74).
The novelist Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa describes Bạch Lan as endowed with the essen-
tial qualities in a woman according to the Confucian tradition, namely work, appear-
ance, words, and actions (công, dung, ngôn, hạnh). We see her as a perfect housewife,
thrifty and hard-working, even able to earn money to support the household. She is
beautiful as is described from her first appearance, then by the conventional expres-
sion of “face like a flower, skin like jade” (mặt hoa da ngọc) (Huỳnh 1927: Vol.
1, 28). As for her other qualities, we see her respectfulness toward her husband to
whom she demonstrates, even at the cost of her life, exemplary fidelity. We under-
stand the admiration of the Vietnamese who sympathized with her situation. Once
she is reunited with her husband, they go to Cochinchine (Nam Kỳ) where people
welcome them with great kindness:
When they arrived, a great number of people came to meet them, for everyone had heard
good things about this foreign woman who was so faithful to her Vietnamese husband. . .
many people brought them food and sweets. (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 2, 75)

In addition to these qualities exalted in the Confucian tradition, the character of

Bạch Lan is also exemplary for her courage. In the colonial context, a heroine who
dares to stand up to the authorities is not common, if not unique in Vietnamese
literature. She has a strong sense of her place in society, participating according to
her abilities in the defense of her homeland in times of war, but also respecting and
defending the rights of human beings. We see this through her kind attitude toward all
soldiers, without distinction between French and colonials, and her firmness toward
the administrator, and against the racial hierarchy in the colony. Her open-mindedness
and curiosity about the Other, different from herself but equally worthy of attention,
are in deep contradiction with the attitudes and ideas of the colonial regime. The
following passage describing a trip through the countryside shows her wonder at the
landscape and her attention to the women she saw:
Along the road, nature was waking up with the return of spring. . . Bạch Lan was attentive to
the people they passed along the way. At the sight of the women who, carrying heavy loads
of goods, remained smiling, she remembered the stories told by Tuấn Ngọc when he was
still in France. “Here is an example of the qualities of the women of the Eastern countries,”
she said. She felt compassion for these frail bodies who had to perform hard labor to feed
their families, thus taking on the duties that fell to them. She compared them to women in
France who led an easy life with many freedoms, were respected in society, but who invoked
the law to ask for a divorce at the slightest problem in their relationship. (Huỳnh 1927: Vol.
2, 73)

This passage, a kind of summary of women’s issues, must be read in relation to

the answer that the character Tuan Ngoc offers regarding the colonial context. He
answers her as follows:
Before, women respected the rules of the three obediences and the four virtues. France has
brought the seed of civilization, but it has not made the tree of modernization grow high
44 P. N. Nguyen

enough among those who have learned things without really understanding them. Men no
longer respect the law, women break morals. Fortunately, there are a few people living in
the countryside who are not yet contaminated by bad morals. (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 2, 73)

This exchange between the two main characters toward the end of the novel can be
used to refine Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s idea of the ideal modern woman for Vietnamese
society. First, she must have qualities to ensure her responsibilities within the family.
Like the character, through her actions and words, she must also consider herself a
citizen and share with the man her responsibilities in society. But freedom and rights
do not mean being above everything and without regard for anyone. The character,
Bạch Lan, while arguing to have her vows accepted, remains respectful and obedient
to her parents: when her father forbids her to see her lover, “she was sad, but did
not dare to contradict her parents” (không dám trái ý) (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 1, 24).
Once married, she “took care of everything in the house, showing love and respect
to her husband” (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 1, 36). Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa, by creating this
character, shows that a modern woman must have irreproachable moral qualities
and must participate in social actions, and fight for human rights, even in a colonial
society, and women’s rights. What is completely new is that it affirms, through the
character’s determination, that a woman must choose her life partner and must have
the courage to defend her love. Compared to the three Confucian obediences, it is
really a female revolution that is described in the novel The Western Beauty.
This is the heroine of the novel. Is she in any way like Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa in her
life? Did the author have the same qualities as the “Western beauty” she highlighted
in her novel?

3.4 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who

Lived Under Colonization

We have some information about Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s life from Trương Duy Hy’s
field investigation. He writes about her birth and origin as follows:
Mrs. Huỳnh Thị Thái whose pseudonym is Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa or Huỳnh Bảo Hòa, was
born in 1896 in Đa Phước Homeland, Hòa Minh Commune, Hòa Vang District, Quảng Nam
Province - Đà Nẵng (now part of Đà Nẵng). Her father was called Huỳnh Phúc Lợi, her
mother Bùi Thị Trang. Mr. Lợi was a military mandarin serving the Nguyễn dynasty and
participated in the Cần Vương movement in Quảng Nam Province. (Trương 2003)

The year 1896 is given without reference to any document. Let us keep this date,
however, because what is important is that she was probably born around 1900. Her
childhood took place at a time when French colonial control was already established,
but still shaken by anti-French events.
We can see here a change in name. Huỳnh Thị Thái, a young girl, at one point
took on a pen name, which we can see as a statement of intent. Bảo Hòa, a name
which seems to mean “to preserve harmony,” can probably be related to the Đà Nẵng
region which has several names of localities with the word “hoà” such as Hoà Vang,
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change … 45

Hoà Ninh, Hoà Khánh, etc. However, we do not know exactly her native village. Đa
Phước, perhaps the district with a well-known communal hall, or đình, in Đà Nẵng
city, is mentioned as “quê,” a term indicating the place of origin of the paternal family
but does not mean that the person was born or lived there. Moreover, a complementary
field survey will be necessary to complete, or even rectify, this information.
Trương Duy Hy wrote that Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa was born into a “mandarin family.”
She herself said, reports Huỳnh Thúc Kháng in the preface to the novel, “I come
from a family that loves learning, my father is a retired mandarin. Since my early
childhood, I loved to learn” (Huỳnh Thúc Kháng 1927: 1). But we have no further
details. According to Trương Duy Hy, her father “was a military mandarin and
participated in the anti-French Cần Vương movement” in the years 1885–1895. We
cannot say for sure, but it is possible that this element would play a role later in the
involvement of her children in the struggle for Vietnamese independence.
The most important thing to note is that the father was literate and could teach his
daughter Chinese characters and Confucian classics. Girls at that time were excluded
from the traditional education system and the only way for them to learn was to have
a teacher at home, or to dress as a boy to go to school. If she was an only child,
this was even more plausible. The fact is that we have no other information on her
family, nor on her possible brothers and sisters. We do not know exactly when and
how she began to learn the Vietnamese quốc ngữ script, and also French, but she
wrote both well, as can be seen from her publications in Vietnamese, as well as from
the afterword in French of the book about Champa.
According to Trương Duy Hy, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa lived in the countryside until
her marriage and then came to the city as a young bride:
This young country girl who had to leave all her habits to become a lady in a modern city, a
French concession that was completely foreign to her, was not frightened, but on the contrary,
quickly became accustomed to the urban way of life and in particular became imbued with
the modernist (duy tân) spirit promoted by the various patriotic movements. (2003: 10).

Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa married in 1914 (we have a picture) with Vương Khả Lãm.
He had been granted the title “Hàn lâm viện đại học sĩ ” which can be translated as
“academician,” but seems to be more of an honorific title (on the mandarin hierarchy
see Poisson 2004). Another photo shows him in a traditional tunic and turban. In
Đà Nẵng, he seems to have been a personality who could enjoy friendship with
mandarins and scholars, such as ministers (thượng thư) Hồ Đắc Trung and Lê Bá
Trinh, and exam graduates (phó bảng) Dương Hiển Tiến and Lê Văn Chiểu (Phạm
and Lê 2001, cited by Trương 2003: 10). No other information is available, however,
we can formulate a hypothesis that he worked rather in relation with Western circles:
on the one hand, their residence in the center of Đà Nẵng, a French concession,
excluded the membership of the mandarinate; on the other hand, his wife wrote in
the account of their stay in the climatic resort of Bà Nà reserved for Westerners, that
he had to return to Đà Nẵng at the “end of his vacation leave”(hết phép nghỉ) (Huỳnh
1931: 555). At present, it is through his wife that he is known: in the list of members
of the Women’s Work Learned Society published in 1929, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa is
mentioned under the name of her husband, as in general were the other members of
46 P. N. Nguyen

the association in the 1929 list, as Mrs. Vương Khả Lãm (Anonymous 1929: Vol. 2,
30). She is the sixty-ninth member listed and is part of the Tourane, or what is now
called Đà Nẵng, section which had seven members. Her publications in 1934 and
1936 are also signed under her husband’s name, followed by the clarification, “that
is” (tức là), “Mrs. Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa.”
Let us consider that Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa got married in 1914. She was then
18 years old, not a very early age for those times. Five children were born in the
1920s, including two sons and three daughters. Their eldest son, Vương Khả Hàn,
born in 1922, would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in 1945. Their daughter, Vương
Thị Nguyệt Thu, born in 1924, would join the anti-French resistance as early as 1945
and died in 1951 in the maquis. The younger son Vương Khả Thụy (whom Trương
Duy Hy met around 2002), born in 1928, would join North Vietnam in 1955 along
with his older brother. Two daughters were born in 1930 and 1932, Vương Thúy Lan
and Vương Thiên Hương. They would live with their youngest daughter until their
deaths in the family house in Đà Nẵng.
These dates, which are known thanks to Trương Duy Hy’s fieldwork, call for a
remark. The exceptionally long time between the marriage (1914) and the birth of
the first child (1922), i.e., 8 years, is not normal. Except for an exceptional case of a
health problem, we could formulate the hypothesis that Mr. Vương Khả Lãm, shortly
after their marriage, had to leave his wife for a few years. The Great War (1914–1918)
could be this cause, but research should be carried out in a thorough way in to try
to find information about an individual from among the 90,000 Vietnamese enlisted
men who went to France during this period. This could be one of the explanations
for the genesis of the novel.
In any case, we can assume that the couple lived happily with their five children,
as much as was possible in those troubled years in Vietnam’s history. Two portraits
seem to have been taken at the same time, with the same oval frame, showing them
in traditional clothes, with serene and complicit expressions. In her account of her
trip to Bà Nà, published in 1931, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa mentions her husband with the
affectionate term “nhà tôi” (my husband) in recounting this two-week family stay at
the hill resort. Mr. Vương Khả Lãm passed away in 1968, if a photo of Huỳnh Thị Bảo
Hòa in mourning dated 1968 is to be believed. Given Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s activities,
especially very active in the years 1926–1936, when their children were still very
young, we can imagine that this was not possible without a perfect understanding
between spouses and real support from her husband.
Further, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa was a personality in her city and far beyond. In 1926,
she participated, with other “important” people, in the organization of the funeral
of the modernist leader Phan Châu Trinh. Bùi Thế Mỹ, in the French-language
newspaper Annamese Echo (Echo annamite), presented her in 1928 as a “feminist,”
an active supporter of female education (Bùi 1928: 1–2). In 1934, a delegation from
the emblematic feminist magazine Women’s News (Phụ nữ tân văn), visited her
and interviewed her about her decision to cut her hair short. In the 1940s, she was
well known from north to south. A note in the first issue of Renewed Knowledge
(Tạp chí tri tân), published by a group of eminent intellectuals in Hanoi, shows
the consideration she enjoyed in the intellectual milieu at that time, stating, “To
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change … 47

Mrs. Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa in Tourane—Did you receive my letter? Please answer.
Please think of promoting Renewed Knowledge. Thank you” (Anonymous 1941: 20).
Meanwhile, Ái Lang (1943) and Hoa Bang (1943) both spoke of her as a pioneer in
women’s journalism.
Based on current sources, we believe that the activities of Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa can
be divided into two periods. From 1926 to 1929, she was very involved in actions in
favor of women’s education and women’s rights. She was a member of the Tourane
section of the Women’s Work Learned Society association founded in Hue by Mrs.
Đạm Phương and inaugurated on June 28, 1926. Two years later she created another
Women’s Work Learned Society in Tourane which was inaugurated on November 18,
1928, for which we have a photo of the ceremony. It was during this period that she
wrote regularly in the press, notably in the Industrial People’s News (Thực nghiệp
dân báo) of which we have a photo of her journalist’s card dated 1927. According
to Bùi Thế Mỹ, a well-known journalist in Saigon:
As for the articles she gave to the various Annamese newspapers, and more particularly to
the Voice of the People [Tiếng dân] and the Indochina Times [Đông Pháp thời báo], and in
which the author deals most often with women’s issues, they are always written with good
sense, even with authority, in a pleasant style. (Bùi 1928: 2)

The novel, The Western Beauty, written probably in 1926, was published very
quickly in 1927, with prefaces by three intellectuals: Bùi Thế Mỹ, Tản Đà, the great
poet from Hanoi, as well as Huỳnh Thúc Kháng, whose official title was President of
the House of the People’s Representatives of Annam, but above all, was a modernist
leader who had spent years in colonial prisons.
During the following period, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa was mainly interested in her
region as the territory of the ancient kingdom of Champa. In 1929, she visited
an ancient Cham site discovered by the Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient (French
School of the Far East, or EFEO). She certainly visited other sites, worked in the
Museum of Cham Sculpture, and studied the available literature on Champa from the
historical, cultural, architectural, and artistic points of view. Her work of synthesis
on Champa, published in 1936, received a glowing review in the Bulletin de l’École
française d’Extrême-Orient by Nguyễn Văn Tố, one of the greatest historians of the
time (Nguyễn 1936: 506–507). But before this work, she had already published in
1934 a traditional tuồng drama, Princess Huyền Trân, in which she dramatized a
well-known episode in Vietnamese history when in the thirteenth century the Trần
king gave his daughter in marriage to the king of Champa. This piece, fortunately
preserved in the legal deposit at the National Library of France in Paris, testifies to
another aspect of Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s activities. More specifically, in the preface
of that work she speaks of the importance of theater in society and of her wish to
contribute to the reform of traditional tuồng theater, not only by arranging old plays
and writing new ones, but also by financially supporting a theater company for about
a year, from the end of 1931 until the economic crisis was heavily felt (Huỳnh 1934a,
b: 2–4).
In 1931, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa also published an account of her family’s trip to Bà
Nà, a hill station at an altitude of 1400 m created for French personnel, during which
48 P. N. Nguyen

she noted the inequalities and injustices between human beings (Huỳnh 1931). It
seems that she was then no longer active in feminism as in the previous period. The
interview she gave in 1934 about her hair being cut short for a year leads us to believe
that she advises Vietnamese women to have the courage to assert their will, first in
the private domain, such as hair and clothes, while waiting to obtain more freedom
in the public domain. The reaction of a Woman’s News reader shows that cutting
one’s hair was not as trivial as it may seem to us today and required a high opinion of
womanhood that most did not have (Bạch 1934: 21). Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s interview
reveals a page in the history of feminism in Vietnam, showing us at the same time
the great difference between the reality and the ideal of a modern woman described
in the novel published seven years earlier.
The Summary Study of Champa published in 1936 is Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s last
known writing. Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa may still have written in the press, but we do
not have any such works. From 1945 on, she probably did not publish anymore.
According to Trương Duy Hy:
In 1945, after the August Revolution, she continued her activities at the Đà Nẵng Women’s
Association until the beginning of the Indochina War. After a brief period of evacuation [tản
cư], she and her husband returned to live with their youngest daughter Vương Thiên Hương
in the family house, No. 18-20 Phan Châu Trinh Avenue in Đà Nẵng. . . In 1975 after the
reunification of the country, she made a trip to Hanoi to visit friends. A few years before her
death, she lost her eyesight and became progressively weaker (Trương 2010).

Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa died on May 8, 1982, in her house in Đà Nẵng and was buried
at the family plot, and then transferred in 1988 to Hồ Chí Minh City to a house of
worship under the responsibility of her grandson Nguyễn Thành Nghĩa. Some family
members remained in Đà Nẵng, including Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s youngest son. About
Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s life before 1945, especially her novel and play, the memory
was lost, even in her family, until the book about her was published in 2003.

3.5 A Modernist and Feminist Woman

In Đà Nẵng, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa is now known as the first woman in the city to have
short hair and to ride a bicycle. Trương Duy Hy was fortunate to interview “elders
born in Đà Nẵng like Mr. and Mrs. Đoàn Bá Từ, retired executive and members of
the Thái Phiên Club” who kept this image in their memory (Trương 2003). The short
hair and the bicycle are not just an appearance, but rather a symbol of her adherence
to the ideas of modernization. Here it is necessary to say a few words about the
modernist moment which is very important in the history of Vietnam in general, and
in the region where Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa lived in particular.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, in parallel with the armed anti-French
struggle which Phan Bội Châu organized from Japan, the modernists (literates, but
also new French-speaking graduates) were persuaded of the importance of “modern-
izing” (duy tân) Vietnamese society in order to prepare it for independence, which
remained their objective. The regional and international context lent itself to this, and
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change … 49

reformer Phan Châu Trinh was in a position to publish an open letter to the Governor-
General of Indochina to explain the modernist project and to demand more rights for
the Vietnamese.
The central region of Vietnam, named Annam by the French, was a field of very
dynamic activities such as the establishment of modern schools and businesses. The
image of an immobile royal court in Hue is certainly not the whole picture. It should be
noted that the modernist leaders Phan Châu Trinh and Huỳnh Thúc Kháng came from
the center and that modernist activities were more precocious there at the beginning
of the century, although for posterity the Đông Kinh Free School (Đông Kinh Nghĩa
Thục school), created in Hanoi in 1907, has become the emblem. This modernist
episode was brief, as it was suppressed as early as 1908, following an anti-tax protest
in the center in March. The scholars, identified as troublemakers, were targeted by
the colonial and mandarin authorities and forced to leave the public scene.
Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa was between ten and twelve years old in these years. The
young Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa could of course see or even participate in some of the
modernization activities, but we do not know exactly where she lived at the time.
Note, however, that the village of Phan Châu Trinh (Tam Lộc, Phú Ninh) and that of
his cousin and reformer Lê Cơ (Tiên Sơn, Tiên Phước) are distant from each other
by about thirteen kilometers, are only seventy kilometers from Đà Nẵng, and thus
are quite accessible, even on foot (Sở văn hóa thông tin tỉnh Quảng Nam 2006). The
area is thus one of the nuclei of modernist activities in the years 1900–1908.
The first trace of any public activity by Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa dates from 1926. A
witness, who later became a Communist Party first secretary of Quảng Nam Province,
attests to her participation in 1926 in the organization of Phan Chau Trinh’s funeral:
The workers gathered in mutual aid associations, as well as some important personalities in
Đà Nẵng at the time such as Nguyễn Tùng, Phạm Doãn Điềm, Nguyễn Đình Thuần, Huỳnh
Thị Bảo Hoà. . . and took the initiative to organize the funeral of Phan Châu Trinh in a very
solemn way. Thousands of people came to the town hall to participate. (Phan 1980 cited in
Trương 2010: 12)

Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa is the only woman listed among the organizers. It took courage
to show respect to the old modernist leader who literally sacrificed his life for his
country. Without a doubt, she must have also enjoyed a situation that allowed her not
to be worried by the colonial authorities. Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa was certainly not naive.
In the novel she was probably writing at the same time, she has her character say
many times that her country “has lost its independence” and that its inhabitants are
like “slaves.” Her heroine, the Frenchwoman, complains about the “arbitrary power”
in France as in Indochina. As one can see, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa did not only write
beautiful words in a novel, but she also acted in her life according to her convictions.
Her activities in favor of women’s education and the defense of women’s rights
also show the correspondence between her ideas and her actions. We can see this
in the Women’s Work Learned Society founded in Hue in 1926 of which she was a
member, and in the chapter that she founded in Tourane in 1928. She had the idea
of creating a federation of women’s associations from different cities and regions
which seems to have been supported, for example, by a member of the Hue Women’s
50 P. N. Nguyen

Work Learned Society who lived in Nam Định in the north and who wrote a letter
to the Women’s Work Learned Society in 1927 that was published in its journal the
following year (Bích 1928: 30).
What did it mean to be a feminist in colonial Vietnam? First, it meant giving
lectures on practical subjects and calling on all women to educate themselves and to
participate in social life. According to Trương Duy Hy, in numerous conferences in
Đà Nẵng, “organized by different movements,” she:
. . . aimed to improve women’s knowledge, encourage them to adopt a new way of life, urge
them to be thrifty, to know how to raise and educate their children, etc., using, for example,
soapberry [bồ hòn] fruit as soap to clean clothes. By calling on women to learn quốc ngữ,
she showed the benefits of knowing how to read and write for oneself, for the family, and
for society. She explained how to save money by using bời lời [Litsea glutinosa] to make
ink. (Trương 2010: 11)

As Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa was a member of the Hue chapter of the Women’s Work
Learned Society, the activities of this association should help us to know more about
its mindset and its own activities. The “women’s work” in its title is a reference to
the domestic arts, which is quite harmless. The journalist Bùi Thế Mỹ wrote in 1928:
The purpose of the association is household education. Conferences are organized accord-
ingly, where members can teach each other everything related to housework.
Apart from that, we also take care of school-age girls. In fact, on their days off, many
of them attend the lessons given at the association’s headquarters. The members of the
[Women’s Work Learned Society] are in charge, in turn, of telling these free pupils how to
make a child’s costume, embroider a handkerchief, prepare certain dishes, make gifts, etc.
In a word, these kids are taught everything that a well-educated Annamite girl should not
ignore. (Bùi 1928: 1)

Reading the publications issued by the Hue chapter of the Women’s Work Learned
Society, we can also see that the objective of the association, at least of Mrs. Đạm
Phương, its founder, and members like Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa, was not limited to
training a good wife and a good mother. The announcement of its foundation in the
newspaper Center and North News (Trung Bắc tân văn) on May 17, 1926, specifies
its three objectives concerning women “(1) Improving skills; (2) Defining responsi-
bilities; (3) Opening the mind.” A speech by Phan Bội Châu, “the revered patriot,” at
the inauguration of the association on June 28, 1926, in Hue, clearly assigned a much
higher objective, by urging women to contribute to the collective efforts of the Viet-
namese people (Phan 1926: 18–27). Huỳnh Thúc Kháng, another modernist leader,
as the Chairman of the House of People’s Representatives of Annam, in response to
Mrs. Đạm Phương at this inauguration ceremony, was also very clear:
Look at the civilized countries in Europe and America, women are competing with men in
the affairs of society, not only in the fields of studies and techniques, but they also demand
participation in politics, elections, etc. Moreover, the bright evidence is that in the recent
war in Europe, women have led many businesses and companies. (Huỳnh 1926: 31)

Europe and the United States are put forth here as examples, which was not only
a rhetorical effect intended for the colonial authorities, present at the inauguration
in the person of Pierre Pasquier, future governor-general of Indochina. Like The
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change … 51

Western Beauty that Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa would publish shortly after, with a preface
by Huỳnh Thúc Kháng that praises her effort to spread modern ideas to women, the
intention to follow the West in its best, was sincere.
The Women’s Work Learned Society was therefore not a simple association that
taught “household arts.” Phan Bội Châu, in his book published by the Women’s
Work Learned Society in 1926 comprising twenty-five “chapters” in the form of
short poems, affirms the eminent role of women in human society from the first
poem entitled “General Idea”: “Girl or boy, all carry the burden of the country’s
affairs together/But the girls have a more important share/For being a mother (of the
national community) is a female task” (Phan 1926: 3). After poems about “what a
woman should know” as a child, then as a wife and mother, in the family and social
relationships, the last one with the title “Do you have a husband yet?” (Mầy đã có
chồng chưa?) expresses the voice of a Vietnamese woman who lost her husband (her
country): “His last name is Việt, his first name is Nam. He is more than 3000 years
old, not very old... Heaven, how can you be so cruel? By taking my husband away
from me” (Phan 1926: 16). Strange as it may seem, this little book, reissued in 1927,
was well published, circulated for a time, and was kept in the colonial legal deposit.
We must undoubtedly deduce a moment of softness in Indochinese politics, probably
with the appointment on July 28, 1925, of the socialist Alexandre Varenne to the post
of governor-general until 1929, the year when Mrs. Đạm Phương, despite her status
as a member of the royal family, was imprisoned for two months, suspected by the
authorities of being in contact with the nationalist Tân Việt party.
A text by Mrs. Đạm Phương, dated February 14, 1928, and published in the first
volume of the General Knowledge of Women’s Work in 1928, in response to critics
of her project, allows us to better understand the steps necessary to obtain equality
of women with men:
Following the wave of women’s rights that recently arose in our society, several people,
women or men, asked my opinion, probably wanting to ask me this question: when women
proclaim women’s rights, why do I say that we must take care of the education of women’s
work [nữ công]. . . Women’s work is a step towards women’s rights. Let me explain: A
country that has no rights is so because it has lost its independence, a family that has no
rights is also because it has lost its independence, a human being who has no rights is again
because he has lost his independence, a woman who has no rights is because she has lost
her independence and has become accustomed to relying on others and being a slave to
them. Independence is about two things: 1) Independence of the mind; 2) independence of
the body. Independence of the mind means independence in knowledge and ideas. In order
to be independent, it is necessary to widen one’s knowledge to be wise in different fields.
Independence of the body means independence in one’s life. You have to learn how to do
things yourself, so that you can support yourself. . . A girl who wants to have rights must her
two independences. This is quite contrary to the Chinese ideology of the three obediences,
which is to obey and rely on others. (Đạm Phương 1928: 26–27)

The lecture given by Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa on December 31, 1933, at a market in
Tourane for a charity event corresponds to the ideas espoused by Đạm Phương. She
agrees with the necessity of teaching trades so that women can become financially
independent, but this is only a step to go further, that is to be equal with men. Her
lecture, “Women’s Personality” (Nhân cách phụ nữ) gives a deplorable account of
52 P. N. Nguyen

the situation of women in the world, then offers a history of the place of women since
antiquity in different civilizations and religions, before asserting that women, repre-
senting half of humanity, must have their dignity and their place in modern society.
She underlines the opposition in the Vietnamese society between the conservatives
and the moderns (duy tân) who:
. . . want women to obtain their full quality as human beings, to have enough knowledge
to manage their affairs, to educate their children, to participate in society, to be able to be
independent to do whatever they wish in order to create happiness for the family and society.
. . in the family as well as in society, it is necessary to fight and eradicate the old morals and
customs which are mistakes of the past, especially men should no longer consider women
as treasures, society and law should no longer consider them as minors. (Huỳnh 1933: 552)

The novel, The Western Beauty, beyond its role in the history of the Vietnamese
language and literature, must be situated in this perspective. The character of the beau-
tiful and educated French woman, model wife, and responsible citizen, is proposed
as a model for Vietnamese women. In our opinion, this novel should not be read as
an old-fashioned novel telling once again the story of a faithful and devoted wife.
The objective of its author is much more of a rupture with traditional morality, by
choosing the novel form to spread as widely as possible the ideas in favor of the
liberation of the woman. She confided in Huỳnh Thúc Kháng who reports her words
as follows:
During the last decade or so, which saw the emergence of the women’s studies movement
[nữ học], I liked to collect newspapers and magazines, with the idea of reading to educate
myself. Of these readings, I much prefer the novel, which gave me the courage to try my
hand at it myself. (Huỳnh 1926: 1)

Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s project was completely in agreement with the modernist
spirit, as Huỳnh Thúc Kháng also affirmed in his preface, that the novel was an
incomparably effective means to diffuse ideas.
The tuồng drama, Princess Huyền Trân, can also be considered in the modernist
and feminist spirit: the story of the princess highlights the role that a woman can
play in history, as the protagonist sacrifices herself for her country, but also her right
to love, once her husband has died. The publication of this play also allowed us
to know, thanks to the preface, that Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa, according to modernist
recommendations, also contributed economically, by financing a theater company.
By giving work to about twenty people, women and men, she helped to revive and
reform a traditional art.
However, the fight for women’s rights was not an easy path. Numerous articles
in the press of the time testify to the difficulty of changing mentalities, starting with
the idea of manual labor allowing a woman to support herself. Concerning Huỳnh
Thị Bảo Hòa, her short hair and her practice of cycling mentioned above are not
a simple matter of appearance. Let us recall in passing that in the early twentieth
century, hair was worn long by men as a symbol of filial piety and that modernist
scholars were known precisely as the “cut hair” and were subject to repression by
the colonial power.
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change … 53

For women, it was still a problem a quarter of a century later. In the interview
given in May 1934 to the magazine Women’s News, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa clearly
explained that her decision to cut her hair was part of the exercise of her rights as an
individual, until equality between men and women could be achieved:
. . . The right to equality and the right to participate in governance will surely be achieved
one day, but for the time being, they are only an ideal, especially since in order to exercise
these rights, we will have to ask for authorization, because the power to give them belongs
to others who must consent to them. As for the change of our look, this is a freedom of each
individual, we do not have to ask for authorization from anyone. That is why, after cutting
my hair short, I am studying to see how to change my habits, such as playing sports, cycling,
and changing clothes and shoes. Do not think that I am doing all this to try to make myself
more beautiful, because the truth is that I want to change so that industry, commerce, and
technology can progress. (Huỳnh 1934b: 17–18)

These changes, while possible immediately, required a real change of mindset.

Her hair cut in 1934 needed a lot of determination:
We must arm ourselves with courage and will to face and fight inertia; the necessary weapon
here is confidence and determination. When I made my decision, I entrusted without hesita-
tion my long hair to the scissors; after that, I did not pay any attention to the words of some
or others, to the hostile glances that stare at my short hair, in order to completely realize my
will. (Huỳnh 1934b: 18)

The letter from a woman reader, after the publication of this interview, shows how
difficult it was to change the mentalities in the Vietnamese society of the time. After
giving several examples of women who wanted to wear short hair but did not dare,
this woman admitted that she herself did not succeed in doing so and hoped that her
daughters would do better. She praised Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa for her courage, saying,
“I admire Ms. Bảo Hòa for this. She does what she wants to do” (Bạch 1934: 21).
Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa wanted precisely to write a novel to show a female example
and she did so. Thanks to this novel rediscovered in the 2000s, her name has become
familiar again to the Vietnamese reader.

3.6 The First Woman Novelist

Recent research shows the importance of Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa in the history of
Vietnamese literature. Yet her name and her work were “forgotten for seventy years.”
Lại Nguyên Ân, while casually reading an account, discovered the existence of the
novel The Western Beauty and found it in the National Library of Vietnam in Hanoi.
First in a blog post, dated December 2000, and then in an article in the Journal of
Literature (Tạp chí văn học) published in June 2001, he hypothesized that Huỳnh
Thị Bảo Hòa was the first female novelist. At that time, he was not aware of any
other publications by Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa.
Trương Duy Hy then took over, but unfortunately did not have access to all of
Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s publications. In the book he released in 2003, Trương Duy
Hy re-edited The Western Beauty, the travel story, and the book on Champa (from a
54 P. N. Nguyen

manuscript kept by the family) but could only point out the possible existence of a
play. We now have the published play. These literary texts allow us to better know
Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa the writer who may have published other works, short stories,
or essays, in periodicals.
We have here the modest intention to briefly present her literary work. First is the
question of interest to the literary history of Vietnam. Is Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa the first
female novelist or not? The three authors who wrote prefaces to her work emphasize
the innovative character of a novel written by a woman. According to Bùi Thế Mỹ,
for instance, upon its release the novel “enjoyed a rare success in Cochinchina” (Bùi
1928: 2). Meanwhile, Diệp Văn Kỳ, journalist and owner of the Indochina Times,
wrote a review in his newspaper in October 1927 (Diệp 1927) while journalist and
writer Thiếu Sơn mentioned the novel in 1934 (Thiếu 1934: 7). About fifteen years
later, however, Vũ Ngọc Phan, author of a monumental history of modern Vietnamese
literature written in quốc ngữ, seems not to have known of its existence (Vũ 1951).
Hoa Bằng, in an article published in Renewed Knowledge, in an issue dedicated to
women’s literature, which cites Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa as a pioneer in journalism, does
not mention this novel either (Hoa 1943: 2).
Lại Nguyên Ân and Trương Duy Hy argue that Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s novel is
the first written in Vietnamese and published by a woman. However, Lê Thanh Hiền,
known for his research in theater, has contested this hypothesis and proposes instead
a novel by Đạm Phương, published in book form in 1928, after being serialized
in several issues in a magazine (Lại 2001). Similarly, Võ Văn Nhơn, in a work on
literature from the first half of the twentieth century, mentions other earlier published
novels (Võ 2007). However, Nguyễn Kim Anh, who compiled a book on women’s
writing in the twentieth century, and who had access to other sources, considers that
Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa is indeed the first female Vietnamese language novelist (Nguyễn
2002).
In our opinion, the title of champion is not interesting, but the question of which
woman had published the first modern Western-style novel in Vietnamese has the
merit of attracting the attention of scholars and hopefully stimulating further research.
We want to emphasize that from the point of view of content, unlike these other novels
that may have been published earlier, The Western Beauty presents a story anchored
in contemporary society, which speaks of a major social fact. The commitment of
many young Vietnamese to come to France during the First World War is a reality
that is little discussed in historiographical research in France and Vietnam. To our
knowledge, there is no equivalent in colonial literature, even though colonial soldiers
did contribute to France’s victory. It is also necessary to underline the criticism of
social injustice, that of the corrupt mandarinate, but also that of colonization, which
runs through the whole novel. We can quote the passage when the couple receives
the prohibition against Bạch Lan visiting the village to see her family-in-law “not to
make France lose face.” Bạch Lan reacts like a Frenchwoman and “did not want to
hear anything”:
Her husband had to find the right words to reason with her: “In my country, we are not free
like in France. If we do not submit it, it will be a catastrophe. It is useless and will only bring
us misfortune. As the road is bad, if you really want, I will go to the village alone and bring
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change … 55

back the family so that you can see them. Then we will have to make arrangements to return
to France because they won’t let us live here in peace”. (Huỳnh 1927: Vol. 2, 74)

As for the form, although the structure of the novel follows a traditional model,
summarizing the content of each chapter by two verses, it reads easily, with common
words and despite references to classical Chinese literature. These are perhaps
numerous for a modern reader, but this is quite understandable with a main hero
who began his studies with Chinese characters, before going to a French school. The
Western Beauty also gives much space to inner monologues which give access to the
thoughts of the main characters. Lại Nguyên Ân notes Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s efforts
to make her sentences natural, avoiding rhythmic and symmetrical sentences, as well
as avoiding imposing her point of view and letting the characters evolve.
Apart from the novel, we know that Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa experimented in two other
literary genres. In 1931, she published in the magazine Southern Breeze an account
of a trip to the hill resort Bà Nà. Now well known to tourists, the resort, which is
at an altitude of 1400 m and twenty-five kilometers from the bay of Tourane, was
not so easily accessible at that time, and for part of the journey, the traveler had to
leave the car and be transported in sedan chairs. In the tradition of the travelogue
inaugurated by Phạm Quỳnh, editor of Southern Breeze, the reader is provided with
information on all the stages of the journey so that he could make it himself. The
author takes care to inform about the organization of the place, the access conditions,
the accommodation, the landscape, and the climate, as well as the sites of interest in
the surroundings. The reading is pleasant, we appreciate the clarity of the language
which is not encumbered by expressions of Chinese origin. The following passage
could give us an idea of the style:
One afternoon I took a book and came to the foot of a pine tree to read in peace, in the
company of my children, about seven - eight years old, who were running around after
butterflies and picking flowers. Absorbed in my reading, I did not pay attention to the clouds
that were accumulating until I saw in the hollow of the mountains, something white like a
big cloud rising strongly. . . obstinately, I stayed until the fog began to envelop us, and only
then I hurried back, the children running ahead of me in the fog, their blue and red clothes
floating like little immortals walking in the clouds. (Huỳnh 1931: 557)

Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa, a connoisseur of tuồng theater, rearranged other ancient
texts for the needs of the troupe she was sponsoring in 1931, before writing the
play Princess Huyền Trân, with the aim of renewing tuồng drama (it is specified
on the cover page that it is a “tuồng cải lương” or “renovated tuồng”). Huỳnh Thị
Bảo Hòa deplores the situation of tuồng, unable to withstand the competition of cải
lương, or “renovated theater” which was very popular in the south, and wishes to
contribute to improving this ancient performing art not only by funding the training
of male and female singers, the manufacture of stage clothes and scenery, but also
by enriching the content of the repertoire. Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa writes in the preface
that the story of the princess whose marriage to the king of Champa brought Vietnam
two provinces deserves to be known to understand the history of Vietnam, especially
its relationship with the kingdom of Champa. As is expected in a tuồng play, ancient
expressions are numerous, but one can find dialogues with a much more common
language as in this scene where the princess is about to leave her country:
56 P. N. Nguyen

Princess (appears [on stage]) - Your Majesty my brother, I am only a woman who could not
pay the debt to her birth, now that you have given me to the kingdom of Champa, father and
yourself, do not pay attention to my fragile life, what matters is the peace of our country and
the strength of our ramparts.
...
Princess (looks at [the man she loves, Trần] Khắc Chung) - South and North are now
separated, save the wish of faithful love for the next life”. (Huỳnh 1934a, b: 20)

In this play dedicated to a traditional theatrical practice, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa also
brings something new. Unlike the repertoire of other plays, this work takes as subject
a fact in the history of Vietnam, and not the history of ancient China. The exemplary
role of the princess is emphasized, “fidelity, filial piety, love, duty everything is
fulfilled” (Huỳnh 1934a, b: 4), but with a certain audacity, because her sacrifice (for
the country) is on the same level of honor as her choice to follow her love.
This figure of a Vietnamese princess in the land of Champa seems to have allowed
Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa to start a scholarly work that led to the publication of a synthesis
work on Champa in 1936.

3.7 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa as a Researcher of Her Native

Land

In her publications, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa shows a great attachment to her region
which seems to be a source of inspiration. The novel, The Western Beauty, tells a
story that took place there, real according to her statements and that of Bùi Thế Mỹ
who had heard it told by his family living in the region. It is not our purpose here to
discuss the relationship between fiction and history (which must wait for research in
the archives in Vietnam and France), but it seems to us that it is relevant to underline
the attention that Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa pays to what happened around her. She had
an inquisitive mind, was open and in constant motion. While staying in Đà Nẵng for
most of her life, it was by visiting places around her home and studying the history
of the region that she wrote her writings.
The work of synthesis on Champa, A Summary Study of Champa, published in
1936, is the result of a work of research that must certainly have been spread over
several years. It is also necessary to include the travelogue and the theatrical play
which attest to her “scientific spirit,” the object of great attention in the milieu of
Vietnamese intellectuals of the time. Her play, Princess Huyền Trân, takes as its
subject a real historical episode and relies on the historical sources she had at her
disposal. The account of the trip to Bà Nà shows that the author was very concerned
about the exactitude of the information and sources she mentioned, making her own
comments on the possible veracity of these statements, whether it was about Lord
Mountain (Núi Chúa) on which the future king Gia Long established his base, or
about varieties of insects or a rock that changes color with the passage of time.
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change … 57

A Summary Study of Champa has this subtitle: “Traces of the Chàm (Champa):
population—religion—kingdom—literature—architecture—music—fine arts—
history—personalities.” The book is fairly long at sixty-four pages and includes
one color drawing, as well as seven photos of sculptures and monuments, which
was a great novelty. The author’s foreword states her objective: “... this land (Trung
Kỳ) where we live now, was the territory of Champa. The history of this people has
close links with that of our Vietnamese people. Our duty is to study it in a thorough
way” (Huỳnh 1936: 5). The preface by Phạm Quỳnh, Minister of Education in Hué
(Thượng thư bộ Giáo dục Huế), in welcoming the author’s effort to offer Vietnamese
readers the first book on the ancient kingdom of Champa, is marked by nostalgia for
the time of Vietnam’s independence: “The life of a people, of a kingdom, is in fact
quite fragile!... To exist, one must be able to rely on one’s own strength, we should
meditate on this” (Phạm 1936: 3).
The originality of the book is not therefore its subject. Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s
contribution, by synthesizing the scientific research of the EFEO and by doing field-
work, is to propose a work that aims to give the reader an overall and objective view
of this ancient kingdom. She states in her foreword that she has been able to take
advantage of the collection at the Museum of Cham Sculpture near her home, has
read books in Chinese characters, and recent research in French “thanks to the help
of friends,” but has also gone into the field. She thus recalls a visit to an ancient
capital of the Chams as follows:
I had the chance to visit an ancient Champa site in 1929. . . When the Chams left their capital,
they completely buried their palaces under the earth; for hundreds of years, the Vietnamese
saw only a small hill. Thanks to the French scholars who studied the ancient traces and found
this site which they opened, we knew that it was what remained of the capital of the Cham”.
(Huỳnh 1936: 24–25).

She also went to the sacred sites of the Cham, Mỹ Sơn and Đồng Dương, so she
could tell the story and observe the architecture of the towers:
The towers of Mỹ Sơn and Đồng Dương are two of the most famous complexes in the
territory of Quảng Nam province. Having had the opportunity to visit them several times,
we will talk in the different sections about their architecture and the paths that lead to them.
(Huỳnh 1936: 30)

For this rather long part (31–45), she was helped, as Nguyễn Văn Tố points out
in his review, by Võ Quang Quỳnh, secretary at the Museum of Cham Sculpture, for
the details concerning the architecture of which several French terms are explained
probably for the first time in Vietnamese. This part, moreover, includes a travel story
signed by Võ Quang Quỳnh and entitled “Visiting the Towers of Mỹ Sơn (September
1934): Impressions of a Traveler” (41–42).
A chapter is dedicated to the music and arts of the Chams. Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa
thus speaks about it to her Vietnamese readers, most of whom know nothing about
Champa:
The Chams loved music and the fine arts. Among the sculptures that have come down to us,
several show figures playing the flute and other instruments, or representing figures holding
each other by the back and dancing to the rhythm of the music. (Huỳnh 1936: 21)
58 P. N. Nguyen

In the last part, devoted to the personalities of Champa, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa
deplores the lack of sources and says that she strives to portray those who have
marked the history of the kingdom, including King Chế Bồng Nga in the fourteenth
century, praised for his military talent, but also Queen Mi E who preferred death to
dishonor.
Upon its publication, this work was reviewed in the bulletin of the EFEO by
Nguyên Văn Tố, then an assistant at the EFEO and one of the best-known Vietnamese
historians:
It has the great merit of being clear, relatively succinct, and of recalling all the essential facts.
. . There is certainly more than one shortcoming to be pointed out, more than one error to be
noted in his work, but these errors and shortcomings, thanks to the very real merits which
accompany them, do not prevent his booklet from presenting a serious interest. (Nguyễn
1936: 506–507)

From this erudite man who is famous for his rigor, including pointing out phrases
that he felt could be improved, this is high praise. Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa’s work surely
has its place in the history of the introduction of social sciences and humanities in
Vietnam, especially anthropology, by bringing not only knowledge to the Vietnamese
public who did not have access to Western research, but also elements of the modern
scientific research method, as well as words to express new concepts in Vietnamese.
Her work, which she modestly introduces in her preface as “a first step in the study of
ancient times by a woman” (bước đầu về việc khảo cổ học của nữ lưu) (Huỳnh 1936:
5), is rightly appreciated as an early synthesis of scholarly research on Champa, thus
putting her on par with other male scholars.
It seems important to us also to talk about another aspect of this book. Huỳnh
Thị Bảo Hòa clearly expresses her opinion in her preface on the need to study the
history and culture of the Chams whose lands were conquered by the Việts. A chapter
of her book is devoted to the history of Champa, through mentions in Chinese and
Vietnamese written sources, thus especially mentions of battles between Champa,
China, and Vietnam. The question of assimilation (đồng hóa) of the Chams by the
Việts is also addressed. In her conclusion, she makes a point of providing her thoughts
on the causes of Champa’s decline, which she also repeats in her post-face in French.
According to her, the Chams lost their country because of a combination of reasons.
The Chams “because of the worship of their deities (see the sculptures and towers
that reach us)... did not pay attention to practical things (đường thực tế)” (Huỳnh
1936: 5 60). Excellent warriors “loving war” (61), “they did not hold literature (văn
học) in consideration, did not have annals to write their reigns, did not celebrate the
work of their ancestors... did not love their country with a warm love (yêu nước nồng
nàn), so they lost all the lands of their homeland (quốc thổ)” (61).
Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa manifests here a very innovative spirit at the time, namely
the consideration of the populations that would later be called in Vietnam “ethnic
minorities,” in the history of Vietnam (written as Việt-Nam in the text). We see this
in this book, in her tuồng piece, but also in her travelogue where she mentions only
in passing, but with respect, the mountain people living near the climate resort.
3 Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982): A Woman Who Wrote to Change … 59

3.8 Conclusion

In conclusion, I think that we can consider Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa among the women
who made modern Vietnam. In a colonial society, she worked actively for about
twenty years in favor of Vietnamese women for whom she wished more freedom,
a better education, and a better place in society. She was certainly a feminist, but
in the spirit of the Vietnamese modernists of the early twentieth century who held
women in high respect and called upon them to participate in the transformation of
Vietnamese society, with the idea to prepare for future independence. First woman
novelist or not, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa is in any case one of the female authors who
counted at the time. She also participated in the development of Vietnamese scientific
research, by making Western methods and results available to readers.
All these aspects of her activities are obviously to be considered in a unity that
often escapes the outside eye, distant moreover by about a century. Let us keep in
mind that her life is present in her work and her work is intimately linked to her life.
I would like to quote a passage from A Summary Study of Champa, when Huỳnh Thị
Bảo Hòa, while visiting the ancient Cham towers, meditates on common pages in
the history of the Chams and the Việts. She thinks of Princess Huyền Trân, and of
a song that is performed in her tuồng drama when right before the princess departs
for Champa (Huỳnh 1934a, b: 22). That song is called the “Nam Bình song” (Bài
ca Nam Bình), and it mentions a bird called “Red Swallow” (chim Hồng Nhạn). To
quote:
Here Princess Huyền Trân of the Trần left footprints of her passages, lived with the Chams,
hoping to contribute to the peace and interest of her country. Could this little bird, all cute,
with dark red feathers, hopping from one branch to another, be the “Red Swallow” described
by the princess in her Nam Bình song? (Huỳnh 1936: 34)

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Phuong Ngoc Nguyen is a researcher in Vietnamese literature and history at the Institut de
Recherches Asiatiques, Aix-Marseille Université. She is particularly interested in the early twen-
tieth century and the construction of the Vietnamese nation. Following a thesis on the first Viet-
namese anthropologists, she is now working on Vietnamese literature in quốc ngữ as a social field
and on writers in their experience of modernity. She is currently working on biographies of Tản
Đà (1889–1939) and of Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa (1896–1982), a man and a woman in the storm of
colonization.

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Chapter 4
An Educational Regime of Truth
for Social Reform in Late Colonial
Vietnam: The Journalistic Art
of the Possible in Phụ nữ tân văn’s
“Travel Stories” and “Letters for You”

Thanh Phùng and Đăng Minh Vũ

4.1 Introduction

Newspapers were introduced to Vietnam by the French as a tool for their colonial
administration of the country and to instill in the Vietnamese people an attachment to
“the motherland” (mẫu quốc). As the colonial authorities provided legal guarantees
for the press to operate as a medium of public expression, though under heavy
censorship, Vietnamese intellectuals started engaging in journalism in Vietnamese
and for different purposes. The Vietnamese periodicals during the French colonial
period staged efforts to popularize Western ideas and beliefs, expose and analyze
the issues of colonial rule, promote nationalist ideas, and preserve traditional values.
They played a key role in fashioning dynamic modern Vietnamese identities. One
journal exemplifying these efforts was the weekly newspaper Women’s News (Phụ
nữ tân văn). In circulation starting in 1929, Women’s News, after Women’s Bell (Nữ
giới chung), first published in 1918, was the second newspaper devoted to women’s
issues. It reached a wider audience, discussed a wider range of issues, and lasted
longer, proving an unprecedented success. Women’s News “averaged 8500 copies a
week for over two years, dropped to 5000 as the effects of the Depression reached
Indochina, and then survived at about 2500 copies until finally being shut down by
government order in December 1934” (Marr 1981: 220). Its last issue, the 273rd, was
released on April 21, 1935. With the supervision of the head publisher, Mme Nguyễn
Đức Nhuận, who was financially backed by her husband, “a major Saigon importer,
wholesaler and retailer” (Marr 1981: 221), Women’s News convened famous writers

T. Phùng (B) · Ð. M. Vũ

VNU University, Hà Nội, Vietnam
e-mail: thanhph@vnu.edu.vn

© The Author(s) 2024 63

L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges (eds.), Vietnam Over the Long Twentieth Century, Global
Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3611-9_4
64 T. Phùng and Đ. M. Vũ

in all the three regions of Vietnam (Thiện 2010). The newspaper has been regarded as
a landmark in the development of journalism, readership, and for women in Vietnam
(Đặng 2008).
Marr (1981) criticizes Women’s News for its conservative stand in advocating
a number of traditions unfavorable for women, yet he commends the newspaper
as probably the best example of its type in spreading new ideas into Vietnam and
advancing women’s educational opportunities. Women’s News has also been recog-
nized for its contributions to the renovation of the Vietnamese language and Viet-
namese literature and its display of an anticolonial attitude despite a claimed neutral
position (Thiện 2010). These achievements were a function of genuine education. We
understand education not as a predefined field but as a process of making space for
engagement in the cultivation of subjectivities and/or capacities. By framing jour-
nalism in terms of education, we hope to highlight the pedagogy of texts and the
nature of truth production in journalism.
Women’s News contained a variety of columns. This chapter focuses on two
columns in the newspaper, “Travel Stories” (Du ký) and “Letters for You” (Thơ
cho bạn), since they excellently illustrate an educational regime of truth for social
reform enacted through journalism in late colonial Vietnam. The two columns, from
a first-person perspective, present Vietnamese women who freely navigate the world
and the Vietnamese landscape at the time. “Travel Stories,” consisting of two parts,
“Going to the West” (Sang Tây; May–July 1929) and “Ten Months in France” (Mười
tháng ở Pháp; October 1929–August 1930), lay out Ms. Phạm Vân Anh’s observa-
tions during her trip to France, introducing the first Vietnamese woman traveler as
the author of a travelog. “Letters for You” (May 1929–February 1930) is a series of
letters on Vietnam and the world situation exchanged between Trần Thị Thanh Nhàn
and Lê Thị Huỳnh Lan.
The travelog has been confirmed to be written by Đào Trinh Nhất, a prolific,
influential male journalist, also the first editor-in-chief of Women’s News. In 2018, it
was published in Vietnam as a book, with the name Đào Trinh Nhất in parentheses
beside Phạm Vân Anh on the cover (see Nguyễn, Hữu Sơn 2018). Some details in
Thanh Nhàn’s writings indicate a very high likelihood that she was performed by
Đào Trinh Nhất. Thanh Nhàn, in her first installment, wrote about herself as follows:
“In 1926, we were on the Portlios ship, which departed from Saigon on the morning
of March 22” (Thanh 1929a: 22). Đào Trinh Nhất’s biography notes that he went
to France to study abroad on the same day (“Đào Trinh Nhất” 2021). Travelogs and
letter exchanges appeal to authenticity; however, apparently, the authors’ identities
behind the texts do not matter much as the texts present themselves to their readers.
Previous studies have brought into view the variety of issues and woman figures
emerging from Vietnamese journalism’s presentation of “the woman question” (vấn
đề phụ nữ) in the 1920s–1930s (see Marr 1981; McHale 1995; Ho Tai 1996; Đặng
2008; Tran 2011; Aitchison 2018; Nguyen 2020). For example, Aitchison (2018)
traces the engagement of Women’s News with historical time and global space to
promote two differing ideal feminine models: the reinvention of martial Vietnamese
women in historical records such as the Trưng Sisters and Lady Triệu as national
heroines and the making of the educated, cosmopolitan, and charitable woman from
4 An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform in Late Colonial … 65

international news. What matters more to Aitchison is that these ideals were created
by a small but active community of female Vietnamese writers during the period.
Aitchison mentions Phạm Vân Anh as an example of the latter model; however, she
did not attend to the possibility/fact that Vân Anh is not a female writer in real life
but just one in the text. While the contents and strategies of the debate on women in
Vietnamese journalism in the 1920–1930s have been extensively explored, there is
still room for further inquiry and articulation.
This chapter, in examining twenty-nine extant issues of “Travel Stories” and
twenty-eight extant issues of “Letters for You,” demonstrates how the two columns,
with specific techniques of creating woman personae and discussions, through the
forms of travelogs and letter exchanges, have fabricated internationally minded and
socially engaged woman figures for a modern Vietnam.
A text always encodes certain invitations for reading. In that sense, it is already
pedagogical (Segall 2004). Our textual analysis contributes to an elaborate practice
of attention to the pedagogy of journalistic texts and an educational regime of truth
that helps understand the nuances of journalistic truths. Educational truths are not
those that pursue accurate representations of existing realities but those that are effec-
tive in making certain things imaginable as possibilities in real life. They grapple
with the art of the possible. We argue that the two columns embodied an educational
regime of truth for social reform in modernizing Vietnam during the late colonial
period. This chapter will review background issues, analyze the two columns’ educa-
tional projects, and characterize the educational regime of truth within which the two
columns operated.

4.2 Vietnamese Journalism: The National Question,

the Woman Question, and the Pedagogical Question
in the Context of Modernization in the 1920s–1930s

4.2.1 French Colonization of Vietnam and the Questions

of Modernization

The terms “Vietnam” and “Vietnamese” when applied to the period before 1945 are
anachronistic (for many different Vietnams, see Taylor 2013; Goscha 2016), yet they
are convenient and relevant to refer to the spaces, cultures, and peoples that are the
subject of this chapter. Before the French conquest, despite the plurality of constituent
groups and cultures, a unitary S-shaped Vietnam did exist. It was established in 1802
by Emperor Gia Long and consolidated and maintained by the Nguyễn dynasty until
violated by the French. Emperor Minh Mạng’s policies of centralization to create
one Confucian Vietnam and his attempts to expand the Nguyễn empire amounted
to a form of modernity before the French invasion, as Goscha (2016) persuasively
argues.
66 T. Phùng and Đ. M. Vũ

In July 1857, Napoleon III decided to invade Vietnam with the intention of
expanding France’s markets and territories in Asia. Upon Napoleon’s command,
Rigault de Genouilly and his troop attacked Đà Nẵng harbor in August 1858. In
February 1859, they sailed southward, attacked Saigon, and occupied it after two
weeks. By 1887, French colonizers had set up a ruling system in Vietnam. They
divided the country into three different administrative regions, the protectorates of
Tonkin (in the north) and Annam (in the center) and the colony of Cochinchina (in
the south), as well as joined Vietnam with Cambodia under French Indochina, which
later incorporated two more entities, the Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan in 1898
and the Laotian protectorate in 1899. The recitation of these brief, well-known facts
may not suffice to evoke the extent of violence in this process, yet it sets the scene
for a focus on the modernization of Vietnam in relation to the West.
The French was very different from the Chinese that Vietnam had been simultane-
ously learning from and resisting. Apart from superior technological and economic
developments, they also claimed superior sociopolitical organization and lifestyles,
taking pride in their French republicanism and prioritization of “liberté, égalité,
fraternité,” the French national motto made official under the Third Republic. After
military supremacy established domination, French hegemony was soon justified by
an ideology claiming Western civilization’s superiority and its right to govern over
so-called less advanced people in the name of human progress. For the Vietnamese
people, Western modernity was too enormous and piercing to ignore.
After the French invasion, the modernization of Vietnam aspired to the West
though it went together with a divided attitude toward traditions characteristic of
the East’s position in encountering Western colonialism (Marr 1981). How to build a
modern Vietnam and fight for its independence was imperative. We call it the national
question. Inseparable from Vietnam’s modernization and the national question was
how to rethink women’s roles and rights, the woman question. On the one hand,
new ideas and lifestyles came to Vietnam. On the other hand, colonial injustices
required men to rethink their relationship with women. A cultural reform could take
place only if the status of women was reformed. From 1905 to 1910, traditional
perceptions about women started to be challenged, but it was not until about two
decades later that women began to publicly voice their opinions and participated
in organizing related movements (Marr 1981). Women’s News was a pioneer of
these movements. In its first issue on May 2, 1929, Women’s News made it clear that
“Women’s News is an independent organization dedicated to studying matters relating
to women, which are also matters concerning the nation and society. Women’s News
does not follow any party, worships truth as God and homeland as religion” (Phụ nữ
Tân văn 1929: 6).

4.2.2 Print Journalism as a Space of Public Expression

The introduction of newspapers in Vietnam by the French began with the need for
communication among the French administrators, colonialists, and their Vietnamese
4 An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform in Late Colonial … 67

associates. By the end of the nineteenth century, a series of newspapers were in

circulation in Cochinchina. For example, Le Bulletin Officiel de l’Expédition de la
Cochinchine, the first French language newspaper, published in 1861, circulated
decrees and military reports to French soldiers and officers. In 1863, the French
published the Mandarin gazette Le Bulletin des Communes to spread new laws to
their associates in Vietnamese villages; Gia Định News (Gia Định báo), a gazette that
disseminated official and legal documents as well as articles on Vietnamese culture
and agriculture, published in 1865, was the first Vietnamese language newspaper
(Phan and Trương 2017). Journalism was then seen as a means of propaganda to
exert influence on the indigenous population. The pinnacle of this plot took place
during Governor-general Albert Sarraut’s two mandates (1911–14 and 1917–19),
at a time when France’s capacity to hold its Asian colonies was in doubt (Peycam
2012). Goscha (2016) summarizes a number of contextual conditions for Sarraut’s
collaborationist strategy: the flimsy legitimacy of the French presence in Indochina
as alerted by the revolts of 1908 in Vietnam; the series of debates in Paris on French
possessions between 1908 and 1911 under the effects of the Dreyfus Affair, energized
republicanism, and the advent of a modern, activist press in the Third Republic; the
rise of other colonial forces such as Japan, Germany, Britain, and the USA; the great
potential of East Asian influence as seen from the fall of the Qing in China in late
1911, the creation of the Republic of China under Sun Yat-sen, and Phan Bội Châu’s
search for Chinese republican support for his Go East study-abroad program for
young Vietnamese to travel to Japan.
Sarraut was sent to Indochina as governor-general to implement substantial
reforms. A francophonie project was initiated “because the Vietnamese knowledge of
the French, their culture, and their oeuvres was not sufficiently developed and broad-
cast, and because the French were not the only ones competing for Vietnamese hearts
and minds” (Goscha 2004: 166). Sarraut’s team enacted new press laws and autho-
rized the publication of more newspapers, books, and translations. They enlisted
a group of reform-minded Vietnamese allies and placed them in charge of major
government-backed newspapers. Among these Vietnamese collaborators were such
remarkable men as Phạm Quỳnh, head of Southern Breeze (Nam phong) in Tonkin;
Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh at Indochina Review (Đông Dương tạp chí ), Central and Northern
News (Trung Bắc tân văn), and New Annam (L’Annam nouveau) also in Tonkin; Bùi
Quang Chiêu and Nguyen Phú Khai at Native Tribune (La Tribune indigene) in
Cochinchina; and later Huỳnh Thúc Kháng at Voice of the People (Tiếng dân) in
Annam (Goscha 2016). Through the print press rather than representative bodies (as
in the case of other European colonies such as British India, the American Philip-
pines, or Dutch Indonesia), the French opened a narrow space of public debate, where
the indigenous could express their needs with a modern instrument (Peycam 2012).
The French government’s attempt met with the rise of a newly assertive, urban
Vietnamese middle class that was eager to both publish and consume newspapers.
Many of the newspapers discussed new social trends and political events, as well as
furthered the growth of the national script, quốc ngữ, the Romanized writing system
for Vietnamese. Together with French, quốc ngữ arose as “the ‘language-of-power’
to discuss, re-contextualize, and proclaim both từ mới [new vocabulary] and new
68 T. Phùng and Đ. M. Vũ

ideas” (Nguyen 2013: 16). The different concerns, imaginations, and sentiments of
the Vietnamese on the printed page appeared as a constellation of local and global
constructs. The intelligentsia became more diverse, yet all of them were attracted to
the printing press. The 1920s–1930s witnessed the emergence of a younger cohort
of intellectuals, many of whom had just returned from their studies in France. The
abolishment of the Confucian imperial exams and the establishment of a Franco-
Vietnamese educational system facilitated this younger generation’s proficiency in
the French language and access to European ideas and worldviews (Tran 2011). More
French influence did not mean more subjugation. Vietnamese journalists had contin-
ually exercised their own interests. In the 1920s–1930s, their ownership and activism
radiated. The Vietnamese press gradually distanced itself from French interests, even
turning into a vigorous forum for anticolonialism (Peycam 2012).
It is worth noting that emerging from the rapid growth of journalism during the
late colonial period was not professionally trained journalists, but scholarly literary
figures associated with popular newspapers (Cao 2011). A typical example is Phan
Khôi, a key contributor to Women’s News. He was not only a writer, critic, and
scholar but also a star of the press, who was present at and actively contributed to
the vast majority of the greatest controversies of the time. Đào Trinh Nhất was the
youngest star among a group known as the Four Greats of the Saigon newspaper
village in the 1930s (Thiện 2010). The three others were Phan Khôi, Diệp Văn Kỳ,
and Bùi Thế Mỹ. At that time, all forms of writing were published in periodicals. The
periodicals were the platform for the emergence and growth of new literary genres
and trends, constituting literary journalism. People could not distinguish a journalist
from a writer since the distinction was perhaps not necessary (Cao 2011). Many
publishers were associated with newspapers. For example, the Self-Reliant Literary
Group managed the newspapers Mores (Phong hóa) and Today (Ngày nay) and also
the publisher Nowadays (Đời nay). Journals were frequently used as mouthpieces
for a movement or an avant-garde point of view. Most did not last long because
of censorship, but literary and activist groups kept founding new ones (Cao 2011).
Almost the entire intellectual life of the time took place in the print press. People
waiting for a periodical’s release of new issues formed a new social force: the readers,
who became connected across geographic divides through following the rhythm and
substance of the press.

4.2.3 Gender Education: Opening Up Possibilities

Here we address gender education through journalism instead of genders and gender
education in schools. According to Marr, in the 1920s–1930s, the woman ques-
tion became “a focal point around which other issues often revolved” (1981: 191)
and women started seeing themselves as a social group with particular interests,
grievances, and demands. Vietnamese newsprint made a vibrant medium for debate
and dispersion of ideas on the woman question. Comparing a set of writings appearing
in Women’s Bell in 1918 with another set published in Women’s News in the early
4 An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform in Late Colonial … 69

1930s, McHale (1995) is impressed by a sea change in elite perceptions of the place
of women just within fifteen years. The authors of Women’s Bell discussed women’s
rights in the context of Franco-Vietnamese collaboration, whereas by the early
1930s, Women’s News columnists had rejected a facile collaborationist attitude and
engaged in spirited debates over women’s liberation. By the early 1930s, most news-
papers included a column for women (Đặng 2008). Besides Women’s News, other
journals for women during the period were Women’s Current Discussions (Phụ nữ
thời đàm; 1930–1931, 1933–1934), Progressive Women (Phụ nữ tân tiến; 1932–1933,
1934), New Women (Đàn bà mới; 1934–1936), Ladies (Nữ lưu; 1936–1937), Journal
of Household Arts for Women (Nữ công tạp chí; 1936–1938), Vietnamese Women
(Việt nữ; 1937), Women (Phụ nữ; 1938–1939), and Female (Nữ giới; 1938–1939)
(Đặng 2008).
The woman question that was addressed in these periodicals queried basic institu-
tions and the Confucian standards through which these institutions had been under-
stood. Vietnamese family reform was central. The Confucian norms for behavior
between parents and children, husband and wife, brother and sister were exam-
ined and challenged. Newspapers discussed premarital virginity and early marriage,
polygamy and widow remarriage, and romantic love and free choice of a spouse.
Vietnamese traditions and new lifestyles for women, including studying abroad,
tourism, fashion, nail painting, dancing, tennis playing, beauty contests, etc., were
brought to the print pages. Journalism also created new spaces for women to develop
their social, national, and global consciousness. For instance, in resonance with Phan
Bội Châu’s reimagining of the Trưng Sisters as national heroines, Women’s News
dedicated a special issue to the Trưng Sisters, generating a space to commemorate
them, even communicating with them, and hence facilitating a newfound tradition
of recognizing them as well as opening the possibility for women to act as leaders
of the Vietnamese struggle against colonizers (Aitchison 2018).
International news featured exceptional women from around the world, especially
those who assumed roles equal to men and excelled in their careers in Europe,
the USA, Japan, and China. Several female journalists became well-known, living
examples of women beyond the family, Đạm Phương, Huỳnh Thị Bảo Hòa, Phan
Thị Bạch Vân, Nguyễn Thị Kiêm, and Thụy An, to name just a few. Plenty of female
names appeared as authors in the print media, yet until now we cannot be sure how
many of them were female in real life.
From journalistic sketches, various woman figures made their appearance. One of
the most iconic figures of this period was the New Woman, a version of the Western
flapper in the 1920s (Henchy 2005; Tran 2011; Aitchison 2018). In Tran’s depiction,
“[t]hrough her flashy dress, hair-style, high heels and use of make-up, this modern
woman stood in stark contrast to more modest ideals of traditional femininity” (2011:
vi). She was there, though many people did not like her. Conservative opinions stood
but just as one among many positions. For example, in a forum in Women’s News
on “Vietnamese Celebrities’ Opinions on the Woman Question,” Bùi Quang Chiêu
and Nguyễn Phan Long opposed women’s fight for equal rights; Phạm Quỳnh and
70 T. Phùng and Đ. M. Vũ

Trần Trọng Kim underscored women’s roles in the family; Phan Bội Châu, Huỳnh
Thúc Kháng, Trịnh Đình Rư, Đạm Phương, Phan Khôi, and Diệp Văn Kỳ endorsed
gender equality (Đặng 2008).
Differing opinions, facts, and fictions for reimagining the potential of women
circulated through an abundance of written forms. Periodicals popularized modern
journalistic and literary writing genres, including the news, the interview, the essay,
the travelog, the public letter, the free verse, the novel, etc. The number of new
genres and their subgenres exceeds our ability to list. While many of these genres
had their precedent forms, as they appeared in the print press, they acquired a modern
shape. From an educational perspective, different forms, styles, and specific moves
of writing constitute the pedagogical question.
In general, in the 1920s–1930s, especially the 1930s, a large, heterogeneous
assemblage of gender-related texts enacted a mode of education characterized by the
opening up of possibilities, manifesting the flourishing of gender plasticity beyond
a binary model of thinking. After reviewing a wide scope of stories coming from all
over the world and all appearing in print media in Vietnam in the 1930s, from stories
about army women disguised as men, bearded women, women attempting to under-
take masculine writing, cases of cross-dressing in literary works, hermaphrodites
who embodied a transcendence of sexual dimorphism, to accounts of sex changes
and the unknown frontiers of reproductive science, Tran (2011: 36) concludes that
“the gendered and sexual body was imagined to be open to different modalities of
becoming.” He assumes a correspondence between writings and real life that allows
inferring social norms from writings. However, to be more precise, writings partici-
pate in fashioning social norms and are only part of “the distribution of the sensible,”
to borrow Rancière’s (2004) words. They aim to produce effects rather than just
reflect what has already been there.

4.3 Travelog and Epistolary Exchange: Openness

and Authenticity

As textual pedagogies, travelog and epistolary exchange pre-inscribe modalities

of openness committed to the real. Travel involves moving, creating a distance,
meeting and immersing oneself in new things. Exchanging letters means engaging
with another person; as a result, ideas flow and are juxtaposed to each other. Both
forms of writing are anchored to a sense of authenticity.
4 An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform in Late Colonial … 71

4.3.1 Travel Writing

Often classified as non-fiction, a semi-literary genre, the “du ký” or travelog, tells
“real” stories based on the traveler’s “real” journeys and experiences. To reassure
readers and authenticate their accounts, travel writers use rhetorical gestures such as
giving biographical information, emphasizing eyewitness accounts as a criterion of
truth, insisting on truthfulness, describing circumstances, and constructing a sense
of “being there.”
Studies on modern travel writing in Western culture date the genre to the eigh-
teenth century (Thompson 2011; Bird 2016). The first time the Vietnamese term du
ký was recorded dates back to the nineteenth century (Nguyễn 2016), but travelogs
were not popularized until the 1920s–1930s, when travel became more accessible
due to the expansion of modern transportation networks as well as the growth of
a new generation of Vietnamese journalists and intellectuals, the middle class, and
urban entrepreneurs who directly shaped and spread a culture of leisure, explo-
ration, and social debate (Nguyen 2013). Travel had likely always been considered
a source of wisdom in Vietnam. In the 1920s–1940s, the print press amplified the
convergence between travel and knowledge since travelers could publish their travel
stories in newspapers disseminated to the increasingly literate Vietnamese popula-
tion. Through validations for travel, authors of travel stories attempted to carve out
the social purpose, intellectual meaning, and cultural responsibility of their writing
(Nguyen 2013).
Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, Vietnamese authors’ travel writing
resulting from their encounter with the West had portrayed the customary free and
equal interactions between men and women, contrasting the Western manner with
the Confucian codes of conduct (e.g., Bỉnh 1968 [1822]; Phạm 2001 [1863]). In
the twentieth century, travel writing diversified, yet the observation of cultures still
ran as the main thread. Phạm Quỳnh, in his “Diary of Travel to France” (Pháp du
hành trình nhật ký), published in Southern Breeze in thirteen episodes, from April
1922 to October–November 1925, expressed his admiration for a female French
salon owner and remarked that an equivalent elegant and intellectual Vietnamese
female figure could not be found (Nguyễn 2019). While previous scholars’ reactions
to Western gender relations were merely amazement, Phạm Quỳnh showed a thor-
ough understanding. He saw not only the bright but also the dark sides of France,
including prostitution, poverty, and wealth inequality. Thus, his “Diary of Travel
to France” presented a milestone in the development of travel writing in Vietnam
(Nguyễn 2019). Travelogs by Vietnamese authors also described gender dynamics
in different ethnic groups and regions within Vietnam (e.g., Mẫu, 2007 [1928]; Lang
1941; Mãn 1943a, b).
Traditionally, Vietnamese women did not travel far from their community, and
when they did so, it was usually because of a dependency on their husband. By the
1920s, many Vietnamese women in the elite class had traveled far for their own cause.
However, we hardly find images of Vietnamese woman travelers in the literature
72 T. Phùng and Đ. M. Vũ

before the 1920s. Previous studies of Women’s News and first accounts of travel
writing by women in Vietnam have centered around Nguyễn Thị Kiêm, a real-life
female journalist. Her travel together with Phan Thị Nga from the south to the north
to promote the readership of Women’s News and women’s rights in 1934 has been
well reported. Though Kiêm had her father with her on the trip, the Vietnamese press
in general, and men in particular, criticized her for her independence and “immoral”
behavior. Mme Nguyễn Đức Nhuận wrote an article in Kiêm’s defense. “We can
criticize a woman’s private life as long as we also criticize men,” she said in response
to Kiêm’s detractors, stating that she was representing Women’s News on the speaking
tour (Nguyễn, Đức Nhuận, Mme 1934: 9).
Writing about her journey, in the form of a letter to a woman named Huê, Kiêm
contrasted the manners of women in Hanoi with those of women in the south and paid
special attention to the heated issue of women’s suicide. She also brought into view the
gap between the rich and the poor and the decadent lifestyle evident in Khâm Thiên’s
“District of Female Entertainers” (Xóm cô đầu) (Nguyễn, Thị Kiêm 1934). Through
her writings and other endeavors such as public speaking and fundraising, Nguyễn
Thị Kiêm exemplified a young, progressive, socially engaged modern woman figure.
Nonetheless, before Nguyễn Thị Kiêm, the “Travel Stories” column in Women’s
News had presented a woman figure who was more well-traveled, Phạm Vân Anh.
Phạm Vân Anh has been understudied in scholarship, possibly because she was not
a prominent real-life character. However, we will argue that it is precisely the case
of Phạm Vân Anh that allows us to see the full capacity of journalism in producing
truths about Vietnamese women.

4.3.2 Letter Writing

Whether letter writing is a genre of writing is debatable. Letters can be seen as “proto-
genres whose distinctive yet infinitely malleable features can be best understood
through the social and literary codes of relationship” (Jolley and Stanley 2005: 91).
Most commonly, letters appeal to truth and sincerity and tolerate meandering.
In Western culture, during the eighteenth century, regarded as the “Great Age
of Letter Writing,” postal routes quickly grew, and the epistolary novel became a
hugely popular genre (Curran 2018). Also, for the first time, so-called “personal”
letters were published to promote and maintain literary fame (Curran 2018). Letter
writers of the time used the format to explore the self and everyday experience. Letters
provide enticing insights into other people’s thoughts and feelings. Associated with
both domestic seclusion and public self-exposure, they occupy that space between
the private and public worlds.
Despite a lack of studies on letter writing in Vietnam, it is safe to affirm the
growth of postal routes and the increased popularity of letter writing during the French
colonial time. The period also witnessed the publication of letters in newspapers. The
letter as a format of writing was often integrated into other genres of writing, with
travelog as an example. The letters varied in their personal-public dynamics. “Letters
4 An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform in Late Colonial … 73

for You” is a series of letters exchanged between women who were supposedly
connected in real life and who wrote for each other and also for the public. Some
letters were presented as if originally written for personal purposes, though readers
could never be sure about that. In another series in Women’s News, “Letters Sent
from France,” many letters exchanged between students abroad and family, friends,
and lovers back home depict the routine challenges of life abroad (Nguyen 2015).
Some were authored by well-known contributors such as Cao Chánh, who also went
by the name Thạch Lan, but the majority of the articles, like the other columns, were
un-authored or signed by the collective “P. N. T. V” (Nguyen 2015).

4.4 The Educational Projects of “Travel Stories”

and “Letters for You”

4.4.1 “Travel Stories”

Even without assuming fundamental alignment of form, style, and attitude with the
writer’s gender, to feature a woman traveler as the author of a travelog summons
gender performance. The authenticity of her account depends on her gender. In
Western culture, while women’s travel may have always posed an implicit chal-
lenge to patriarchy, most female travelers and travel writers have typically tended
to negotiate rather than confront gender conventions head on (Thompson 2011). In
performing femininity on the page, well into the twentieth century, it was common
for women to adopt an epistolary or diary format, which suggests that their obser-
vations were not originally intended for publication and their moral compass was
pointed toward home (Thompson 2011; Bird 2016). Politics, business, and science
had long been thought to be issues that only males were capable of discussing, and
indeed, they should discuss if they wanted to project a masculine sense of purpose.
“Travel Stories” does not fit in the conforming scheme described above. The
motivation for presenting the first woman as the author of an extensive travelog should
be understood in the context of modernizing Vietnam at the time. The introduction of
a female point of view would fashion a new possibility for Vietnamese women. The
writing is meant for publication, introduced as belonging to the genre of travelog.
It focuses on matters usually designated for men. “Travel Stories” affirms female
authority through profile details, confidence, and sentiment.
The travelog is narrated by Phạm Vân Anh, a young lady on her trip to France. As
revealed in the first issue, Vân Anh comes from a wealthy family in Vĩnh Long. Her
father is an intellectual who entertains quite a radical mindset. Vân Anh presents her
observations during her journey through different countries such as Singapore, India,
and France. “Travel Stories” was interrupted for around two months, in August and
September 1929. After publishing the first part, titled “Going to the West” (Sang Tây),
Women’s News explains in issue thirteen that the interruption is because the author
wanted to review her writings carefully before publishing them. The name Vân Anh
74 T. Phùng and Đ. M. Vũ

also appears as the author of articles in some other columns of the newspaper. The
lessons of “Travel Stories” reflect the ethos of learning from the West while preserving
certain East Asian, Vietnamese traditions, particularly family values. “Travel Stories”
taps into the way travel writing has allowed for cultural comparison and contrast as
well as the introduction of new scenes.
Vân Anh tells anecdotes and provides her comments to point out or hint at new
possibilities for Vietnamese people, especially Vietnamese women. As typical of
travel writing, explicit discussion of the meaning of travel is offered. Vân Anh has
traveled around Vietnam and sees it as just the first chapter in her exploration of
the world. On her trip to the West, she meets Cúc-Tử, a young Japanese lady, and
converses with her. Cúc-Tử affirms that Japanese women have become equal to Euro-
pean and American women. They work as lawyers, doctors, pilots, and councilmen,
yet the family remains the root of society. Taking good care of one’s family can be
how a woman contributes to society. Japan can preserve the soul of their traditional
culture and still learn new things. Vân Anh suggests that because both Japanese and
Vietnamese are East Asian cultures, knowing about Japanese women’s status might
be beneficial for Vietnamese women. The possibility of a worldly yet still “Oriental”
woman figure is solidified by the respectful and affectionate relations between these
two young ladies from two different East Asian countries.
Vân Anh embodies more radicality as she navigates herself during the trip, confi-
dent and engaging with a wide range of social issues instead of a narrow focus
on women-specific problems. She must have already attained robust knowledge of
France before the trip. While reporting many failures of the West, unsurprisingly,
most of the time Vân Anh compliments the innovations of Western society, espe-
cially its infrastructure, urban planning, and lifestyles. She praises the neat organi-
zation of buildings and the transportation system. She emphasizes the convenience
of traveling around Paris with the metro. While avenues, streets, and buildings seem
overwhelming at first, she soon gets used to Paris and is excited to travel around
the city without having to ask anyone for directions as a map would suffice. This
positions the West as an ideal for Vietnam to strive toward. At the same time, a
young Vietnamese lady is found in a strange Western setting, eager and fearless. Vân
Anh presents herself as a scholar who is capable of envisioning a research project
and appreciating art as she visits the National Library and the Louvre Museum. She
expresses a mild anticolonial attitude. While staying in Paris, Vân Anh visits an
anti-alcohol club and gets to know organizations that promote alcohol abstinence.
She acknowledges the importance of these organizations and the danger of alcohol
and opium. In a temperate manner, she questions why the French come to civilize a
nation and sell to that very nation deadly opium, which is forbidden in France.
Vân Anh uses the first-person pronoun “em,” which helps endear her to her readers
as though she was a younger sister of theirs. Rather than a compilation of objective
observations, her travelog shows her feelings and emotions. For instance, she feels
extremely nervous when informed that there will be a huge storm. In another case,
she worries if there would be bad news when receiving a telegram. Here is how she
reacts upon hearing a story: “I was shocked, moved beyond measure, it seems that
at that time, tears were pouring out in my heart” (Phạm 1929b: 23).
4 An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform in Late Colonial … 75

Sentiment is a traditional trope of femininity, generic rather than specific to a

woman type. Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh, when performing the woman persona of Đào Thị
Loan in “Women’s Words” (Nhời đàn bà) in Sounding the Drum Miscellany (Đăng
cổ tùng báo) and Indochina Review (see Nguyễn, Lân Bình 2018), uses a voice that
could be described with such Vietnamese words meaning “sharp-tongued” (đanh đá,
xéo xắt), which somewhat borrows from an existing woman type in Vietnamese folk
culture. While Đào Thị Loan is basically a style of communication and a woman
voice, Phạm Vân Anh is radical yet relatable in her very ideality as a woman. She
has a purpose for travel: to educate herself. She demonstrates a clear attitude toward
education: “In the vast universe, knowledge is boundless. We take what we can learn
and accept our human limitations” (Phạm 1929a: 23). She adapts quickly to quốc ngữ
and writes well in it. She knows French and is able to communicate with foreigners.
She travels widely and is perceptive in observing new surroundings. She learns from
foreign cultures in a critical way and respects the beauty of Vietnamese traditions.
She cares about her own country but is internationally minded. She is knowledgeable
and unafraid to voice her personal opinions.
Vân Anh seems overly ideal, hence somewhat inauthentic, but the point is to
fashion an ideal woman figure. Đào Trinh Nhất’s performance of Phạm Vân Anh
connects with the East Asian tradition of female impersonation in ancient and
premodern literature and is an example of the well-known persona technique in
modern journalism; thus, it is possible to read Phạm Vân Anh not as woman but as
a man. However, the text is very clear: She is a woman. Phạm Vân Anh is persua-
sive precisely because she is ideal. The character dwells on the interplay between
humility and confidence, traditionality and radicality, groundedness and ideality,
man and woman. She is coherent and whole, a shining new, progressive woman
subjectivity. This woman can stand for Vietnam, an ideal Vietnam in modernization.
Several articles in Women’s News show an unfavorable attitude to traits associated
with the New Woman. Such an unfavorable attitude toward free love, sex, and bodily
exhibition might be interpreted as a patriarchal obsession, and the question is whether
the focus in “Travel Stories” on social issues presents a male obsession. In our
opinion, it speaks to both men and women. Although Đào Trinh Nhất’s performance
is didactic for pretending to be a woman, it neither dismisses traditional woman
subjectivities nor imposes a male subjectivity on women.

4.4.2 “Letters for You”

Besides “Travel Stories,” “Letters for You” is another Women’s News column that
presents female figures who are internationally minded and socially engaged from
the first-person perspective. One is Trần Thị Thanh Nhàn, an editor of Women’s News
and from the city, and Lê Thị Huỳnh Lan, a writer for and subscriber of Women’s
News and from the countryside. The two women have known each other for some
time. Their letter exchange is simultaneously personal and public. The epistolary
format is not to associate women with a domestic sphere but to bring social affairs
76 T. Phùng and Đ. M. Vũ

closer to women. The different backgrounds create a sense of women’s sisterhood

across contexts and a sense of grounded concerns and experience. Thanh Nhàn’s
writing about world issues is based on news from telegrams. Huỳnh Lan reports
issues she herself observes in the countryside. As mentioned in the introduction of
this chapter, Thanh Nhàn was probably performed by Đào Trinh Nhất. There is a lack
of information about Huỳnh Lan as a writer in real life, but the name also appears
in other sections as a female journalist from Trà Vinh who directly raises her voice
about the woman question and is a donor to a scholarship fund for poor students
organized by Women’s News.
“Letters for You” discusses numerous topics including contemporary world issues,
the situation of Vietnamese people living abroad, scholarships for poor Vietnamese
students, Vietnamese ways of dressing, flood-related issues in the north, the inequality
faced by women in the countryside, technological developments, the independent
status of nations in the world, world warfare, etc. In a similar vein to “Travel Stories,”
the attitude is critical yet temperate. Thanh Nhàn’s choice of what to include in her
letter is explained as a matter of being strategic in building women’s consciousness.
I know that there are many stories in the world every day, but I only choose those that are
useful for education, for politics, for the intellectual path of our society, and first of all for
women. You should understand what I mean. I do not talk nonsense about: the prime minister
of this country resigns, the cabinet of that country is set up – these things happen every day,
but what is the use of knowing them for us? (Thanh 1930: 23)

The useful story for women’s knowledge in this issue is the redrawing of the
world map. The two authors take turns to present their observations of either world
situations or Vietnam’s situations. They engage with one another in a respectful
manner. The issues discussed in the column were quite bold for women at the time,
yet the way they are presented is friendly. The narrators emerge not only as each
other’s friend, but also as readers’ confidantes. The authors invoke rhetorical moves
that evoke the actual experience of letter writing: waiting and reminding each other
about their commitment.
Please try so that you can reply to me on a weekly basis. You have many stories from the
countryside to tell. You are just lazy if you do not write me. I hope that we keep our promise
of writing to each other. I send you a letter about the world, and you respond with one about
the countryside. (Thanh 1929b: 21)

Despite the authors’ different backgrounds, they demonstrate many commonal-

ities. They are both writing in a modest tone whether they are discussing the most
updated warfare events or funeral traditions in the rural area. This shared tone and
their equal level of knowledge imply no barrier of understanding. The two women
do not fit in any existing female stereotypes. If Huỳnh Lan possessed fewer ideal
characteristics compared to Thanh Nhàn, i.e., if she appeared stereotypically rural
with a less refined articulation, the column might have reinforced prejudices against
countryside women.
4 An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform in Late Colonial … 77

4.5 An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform:

The Journalistic Art of the Possible

Marr (1998: 11), when describing the moment when the Vietnamese love affair with
the printing press began, chooses the scene of a song exhorting people to read daily
newspapers that circulated in Vietnam in 1907:
Truth is the medicine that cures ignorance and darkness,
Truth is the remedy to overcome hunger and cowardice.

According to the anonymous author, any reader might learn about current events
throughout the world, share what they learn with others, change lives, and contribute
to the country’s strength and prosperity. More importantly, the songwriter estab-
lished a relationship between the printed page and truth. Journalism appeals to truth.
Women’s News claimed that it worshiped truth. It is, however, not easy to define or
describe truth. From the two columns, it is possible to understand that truth is predi-
cated on a commitment to real life. This chapter proposes the notion of “educational
truth” to reflect upon a mode of truth that journalism enacts. Education is a process
of facilitating the development of subjectivities and/or capacities. Educational truths
are defined not by their accurate representation of an existing reality but by their
effective intervention into the possible. Educational truths do not always mean new
possibilities; they can reinforce established norms or enable familiar capacities. The
point is that they are effective, committed to real life and do not exclude fiction.
Indeed, there is more than one meaning of fiction. Besides fiction as fabrication
and fiction as a literary genre, Rancière (2014: 54) offers the following understanding:
Fiction is not the reverse of reality. It is not a flight of imagination that invents a dreamworld.
Fiction is a way of deeply examining reality, of adding names and characters to it, and scenes
and stories that multiply it and strip it of its univocal self-evidence.

Fiction in such a sense is essential to the art of the possible and constitutes a mode
of educational truth. It allows fabrication.
In the case of “Travel Stories” and “Letters for You,” the education is to open
up new possibilities for women and Vietnam. On the woman question, the two
columns’ educational truth is that Vietnamese women can be internationally minded
and socially engaged. Besides using two modalities of openness, travelog and letter
exchange, the columns employ fictive elements in creating the woman personae, who
act as the authors of the texts. They are not the authors behind the text, but the authors
as texts.
This chapter calls close attention to writing the author. The author’s identity
itself is a text deliberately written. The reader also brings into the scene their own
text–their previous knowledge. The author, the text, and the reader are on the same
ontological plane. Besides showing up as a full-fledged character, in print media
the author of a text might appear just as a name, a few letters associated with the
title of the text. In modern journalism and literature, a writer is not confined to a
fixed number of pen names that follow conventions known to the public. Đào Trinh
78 T. Phùng and Đ. M. Vũ

Nhất adopted an abundance of pen names: Nam Chúc, Viên Nạp, Hậu Đình, Tinh
Vệ, Bất Nghị, Vô Nhị, Hồng Phong, Anh Đào, etc. Each name was used to match a
particular communicative intent. For example, Hậu Đình and Tinh Vệ, due to their
references to classical literature, hint at the status of a person who has lost their
country (Nguyễn 2010).
The two columns’ extensive inventions of Phạm Vân Anh, Trần Thị Thanh Nhàn,
and Lê Thị Huỳnh Lan apparently blur the distinction between journalism and
literature, yet they operate within particular journalistic constraints.
Travelog, letter exchange, and persona are popular forms and techniques of both
journalism and literature. Journalism is distinguished from literature in its commit-
ment to reality and society. In literature, as a literary genre, fiction can freely play
with fantasies. The fiction writer is entitled to a range of moves that the journalist
is not afforded. Pretending to know what is happening in a character’s head is an
instance.
Malcolm (1990: 159–60) offers her insight into the journalistic “I” as follows:
The “I” character in journalism is almost pure invention. Unlike, the “I” of autobiography,
who is meant to be seen as a representation of the writer, the “I” of journalism is connected
to the writer only in a tenuous way… The journalistic “I” is an overreliable narrator, a
functionary to whom crucial tasks of narration and argument and tone have been entrusted, an
ad hoc creation, like the chorus of Greek tragedy. He is an emblematic figure, an embodiment
of the idea of the dispassionate observer of life.

This division between the journalistic and autobiographical first person is perhaps
too categorical, but the passage keenly points out the tenuous connection of the
journalistic “I” and the writer as well as its presumed impartiality. The narrators of
“Travel Stories” and “Letters for You” are carefully crafted as women. These female
journalists, while emotional, present analytical observations rather than just express
deep-seated beliefs.
Journalistic and literary personae demonstrate that gender is performance. The
performances of woman personae in “Travel Stories” and “Letters for You” are not
limited to a communication style relatable to woman readers but committed to social
reform. The personae not only discuss social reform but also themselves present
new possibilities. Other woman impersonations by male journalists such as Đào Thị
Loan by Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh or Dã Lan nữ sĩ by Đào Duy Anh, contributor to the
column “Women’s Forum” (Phụ nữ diễn đàn) in the newspaper Voice of the People
(Tiếng dân) from 1927 to 1929 and translator of The Women’s Movement (Phụ nữ
vận động) published by Quan Hải Tùng Thư in 1929 (see Lại 2019), should also be
interpreted in relation to their endeavors to grapple with the woman question. They
participate in producing educational truths for social reform. In that respect, these
woman personae are similar to the woman characters in the Self-Reliant Literary
Group’s fictional writings such as Nhất Linh’s Severance (Đoạn tuyệt; 1934) and
Cold (Lạnh lùng; 1935), Khái Hưng’s Halfway Spring (Nửa chừng xuân; 1934) and
The Escape (Thoát ly; 1938), Khái Hưng and Nhất Linh’s Tempestuous Life (Đời
mưa gió; 1934). These literary works, however, focus on women’s private lives and
promote woman figures who think and act for themselves, pursue personal happiness,
especially romantic love, and do not follow traditional family roles, which valorize
4 An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform in Late Colonial … 79

Western individualism and advocate for a radical break with tradition. They maintain
the male gaze as they consistently position women as men’s romantic lovers. To many
readers, Phạm Vân Anh, Trần Thị Thanh Nhàn, and Lê Thị Huỳnh Lan might appear
overly male for the social capacities they afford, but making them more womanly
by placing them in a domestic space is not relevant. The project of Women’s News
also differs from the Self-Reliant Literary Group’s in that their modern Vietnamese
woman figures are not detached from Vietnamese tradition. They echo the couplet of
lục bát verse, a traditional Vietnamese form of poetry, on the first cover of Women’s
News, which stands as the slogan of the newspaper.
Phấn son tô điểm sơn hà,
Làm cho rõ mặt đàn bà nước Nam.
Women’s makeup lends beauty to the rivers and mountains,
Brightening the faces of women of the Southern country.

From attending to the two columns, we understand “phấn son,” or “women’s

makeup,” as gender performance. The educational truth of Women’s News lies in
gender performance, which embraces the art of the possible, rather than in deep-
seated, permanent natures. The feminine touch of women’s makeup lends beauty (tô
điểm) to the rivers and mountains/the nation (sơn hà). Simultaneously, it brightens
the faces of Vietnamese women (đàn bà nước Nam). The woman question is central
and entwined with the national question. Traditional language is (re)articulated with
a feminist sense.
We use the term “regime of truth” in a Foucauldian sense, to highlight the specific
historical conditions that shape the mode of truth production. The regime operated in
the context of modernizing Vietnam under French colonial rule in the 1920s–1930s. A
regime of truth always implies specific questions. The persona performance in “Travel
Stories” and “Letters for You” carries the woman question of the time and differs
from male authors’ assuming feminine personae in East Asian classical literature. In
an article titled “A Rebuttal by Mr. Thê Phụng: Women and Literature” (Thê 1929)
in Women’s News, the author claims that women are somehow innately incapable
of producing great literary works. This claim is inadmissibly misogynistic, yet the
author’s justification illuminates the distinction we seek to describe. The excerpt
below presents Mr. Thê Phụng’s response to Phan Khôi, often regarded as the father
of the New Poetry of the 1930s, who asserts that women should be allowed to produce
literature because they could then reflect their own sentiments and, in so doing, exceed
their predecessors, the prior male Tang poets.
The male poet has to impersonate being a woman [giả một người đàn bà] in order to speak
of himself. To do otherwise would be, first of all, impertinent [trơ trẽn] behavior and a
deprivation of pleasure [một thú]. Second, we cannot expect strong talented men [trượng
phu hào kiệt] such as Mr. Khuất Nguyên [Qu Yuan], Đỗ Phủ [Du Fu], and Bạch Cư Dị
[Bo Juyi] to be lamenting and sobbing. If they lose their appearance [mất cái vẻ] as strong
talented men [trượng phu hào kiệt], nobody would pity them, and so they naturally must
entrust [ký thác vào] women with this role, because when women sob and lament, there is
grace and charm, which makes it easier for people to feel pity [tội nghiệp, xót thương]. (Thê
1929: 14 as translated by Tran 2011: 7)
80 T. Phùng and Đ. M. Vũ

Tran (2011) provides the translation above as he suggests how classical male
poets’ female impersonation is a form of protohomoeroticism and a construction of
male femininity. In the classical world of letters, only men could transgress gender
boundaries. The practice could potentially leave implications for women or be delib-
erately used to invent possibilities for women; however, according to Mr. Thê Phụng’s
interpretation, it is primarily about and for men. Moreover, the impersonation is to
be both welcomed and expected because poetry is about illusion, semblance, and
creation. Vietnamese male journalists’ assuming first-person female personae in the
1920s–1930s stay in touch with but also break from tradition in that it aims at fash-
ioning new woman subjectivities, explicitly targets women, and deals with truth.
The practice is also distinct from male authors’ inventions of female characters in
Vietnam’s premodern literature. Monumental female characters such as the soldier’s
wife in Đặng Trần Côn’s Lament of the Soldier’s Wife (Chinh phụ ngâm), the royal
concubine in Nguyễn Gia Thiều’s Complaint of a Palace Maid (Cung oán ngâm
khúc), and Thúy Kiều in Nguyễn Du’s The Tale of Kiều (Truyện Kiều) challenge
social norms and genuinely care about women’s fate; however, they feature tragedy,
do not appear in the first-person mode, and resort to references in Chinese literature
and traditional conventions of poetry.
The untied knot between the author as a writer in real life and the text that put forth
the author as a text and hence a proliferation of inventions in designing the author
occurred largely due to the indirect nature of print communication. Nonetheless, the
specific directions of these inventions were not totally determined by the medium of
communication but shaped by a heterogeneous assemblage of material, linguistic,
and affective conditions at the time, a particular dispositif . In line with Foucault
(1980), a dispositif is a system of relations that has a dominant strategic function. It
“acts” rather than “is,” which has effects but no essence. The dispositif of journalism
that the two columns illustrate functions to expand the normative limits of Vietnamese
women (đàn bà nước Nam).
Indeed, there is no essential correlation between the status of women and the
status of a country. One of the reasons for which Bùi Quang Chiêu opposed women’s
fight for equal rights was the assumption that the fight would lead to too much
opposition in the society, an excess that should be avoided as men were striving for
Vietnam’s autonomy (Đặng 2008). The woman question had its own value, but part
of it was the personification of the national question, which indicates a particular
colonial situation. Within the rise of the print press, the dispositif of Vietnamese
women involves the confluence of French colonial rule and Sarraut’s reforms, Viet-
namese and East Asian traditions, Vietnamese anticolonialism, the incubation and
growth of Vietnamese nationalism, the expansion of modern transportation networks,
economic development in urban areas of Vietnam, and world situations such as the
rise of various colonial forces, anticolonial movements, and new genders and bodies
emanating from modern cultural shifts in Europe in the wake of the World War I.
The pioneer position of Vietnamese journalism in social reform was actualized in
relation to the inadequacy of other means under colonial rule. In the article “Viet-
namese Celebrities’ Opinions on the Woman Question” in Women’s News, Phan
Khôi and Diệp Văn Kỳ consider the issue of women’s equal rights from a legal
4 An Educational Regime of Truth for Social Reform in Late Colonial … 81

perspective (Đặng 2008). They hint at the slave status of the Vietnamese people. The
Vietnamese were not law-makers but only law-abiding people. The French never
allowed a “colonial republic” of any form to emerge (Goscha 2016). Without the
power of law in hand, education through journalism, though under heavy censor-
ship, was particularly significant. As Vietnamese journalism, journalism done by
and for the Vietnamese, built upon modern, nationalist, and anticolonialist ideas, it
refused to advance a singular agenda that closes off possibilities and was committed
to the opening up of possibilities. While writing for and reading certain newspapers
led to consequences in real life, there was no direct, stable relationship between
journalism and real life. Journalism was an art of the possible. Resonating with
Rancière’s conception of politics, politics is not the power struggle between parties
but the struggle for a new distribution of capacities. Thus, the educational regime of
truth in focus is also political. With the rise of rural-based, communist mass move-
ments in the 1930s, newspapers’ place as the primary space for transforming the
status quo was gradually marginalized although journalism remained an important
tool for different political agendas.
In a consensual context, personae are communication techniques rather than
efforts of social reform. In Vietnam, certain newspapers are known for the fictive
personae of some of their columns. In the current global context of journalism, pres-
tigious newspapers often require biographical information about the writer of a text.
Pen names are still used but the art of using pen names seems to have diminished.
In order to create a brand name for oneself as an author in the market, both quantity
and variety of writings are needed, and the connection between the textual authors
and the writer behind the text should be clear. The increasing commercialization of
news media and the rise of fake news have led to an emphasis on fact-checking as a
key media literacy skill. While fact-checking is important, we want to draw attention
to the distinction between two modes of reading in reading for educational truths:
reading for information, which requires fact-checking for accuracy, and reading for
inspiration, which involves engaging with fiction, “a way of deeply examining reality,
of adding names and characters to it, and scenes and stories that multiply it and strip
it of its univocal self-evidence” (Rancière 2014: 54). Attending to fiction trains a
critical capacity to interpret what is presented as facts.

4.6 Concluding Remarks

For their consistency and wholeness in performing woman personae, the two columns
were successful in fashioning internationally minded and socially engaged woman
figures for a modern Vietnam. They embodied a vibrant time in journalism. Hopefully,
the way “Travel Stories” and “Letters for You” contributed to the woman question
and operated within an educational regime of truth for social reform in the 1920s–
1930s can shape an intellectually pleasurable experience. Our articulation of the
educational regime of truth aims to lend clarity and nuance to understanding the role
of journalism in late colonial Vietnam. By framing journalism as educational, this
82 T. Phùng and Đ. M. Vũ

chapter is also an invitation to look at education beyond the school, the pedagogy of
texts, and an inspirational mode of reading.

Acknowledgements This research was funded by VNU University of Languages and International
Studies (VNU-ULIS) in the project No.23.11.

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and contemporary Vietnam. Dissertation, University of California Berkeley.

Thanh Phùng is a lecturer at the Faculty of Linguistics and Cultures of English-speaking Coun-
tries, VNU University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University
Hanoi, where she and her colleagues have recently launched a new BA program in Transnational
Cultural and Media Studies. Her intellectual pursuits cut across disciplines and are committed to
practising equality.

Đăng Minh Vũ is an alumnus of the Faculty of Linguistics and Cultures of English-speaking

Countries, VNU University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University
Hanoi.

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Chapter 5
Between the Sacred and the Secular:
Publishing, Books, and Everyday Life
in Colonial Cochinchina

Vy Cao

5.1 Introduction

In 1939, inhabitants of Sóc Trăng Province in the Mekong Delta could hear the
following ditty (Lý 1939: 2):
One for the cheap price,
Two for the peace of mind,
Three for the pleasure,
Four for the proximity and convenience!1

This poem was an advertisement spread by the local printing press Lý Công Quận,
which offered cheap printing services for Vietnamese novels, catalogues, and reli-
gious texts. Lý Công Quận not an isolated phenomenon. Other presses that specialized
in religious texts were located across Cochinchina: the Imprimerie Hậu Giang in Long
Xuyên, the Imprimerie Phú Toàn in Vĩnh Long, and the Imprimerie du Mékong in Sa
Đéc, to name just a few. What are we to make of this convergence of the “modern”
print media with the “traditional”—in the form of religion and devotion?
The rise of the popular press transformed communication in Cochinchina in
the late colonial period. Thanks to the proliferation of printing technology, adver-
tising images and marketing slogans brought the idea of modernity into urban
and rural areas. Embodied by French and local elites, modernity was also mani-
fested through different objects and infrastructures, such as buildings, bridges,
transportation systems, and daily items.

1 The original text in Vietnamese is “Một là đặng giá rẻ; hai là đặng yên trí; ba là đặng vui lòng;

bốn là đặng cận tiện.”.

V. Cao (B)
Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France
e-mail: cao.vy@outlook.fr

© The Author(s) 2024 85

L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges (eds.), Vietnam Over the Long Twentieth Century, Global
Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3611-9_5
86 V. Cao

But far from being a homogeneous phenomenon, what was seen as modern was
incessantly reappropriated and reinvented by different groups and individuals in
their everyday life. When we define modernity as a desire to respond to singular
aspirations, the concept becomes less a contradiction with traditional norms than
a rational choice that resonates with the individual and their belief systems. Nor
can we define modernity in simple economic terms. The expansion of the market
economy can be a useful metric with which to analyze changes in social structures
and practices, but this statement remains a hypothesis which requires solid data to be
verified. In 1930s Cochinchina, new forms of investment encountered pre-existing
practices of credit and trade. It is important to remember that the expansion of new
economic models and practices do not necessarily lead to the same consequences
everywhere and for everyone; nor do they obey a singular logic of development as
individuals and institutions operate in different contexts.
This chapter begins with a quantitative study that traces the social and economic
landscape of printing in Cochinchina in the late colonial period. The study is based
on data collected from the Indochinese collection catalogue, which contains 12,270
bibliographic records of non-periodicals in quốc ngữ, the romanized script used to
record vernacular Vietnamese, and its digitized documents. In complement to this
catalogue, I also use the Lists of Deposited Materials (Liste des imprimés déposés),
published by the Directorate of Archives and Libraries in Hanoi from 1922 to 1944.
Data from these catalogues were input into a database on Heurist, which is a free
and open-source platform built by Dr. Ian Johnson, Artem Osmakov and the Arts
eResearch team at the University of Sydney. Heurist possesses a mapping tool and
a networks visualization feature, which in this research provides interesting insights
on the spatial distribution of printing and publishing houses in Cochinchina. Besides
bibliographic records, this database also contains information on individuals and
organizations that participated in the book’s industry.
After mapping the landscape of publishing in Cochinchina in the 1930s quan-
titatively, I then map it qualitatively. My approach consists of documenting and
describing a specific type of action within a delimited population and geographical
area. The action chosen for this study is the act of giving money to a printing house,
individually or collectively, to publish books intended for free distribution. For my
case study, I focus on the Imprimerie du Mékong, founded by Hồ Văn Sao in Sa Đéc
aroud 1933.
Bringing the quantitative and qualitative approaches together sheds new light on
the history of the publishing industry in colonial Indochina. While many histories
of print media have focused on major cities like Saigon, Hanoi, or Hue, my study
illustrates the broad reach of the printing industry and its presence across the Mekong
Delta. It also shows the importance of religious publications for the growth of the
publishing industry. While scholars frequently highlight print media as a vector of
modernity, I argue it could just as easily serve to reinforce traditional beliefs and
practices.
5 Between the Sacred and the Secular: Publishing, Books, and Everyday … 87

Moreover, attending to the materiality of the book and the meaning of its exchange
provides a unique window into everyday life in Cochinchina. While it is common-
place to see the introduction of new technologies and the extension of market relation-
ships as breaking down social ties, I argue that in colonial Cochinchina, the expansion
and development of the publishing industry occurred alongside a diverse continuum
of interpersonal exchanges among publishers, printers, merchants, peddlers, and
readers. Rather than eroding social ties, publishing in the form of book dona-
tions served to link believers in practices of ritualized exchange based on shared
cosmologies.

5.2 Approaches

Since the late colonial period, scholars have explored how print culture spread widely
in Vietnamese urban areas, entering the daily life of local populations through the
rapid expansion of newspapers, brochures, books, advertising posters, and ephemeral
printed material. Already in 1942, Hoa Bằng—a pseudonym of the Vietnamese jour-
nalist and historian Hoàng Thúc Trâm—wrote on the history of publishing in Vietnam
in terms of the shift from woodblock printing to modern typesetting and highlighted
the transformative nature of that new technology (Hoa 1942). Huỳnh Văn Tòng’s
1971 doctoral dissertation, The History of Vietnamese Press from its Origins to 1930,
offers a complete introduction to archival sources and their use (Huỳnh 1971). He
examined the favorable political and legislative conditions that contributed to the rise
of the Vietnamese press, articulating a chronological and thematic evolution based
on a rigorous analysis of Vietnamese newspapers and magazines.
In his influential Vietnamese Tradition on Trial, David Marr explored the rela-
tionships among economic development, media, and social and economic change
under French colonial rule (Marr 1984). One of his main arguments concerned the
modification of communal life and social bonds. According to Marr, the penetration
of the cash economy into the countryside reinforced the notion of private property
and transformed social relations. He observed that “traditional multiple and personal
forms of socio-economic interactions were being replaced by the single, essentially
impersonal commercial exchange system” (Marr 1984: 4). Although that may be
intuitively persuasive, this chapter will demonstrate that Marr’s conclusion over-
states the rate and degree of socio-economic change and fails to acknowledge how
multiple forms of exchange existed simultaneously.
Other scholars have taken a different approach. Philippe Peycam’s (2012) detailed
analysis of Saigon’s media in the 1920s and 1930s is framed in terms of the devel-
opment of a vibrant public sphere despite colonial censorship and repression. While
he echoes Marr’s concern with politics, he does enclose them in a strict dialectic. At
the same time, he is concerned to re-evaluate the complex reality of colonial politics
often characterized in terms of collaboration and resistance. Shawn McHale adopted
an even more inclusive approach to his study of the Vietnamese press, exploring its
integral role in the evolution of the Buddhist, Confucian, and Communist realms.
88 V. Cao

McHale in particular stressed the need not only to place printing and publishing in
their economic, social, and political contexts, but also the need to “explore the world
as viewed through such texts” (McHale 2004: 3).
Meanwhile, few scholars have considered an approach that attends to the mate-
riality of printed matter, conditioned by a network of production and distribution,
and how these aspects shaped the relationship of the local populations to reading and
writing. According to Roger Chartier, “the printing press diffuses new objects, easily
manipulated, carried on oneself or displayed, which gives the images and the texts a
thicker presence, a more familiar reality” (1987: 7). Print culture can also be appre-
hended as the totality of new gestures generated by novel forms of images and textual
production, so that it is no longer reduced to the sole practice of reading which, in
Chartier words, “is a reading of today or of ancient scholars” (1987: 8). Although
most studies on print culture focus on reading practices or the expansion of literacy,
this chapter moves beyond the common assumption of a correlation between printed
matter and literacy. As Chartier writes, “in the cities first, the massive appearance
of new means of communication modifies practices—of devotion, of entertainment,
of information, of knowledge—and redefines the relations men and women have
with the sacred, powers, or their community” (1987: 7). This study thus adopts a
hybrid approach, attending simultaneously to the socio-economic, to the material,
to the spatial, and to the ideational, in order to shed new light on the history of
publishing in Cochinchina in the late colonial period and its relationship to tradition
and modernity.

5.3 Sources

The data in this research are collected from two main types of sources: first, the four
volumes of the Catalog of the Indochinese Collection 1922–1954 (Pasquel-Rageau
1988), which is an expanded and revised edition of the Catalog of the Indochinese
Collection of the National Library. Volume 1. Vietnamese Books Printed in Quốc Ngữ
(1922–1954) (Rageau 1979); second, the List of Deposited Printed Works (Boudet
and Bourgeois 1922–1944), published by the Directorate of Archives and Libraries
of Indochina.
The origins of the catalogues are to be found in the French system of the legal
deposit. In France, the idea of a legal deposit originated during the reign of Francis
I in the Montpellier order of December 28, 1537. As a kind of “safeguard of French
thought,” the legal deposit assumed different roles and functions according to the
political regime and historical context. It guaranteed a common intellectual and
cultural heritage, helped to protect authors’ rights, and served as a means of control
and surveillance (Dougnac and Guilbaud 1960; Koskas 2011).
The principle of the legal deposit was implemented across the five territories
of Indochina beginning in 1922. According to the enacting legislation, which was
based largely on French precedent, only printers were subject to the deposit obliga-
tion. They had to submit two copies of each publication to local government officials,
5 Between the Sacred and the Secular: Publishing, Books, and Everyday … 89

with one copy sent to the Central Library in Hanoi and the other copy forwarded to
the National Library in Paris, where they arrived after a long administrative journey
via both the Colonial and Interior ministries. In 1925, new legislation implemented
the principle of a “double deposit,” which required both printers and publishers to
additionally submit their works to an administrative unit. A final major modification
of the Indochinese legal deposit occurred on January 9, 1945, when the number of
examples was increased to eight and the definition of publishers was expanded to
include “any person or legal person (printer, publisher, association, labor union, civil
or commercial society, author who published their own work, or principal depos-
itor of imported works, public administration), who sells, distributes, lends [printed
materials].”
Responsibility for the legal deposit rested with the Indochinese Directorate of
Archives and Libraries and its director, Paul Boudet, who headed the service for
three decades (1917–1947). The directorate presided over a highly centralized system
which depended on the presence of an efficient administrative network and a high
level of coordination across the entire territory of Indochina to carry out its task of
preserving and cataloguing all material published in the colony.
As the process of decolonization played out after 1945, the administration of
the legal deposit became complicated. In Vietnam, the legal deposit now functioned
under two different regimes. The operations of the legal deposit office, which was
part of the Central Library in Hanoi, was disrupted by the Japanese military coup on
March 9, 1945. Thus from 1945 to 1946, the Office of Legal Deposit in Hanoi only
registered publications from Tonkin, that is, the north of Vietnam. In Saigon, the
Cochinchina Regional Library was placed in the hands of Vietnamese authorities,
with the result that the legal deposit system now functioned independently. In 1947,
the Central Library and the Directorate of Archives and Libraries in Hanoi were
placed under the authority of the High Commissioner of France based in Saigon.
From 1947 to 1952, the High Commissioner continued to send the legal deposits
of 1940–1944 to the National Library of France through the intermediary of the
Ministry of the Interior. According to the register of printed matter of the National
Library, the last shipment of deposits from Saigon to Paris occurred in 1950 and from
Hanoi in August 1952. Additionally, after the Geneva Accords in 1954, the remaining
collection of the Central Library in Hanoi was transferred to Saigon, consisting of
1000 containers of books including periodicals and documents from the archives.
Meanwhile, in Paris, the conservation of the Indochinese collection was shaped by
history, institutions, and above all by the available linguistic and material resources.
Between 1922 and 1934, the Indochinese legal deposits arrived directly at the
National Library of France. They were registered at the Department of Printed
Books, and then sorted according to topic. An Indochinese collection was created
to gather all the printed materials in quốc ngữ. It was then classified according to
the lists of the legal deposit published by the Directorate of Archives and Libraries
in Hanoi. However, the bibliographic records were full of spelling mistakes and
were often misinterpreted by the French librarians. Recognizing the problem, in
1934, the National Library agreed to transfer the collection to the School of Oriental
90 V. Cao

Languages. A Vietnamese assistant from the school was assigned to update the bibli-
ographic records and register new arrivals. Unfortunately, the library had difficulty
finding a person who could commit to this daunting task. From 1934 to 1952, the
School of Oriental Languages only managed to classify 200 volumes out of 20,000,
with the result that the bulk of the Indochinese collection remained inaccessible.
Finally, in August 1952, all the Indochinese collection and deposits were returned to
the National Library.
Today’s Indochinese collection dates to the arrival of librarian Christiane Pasquel-
Rageau in 1965. The first fruits of her effort to catalogue the Vietnamese collection
is the Catalogue of Printed Materials from the Indochinese Collection 1922–1954
Reproduced on Microfiches, published in 1979, with 12,270 bibliographic records.
From July 1986 to June 1988, the center for book conservation, the Department
of Printed Books, and the Asia Service from the Department of Foreign Entries,
decided to reproduce the entire Indochinese collection on microfiche. In this initia-
tive, bibliographic data from the former catalogue were revised to prepare for the
new Indochinese Collection: Vietnamese Books Printed in Quốc-ngữ (1922–1954).
Further, approximately 500 books from the Indochinese collection were added to
the new version of the catalogue by Nguyễn Tất Đắc and Jean-Claude Poitelon.
Nonetheless, it excluded publications recorded in the general catalogue and all the
periodicals from the legal deposit. The new catalogue was published in four volumes
in 1989, and all of its bibliographic records were added to the online catalogue of the
National Library in 1997. Finally, beginning in 2020, a major collaboration between
the national libraries in France and in Vietnam allowed for the digitization of the
Indochinese collection. Thanks to these digitized documents, it is now possible to
collect data and to analyze book production and circulation in Indochina during the
early twentieth century.

5.4 Data

This section begins by tracing the publishing landscape of Indochina in general

before moving on to focus on Cochinchina. This is the first time such a project of
quantification and description has been attempted. The results allow us to explore
data from locations where the legal deposit system functioned during the colonial
period. In Cochinchina, this included Saigon and its surrounding neighborhoods
such as Chợ Lớn, Đa Kao, Tân Định, Thủ Dầu Một, and Thủ Đức, as well as other
provinces of the Mekong Delta.
The following chart, Fig. 5.1, shows the number of non-periodical deposits per
printer or publisher in Indochina, from 1930 to 1944, including one publication in
the French territory of Kouang-Tchéou-Wan (Guangzhouwan) in 1938.
According to the data, there were 257 printers and publishers in Indochina
during this period and a total number of 12,305 deposits. Printing and publishing
in Indochina varied greatly depending on the locality. In general, the number of
deposits in Tonkin and Cochinchina far exceeded the rest of Indochina. In all cases,
5 Between the Sacred and the Secular: Publishing, Books, and Everyday … 91

Fig. 5.1 Number of non-periodical deposits in the Indochinese Union (1930–1944). Source Author,
based on Boudet and Bourgeois 1922–1944

the general curve decreased drastically for all the provinces from 1943 and reached
its lowest point in 1944.
Contrary to the common assumption that Cochinchina was home to Indochina’s
most dynamic publishing industry, the number of non-periodical deposits in Tonkin
exceeded that of Cochinchina’s throughout this period. The gap between these two
major urban poles began in 1930 and widened considerably in favor of Tonkin after
1934. Then, in contrast to the general evolution of Indochina, Tonkin’s publishing
rates exploded from 1940 to 1942.
Outside of Tonkin and Cochinchina, Annam and Cambodia had similar rates
of non-periodical deposits, whereas Laos saw the least deposits. In Annam, fifteen
printing and publishing houses were recorded in Hue, Qui Nhơn, and Vinh: A. J.
S., Canh Tân, Đắc Lập, Imprimerie de la Mission de Huế, Imprimerie de la Mission
de Qui Nhơn, Imprimerie du Mirador (Viễn Đệ), Hương Giang, Phúc Long, Tiếng
Dân, Tôn Thất Cảnh, Imprimerie de Qui Nhơn, Châu Tinh, Imprimerie du Nord
Annam, Nguyễn Đức Tư, and Vương Đình Châu. There were at least nine printing
and publishing houses registered in Phnom Penh: Imprimerie Chong-hoa, Imprimerie
de Nagaravatta, Imprimerie du Protectorat, Imprimerie Henry, Imprimerie Portail,
Imprimerie Royale, Trường Xuân, and the Société d’Éditions Khmer. Notably, the
Imprimerie de Nagaravatta, the publisher of Nagaravatta (1936–1942), the first
Cambodian newspaper to be published in the Khmer language, appears in the legal
deposits in 1939, 1941, and 1942.
92 V. Cao

Fig. 5.2 Number of non-periodical deposits in Cochinchina (1930–1944). Source Author, based
on Boudet and Bourgeois 1922–1944

Moving on to consider Cochinchina, although the number of deposits in Tonkin

exceeded those in Cochinchina, printing and publishing activities in the Mekong
Delta were more expansive and covered a wider geographical area. According to
the data, there were 102 printing and publishing houses in Cochinchina and a total
number of 4,329 publications between 1930 and 1944. See Fig. 5.2 for details.
As the statistics in Saigon greatly exceeded the ones in other areas, I have
regrouped the data into three categories to get a better idea of their spatial distribu-
tion. The “Giadinh-Cholon” category includes districts or neighborhoods connected
to Saigon such as Chợ Lớn, Đa Kao, Gia Định, Tân Định, Thủ Dầu Một, and Thủ
Đức. The “Mekong provinces” category includes Bạc Liêu, Bến Tre, Cần Thơ, Gò
Công, Long Xuyên, Mỹ Tho, Rạch Giá, Sa Đéc, Sóc Trăng, Trà Vinh, and Vĩnh
Long.
Quantitatively, publishing in Cochinchina reached its peak in 1932. The following
years witnessed a gradual decline until dropping sharply with the repression and
arrest of Vietnamese journalists, writers, and anticolonial activists in 1938–1939.
While non-periodical deposits in Saigon essentially ended with the appointment of
the Vichyist government in 1942, publishing activities dropped off more gradually in
the other Cochinchinese provinces. Beginning from 1944, the legal deposit system
functioned only partially and with difficulty as communication between Saigon and
the provinces faced difficulties due to military occupation and armed conflict.
5 Between the Sacred and the Secular: Publishing, Books, and Everyday … 93

5.5 Publishing as Practice

Many studies on Vietnamese modernity and the rise of printing have demonstrated
the undeniable role of political and cultural associations (Brocheux and Hémery
1995; Marr 1984; Peycam 2012). However, few of them have documented the socio-
economic conditions that allowed these activities to flourish, both inside and outside
of the bourgeoisie and intellectual circles.
According to our data, printers, and publishers were mainly present in urban
areas. These places possessed public facilities that allowed trading and economic
development, such as buildings, routes, and financial infrastructures. Urban popula-
tions also constituted the main customer base for printing and publishing services,
which ranged from printing catalogues and invitation cards to publishing popular
Vietnamese plays and serialized novels.
Local elites embraced the idea of using modern printing technology to promote
change and progress. Book manufacturers, bookstores, and publishing houses were
often found near the headquarters of newspapers. For example, the Imprimerie de
l’Ouest in Cần Thơ (also called “An-Hà” in Vietnamese) started as a daily newspaper
and went on to become a major publishing hub in the Mekong Delta. From 1918 to
1952, the press published at least 152 non-periodicals. The same phenomenon was
observed with New Progress (Tân tiến; 1935–1938), a weekly newspaper founded
by local elites in Vĩnh Long and Sa Đéc. The Women’s Bookstore (Nữ lưu thơ quán)
publisher in Gò Công is another example of a modernist publishing project. During
its first months of activity, it printed books and novels in partnership with another
publisher Bảo Tồn in Saigon, which was owned by Diệp Văn Kỳ’s spouse, Lê Thị
Hạnh. After a short period living in France and supporting to the Constitutionalist
Party of Bùi Quang Chiêu, Diệp Văn Kỳ advocated for freedom of speech and
expression in Cochinchina. Diệp Văn Kỳ also owned important newspapers such as
the Indochina Times (Đông Pháp thời báo; 1927–1928) and the Morning Bell (Thần
chung; 1929), and collaborated with well-known activists and journalists Đào Trinh
Nhất, Phan Khôi, Tản Đà Nguyễn Khắc Hiếu, Phan Văn Hùm, etc.
Throughout the early twentieth century, the rise of print culture transformed
literary products into consumer items. Most printing houses in Cochinchina published
novels, poems, and other literary pieces to satisfy a growing literate population. In
response to this new market, publishers sought to purchase their own printing presses
and other publishing technologies to reduce their dependence on presses and lower
their production costs. While personal relationships might be enough to start a book-
store or even a publishing label, after a certain period, publishers often tried to acquire
their own printing presses.
This tendency was even more obvious in the case of publishing houses owned
by merchants who engaged in other trading activities alongside their activity as
publishers. The pharmacist was an emblematic figure of a printer who also excelled
as a merchant. One of the most successful book sellers in the Mekong Delta was
run by a merchant and pharmaceutical retailer—François Võ Văn Vân, who owned a
publishing house in Bến Tre province from 1929 to 1936. For publishers like these,
94 V. Cao

printed materials served both as a medium and a vector for commercial activities.
On the one hand, books became consumer goods that could generate profits; on the
other hand, people who owned the means to print books and other materials could
easily advertise for their own businesses.
Advertising slogans and marketing strategies flourished side by side with the
expanding market for published materials. Through mercantile and trading dynamics,
print culture allowed the expression of ordinary discourses and one on one commu-
nication. For the first time in Cochinchina, visual items and written discourses were
situated and embodied by networks of local merchants, pharmacists, small shop
keepers, craftsmen, and women from various backgrounds. Daily life became satu-
rated with thousands of images and textual objects; social life in communities and
villages became more visible and denser with the rise of print culture.

5.6 Between Commerce and Devotion

Buddhist temples, pagodas, and other religious institutions were also important
actors in the book industry. Buddhist sutras and prayer books occupied an important
proportion of the non-periodicals registered in the Indochinese collection. Many
printers in Cochinchina specialized in publishing religious books. This was the
case, for example, with the Imprimerie Hậu Giang in Long Xuyên (1931–1940), the
Imprimerie Phú Toàn in Vĩnh Long (1929–1938), and the Imprimerie du Mékong in
Sa Đéc (1933–1942). Book donation to temples, pagodas, and local communities,
was a direct consequence of print culture. The growing number of local printers and
easier access to printing services were a result of technical and economic modern-
ization. Investigating book donations offers new insights into the socio-economic
models of printing. It also sheds light on the continuous importance of communal
bonds and the role religious organizations played in structuring life in Cochinchina.
Religious books and booklets are usually small and fragile objects. Their format
varied from “in-octavo” to “in-16,” and often contained twelve to twenty-four pages.
Although this does not reveal their actual size, which depends on the type of paper
used by the printer, it indicates their specificity in comparison to other religious or
literary collections. Religious books and booklets printed for free distributions were
not necessarily destined for reading practices. Book donation reflects an economy
of virtuous deeds and good karma. Books were instead a type of symbolic currency
and, as such, could be duplicated in identical formats. The number of print runs was
proportional to the level of good intention. However, religious books and booklets
possessed an ambiguous status. The scriptural spaces available on these objects could
be used by local people for communication, advertisement, and announcement.
Analyzing donations allows us to observe the geographical and social scope of the
transformation in practices, due to the rise of print culture at a local level. Scriptural
objects hold a certain value within the moral or religious economy. For these reasons,
donors often made explicit their personal information and the amount of money
donated to show their good intentions. There were two main ways to participate in
5 Between the Sacred and the Secular: Publishing, Books, and Everyday … 95

this economy of good deeds. When a donation was made by individuals, married
couples, or small groups of people, their identities and the amount of donated money
usually figured on the cover-page. When a donation was made by a larger group, it
often figured as a list inserted inside the book. These donations were mostly made
at temples and pagodas.
In this article, I chose to limit my analysis to the Imprimerie du Mékong to present
a complete and quantitative sample of publications and donations. The Imprimerie
du Mékong is an interesting case for this study because it was the primary and main
publisher of Hoà Hảo Buddhist books and booklets. Established in Sa Đéc, it was
owned by Hồ Văn Sao, the co-director of the New Progress (1935–1938) weekly
newspaper which appeared in Vĩnh Long and Sa Đéc.
The Indochinese collection of the National Library contains sixty-four non-
periodicals published by the Imprimerie du Mékong from 1933 to 1942. Among
them, at least forty-seven books were ordered and printed by local residents, with
the intention to distribute them for free. This study is only possible since the digi-
tization of the non-periodicals of the Indochinese collection, which allows direct
access to these primary sources. It is important to note that bibliographic records
from the Indochinese collection catalogues contain many errors. Most of them cate-
gorize donors as publishers or printers. I use Heurist to edit errors, and to describe
and locate these donations. Data were manually extracted from digitized books of
the Indochinese collection, then added and restructured in the Heurist database.
The Imprimerie du Mékong was an important place for religious printing services.
Figure 5.3 shows temples and pagodas that gave money to print at the Imprimerie du
Mékong between 1933 and 1942.
Compared to other printing houses in the delta, the Imprimerie du Mékong’s
customer base was broader and transnational. It stretched from Đồng Nai in the
north of Cochinchina, to Phnom Penh in Cambodia, and to Rạch Giá in the south.
There is an important concentration of individual and institutional donations from
Châu Đốc, which was also an historical region of Hoà Hảo Buddhism, as well as
other Buddhist “sects” in Cochinchina.
By the late 1930s, printing activities appear to have become an integral part of
people’s daily activities and way of life, even in the rural areas of the Mekong
Delta. Heurist mapping option allows us to systematically locate data if geographic
coordinates are available and input into the database. The following example shows
a donation from Nguyễn Thị Thinh who lived in Cần Thơ province (Photo 5.1).
Despite the existence of printers and publishers in Cần Thơ, a woman
named Nguyễn Thị Thinh chose to print 1,000 copies of a religious book at the
Imprimerie du Mékong in Sa Đéc. A short summary of the book features an adver-
tisement by the donor, who introduced herself as a healer serving people for free. As
with other services, healers and occultists also benefited from the rise of printing,
which helped to promote their practices.
Printed matter from donations constituted a singular discursive space, because the
customer base who came to print these religious books and booklets was extremely
diverse. Peasants and merchants from local markets could insert advertisement or
personal messages in their publications. For example, one donor, Nguyễn Thị Năm,
96 V. Cao

Locations in Cochinchina Temples and/or Pagodas

Bạc Liêu Châu Viên

Bến Tre Phú Long

Châu Đốc Hoà Thạnh, Phước Điền,

Châu Viên, Kỳ Viên, An

Phước

Đồng Nai Thanh Phước

Nhà Bè Phước Linh

Rạch Giá Thập Phương

Sa Đéc Kim Huê, Phước Long

Sài Gòn Long Hưng

Trà Vinh Phước Long

Fig. 5.3 Temples and pagodas that gave money to print at the Imprimerie du Mékong between
1933 and 1942. Source Author

owned a fish stall in Sa Đéc with her husband Lê Văn Chu. They ordered 1000 copies
of a Buddhist Pure Land prayer from the Imprimerie du Mékong in 1936. On the
back cover of the book, they left a note to thank people who supported their activities
through the economic crisis. They explained that their donation was a means to
express their gratitude to their customers and to invite whoever wished to talk with
them to come meet them on their boat, which was moored next to the Sa Đéc fish
market. One did not have to be literate but only needed to communicate a message
orally to the printers for it to be transcribed and published. Hence, advertisements
and announcements in these books constitute an important resource to investigate
literacy and its relation to the rise of printing.
When collecting and analyzing information about donors, we also notice a singular
manner of how people identified themselves. Some donors preferred to put down a
nickname, or to be more precise, a familiar appellation linked to their surroundings,
rather than their real name. Their nickname was always linked to a recognizable
feature of their person, such as the place where they resided or their profession.
5 Between the Sacred and the Secular: Publishing, Books, and Everyday … 97

Photo 5.1 Example of a donation record on Heurist database with description and geographical
coordinates. Source Author

Examples of nicknames from donors of the Imprimerie du Mékong are “the lady
who sells sandwiches,” “the first-born sister from Sa Đéc,” “the couple of fish sellers
at the Tân Phú Đông market,” or “the fourth son from Châu Đốc.” As it was important
for donors to be seen and, more so, to be recognizable, these nicknames attest to social
proximity, and even familiarity within a close and small community.
The Imprimerie du Mékong, like many other printing houses in Cochinchina,
sought to gain customers by offering cheap services. They had special deals for
religious requests and promoted them like in this advertisement:
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have printed many sutras recently thanks to our expert in Buddhist
sutras, who checks and reviews printed characters. The owner of this printing house made
a special vow to only ask for the cheapest printing cost for anyone who brings their sutra
and uses our service. Customers who have printed multiple times here can attest to our very
cheap price (Thiện 1934: n.p.)!

Further, the geographical extension and the diversity of their customer base shows
a special dynamic. Although it is not yet possible to demonstrate with certainty to
what extent the Imprimerie du Mékong was important in spreading or encouraging
certain types of religious ideas and movements in the Mekong Delta, it is plausible to
think that their specialization in printing religious texts and their marketing strategy
strengthened the print culture in these locations. The study of book donations reveals
a transformation of pre-existing practices, while these new printed materials are also
the vector of a new social cohesion on a regional scale.
With the rise of print culture, the book became an object that embodied moder-
nity. As such, it could be used to manifest respect, devotion, and reverence. The
98 V. Cao

symbolic value of a book differed substantially from periodicals because their usage
was completely different in regard to donation. Inside donation circuits, books were
not only a reading product but also a symbolic or religious currency. While religious
debates figured largely in local newspapers, especially during the Buddhist reform
movement in the 1920s, most religious books found in the Indochinese collection
were destined for free distribution and obeyed this singular logic of donation. Thanks
to the diffusion of the technology of the printing press and the expansion of print
media in Cochinchina, anyone could order the publication of Buddhist sutras or
prayers at their local printing house.
In sum, analyzing print culture allows us to arrive at a thicker description of
the reality of interpersonal relations by making them visible, especially in rural or
remote areas. By the end of the colonial period, the book had become a desirable
yet affordable object. It was no longer solely a reading object destined for literate
people, but an item of ordinary and daily life.

5.7 Conclusion

The rise of print media in the early twentieth century in Cochinchina is a complex
phenomenon. While other authors have demonstrated the impact of print culture on
communication, political organizations, and the birth of a Vietnamese public sphere,
to date we lack an in-depth study of the socio-economic context of the publishing
industry. This chapter demonstrates the potential of using the Indochinese collection
and its digitized documents to fill that gap. It is now possible to name, locate, and
measure the activities of publishers and printers: in short, to map the landscape of
publishing in colonial Cochinchina.
Several features emerge from this landscape. The first is the breadth and depth
of the publishing industry across the Mekong Delta, not just in Saigon. A brief
presentation of the data collected from the Indochinese collection reveals a dynamic
publishing industry, especially in urban areas. Second is the degree to which the
industry was imbricated in the broader economy through trading networks, pharma-
ceutical retailers, local merchants, and small shop keepers. Books were produced in
large numbers and circulated widely, serving simultaneously as a means to diffuse
exciting new ideas and ways of living as well as an ordinary consumer good.
Another feature that emerges is the importance of religious publishing for the
growth of the industry. The practice of devotees paying for the publication of religious
texts was widespread, in some cases being the main or even sole activity for publishers
or printers. The Imprimerie du Mékong was one such case, surviving for almost
ten years with no other commercial activity. In this way, examining the landscape
of publishing in colonial Indochina complicates typical binaries of traditional and
modern, secular, and religious. Whether we should see the practice of book donation
as the commodification of karma or the sacralization of commerce is debatable; what
is clear, however, is that capitalist development, economic and social change, and
religion were intimately related in colonial Cochinchina.
5 Between the Sacred and the Secular: Publishing, Books, and Everyday … 99

The importance of religious texts underlines how printed matter is not always
destined to be read. The meaning of a book is not always to be found in the words it
contains. A close examination of religious texts and their circulation complicates the
commonly accepted understanding of capitalist development in colonial Indochina
and its effects. Rather than dissolving social ties, the adoption of new technologies
and the expansion of market relations could serve instead to connect people. Donated
religious texts reduced the distance among individuals by creating common imagi-
naries and reinforcing donors’ and readers’ participation in a shared cosmology. In
this way, close attention to the landscape of publishing in Cochinchina provides a
unique window into ordinary life in colonial Indochina and the ideas and experiences
of its people.

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[Indochina, the ambiguous colonization, 1858-1954]. Paris: Découverte.
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the libraries of France] 8: 283–91.
Hoa, Bằng, 1942. Lịch trình nghề ấn loát Việt Nam: Từ lối in mộc bản xưa đến thuật in hoạt bản
bây giờ [Vietnamese printing history: From traditional woodblock printing to modern offset
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Huỳnh, Văn Tòng. 1971. Histoire de la presse vietnamienne des origines à 1930 [History of the
Vietnamese press from its origins to 1930]. Thèse de 3e cycle [Third-cycle thesis], Université
Paris-Sorbonne.
Koskas, Mathilde. 2011. Bibliographie nationale française et dépôt legal [French national
bibliography and legal deposit]. N.p.
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Tân Thời Lý Công Quận.
Marr, David G. 1984. Vietnamese tradition on trial, 1920-1945. Berkeley: University of California
Press.
McHale, Shawn Frederick. 2004. Print and power: Confucianism, Communism, and Buddhism in
the making of modern Vietnam. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Pasquel-Rageau, Christiane. 1988. Catalogue des ouvrages du fonds Indochinois 1922-1954
[Catalog of works from the Indochinese collection]. Vol. 4. Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale.
Peycam, Philippe M. F. 2012. The birth of Vietnamese political journalism: Saigon, 1916-1930.
New York: Columbia University Press.
Rageau, Christiane. 1979. Catalogue du fonds indochinois de la bibliothèque nationale. Volume 1.
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100 V. Cao

Vy Cao is a doctoral student in Asian History and Literature at the Institut de Recherches
Asiatiques, Aix-Marseille Université. Their thesis focuses on the history of printed books in
Cochinchina (1864–1945), using digital tools to collect and structure data from the Indochina
legal deposit. Since 2022, Vy is also a research associate at the Bibliothèque nationale de France
(BnF) and laureate of their Paul LeClerc grant. They are conducting research on the Vietnamese
employees of the BnF in the 1940–1960 period, and their contribution to the classification of the
Indochinese collections.

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the copyright holder.
Chapter 6
Multiple Agents Involved
in the Localization of Our Lady of La
Vang: From a Mythic Figure
to the Mother of Vietnam

Van Bien Duong

6.1 Introduction

Our Lady of La Vang (Đức Mẹ La Vang) is one name that Catholics in Vietnam use
for the Virgin Mary. There is a pilgrimage shrine of Our Lady of La Vang that is
today situated in Hải Phú Commune, Hải Lăng District, Quảng Trị Province, in the
central region of Vietnam. The shrine of Our Lady of La Vang under La Vang parish
belongs to the Hue Archdiocese under the administration of the Vietnamese Catholic
Church. This shrine has been designated as a National Marian Shrine and a Minor
Basilica as well. It is also a place of great veneration, and many devout pilgrims flock
there on the occasion of the great pilgrimage festival (Đại hội hành hương), which
is organized once every three years in August.
Since the implementation of the policy of Renovation (Đổi Mới) in 1986, the
Communist Party and the government of Vietnam have implemented a moderate
policy toward religious affairs and encouraged the inclusion of cultural values from
religions into the development of the country. In the process, Vietnamese scholars
have examined and discussed the relationship between Catholicism and Vietnamese
national culture. In particular, they have conceptualized the issue of the Vietnamiza-
tion/localization of Catholicism from the perspective of culturology, a line of inquiry
developed by Soviet scholars that focuses on an exploration of the nature, laws of
existence, and the development of culture, the humanistic meanings of culture, and
methods of studying culture (Nguyễn 2006: 6). Among other cases of the localization
of Catholicism in Vietnam, the localization of Our Lady of La Vang has emerged as

V. B. Duong (B)
Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Gadong, Brunei Darussalam
e-mail: vanbien86@gmail.com
Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam

© The Author(s) 2024 101

L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges (eds.), Vietnam Over the Long Twentieth Century, Global
Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3611-9_6
102 V. B. Duong

an interesting topic that has sustained scholarly debates on Catholicism in Vietnam.

Nguyễn Hồng Dương, a former researcher of the Institute for Religious studies (IRS)
of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) in Vietnam, argues that the Viet-
namese have an original practice of Mother Goddess worship (Đạo Mẫu), and that
they then transformed (chuyển hóa) or Vietnamized (Việt hóa) the Virgin Mary of
Catholicism in light of this worship (Nguyễn 2001: 311, 2004: 235–245). Given the
case of Our Lady of La Vang, he says that her first apparition near a banyan tree
in 1798 implied a reference to the Mother Goddess of the Forest (Bà Chúa Thượng
Ngàn), which is one of the mother goddesses worshipped by Vietnamese (Nguyễn
2004: 241). According to Nguyễn Hồng Dương, the Vietnamization of Catholicism
(Việt hóa đạo), including the Vietnamization of Marian devotion, was a signifi-
cant outcome of Catholic inculturation in Vietnam (Nguyễn 1999: 37). However,
such inculturation was, according to Nguyễn Hồng Dương, a return of Vietnamese
Catholics to the original culture of Vietnamese. Nguyễn Hồng Dương said that Viet-
namese Catholics are first and foremost Vietnamese people who have imbued the
national cultural identity (bản sắc văn hóa dân tộc) (Nguyễn 1999: 37). Nevertheless,
Nguyễn Hồng Dương, after converting to the Catholic faith, Vietnamese Catholics
were initially not allowed to maintain their traditional rites and lifestyles, and conse-
quently their consciousness also changed and they finally became strangers even
in their own homeland. Nguyễn Hồng Dương states further, however, that over the
course of time, Vietnamese Catholics gradually became aware of their situation, and
they desired to return to their origin (muốn trở về với nguồn cội), live harmoniously
with the nation, and follow the course of national culture (Nguyễn 1999: 37).
Influenced by such research as that of Nguyễn Hồng Dương, Trần Văn Nhàn, a
lecturer at the University of Arts and Culture of the Military, changed from employing
the term Vietnamization to using the concept of localization (bản địa hóa) when he
discussed Marian devotion in a Catholic village in Nghệ An province (Trần 2017: 51–
55). In his doctoral dissertation, he also analyzed the localization of the Virgin Mary
in Vietnam (Trần 2022). That said, the main statements in his paper and dissertation
relied heavily on Nguyễn Hồng Dương’s argument about the Vietnamization of the
Virgin Mary.
Nguyễn Hồng Dương, wrote about the relationship between Mother Goddess
worship and Catholicism in the years following Đổi Mới, a time when there was a
new interest in Mother Goddess religion and an attempt by scholars to demonstrate
that this was a particularly distinct aspect of Vietnamese culture. By basing his ideas
on a new view about the importance of Mother Goddess worship to explain the
historical relationship between this worship and Marian devotion, Nguyễn Hồng
Dương produced arguments that relied on a great deal of speculation. He also tended
to posit an essentialized Vietnamese cultural identity that could play a primary role in
directing the Vietnamization of Catholicism. This point of view reflects a primordial
approach that argues that each nation possesses a fixed identity that can control
foreign elements in the process of interaction.
Meanwhile, some overseas Vietnamese scholars have shown an interest in exam-
ining the Marian devotion of Vietnamese Catholics. Peter C. Phan, a Catholic scholar
in the United States, argues that the Marian piety of Vietnamese Catholics was
6 Multiple Agents Involved in the Localization of Our Lady of La Vang … 103

fostered by many factors such as the dogma of the Catholic Church, the Catholic
tradition of Marian devotion, folk belief in the role of the Virgin Mary as a medium of
God, and encouragement from the Catholic hierarchy and congregations (Phan 2003:
99). From this point of view, Peter C. Phan produced a new argument that Marian
piety in Vietnam was promoted by a series of outside factors. As a theologian, Phan
tried to use Vietnamese cultural resources to create a local theology of Mary. To
do so, he employed Vietnamese cultural resources to render Marian devotion under
the category of Vietnamese Mariology. This, Phan stated, could help theologians to
imagine Mary in the course of Vietnamese culture (2003: 103).
Putting aside the specific issue of the influence of Mother Goddess worship on
Marian piety, Peter C. Phan argued that Marian devotion in Vietnam developed in
both Vietnamese cultural and religious contexts. In terms of culture, he contended
that Vietnamese women were historically very powerful in politics and family life and
that this facilitated the spread of Marian piety among Vietnamese people (2003: 106).
Peter C. Phan even said that the devotion of Mary as a powerful woman can inspire
Vietnamese women to counter the patriarchalism of Confucianism in Vietnamese
culture and to achieve equality (2003: 107). Furthermore, Peter C. Phan considered
that Vietnamese Catholic devotion to the Virgin Mary was also “a natural extension
of their love of and devotion to the merciful Quan Âm Thị Kính (a version of Guan-
yin of Vietnamese Buddhism)” (2003: 105). He assumed that Vietnamese Catholic
devotees to Our Lady of La Vang had a close relationship with Buddhists since early
times, in part because Buddhists reportedly once offered their pagoda to Catholics
to transform it into a Marian shrine in La Vang (Phan 2003: 107). That said, such an
argument is assumed from folk stories instead of basing on actual historical facts.
Thao Nguyen, at Santa Clara University in the United States, has endeavored
to combine the points of view of both Nguyễn Hồng Dương and Peter C. Phan to
generate a novel perspective on Marian devotion in Vietnam in which he conceptual-
izes Marian devotion under the terms of “transformation” and “indigenization.” On
the one hand, Thao Nguyen agrees that Marian devotion in Vietnam has been influ-
enced by the Catholic Church, Western missionaries, and local Catholics (Nguyen
2017a: 192). On the other hand, he argues that Marian devotion has also been strength-
ened by the Mother Goddess worship which is considered by some scholars to
represent a prominent expression of a feminine characteristic in Vietnamese culture
(2017a: 193). In addition, Thao Nguyen examines Jeremy Clarke’s work on the influ-
ence of Marian portraits on Guanyin’s image in China in the thirteenth century. He
also addresses Trang Thanh Hiền’s research on the Vietnamese version of Guanyin,
Quan Âm Thị Kính. Thao Nguyen then posits that the representation of Our Lady of
La Vang had a close relation to Guanyin in Vietnam (2017a: 195). He concludes by
seeing the indigenization of Our Lady of La Vang as a continuous reference to both
Mother Goddess worship and Guanyin devotion (2017b: 186).
In making these arguments, Thao Nguyen did not provide as clear evidence as
Jeremy Clarke did in his research on the interrelation between the depictions of
Guanyin and the Virgin Mary in Chinese Catholic art. Thao Nguyen also did not show
any actual relationship between Guanyin and Mary in Vietnam when he followed the
104 V. B. Duong

research findings of Trang Thanh Hiền. Such a point of view of Thao Nguyen thus
is based on assumed connections.
According to Thao Nguyen, the indigenization of Our Lady of La Vang was
either a rediscovery by the Catholic Church of Vietnamese cultural foundations or
an effective missionary strategy of the Church to achieve its propagation of the
faith in the postcolonial context of Vietnamese culture and religion. He especially
emphasized the process of the indigenization of the statue of Our Lady of La Vang. He
says that the transformation of Mary’s presentation was first carried out by overseas
Vietnamese Catholics in the United States (Nguyen 2017b: 182). It was then carried
out by Catholics in Vietnam. Thao Nguyen additionally noticed that Asian bishops
promoted the building of local churches after the Second Vatican Council, thus
influencing the localization of Our Lady of La Vang in Vietnam. Thien-Huong T.
Ninh also made the claim that the Vietnamization of the depiction of Our Lady of La
Vang was started by Vietnamese-American Catholics, and this representation then
influenced Vietnamese Catholics in Vietnam in the 1990s (Ninh 2017). This point
of view shows that the indigenization/Vietnamization of Our Lady of La Vang was
a construction of Catholics.
Pointing to factors that facilitated Our Lady of La Vang’s localization in Vietnam,
Thien-Huong T. Ninh just briefly stated that “religious persecutions, continuing polit-
ical conflicts, and poverty under which the Virgin Mary emerged have reconstituted
her into uniquely Vietnamese religious icon” (Ninh 2017: 64). To be fair, the specific
research scope of Thien-Huong T. Ninh was to focus on the Vietnamization of Our
Lady of La Vang in the Vietnamese-American community, so she had to highlight
her main subject. With such a purpose, Thien-Huong T. Ninh could not inquire
comprehensively about local agents that had participated in or influenced the indi-
genization of Our Lady of La Vang in Vietnam. As a result, in her work, the role
of Vietnamese-American Catholics, especially the role of sculptor artist Van Nhan,
became dominant in the process of creating a new statute of Our Lady of La Vang
for both Vietnamese American and Vietnamese Catholics in the 1990s.
Having highlighted the significant contributions of the above scholars, we put
forward in this chapter a different argument, namely, that the localization of Our
Lady of La Vang is not ultimately a natural return to Vietnamese cultural roots or is
determined by what has been put forth as a tradition of highlighting the female in
Vietnamese culture. Additionally, this localization of Our Lady of La Vang should
not be mainly investigated in terms of visual presentation and efforts of outside
agents. Instead, we argue that the localization process of Our Lady of La Vang
was generated through the collective efforts of both Catholics and non-Catholics
from the beginning of the twentieth century to the 1990s. This localization process
encompassed both tangible and intangible aspects, and it was driven by many inside
and outside factors that were intertwined together. First, the myths, folk stories, and
written documents about Our Lady of La Vang created an indigenous imagination
of her. Along with that, the establishment of more convenient transportation and the
ritualization of pilgrimage festivals prompted flocks of local pilgrims to visit the
shrine of Our Lady of La Vang. Vietnamese Catholics then considered Our Lady of
La Vang as an essential element in their religious identity, and they even referred
6 Multiple Agents Involved in the Localization of Our Lady of La Vang … 105

to her as the Mother of Vietnam (Mẹ Việt Nam). Finally, the transformation of her
visual presentation into the appearance of a Vietnamese woman was like a climax of
multiple localizing processes: the creation of local perceptions developed from local
stories, processes of inculturation, and the development of national sentiments.

6.2 Oral Stories and Documents About Our Lady of La

Vang

Before the twentieth century, as the research of Charles Keith has demonstrated, the
religious practices of Vietnamese Catholics were “primarily oral, with prayers, songs,
and stories transmitted through homilies during mass or in catechism classes” (2012:
121). At the turn of the twentieth century in Vietnam, writers began to document more
information about Catholic practices in general, and Marian devotion in particular.
In the case of Our Lady of La Vang, one of the earliest records appeared in 1900
in a publication of the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (Société des Missions-
Étrangères de Paris), a Catholic missionary congregation based in France. This
document recorded that a shrine in honor of the Virgin Mary in La Vang was destroyed
in 1885 during a period of persecution, so the apostolic vicar of Northern Cochin,
which was later renamed the apostolic vicariate of Hue in 1924, called Catholics to
build a new one (Anonymous 1900: 170). Relying on the account of a certain priest
Bonin in Quảng Trị, this 1900 French document recorded that the eighth of August
was fixed as the day for organizing a great procession of Our Lady of La Vang, but the
document did not mention which specific year. That great festival attracted roughly
12,000 Christians. With regard to the history of devotion to the Virgin Mary in the La
Vang site, the 1900 French document estimated that this occurred roughly 100 years
earlier (Anonymous 1900: 170–171).
In 1901, the Annals of the Society of Foreign Missions, a periodical published by
the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris published a paper on Our Lady of La Vang by
an anonymous author, although some Catholics guess that this author was the same
priest Bonin, that examined Our Lady of La Vang in greater detail. According to this
document, approximately 100 years earlier, Catholics in Cổ Vưu parish in Quảng
Trị Province carried an image of the Virgin Mary when they took refuge at a place
called La Vang in a dense forest at a time when Catholics were being persecuted.
They gathered in a poor cottage to pray and ask Mary to protect them from a plague,
and tigers in the forest. One night, a lady of incredible beauty appeared before these
believers. Dressed in white, surrounded by light, and with two children were standing
nearby, she softly talked to these believers and said: “My children, whatever you have
asked me, I will grant it to you, and henceforth all those who come here to pray me,
I will grant them [their wishes]” (Anonymous 1901: 274).
Such a story was supposedly based on oral transmission that emanated from
“tradition” (Anonymous 1901: 274). This document also explained why Our Lady
of La Vang became well known. This was because of an oral story about barren
106 V. B. Duong

women in Annam, the name at that time for the area of what is now central Vietnam,
who received the grace of fertility from Our Lady of La Vang. After local people had
heard this story, they visited her to beg for such grace. The account in this document
states that, like in ancient Judea, fertility is very important for Vietnamese. They
would be proud if they could become parents of large families with many children.
In contrast, sterility was considered a serious misfortune for couples. Among new
Catholic followers at that time, there was a young couple who were able to bear a
child after praying to Our Lady of La Vang. In the years that followed, there were
persecutions of Catholics in the region, but this couple did not apostatize. Our Lady
of La Vang was additionally known as a protector of believers from wild beasts in the
forest. When Catholics crossed through the forest, they only needed to chant a single
invocation to Our Lady of La Vang and this could help them to avoid encounters with
tigers (Anonymous 1901: 275–276).
This document also described a ritual to honor Our Lady of La Vang held during the
first great pilgrimage festival on 8 August, but again, without identifying the specific
year. At night, children in white dresses held torches in their hands and performed
dances and sang hymns, and they then traced shapes of the cross and monograms
of Jesus and Mary. Meanwhile, other participants prayed by singing songs. Bishop
Caspar of the apostolic vicariate of Northern Cochin used the official language of
the Church (Latin) to bless pilgrims. Pilgrims enthusiastically followed the ritual
whether they understood that language or not (Anonymous 1901: 276–277).
Relying on the 1901 French document, many later Vietnamese Catholic writers
said that the year for the first pilgrimage festival of Our Lady of La Vang was 1901
(Nguyễn 1970; Tòa Tổng giám mục Huế 1998; Hồng n.d.), while some others, such
as Trần Quang Chu, argued that it could be 1900 because the 1900 French document
also referred to the words “this year” for saying about the year completing the new
church in La Vang (Trần 2019). However, identifying in which exact year the first
great festival pilgrimage of Our Lady of La Vang occurred is difficult as these two
early records did not refer to the specific year of this event.
Most local people at that time were not able to read the narrative of Our Lady of
La Vang written in these French documents. They thus only knew about her from
oral stories rather than from such documents in a foreign language. Later, in 1930,
Catholic priest Joseph T. V. Trang (Trần Văn Trang) published a book in Vietnamese
about Our Lady of La Vang entitled Revered Written Traces of Our Lady of La Vang
(Tự tích tôn kính Đức Mẹ La Vang).
In this book, Trần Văn Trang made reference to the 1901 paper in the Annals of the
Society of Foreign Missions and he also incorporated other stories about Our Lady of
La Vang. Officially published in 1930, the book had been accepted by the Catholic
authorities of the Hue Diocese to print in 1923 and was already known by pilgrims
to La Vang before it was published. According to Trang, though many people in the
apostolic vicariate of Hue were devoted to Our Lady of La Vang, they did not really
know her past achievements or deeds (sự tích). He thus wished to document this
information for future generations (Trần 1930: 3). To compile information about the
achievements of Our Lady of La Vang, Trần Văn Trang relied on the 1901 French
document as well as religious odes (hát vãn) from La Vang and stories retold by old
6 Multiple Agents Involved in the Localization of Our Lady of La Vang … 107

priests and elders who lived near the La Vang site. He also personally visited the
Lang Vang site and described the landscape there (Trần 1930: 3).
After presenting a poem and an ode for Our Lady of La Vang, Trần Văn Trang
arranged stories about her into two sections in his book. The first section contains
information about the apparition of Our Lady of La Vang. The second one talks
about the graces of Our Lady of La Vang. Trang said that elders and older priests
relied on oral stories from ancestors to recount the apparition of Our Lady of La
Vang (Trần 1930: 8). According to both Trần Văn Trang’s 1930 book and the 1901
French document, Our Lady of La Vang appeared with two angels (incarnated as
two children). Trang also said that according to oral stories, the Catholics of Cổ Vưu
fled from the unrest caused by literati (văn thân). Although the French document and
Trần Văn Trang say that this took place approximately a century earlier, in fact, this
is a reference to a movement that began in the 1860s following the signing of the
Treaty of Saigon, a treaty which granted the French three provinces in the Mekong
Delta. Literati in the area to the north of the capital, Hue, expressed their opposition
to this development by attacking Catholic villages under the motto of “pacify the
Westerners and kill the heretics” (bình Tây sát tả).
According to Trần Văn Trang’s account, around 50–70 Catholics from Cổ Vưu
moved across the mountains to look for a place of refuge. They chose a level area
where there was a large tree that had lush foliage. The tree as such was a home for
many birds. This also created shade for people to take rest and enjoy the songs of the
birds. Pagans believed in the tree spirit there, so they often came and prayed to that
spirit to protect them from accidents (Trần 1930: 7). On the other hand, Catholics
built a cottage near the tree, and they placed an altar in this cottage with a paper image
of the Virgin Mary holding her infant son, as well as a light and some other articles.
The cottage in turn became a place for Catholics to pray to the Mother of God.
However, they practiced their religion in a setting where they were suffering from
plague and the threat of attack from wild animals. Tigers from the forest often came
and disturbed their life. Although the cottage was subsequently burned by literati,
the altar and light to venerate Our Lady of La Vang continued to exist there. As the
literati left the La Vang site, believers from far away saw a light and heard hymn
singing at the place where the cottage used to exist. This was reportedly witnessed
by many pagans (Trần 1930: 7–9).
Trần Văn Trang stated that with the end of persecution and the threat of tiger
attacks, people began to flock to the Our Lady of La Vang site. These visitors wished
Our Lady of La Vang would grant them many blessings such as fertility, health, and
buffaloes. In addition, oral stories about the deeds of Our Lady of La Vang began to
circulate, two of which were particularly famous. The first story was about a female
cloth merchant (mụ bán vải). In this story, Our Lady of La Vang incarnated as a
customer to buy cloth for the church. After an elderly couple witnessed this miracle,
they reported it to a priest in Cổ Vưu. This priest believed that the Virgin Mary had
selected the La Vang site to grant graces. The story was then retold to other people,
and they thus believed in the sacredness of Our Lady of La Vang (Trần 1930: 10–11).
The second story is called “On the Origins of the Person who Picked Leaves at
La Vang” (Về gốc tích người ta đến hái lá tại La Vang). In this story, Our Lady of
108 V. B. Duong

La Vang tells a sick woman to pick leaves at the La Vang site for medical treatment
(Trần 1930: 12–13). The tree mentioned in Trần Văn Trang’s account of this story
was a banyan tree (cây đa). Believing this story, many pilgrims visited the La Vang
site to pick leaves from the banyan tree in front of the La Vang church. They then cut
branches and peeled off the bark of this tree. As the banyan tree withered, pilgrims
started plucking leaves of other trees like one known as the La Vang tree (cây Lá
Vằng) and even collected grasses from the La Vang church’s garden. They believed
these leaves and grasses were able to treat health problems (Trần 1930: 12–13).
According to Trần Văn Trang, as the La Vang site received many visitors, these
people offered money to contribute to constructing a large church. Three priests,
referred to as Bonnard (cố Bổn), Patinier (cố Kinh), and Bonin (cố Ninh), respectively,
built the church with an interior area large enough to hold around 500–600 people
and two high towers. That church was at the place where the apparition of Our Lady
of La Vang was said to have occurred, and with the church’s front facing the banyan
tree. According to Trần Văn Trang, the church was built in that location based on
information in the oral stories of the followers. Meanwhile, a statue of Our Lady of
La Vang in the form of Mary holding her infant son was placed at a location where
Our Lady of La Vang had reportedly once stepped (Trần 1930: 13).
For the second section of the book, Trần Văn Trang compiled a collection of stories
about the graces of Our Lady of La Vang. These stories included one story previously
recorded in the 1901 French document about Our Lady of La Vang granting a local
couple fertility. Trần Văn Trang, however, added specific details about the couple such
as their names (the husband was Đôn, and the wife was Phương) and their address
(at Đồng Bàu, Quảng Trị Province) (Trần 1930: 23). He also recorded other stories
to illustrate the graces of Our Lady of La Vang. For instance, Our Lady of La Vang
reportedly cured the eyes of one person in Saigon (Trần 1930: 23–24), exculpated
Nguyễn Khôi Kì, a non-Catholic (Trần 1930: 25–26), and granted fertility to Nguyễn
Hữu Bài, a member of the royal court (Trần 1930: 26–27).
Catholic priest J. B. Hướng (Huỳnh Tịnh Hướng) from Chợ Lớn, now in Hồ Chí
Minh City, visited the La Vang site in 1923 and said that the above book by Trần Văn
Trang was waiting to be printed. With the aim of providing information about Our
Lady of La Vang to many more people (Hướng 1923a: 120), J. B. Hướng wrote a story
about Our Lady of La Vang and the La Vang site. This story drew on information from
Trần Văn Trang’s yet-to-be-published book as well as his own experiences during
his trip to the La Vang site. This story was published under the title “Pilgrimage Visit
to the Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang” (Đi viếng cung thánh Đức Mẹ La Vang) in the
Southern Diocese (Nam Kỳ địa phận) in 1923 (Hướng 1923a, 1923b, 1923c, 1923d,
1923e, 1923f, 1923g, 1923h, 1923i, 1923j, 1923k, 1923l, 1923m, 1923n, 1923o,
1923p, 1923q and 1923r).
Hoàng Mai Rĩnh, a Catholic in Tonkin, the northern region of Vietnam, also cited
some stories from Trần Văn Trang’s work in his diary about his journey by train from
the Hanoi Diocese to the La Vang site in 1929. When the train went across La Khê,
and then came to Tân Ấp, passengers on the train saw a big statue of Mary holding
her infant son, and they assumed that she was Our Lady of La Vang, however, that
was not the La Vang site (Hoàng 1931: 6). Once standing on the La Vang site, Hoàng
6 Multiple Agents Involved in the Localization of Our Lady of La Vang … 109

Mai Rĩnh learned about the stories of the graces of Our Lady of La Vang documented
by Trần Văn Trang. He was also informed that Trang’s book was sold to pilgrims
there (Hoàng 1931: 52). Hoàng Mai Rĩnh also employed oral stories to record that
Our Lady of La Vang had appeared as an apparition holding her infant son (Hoàng
1931: 45 and 48).
After the ninth great pilgrimage festival of Our Lady of La Vang in 1928, the
second Vietnamese bishop, Hồ Ngọc Cẩn, said that the La Vang site was a veneration
place for both Catholics and non-Catholics because whoever went there to pray, all
received a favorable response (hữu cầu tất ứng), nonetheless, he noted that the history
of this site was still ambiguous (Hồ 1929a: 53). In an attempt to look for a historical
account of the La Vang site and Our Lady of La Vang as well, Bishop Cẩn collected
and revised oral references to Our Lady of La Vang, and then published such oral
references first with the title “Written Traces of La Vang” (La Vang tự tích) in the
Southern Diocese in 1929 (Hồ 1929a, b), and he later compiled these writings into
the book Odes of the Deeds of La Vang (La Vang sự tích vãn) in 1932 (Trần 2020;
Nguyễn n.d.: 297).
Hồ Ngọc Cẩn wrote that according to oral stories, there was a banyan tree in La
Vang, and that nearby this tree non-Catholic people (bên lương) initially set up a
cottage temple for spirit and Buddha worship (thờ thần Phật) and that this place was
called a “holy site” (chỗ linh hoàng) (Hồ 1929a: 54). However, one day the Mother of
God (Bà bên đạo) through extraordinary miracles appeared and forced these spirits
away from. As a result, non-Catholics ceded the place for Catholics to pray to the
Mother of God (Đức Bà) (Hồ 1929a: 54). Hồ Ngọc Cẩn himself confessed that no
one knew whose stories and poems were recorded in his book, and when they had
been composed. He surmised that these narratives had existed since before the first
great pilgrimage festival (Hồ 1929a: 53). Since that festival, Bishop Cẩn argued,
people had added information about the church of La Vang and the procession of
Our Lady of La Vang in 1901 to the odes of La Vang (Hồ 1929a: 53).
According to Hồ Ngọc Cẩn, there was no village named “La Vang” found in
old cadastral records. Relying on oral stories, he assumed that “La Vang” could be
another way of calling “Lá Vằng” (also the name of a hamlet with many Lá Vằng
trees) (Hồ 1929b: 119). He guessed that in the time of persecution under Emperor Tự
Đức, there were Catholics who took refuge in the La Vang site (Hồ 1929b: 119–120).
Though unclear about the history of the oral narratives about Our Lady of La Vang,
Hồ Ngọc Cẩn noted that her deeds had been transformed into religious performances
(Hồ 1929a: 53; Nguyễn 1970: 38; Hồng n.d.: 34).
Like the anonymous author of the 1901 French document, J. B. Roux, a missionary
in Hue, published the paper The Pilgrimage to Our Lady of La Vang (Le Pèlerinage
de Notre-Dame de Lavang) in the Annals of the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris
in 1933, in which he reconfirmed that the information about Our Lady of La Vang
was based on “tradition” rather than written records and that there was no way to
determine what was actual historical fact and what came from popular imagination
(Roux 1933: 112). An example of this was information that Roux provided about the
origin of La Vang. According to Roux, oral stories explained that originally people
cultivated potatoes, cassava, and rice in the valley where La Vang is located, and that
110 V. B. Duong

at night they gathered to chase tigers, boars, and stags away from their fields and
huts. The name of this area then came to be known as “La Vang,” which Roux noted
in Vietnamese can mean “resounding clamor” (clameur rententissante) (Roux 1933:
112).
Roux states further that these stories also talked about how there was a large
tree in the valley, and people often rested under its shade when they worked in or
crossed the forest. Pagans worshipped the spirit of this tree to ask the spirit to protect
them from danger, especially from tigers and disease, while Catholics prayed and
recited the Rosary to implore the Blessed Virgin there. The pagans were frightened
by the religious practices of the Catholics, and consequently abandoned the place.
The Catholics then put additional objects of worship there, such as an image of the
Blessed Virgin, and continued to worship Our Lady of La Vang. On the occasion
of the procession of Our Lady of La Vang, according to J. B. Roux, some pagans
thus whispered to each other: “This Lady is ours, but the Catholics took over” (Roux
1933: 113).
Roux also said that according to tradition, Catholics from Cổ Vưu took refuge
and gathered in a poor cottage, rather than under a large tree, and prayed before a
simple image of Mary during a time of persecution. Roux guessed that this could
have happened during the time of the Tây Sơn Rebellion at the end of the eighteenth
century. The story of Mary’s apparition in La Vang documented by Roux has the
same content as the 1901 French document. Roux also again explained that Our
Lady of La Vang became popular among local people because she was believed
to grant fertility. Roux also restated the information that a large family with many
children was not only a joy but a great pride for Annamese couples, and that a sterile
union was considered an extreme misfortune. Finally, Roux stated that the devotion
to Our Lady of La Vang spread across Indochina and that flocks of believers visited
La Vang (Roux 1933: 113–114).
The aforementioned writers mostly relied on oral stories and referenced each
other to document information about Our Lady of La Vang. These authors, however,
acknowledged that they were unable to determine what the actual historical facts were
in these oral narratives of Our Lady of La Vang. Though historically ambiguous, the
narratives were transmitted over time, and starting in 1900, the oral stories of Our
Lady of La Vang were documented with some differing details. For instance, some
writers said that Mary had appeared near a banyan tree with her infant son while
others did not mention this. In terms of the time when the apparition of Our Lady
of La Vang took place, Trần Văn Trang referred to oral stories to argue that this
apparition took place during the time of the literati attacks on Catholics in the 1860s
and 1870s, while Roux guessed the time was around the end of the eighteenth century.
We, therefore, cannot determine when exactly the apparition of Our Lady of La Vang
took place at the La Vang site, if her apparition may have been claimed at different
times, when oral stories about her began to be told, or even in which exact year the
first great pilgrimage festival of Our Lady of La Vang took place. What we can see,
however, is that these stories created a biography of Our Lady of La Vang in which
her apparition and grace were directed first at a group of local vulnerable Catholics,
and then expanded to both other Catholics and non-Catholics.
6 Multiple Agents Involved in the Localization of Our Lady of La Vang … 111

Alongside the process of documenting stories about Our Lady of La Vang, the
development of transportation, particularly the railway, helped pilgrims in remote
areas to be able to visit the shrine of Our Lady of La Vang and to participate in the
triennial great pilgrimage festival. In fact, for the great pilgrimage festival of Our Lady
of La Vang, the railway agency changed its schedule to accommodate the pilgrims.
In 1910, priest Léopold Cadière negotiated with a railway agency to arrange two
rounds of the train to pick up around 4000 Catholic pilgrims from Phủ Cam and Kim
Long in the Hue Diocese and to deliver them to La Vang (Nguyễn n.d.: 42–43). The
ninth great pilgrimage festival in 1928 welcomed participants from Tonkin, Annam,
and Quinam (Nguyễn n.d.: 51). The railway agency at that time offered cheap tickets
for pilgrims to La Vang, and a total of 1566 such tickets were sold to passengers at
the Hue railway station alone (Nguyễn n.d.: 52). In 1932, the Hanoi Midday News
(Hà Thành ngọ báo), a newspaper in Tonkin, reported that on the occasion of the
great festival of Our Lady of La Vang in Quảng Trị province, the Northern railway
agency would give promotions to individual passengers who wanted to undertake
the pilgrimage to the La Vang site. The price reduction was twenty-five percent for a
round-trip ticket. Pilgrims could buy tickets at the railway stations on the lines from
Hanoi to Hue and Hue to Tourane (i.e., Đà Nẵng) (Anonymous 1932: 2).
The narratives of Our Lady of La Vang, moreover, were repeated by Catholic
storytellers and writers on the occasions of the great pilgrimage festival. In such a
way, recognition of Our Lady of La Vang came to be gradually embedded in the
minds of Vietnamese Catholics and whatever imagined and actual elements made up
those narratives became intertwined. Eventually, many Vietnamese Catholic priests
and writers actively made use of Catholic journals in the Vietnamese language to
document stories about Our Lady of La Vang. Among them, there were such news-
papers and journals as Southern Diocese, the Journal of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
(Nguyệt san Đức Mẹ hằng cứu giúp) and the Journal of Our Lady of La Vang (Nguyệt
san Đức Mẹ La Vang).
In 1955, the publishing house of the Journal of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
published a book that selected and compiled many documents about Our Lady of La
Vang. Most of the contents of this book were collected by Nguyễn Linh Kinh who
was a priest of La Vang parish from 1948 to 1955. The book presented the history of
Our Lady of La Vang and the various miracles that she had granted to believers (Hồng
1955). During the great pilgrimage festival in 1961, Hà Châu, a reporter, wrote an
article entitled the “Apparition of La Vang” (La Vang linh hiển) that included many
details with historical information and fragments of oral narratives to document
information about Our Lady of La Vang. The writer even added new information
about the miraculous interventions of Our Lady of La Vang in the 1950s (Hà 1961).
In addition to written accounts of Our Lady of La Vang, there were also poems
that documented and praised her deeds. One author, for instance, recorded in 1961
that visitors could buy texts that included such poems when they were on the train to
the La Vang site (Tam 1961: 28). One such work was a collection of poems entitled
Here, La Vang (Đây, La Vang). This work embraced both mythological and historical
dimensions, and vividly reenacted the past of Our Lady of La Vang, thus bringing
her to life for readers and listeners (Tam 1961: 29).
112 V. B. Duong

Finally, as followers spread far beyond La Vang, in addition to recording infor-

mation about the graces that Our Lady of La Vang performed at the La Vang site,
Catholics in other places also recounted the graces that they believed they received
from her. For instance, Catholic priest Phạm Đình Khiêm reported to archbishop
Ngô Đình Thục that Our Lady of La Vang granted graces to a Catholic at a site in
the outskirts of Saigon, and that this person recovered from an illness after drinking
leaves of Our Lady of La Vang (lá Đức Mẹ) (Phạm 1961: 17). Many such stories
were also recorded in Catholic journals and newspapers to talk about the graces of
Our Lady of La Vang.

6.3 Discourses About Our Lady of La Vang as Mother

of Vietnam

In the above written documents, Our Lady of La Vang is called by various Vietnamese
terms: “Chúa Bà” (Lady Lord), “Đức Mẹ Chúa Trời” (Mother of God) and “Nữ vương
Việt Nam” (Queen of Vietnam). However, Vietnamese Catholics recognize that Our
Lady of La Vang is not a distinct figure from the Virgin Mary, and her apparition at
the La Vang site is also one of various Marian apparitions over the world. Indeed, on
the occasion of the great pilgrimage festival in 1961, Nguyễn Văn Bình, Archbishop
of Saigon, even said that La Vang was not the only place where Catholic pilgrims
were able to find the Mother of God (Vũ 1961: 6), given that she was worshipped in
many other places in Vietnam.
While Our Lady of La Vang is recognized by Vietnamese Catholics to be the same
Virgin Mary who is worshipped by Catholics around the world, the stories that were
created about Our Lady of La Vang, and which we discussed in the previous section,
linked her apparition and graces with a local setting. Indeed, the title, “Our Lady of
La Vang” (Notre-Dame de La-vang), and its Vietnamese equivalent, which literally
means the “Honored Mother of La Vang” (Đức Mẹ La Vang), distinguish this figure
from other versions of the Virgin Mary. Further, it is also clear that a sensibility of
Our Lady of La Vang as a figure of national pride for Vietnamese Catholics and
even as a “Mother of Vietnam” (Mẹ Việt Nam) emerged in Catholic discourses in the
twentieth century.
According to the Hue episcopal see, in 1901, Bishop Marie-Antoine Caspar, whose
Vietnamese name was Lộc, of the Hue Diocese issued a regulation that the great
pilgrimage festival of Our Lady of La Vang would take place once every three years
at the time of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (normally in the middle
of August) (Tòa Tổng giám mục Huế 1998: 20). This decision set the foundation for
the ritualization of Our Lady of La Vang and created a great religious event to gather
large devout believers in the La Vang site. Although there is little information about
the early years of the great pilgrimage festival, Catholic writers have confirmed there
was a second festival in 1904 and a third in 1907 (Tòa Tổng giám mục Huế 1998:
20; Nguyễn n.d.: 39). The fourth great pilgrimage festival took place in 1910, and
6 Multiple Agents Involved in the Localization of Our Lady of La Vang … 113

at this festival, the participants included local cultural elements such as Annamese
music (nhạc An Nam) and a red and gold colored palanquin (kiệu sơn son thếp vàng)
to celebrate Our Lady of La Vang (Nguyễn n.d.: 43). The festivals later brought
together pilgrims from many areas into a network of devotees of Our Lady of La
Vang. Through such events Vietnamese Catholics appear to have developed a strong
sense of pride in Our Lady of La Vang and she became a means for them to define
themselves in comparison with others. For instance, at the great pilgrimage festival
in 1938, a Vietnamese Catholic priest by the name of Tin came to the pulpit and
spoke to pilgrims saying that the Marian apparition in La Vang gave back national
pride and an equal position in relationships with powerful Western countries, and
that the Marian apparition in La Vang also demonstrated that this site received more
graces than other places in the world (Nghĩa 1938: 559).
As the shrine of Our Lady of La Vang became a more famous pilgrimage desti-
nation, Catholic authorities in the Hue Diocese desired to construct facilities to meet
the need for religious practices there. They tended to refer to Our Lady of La Vang
as the mother of everyone in Vietnam. On 18 October 1924, René Morineau, whose
Vietnamese name was Trung, an apostolic missionary in Quảng Trị province, issued
a letter in Vietnamese to solicit financial contributions for building various facilities
at the La Vang site such as a new shrine for worship, along with guest houses for
pilgrims, and houses for priests and church keepers. Although pilgrims had offered
money to the church at the annual procession events, this was not enough to erect
such facilities, as much had been spent on religious services. René Morineau stated
to believers that instead of renovating the old church, they should build a new one,
for the Lady who was the common mother of every Catholic from the South to the
North (Mẹ chung mọi người giáo hữu khắp Nam Bắc). He even used the proverb
“One tree could not amount to anything, three of them together could build up a
high mountain” (Một cây làm chẳng nên non, ba cây dụm lại lên hòn núi cao) to
inspire every Catholic to participate in the construction of the new shrine. Morineau
emphasized that Catholiclics are servants of one God (tôi một Chúa), and children
of one Mother (con một Mẹ) as well (Morineau 1924: 2).
The La Vang site continued to be developed by the Catholic authorities of the Hue
Diocese, particularly after they set up a more effective administration of religious
practices there. In 1928, bishop Allys appointed Paul Võ Văn Thới as the first priest
to take care of La Vang parish. Later, priests of the La Vang parish and Vietnamese
bishops kept improving the position of the La Vang site, and tried to preserve the statue
of Our Lady of La Vang during the years of the First Indochina War (1946–1954).
After the Geneva Accords of 1954, around 676,348 Catholics in the North moved
to the South (Hansen 2009: 180). One of the reasons Catholics did so was because
they believed in a rumor that said, “The Virgin Mary had gone South and those
who refused to follow her would oppose God’s will and risk damnation” (Denney
1990: 271). La Vang shrine was located in South Vietnam, around 30 km from
the seventeenth parallel where the country was supposed to be temporarily divided
under the Geneva Accords. Our Lady of La Vang thus gained new significance in
this political context. Catholic authorities in South Vietnam even considered Our
Lady of La Vang as a symbol of opposition to atheism. Hồng Phúc, a Catholic priest,
114 V. B. Duong

referred to the shrine of Our Lady of La Vang as a watchtower and a fortress that
could hold back “the red wave of atheism” (làn sóng đỏ vô thần) (Hồng 1961: 235).
Trần Văn Tường, a former priest at La Vang, said that Vietnam was suffering and
divided, and that the La Vang shrine was a gathering place for pilgrims to pray to the
Mother to save the nation (Bảo 1961: 12). To reinforce the position of the Catholic
Church against atheism, bishops in the South requested that the shrine of Our Lady
of La Vang be called a national consecrated shrine (Đền thờ toàn quốc khấn dâng)
at the meeting of bishops in 1959 (Dell’acqua 1961: 28).
Indeed, after 1954, Our Lady of La Vang came to be recognized by the upper
levels of both the global and Vietnamese Catholic churches. From 1955 to 1959,
three cardinals visited and prayed to Our Lady of La Vang. On 21 February 1959, for
instance, Vietnamese Catholics warmly welcomed cardinal Agagianian, Pro-Perfect
of the Propagation of the Faith, to the La Vang site (Hồng n.d.: 78). This cardinal later
requested that the Vatican Holy See consecrate the Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang as
a minor basilica (Hồng n.d.: 79). Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Catholic bishops held
a conference and consecrated Our Lady of La Vang as a shrine for the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, and as the National Marian Shrine (Trung tâm Thánh mẫu Toàn quốc)
as well. The Vietnamese Catholic authorities then carried out a project to enlarge the
La Vang site (Hồng n.d.: 86).
Among the bishops in South Vietnam, Ngô Đình Thục emerged as a very influ-
ential religious leader (Jacobs 2006: 89). The elder brother of Ngô Đình Diệm, the
president of the Republic of Vietnam, or what is commonly referred to as South
Vietnam, Thục actively worked to consolidate the position of Our Lady of La Vang.
He substantially contributed to legitimizing the identity of Our Lady of La Vang
in the Vietnamese Catholic community. Thục sought to establish Our Lady of La
Vang as a common religious symbol for all Vietnamese. Through the “Venerabilium
Nostrorum” decree of 24 November 1960, Pope John XXIII officially established the
Vietnamese Catholic hierarchy. Three archdioceses were also designated at Hanoi,
Hue, and Saigon. In 1960, Ngô Đình Thục was appointed to become the first arch-
bishop of the Hue Archdiocese. As archbishop, Thục issued a letter to summon both
Catholics and non-Catholics to participate in the great pilgrimage festival of La Vang.
In the letter, he referred to Vietnam as a great family, but one that was divided into
North and South. Thục called all Vietnamese to look to the common Mother, who
is the Mother of God, along with the mother of human beings, and the mother of all
Vietnamese regardless of their religion (Mẹ tất cả mọi người dân Việt Nam bất phân
tôn giáo) (Ngô 1961: 4).
At that time, many accounts in news media mirrored Archbishop Thục’s wording
and depicted Our Lady of La Vang as the “Mother of both the South and the North”
(Mẹ của hai miền Nam Bắc) and the “Mother of the unity of Vietnam” (Mẹ của
Việt Nam thống nhất) (Bùi 1961: 9). Such a discourse was promoted as part of
the nation-building project under Ngô Đình Diệm. Catholicism enjoyed a favored
position, as President Diệm and his family were Catholics. Under his government,
only Catholicism was defined as a “religion,” while Buddhism was considered as an
“association” (Jacobs 2006: 56). At the great pilgrimage festival in 1961, Ngô Đình
Diệm himself also entrusted the future of the country to Our Lady of La Vang (Trần
6 Multiple Agents Involved in the Localization of Our Lady of La Vang … 115

1988: 127). In July 1962, the post office of South Vietnam issued a stamp of Our
Lady of La Vang in which there were images of Our Lady of Victories, an image
of Mary wearing a crown and holding her son who is also wearing a crown. Behind
these images, there was a bamboo rush that was also a symbol in the national emblem
of the Republic of Vietnam from 1957 to 1963 (Nguyễn 1970: 133–134; Trần 2021a:
80–81). Our Lady of La Vang was also repeatedly referenced in comparison with
other Marian titles in foreign countries. For instance, at the great pilgrimage festival
in 1961, a Catholic reporter contended that while Portugal was proud of Mother
Fatima, Poland had Mother Czestochowa, and France delighted in Mother Lourdes,
Vietnam possessed the La Vang site where the Queen of the Heavenly Kingdom (Nữ
vương Thiên quốc) had appeared many times for the benefit of earthly people (Trần
1961: 11).

6.4 Transforming the Statue of Our Lady of La Vang

into Vietnamese Style

While a perception of Our Lady of La Vang as a mother of the Vietnamese developed

along with her documentation and ritualization, the localization of Our Lady of La
Vang in visual art occurred later. The original presentation of Our Lady of La Vang
was derived from the model of Our Lady of Victories in France. A writer named
“Joseph (Annam),” writing in the Southern Diocese newspaper in 1913, said that
Catholic priest Léopold Cadière, who had previously been in charge of the Cổ Vưu
parish, asked an artist to make paintings of the statue of Our Lady of La Vang and
the La Vang shrine before Cadière traveled to France for a short vacation (around
the end of 1910) (Joseph 1913: 296 and 297). This painter was a non-Catholic artist
called Nhơn (ký Nhơn) from Quảng Trị province (Josep 1913: 296). Joseph noted
that the picture of the statue of Our Lady of La Vang, depicted by Nhơn, was so
sophisticated and great that everyone felt thrilled and devoted to Our Lady of La
Vang (Joseph 1913: 297). When Cadière came back to the Hue Diocese, he brought
along with him many copies of such a picture of Our Lady of La Vang that he had
produced in France (Joseph 1913: 296).
Based on the above information, Catholic priest Nguyễn Văn Ngọc and Catholic
writer Trần Quang Chu suggested that artist Nhơn was Nguyễn Khắc Nhân, a former
artist of the Hue royal court, who served under Emperor Thành Thái (Nguyễn 1970:
60–61; Trần 2019). The painting of Our Lady of La Vang no longer exists, however,
a painting of the La Vang Shrine is preserved in some documents, such as the book,
Holy Site of La Vang (Linh địa La Vang), by priest Nguyễn Văn Ngọc and published
in 1970 (Trần 2019). This painting shows that on the top of the church was an image
of Our Lady of La Vang following the model of Our Lady of Victories. The only
difference in this presentation was a halo around the image of Our Lady of La Vang
holding her infant son (Trần 2019).
116 V. B. Duong

Some writers in the early twentieth century also described the church in La Vang,
and what the statue of Our Lady of La Vang looked like. Trần Văn Trang, the author
of a reference book on La Vang, recorded that a statue of Our Lady of La Vang
holding her infant son was built at a place where there had previously been an altar
dedicated to her. This account also indicates that people claimed that when Our Lady
of La Vang appeared, she was holding the child Jesus, and that therefore, the statue
was built in the same manner (Trần 1930: 13–14).
Such a story suggests a local inspiration for the statue, however, other accounts
make it clear that this first statue was modeled after Our Lady of Victories. According
to Catholic priests Nguyễn Văn Ngọc and Hồng Phúc, when the first great pilgrimage
of Our Lady of La Vang took place in perhaps 1901, bishop Casper blessed the statue
of Our Lady of La Vang that was modeled after the Our Lady of Victories statue in the
Notre Dame des Victoires church in Paris (Nguyễn 1970: 62; Hồng n.d.: 58). When
writing about La Vang in 1923, Catholic priest J.B. Hướng stated that the statue of
Mary holding her son at the La Vang shrine was bought from the West (bên Tây)
and was originally Our Lady of Victories (Hướng 1923j: 268). This model depicted
Mary holding her son which was one of the popular portraits of Mary in France at
that time. The representation of Our Lady of La Vang as a mother holding her child,
therefore, mirrored the representation of Our Lady of Victories and was not related
to the presentation style of Quan Âm Thị Kính in Vietnam.
From 1928 to 1945, pilgrimage activities in the La Vang site took place regularly.
However, from 1946 to 1954, when the First Indochina War broke out, and in partic-
ularly starting in 1949 when La Vang came under the control of Việt Minh, many
Catholics from the area then fled to other villages in Quảng Trị province. Religious
practices in the La Vang site became more difficult to carry out at that time, and
Catholics secretly moved the statue of Our Lady of La Vang to the Quảng Trị provin-
cial seat in 1952 (Hồng 1955: 41–42; Nguyễn 1970: 88). On 6 December 1954, the
statue of Our Lady of La Vang was taken back to the La Vang site (Hồng 1955: 45).
In 1955, priest Trần Văn Tường was appointed to manage La Vang parish, he then
carried out a renovation of the old church that was built in 1928 (Nguyễn 1970: 95).
In 1961, Catholic bishops in South Vietnam decided to consecrate the shrine of
Our Lady of La Vang as the National Marian Shrine at a conference of bishops that
was held that year in Đà Lạt. A year later, in 1962, Catholic bishops established
a plan to renovate the La Vang site. According to this project, the monument to
celebrate the event of the Marian apparition would be renovated with the addition
of three banyan trees made of cement and steel, and an altar made of marble from
Five-Element Mountain (Ngũ hành sơn) in Đà Nẵng, which the plan referred to as a
symbol for Vietnam (Anonymous 1964: 85). On the altar, there would be a marble
base for a statue of Our Lady of La Vang who was to be sculpted with a gentle face
looking down (Anonymous 1964: 86). This statue of Our Lady of La Vang was to be
depicted in the style of the Blessed Mary (Đức bà xuống ơn) which differs from the
model of Our Lady of Victories (Nguyễn 2016: 475) in that she stands looking down
and does not hold her infant son. That project started on 20 June 1963. In November
1963, President Ngô Đình Diệm of South Vietnam was assassinated, and archbishop
Ngô Đình Thục, who was in Rome at the time, remained overseas. The renovation
6 Multiple Agents Involved in the Localization of Our Lady of La Vang … 117

of the La Vang site had to be put on hold for a long time. Before that point, the only
part of the monument to Our Lady of La Vang that had been completed was a frame
in the form of banyan trees (Anonymous 1964: 86). As such, while the statue of Our
Lady of La Vang had not been localized yet, the project had introduced items with
local significance, such as the marble from Five-Element Mountain.
In a wider context, by the mid-twentieth century, Marian portraits were being
Vietnamized by some artists who were either Catholic or non-Catholic. For instance,
Nam Phong, a Catholic artist of Phát Diệm Diocese in Ninh Bình province, painted
Mary as the “Vietnamese Queen in Heaven” (Nữ vương Việt Nam ngự trên trời)
which was exhibited in 1953 in Phát Diệm town (Kim 2021). The painting depicted
the Virgin Mary holding her infant son and wearing Vietnamese robes, and it was
then brought to Rome by Lê Hữu Từ, a bishop of Phát Diệm Diocese, in that same
year. This was eventually exhibited in the Foyer Phát Diệm in Rome (Kim 2021).
Some other artists also portrayed Mary and Jesus with Vietnamese appearances in
paintings for Christmas. Such works were the “Holy Night” (Đêm Thánh) by Nguyễn
Gia Trí in 1941, and the “Christmas” (Giáng sinh) painting by Hoàng Tích Chu
and Nguyễn Tiến Chung from around 1942–1943 (Nguyễn 2010; Phạm 2016). The
“Vietnamization” of the Virgin Mary in terms of art, therefore, already took place at
that time.
Nonetheless, an important event in the localization of the statue of Our Lady of
La Vang was the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). Being the most important
Catholic ecclesial event in the twentieth century, the Second Vatican Council issued
sixteen documents (four constitutions, nine decrees, and three declarations) to direct
issues concerning Catholic relationships inside and outside the Church in modern
times. Among those issues, the Second Vatican Council was especially aware of
the importance of inculturation during the course of evangelization. Given that, the
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World that this council promul-
gated encouraged that the Church should understand different cultures and effectively
deploy materials from such cultures in order to not only “spread” but also “explain”
Christian messages to people living in various settings (Paul VI 1965).
As the Catholic hierarchy promoted the above spirit of the Second Vatican Council
and acknowledged the destiny of the Vietnamese Catholic Church in the country, the
transformation of the Virgin Mary into a local manifestation was in keeping with
efforts to integrate Catholicism into Vietnamese culture. Catholic priest Trương Bá
Cần, in a paper published in 1969, questioned why Catholicism was not Vietnamized
in Vietnam yet, though it had been introduced to Vietnam 300 years earlier (Trương
1969: 16). He explained that one of main reasons behind that situation could possibly
be attributed to Catholic intellectuals (yếu tố trí thức) (Trương 1969: 16), those who
upheld Western theological education. Relying heavily on such education and empha-
sizing the importance of the Vietnamese vernacular (quốc ngữ) lead to the fact that
many Catholic missionaries and intellectuals underestimated local civilization and
ignored the literature of the literati (văn chương thi phú của nho sĩ ) in Vietnam
(Trương 1969: 25–26). As a result, according to Cần’s point of view, Vietnamese
Catholics could not produce statements following the Vietnamese style (lối phát
biểu của người Việt Nam) (Trương 1969: 26). Starting in the early 1970s, some
118 V. B. Duong

other Vietnamese Catholics also drew attention to the complexity of the Vietnamiza-
tion of Catholicism, in the sense that it required that one first define Vietnamese
characteristics (Nhà Chúa 1973: 1).
Regarding the Vietnamization of Catholic statues, an overseas Vietnamese priest,
Trần Tam Tỉnh, said that there were contested debates about Western statues of the
Virgin Mary in Vietnam before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). Some
Catholic lay intellectuals (giáo dân trí thức) even requested that the Vietnamese
Catholic Church should abandon Marian pictures and statues with a Western presen-
tation (blue eyes, pointed nose, and blonde hair), which were imported from Western
countries (Trần 1974: 47). Overriding that opinion, a Catholic priest confirmed that
these portraits and statues were Catholic art that transcended national boundaries.
Lay people were encouraged to focus on their responsibility rather than intervening
in the tasks of the Catholic hierarchy (Trần 1974: 47).
Nonetheless, some people still hoped that the Second Vatican Council would
create an opportunity for the Vietnamization of Catholicism (Trần 1974: 47). Tỉnh,
for instance, hoped for this, and he defined the Vietnamization of Catholicism as not
an ambiguous return to the past, but instead an intentional rediscovery of the national
characteristics of Vietnamese culture and art and their application in Catholic liturgy
and art. This process, he argued, could help Vietnamese Catholics set themselves
apart from the Western context (Trần 1974: 52).
In the case of Our Lady of La Vang, in 1968, an article in the Journal of Our
Lady of Perpetual Help proposed an idea to sculpt a new statue for Our Lady of La
Vang in local form. This idea was based on an argument that although the Virgin
Mary was originally a Jew, after Catholicism had spread to many different parts of
the world, she had been depicted in many different forms, such as Japanese, Chinese,
Filipino, and Russian (Anonymous 1968: 267). The Virgin Mary could therefore be
depicted as the Mother of Vietnam with a Vietnamese face, body, and adornments
(Anonymous 1968: 267). Though we do not know whose idea this was, it is obvious
that someone had already begun a quest to transform the statue of Our Lady of La
Vang into a Vietnamese style.
This move to integrate the Church into Vietnamese society that was underway in
South Vietnam was intensified in the years following the end of the Vietnam War. In
post-1975 unified Vietnam, the Catholic authorities in Vietnam mobilized Catholics
to collaborate with the new regime under the leadership of the Communist Party and
contribute to building a new society (Denney 1990: 282). The Vietnamese Catholic
community was represented in this process as an inextricable part of the nation (một
thành phần của cộng đồng dân tộc) (Nguyễn 1976: 57).
This trend of incorporating Catholics into the nation was supported actively by
Archbishop Nguyễn Văn Bình of the Saigon Archdiocese. On the occasion of the
national day of Vietnam, 2 September 1975, Archbishop Bình issued a public letter
to direct Catholic engagement in the course of nation-building. In this letter, he used
the term “Vietnamese Catholics” (người Việt Nam Công giáo) when he called upon
Catholics to affiliate with the nation and construct an earthly life (xây dựng trần thế)
(Nguyễn 1975a: 8–9). The term “người Việt Nam Công giáo” in the discourse of
the Vietnamese language means that Vietnamese Catholic believers are Vietnamese
6 Multiple Agents Involved in the Localization of Our Lady of La Vang … 119

first and Catholics second. This could be distinct from the term “Catholic Viet-
namese” (người Công giáo Việt Nam) which emphasizes the Catholic characteristic
of each believer. To highlight nationality, in the greeting speech for the Conference
of Unification of the Country in November 1975, Archbishop Bình said that Viet-
namese unity is a natural truth because from north to south every person speaks the
same language and participates in a common national culture. To set the Vietnamese
Catholic community as one part of the national unity, Archbishop Bình called Viet-
namese Catholics “Vietnamese Catholic compatriots” (đồng bào Việt Nam Công
giáo) (Nguyễn 1975b: 2). Such a discourse stimulated the trend of Vietnamization in
the Catholic community. Along with motivating Catholic affiliation with the nation,
news reporters of the daily newspaper Catholicism and the Nation (Công giáo và
Dân tộc) under a patriotic Catholic group also used the illustration of the Virgin Mary
wearing a robe and headscarf in Vietnamese female style (Nguyễn 1975–1976: 10).
Beyond Vietnam, there were also developments in these years that promoted the
inculturation of Catholicism. Starting in 1970 with the establishment of the Feder-
ation of Asian Bishop Conferences (FABC), the messages of the Second Vatican
Council were promoted among Asian Catholic communities. In the first assembly in
1974, the FABC discussed how to construct a local church in the Asian indigenous
contexts (Nguyen 2017b: 183). In 1980, Vietnamese bishops organized the bishop
conference. This conference launched a general pastoral letter to keep promoting the
spirit of the Second Vatican Council and the FABC. It called for the construction
of the Church for the whole of humankind, but also motivated Catholic integration
in the national context. The letter moreover urged believers to foster a lifestyle and
a way of expressing their faith in the course of the national tradition. The pastoral
letter required Vietnamese Catholics to understand the Bible and theology. At the
same time, they were encouraged to deepen and explore the values of the traditions
of every ethnic group, and then adapt these values to both their lifestyle and religion
(Hội đồng Giám mục Việt Nam 2017).
Meanwhile, the great pilgrimage festivals of La Vang in 1981, 1984, and 1987
took place on a limited scale (Nguyễn n.d.: 183). However, starting around 1990, the
great pilgrimage festivals of La Vang became more vibrant with thousands of partic-
ipants because the Vietnamese Communist Party and the government of Vietnam
implemented a more tolerant policy toward religious affairs (Nguyễn n.d.: 188). In
1993, many Vietnamese overseas Catholics visited the La Vang shrine and partici-
pated in the twenty-third great pilgrimage festival. The logo of this festival presented
Our Lady of La Vang holding Jesus in her right hand. This was slightly different
from the presentation of Our Lady of Victories (Nguyễn n.d.: 189; Trần 2021b). In
1994, the Holy See ordained Nguyễn Như Thể as an apostolic bishop of the Hue
Archdiocese, and he was ordained as archbishop of this archdiocese in March 1998.
Nguyễn Như Thể actively promoted Catholic inculturation in the La Vang site. In
1996, the logo of the festival illustrated Our Lady of La Vang as a Vietnamese woman
wearing a robe and head scarf, and it depicted the baby Jesus as a Vietnamese child
(Trần 2021b). This logo must been reviewed by the festival organizing committee
under the leadership of bishop Thể. Participants in the festival in 1996 also wore
clothes in style of the dynasties of old and performed the ritual celebration of Our
120 V. B. Duong

Lady of La Vang like the Nam Giao ritual offering to Heaven carried out by the last
Vietnamese dynasty, the Nguyễn dynasty (Trần 2021b).
Also in 1994, Vietnamese-American Catholics in Orange County made a statue
of Our Lady of La Vang that is called “Our Lady of Vietnam.” This statue is in the
form of a Vietnamese woman with a robe and rounded headdress. It was sculpted
by a Vietnamese-American Catholic sculptor named Van Nhan (Ninh 2017: 74).
The establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and Vietnam in 1995
enhanced the contacts between Vietnamese-American Catholics with their counter-
parts in Vietnam (Ninh 2017: 76). In this context, the exchange of ideas concerning
the representation of Our Lady of La Vang occurred. Van Nhan showed the statue
of “Our Lady of Vietnam” to Vietnamese priests when they visited Orange County
in the mid-1990s and the information about this statue reached bishop Nguyễn Như
Thể (Ninh 2017: 76–77).
The climax of the localization of Our Lady of La Vang’s representation took
place in conjunction with the Vietnamese Catholic church’s preparations for the
200th anniversary of the Marian apparition at the La Vang site. Bishop Nguyễn Như
Thể set three major tasks to promote Catholic inculturation with the events for the
anniversary: building a new statue of Our Lady of La Vang, showcasing music and
performance in liturgy, and decorating a stage for ritual performances (Trần n.d.:
232). A new statue of Our Lady of La Vang was created at this time, a time when
Vietnamese Catholics acknowledged that the old statue was not suitable because it
did not communicate a local sense of identity. There was a sense that a new statue
should not be presented in the style of Our Lady of Victories which depicted Mary
the style of a royal queen in her palace (Trần n.d.: 233). On February 24, 1998,
Vietnamese bishops organized a meeting in Hanoi. They argued that the statue of
Our Lady of La Vang followed the model of Our Lady of Victories in Paris and that it
was no longer suitable as other models of Our Lady of La Vang had started to appear
and that this would confuse believers. Vietnamese bishops demanded a new model
for the statue of Our Lady of La Vang and one that must be created by a Vietnamese
artist. Further, they stated that the new statute should present characteristics of both
a compassionate and majestic mother (Trần 2021c).
Archbishop Nguyễn Như Thể and other Vietnamese bishops then invited Van
Nhan to make a new statue of Our Lady of La Vang (Ninh 2017: 77). Beginning in
March 1998, this archbishop consulted with Van Nhan through the entire process of
creating a new Our Lady of La Vang statue. This bishop also shared the main ideas
of the style of the new statute in which Our Lady of La Vang wears a blue robe with
a yellow collar, along with a rounded scarf on her head, and light-yellow heels. She
holds her son Jesus on her arm, and her head leans slightly toward his head. This
shape implies that Our Lady of La Vang and her son are congenial. Our Lady of
La Vang stans on green grass surrounded by white clouds while Jesus wears pink
clothes with symbols of Alpha and Omega on his chest (Trần 2021c).
There were two such statues created by Van Nhan under this guidance. On July
1, 1998, Pope John Paul II blessed these statutes of Our Lady of La Vang. One of
them was brought back to the US, while the other was taken to Vietnam. On August
6 Multiple Agents Involved in the Localization of Our Lady of La Vang … 121

1, 1998, the Vietnamese Bishop Conference officially recognized this statue as the
official statue of Our Lady of La Vang (Trần 2021c).

6.5 Conclusion

The localization of Our Lady of La Vang was a process that involved multiple agents
over the course of time. Starting in the early twentieth century, writers documented
the stories of Our Lady of La Vang. These documents established details of her
biography that not only gave rise to a vivid picture of Our Lady of La Vang in local
communities but also brought her to the lives of local people.
Perpetuating the achievements and deeds of Our Lady of La Vang through publica-
tions and rituals developed shared knowledge. Alongside the oral stories and written
documents about Our Lady of La Vang, the advance in transportation based on the
railway contributed to establishing a network for devout pilgrims to visit the La Vang
site. These pilgrims in turn played an active role retelling the stories of Our Lady of
La Vang for the next generations, thereby revitalizing her achievements and deeds
in local settings. Moreover, the writers and Catholic authorities kept discussing Our
Lady of La Vang and began to refer to her as a common mother of all Vietnamese
with the aim of soliciting local people to construct the La Vang shrine, serve nation-
building, and establish a religious identity for Vietnamese Catholics. The discourses
that emerged bonded the thoughts and emotions of Vietnamese Catholics with Our
Lady of La Vang as a mother of the Vietnamese.
Such a change in the perception toward Our Lady of La Vang was a signifi-
cant motivation behind the transformation of her portrait into a local form. That
transformation became much more realistic after the Second Vatican Council’s
messages were introduced to the Vietnamese Catholic community. Indeed, Viet-
namese Catholic authorities boosted inculturation in many aspects of Catholic prac-
tices including art creation in light of this council. Here, both domestic and overseas
Vietnamese Catholics recognized that her statute followed the model of Our Lady
of Victories and sought to transform it into Vietnamese style, and as a Vietnamese
mother. The transformation of the statue of Our Lady of La Vang was thus the product
of the collective efforts of multiple agents, particularly Vietnamese Catholics from
both inside and outside of Vietnam.
Further, we believe that our research has provided sufficient evidence to call into
question the idea that Mother Goddess worship played a substantial role in navigating
the localization/Vietnamization of Our Lady of La Vang in Vietnam during the course
of history. While some scholars from the 1990s onwards strived to find out the
interrelation between Mother Goddess worship and Our Lady of La Vang, there is
no solid evidence that demonstrates that Mother Goddess worship facilitated the
localization of Our Lady of La Vang in Vietnam.
122 V. B. Duong

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Van Bien Duong is a Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darus-
salam. He is also a researcher at the Institute for Religious Studies of the Vietnam Academy of
Social Sciences (VASS). His background is in religious studies and philosophy. For the Ph.D.
program, he is researching the topic of the localization of religion in Vietnam.
126 V. B. Duong

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Chapter 7
Another Kind of Vietnamization:
Language Policies in Higher Education
in the Two Vietnams

Hieu Nam Trung Le

7.1 Introduction

The reform and expansion of higher education was a priority for both of Vietnam’s
postcolonial regimes, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) in the nation’s
north and the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) in the south. “Vietnamization,” or the
adoption of Vietnamese as the language of instruction, was seen as a central part of
that reform. Symbolically, it would mark a break with the colonial era, where higher
education had been offered exclusively in French; practically, it would democratize
education by making it accessible to more Vietnamese and facilitating the expansion
of the university system. Yet despite working from the same colonial-era base and
sharing many motives and goals, the two regimes pursued Vietnamization by very
different means and on very different timelines.
This chapter consists of five parts: the first part discusses relevant scholarship
and the sources and methods used in this study. The second introduces the language
policy during the colonial period, focusing particularly on university-level education.
The third part traces the decline of instruction in Hán-Nôm and the rise of quốc ngữ.
The fourth and fifth parts discuss the transformation of university education in the
DRV and the RVN, respectively.
This chapter argues that the history of the Vietnamization of higher education
reflects the different political systems of the two regimes. In the DRV, Vietnamiza-
tion was initiated by the central authorities and carried out by decree; nevertheless,
government policy did not always reflect reality as educators were challenged to trans-
late vocabulary and curriculums into the new language of instruction. By contrast,
in the RVN, Vietnamization was shaped by the efforts of individual educators and
linguists, associations, and student participation. In this sense, policy followed the

H. N. T. Le (B)
Duy Tan University, Danang, Vietnam
e-mail: lentrunghieu@duytan.edn.vn

© The Author(s) 2024 127

L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges (eds.), Vietnam Over the Long Twentieth Century, Global
Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3611-9_7
128 H. N. T. Le

evolving reality in the classroom and on university campuses. Exploring the process
of Vietnamization thus sheds light on a crucial aspect of the process of decolonization
and highlights the very different paths to independence taken by the two Vietnams
between 1945 and 1975.

7.2 Scholarship, Sources, and Methods

While much has been written on the colonial language policy established by the
French in Vietnam, the problem of language in colonial higher education has received
little attention. Short discussions of the topic can be found in works by Vũ (1985),
Trịnh (2019), and Nguyễn (2020). In general, these works balance praise and criticism
of the university system in Indochina. As such, they provide a useful baseline for the
discussion of the reform efforts of the postcolonial regimes.
Scholarship on the DRV’s language policy in university education dates to the
1980s and 1990s, with much of it produced by educators and policymakers who
participated in educational reform after 1954. Although these works exhibit a gener-
ally positive attitude toward the DRV’s educational policies, they also reveal the diffi-
culties of the process of the nationalization of educational in the face of structural
obstacles. However, they do little to analyze these obstacles, particularly the problem
of developing new scientific terminology. Later work by Vietnamese linguists such
as Lê (2015) shed light on the process of developing new scientific vocabularies, but
does not go into detail for the RVN, with the result that important achievements and
figures are ignored.
After the emergence in the 1960s and early 1970s of monographs about South
Vietnam’s educational system, the 1980s saw almost no books on the topic. Increasing
interest in the topic, however, was shown in the 1990s when scholars began to debate
the merits and limits of education in the RVN. Researchers in Vietnam were gener-
ally critical of the RNV’s education and language policy while praising the devel-
opment of education in Communist-controlled areas and the struggles of activists
in the south’s cities. An example is Trần et al.’s (1995) A Rough Outline of 30
Years of Education in the South (Sơ thảo 30 năm giáo dục miền Nam), a collec-
tion of articles by educators active in the south before 1975. Outside of Vietnam,
researchers have painted a more positive picture of education in the RVN. Olga Dror’s
Making Two Vietnams: War and Youth Identities (2018) takes an explicitly compar-
ative perspective, highlighting the uniformity and ideological domination of DRV
education, in comparison with the RVN’s republicanism and diversity. Her views
echo those of scholars like Nguyễn (2006) and Trần (2014). In University Education
in South Vietnam before 1975 (Nền giáo dục đại học ở miền Nam Việt Nam trước năm
1975), Nguyễn (2014) focuses specifically on university education, highlighting the
autonomous and liberal nature of the RVN’s universities and aspects of superiority
to its counterpart to the north. However, none of these studies focus specifically on
language policy. At the same time, they emphasize the role of student protests and
downplay the contributions of professors and scholars in driving educational reform.
7 Another Kind of Vietnamization: Language Policies in Higher … 129

This chapter is based on a mix of primary and secondary sources. Primary

sources include government documents accessed online and through the national
archive system, journals, memoirs and accounts by participants in the Vietnamiza-
tion process, and interviews. Secondary sources include publications by the Ministry
of Education and Training, publications by universities and other institutions, mono-
graphs, research articles, and dissertations. Sources are mostly in Vietnamese and
translations are by the author.

7.3 Colonial Educational Policy

The first language school set up by the French colonial regime was the School of
Interpreters (Collège des Interprètes/Trường Thông ngôn), founded in 1862 to train
interpreters for the French Army. The school’s programs were taught in French and
Vietnamese, with Vietnamese written in quốc ngữ, the Romanized script, rather than
Hán-Nôm, the logographic writing system. 1906 saw the establishment of the Univer-
sity of Indochina (Université Indochinoise/Đại học Đông Dương). This institution
was modeled on French universities and used French as the language of instruction.
It reflected a consensus among both French and Vietnamese intellectuals and policy-
makers that primary and secondary education should be carried out in the vernacular,
while tertiary education should be in French (Trịnh 2019). Lecturers were recruited
from either the French School of the Far East (l’École française d’Extrême-Orient)
or the University of Paris (Université de Paris). The French university education in
its early days in Indochina has been criticized by recent scholars as “not better than
high school education” (Nguyễn 2020). The university was closed after only a few
years, perhaps because of its low enrollment rate (Legrandjacques 2018).
Almost a decade later, in 1917, university education in French Indochina was
revived when Governor-General Albert Sarraut reestablished the University of
Indochina, which would serve as the only university-level institution in French
Indochina until the end of the colonial period. According to Nguyễn (2020), only the
university’s College of Medicine taught at a level comparable to the metropole. She
attributes this outcome to political considerations, noting that colleges were regarded
with suspicion by the colonial authorities.
French remained the sole official language of university instruction throughout the
colonial period. Trần Văn Chánh notes, “except for the first three grades of primary
education, French was still the official teaching language; Vietnamese language just
played a subordinate role” (2019: 19). Bùi Khánh Thế (1976) even claimed it was
illegal for teachers and professors to speak Vietnamese in class, and that doing so
could lead to severe consequences. However, I have found no historical evidence
to support this claim. But whatever may have been the case inside the classroom,
outside the University of Indochina, Vietnamese society was vigorously struggling
to prepare for a national education system.
130 H. N. T. Le

7.4 From Hán Nôm to Quốc Ngữ

The Vietnamese had a long-established higher education system, dating back to 1076
when the Imperial Academy (Quốc Tử Giám) was established. The feudal exami-
nation and education system was regulated and developed during the Trần dynasty,
with a national exam held every ten years and the establishment of government and
private academies for both nobles and commoners. The traditional education and
examination system was developed further under the Lê dynasty and reached its
apogee under the Nguyễn. While the system was abolished in Cochinchina after the
French conquest, it remained popular in Annam and Tonkin well into the twentieth
century. It is worth noting that in 1906, the first class of the University of Indochina
had ninety-four students, while 6121 registered for the traditional civil service exam-
inations (Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội 2019). Although the number of students enrolled
in traditional education gradually declined in the years that followed, it was only in
1918 that the civil service examinations were officially abolished, leaving the field
of higher education to the French language.
The termination of the traditional education system coincided with “a vibrant
ambience of ideological struggles in the early twentieth century,” when government
officials, traditionally trained scholars, French-educated intellectuals, the youth, and
the masses vigorously debated educational reform (Vũ 1985). Progressive scholars
such as Phan Bội Châu, Lương Văn Can, and others vigorously promoted educational
reforms and novel approaches for education and the adoption of quốc ngữ through
vehicles like the Duy Tân (Restoration) movement, the Tonkin Free School (Đông
Kinh Nghĩa Thục), and the Textbook for the New Learning of Civilization (Văn
minh tân học sách). For such activists, quốc ngữ was a means to increase literacy
and awaken a spirit of nationalism during a period of heavy feudal and colonial
repression (Đào 2018).
At the same time, the French also promoted the use of quốc ngữ in the education
system at the primary and secondary level. For them, popular literacy would serve to
promote obedience and loyalty toward France (Nguyễn 2020). The popularity of quốc
ngữ increased particularly during the period of the Popular Front government after
1936. That period saw communist activists like Võ Nguyên Giáp and Trần Huy Liệu
collaborate with well-known intellectuals like Phan Thanh, Nguyễn Văn Tố, Trần
Trọng Kim, and Đặng Thai Mai to establish the Quốc Ngữ Popularization Society
(Hội Truyền bá Quốc Ngữ) in 1937 (Lê 2018b). In this way, quốc ngữ gradually
became more popular as a language of instruction and in society more generally.
Nevertheless, to serve as a language of higher education, Vietnamese had to incor-
porate the entirely new vocabularies embedded in modern education. Southern Breeze
(Nam Phong tạp chí ), a journal established in 1917, was the first to take up such
responsibility, publishing scientific discussions and debates in quốc ngữ. It is worth
noting the existence of two opposing positions, with some scholars advocating the
translation of new terms from the French, and others like Dương Quảng Hàm, Vũ
Công Nghi, Nguyễn Ứng, and Nguyễn Triệu Luật promoting the translation of terms
from Chinese (Trần 2002). The 1930s saw the appearance of the first two scientific
7 Another Kind of Vietnamization: Language Policies in Higher … 131

journals in Vietnamese, one in Tonkin and the other in Cochinchina: Science Journal
(Khoa học tạp chí ) and Popular Science (Khoa học phổ thông) (Hà 2018). At the
same time, the publication of dictionaries like Đào Duy Anh’s Chinese-Vietnamese
Dictionary (Hán Việt từ điển) in 1932 and the French-Vietnamese Dictionary (Pháp-
Việt từ điển) in 1936 helped build a bridge between traditional and modern education
(Kiều 2019). 1942 saw the publication of Hoàng Xuân Hãn’s Scientific Vocabulary
(Danh từ khoa học) as well as a work of the same name by Đào Duy Tiến. Other
important publications include Plant Vocabulary (Danh từ thực vật) by Nguyễn Hữu
Quán and Lê Văn Căn published in 1945 and Medical Vocabulary (Danh từ y học)
by Lê Khắc Thiền and Phạm Khắc Quảng published in 1951. Of these, however, it is
Hoàng Xuân Hãn’s Scientific Vocabulary that had the greatest influence, providing
the foundation for using Vietnamese as the sole language of instruction (Lê 2015;
Dương 2000).
The first opportunity came during World War II. On 9 March 1945, the Japanese
initiated a coup d’état, ending French authority and returning nominal independence
to Emperor Bảo Đại and a government under the authority of Trần Trọng Kim. As
Minister of Education and Fine Arts, Hoàng Xuân Hãn designed and executed the
first educational program in quốc ngữ. For the first time, the Hoàng Xuân Hãn or
“I-tờ” program allowed students to study and take exams for the Baccalaureate in
Vietnamese. Although the reform only applied to primary and secondary education,
nevertheless, it is a milestone in the process of establishing and nationalizing a
Vietnamese education system, setting the stage for educational reforms to come.

7.5 Language Policy in Higher Education in the DRV

Even before independence in 1945, Vietnamese communists had already established

the principles of national education. A key document was the Outline of Vietnamese
Culture (Đề cương về văn hóa Việt Nam), approved at a meeting of the Party Central
Standing Committee in February 1943. The document established three guiding prin-
ciples: “nationalization (against all subjugating and colonizing influences in order
for Vietnamese culture to develop independently), popularization (against all activi-
ties and policies aimed to make the culture counterproductive to or isolated from the
masses), and scientification (against all things causing the culture to be reactionary
and unscientific).” On the issue of language, the Outline called on academics to
“Fight for the spoken language and script,” and specifically to “(1) unite and enrich
our spoken language; (2) set the rules of grammar; and (3) reform quốc ngữ” (Đảng
Cộng sản Việt Nam 2000). The Outline guided the formulation and implementation
of education policy for the new state.
The fledgling state moved immediately to turn plans into action. Six days
following the declaration of independence, on 9 September 1945, President Hồ Chí
Minh signed three important directives related to the new national education. Direc-
tive No. 17-SL established a General Education Department (Nha Bình dân Học vụ).
Directive No. 19-SL established nighttime classes for the working class. Directive
132 H. N. T. Le

No. 20-SL declared that while waiting for the establishment of compulsory elemen-
tary education, the learning of quốc ngữ would be mandatory and free for everyone
(Trần et al. 1995). In the weeks that followed, President Hồ Chí Minh worked with
Minister of National Education Vũ Đình Hòe and prominent French-educated intel-
lectuals like Nguyễn Văn Huyên, Ngụy Như Kontum, and Hồ Hữu Tường to develop
a three-point plan: (1) eradicating illiteracy in one year; (2) abolishing teaching in
French and, instead, use Vietnamese as the language of instruction at every educa-
tional level including university; and (3) quickly executing the educational reform
plan.
A key element of the plan was the reopening of universities and colleges. The
government established a Department of University Education with Nguyễn Văn
Huyên at its head. In November 1945, the government officially reopened the Univer-
sity of Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Dentistry, College of Science,
College of Fine Arts, College of Agriculture, and the Veterinary College. A series
of decrees in late 1945 and early 1946 granted universities financial autonomy and
improved their administrative capacities. While implementation sometimes lagged,
and no new students were enrolled in 1945, nevertheless, the evidence is clear that
the DRV made educational reform a priority, developed clear guiding principles for
reform, and moved decisively to create a new national education system.
Another element that emerges from the meetings of August and September 1945
is the determination to use Vietnamese as the sole language of instruction. This
was reflected not only in the decrees that followed, but also in the 1946 negoti-
ations, ultimately fruitless, held to find a means of accommodating an indepen-
dent Vietnam within a French-led Union. Vietnamese delegates, notably Nguyễn
Văn Huyên, fought vigorously for the right to administer their own universities and
academies, with Vietnamese as the only official language of instruction (Vũ 2015:
287).
Meanwhile, DRV officials had already begun to realize the policy. The new
National University opened on 15 November 1945, staffed by eminent scholars like
Nguyễn Văn Huyên and Nguyễn Mạnh Tường. Other faculty, such as Ngụy Như
Kontum, Nguyễn Văn Thiêm, Đào Duy Anh, Đỗ Xuân Hợp, Hồ Đắc Di, Đỗ Tất
Lợi, and Đặng Vũ Hủy had only just returned from France (Vạn 2017). Courses on
the ancient history of Vietnam and Vietnamese literature were taught for the first
time ever in Vietnamese, arousing great excitement among students (Lê 2018a, b).
The Law University was reformed, and an entirely new University of Literature was
founded. However, this period of rapid progress was interrupted when negotiations
between the DRV and France collapsed, triggering the outbreak of hostilities in late
1946.
Wartime put serious constraints on the development of national education. The
DRV’s universities and colleges were moved out of Hanoi and relocated to rural or
mountainous areas. While the University of Medicine continued to operate and new
classes in general mathematics were opened, the University of Literature and the
College of Sciences were closed. By 1951, higher education had been consolidated
in three locations: Việt Bắc (the DRV’s resistance base in the north), Liên khu IV
7 Another Kind of Vietnamization: Language Policies in Higher … 133

(Inter-Zone IV), and Khu Học xá Trung ương (Central Campus) in Nanning, China
(Bộ giáo dục và Đào tạo 1995).
Officially, Vietnamese was the language of instruction for all general and higher
education (Ngô and Đỗ 2008). However, the lack of qualified instructors and the
challenge of translating vocabulary into Vietnamese meant the reality was more
complex. The issue is illustrated by the College of Medicine, which, as one of the few
surviving tertiary institutions, brought together the majority of Vietnamese professors
at the time. The college’s courses continued to be based on the French curriculum.
Professors found it hard to use Vietnamese to teach, so most of them lectured in
French, or code-mixed, using a few words in Vietnamese. According to the memoir
of Associate Professor Trần Quang Vỹ, clinical teaching and medical record teaching
were conducted in French, and students and instructors only spoke Vietnamese with
patients. Similarly, surviving class notes of students were written 100% in French
(Đại học Y Hà Nội 2003). One exception was an anatomy textbook compiled by
Professor Đỗ Xuân Hợp in 1952. His textbook, the first of its kind in Vietnamese,
remains the foundation for the current system of Vietnamese medical terms (Đại
học Y Hà Nội 2017). Thus, despite government decrees, new institutions, and the
best efforts of scholars and educators, higher education in Vietnam in the period
1945–1956 remained deeply influenced by its French colonial predecessor.
The end of the First Indochina War in 1954 and the DRV’s consolidation of
control over the country’s north set the stage for the expansion and reorganization
of the existing university system. On 4 June 1956, the government issued Decision
No. 2184/TC establishing five universities: Polytechnic University (Đại học Bách
khoa), Normal University (Đại học Sư phạm), Medical University (Đại học Y Dược),
University of Agriculture and Forestry (Đại học Nông Lâm), and General Univer-
sity of Hanoi (Đại học Tổng hợp Hà Nội). These new institutions in turn developed
new programs and courses: the number of higher education programs offered rose
from ten in 1955 to 184 in 1971 (Bộ giáo dục và Đào tạo 1995). This inevitably
exacerbated the problems of translating vocabulary and compiling textbooks. While
programs in the humanities and social sciences could often function without recourse
to foreign languages, programs in science and technology continued to pose a chal-
lenge. Typical was the Polytechnic University where its academic staff consulted and
translated foreign materials to compile textbooks to immediately support learning
and researching activities (Khoa Toán-Cơ-Tin học 2011). Lecturers and students
alike encountered many new terms that they had to study and “figure out by trial
and error” (Hội Cựu sinh viên toán Bách Khoa 2016). Once again, much of the
burden fell to individual instructors. The field of geology in Vietnam, for example, is
indebted to the work of Professor Nguyễn Văn Chiến, who not only taught most of
the program’s courses, but also compiled a dictionary of geological terms that, like
Đỗ Xuân Hợp’s anatomy textbook, continues to provide the foundation for studies
in geology in Vietnam (Dại học Quốc gia Hà Nội 2008).
The rapid expansion of higher education underlined the need for a centralized
and systematic approach to the problem of translation. One turning point was the
creation in 1959 of the Governmental Science Committee (Uỷ ban Khoa học Nhà
nước). The Committee, which had authority and duties equivalent to a ministry,
134 H. N. T. Le

provided the government with guidance on all matters related to science and tech-
nology. Its Terminology—Dictionary Team (Tổ thuật ngữ—Từ điển) would provide
impetus and guidance for translation efforts in higher education. In 1960, the History-
Geography-Literature Committee (Ban Sử Địa Văn) published the document “Tem-
porary Regulations on the Rules to Compile Terms in the Natural Sciences” (Quy
định tạm thời về nguyên tắc biên soạn danh từ khoa học tự nhiên). These regulations
served as a framework until 1964, when a national conference on scientific termi-
nology produced the authoritative “Rules for Translating Foreign Scientific Terms
(of Indo-European origin) into Vietnamese” (Quy tắc phiên thuật ngữ Khoa học nước
ngoài [gốc Ấn-Âu] ra tiếng Việt), hereafter referred to as “the Rules.”
The publication of the Rules was followed in May 1965 by the Conference to
Consult Opinions about the Use of Scientific Terminology (Hội nghị trưng cầu ý
kiến về việc sử dụng thuật ngữ khoa học) and the creation of the Council of the
Science of Terminology and Dictionaries (Hội đồng Thuật ngữ—Từ điển khoa học),
chaired by Professor Nguyễn Khánh Toàn and including eminent scientists such as
Tạ Quang Bửu, Nguyễn Văn Chiển, Quang Đạm, Trần Văn Giàu, and Ngụy Như
Kontum. On 10 October 1965, the Council announced a project, hereafter referred
to as “the Project,” that would see the Vietnamese Institute of Social Sciences (Viện
Khoa học Xã hội Việt Nam) rapidly and systematically apply the Rules to Vietnamese
scientific vocabulary. The results were immediate. The following year, in June 1966,
the Institute announced the initial application of the Rules, consisting of fifteen
groups of terms with roughly 25,000 words. Thus, these two important initiatives, the
Rules and the Project, paved the way for the rapid building of Vietnamese scientific
terminology in the mid-1960s.
At the same time, the state also moved to nationalize and standardize the textbooks
and curricula used in higher education. Using the heuristic of Minister Tạ Quang
Bửu’s “Three Best Principles” (Chủ trương ba nhất; “most basic, most updated,
closest to the reality of Vietnam”), Ministry of Education officials convened dozens
of meetings to examine how to modernize the curricula of programs in basic science
and technology. Their efforts eventually resulted in the Ministry’s Course Secretariat
(Ban Thư ký môn học) with the responsibility of developing curricula, compiling
and reviewing textbooks, and developing human resources. The Course Secretariat
played a vital role in maintaining and improving the quality of teaching and learning
despite the escalating war (Bộ giáo dục và Đào tạo 1995).
Taken together, the centralization and standardization of vocabulary, curricula,
and textbooks transformed education in the DRV in the 1960s. This is seen most
clearly in the change in academic publishing. Whereas from 1956 to 1965, most
textbooks had either been based on French originals or were translated versions of
Soviet undergraduate textbooks, from 1965 onward, the output of the Ministry of
Education’s publishing house consisted primarily of texts compiled by Vietnamese
universities, supplemented by selective translations of well-known textbooks from
the USSR, France, and the USA (Bộ giáo dục và Đào tạo 1995).
In short, using top-down, centralized control, between 1945 and 1965 the DRV was
able to create a truly national education system, taught entirely in Vietnamese. It may
be that the system was shaped by ideological concerns and suffered from rigidity and
7 Another Kind of Vietnamization: Language Policies in Higher … 135

conformism which, as Dror (2018) argues, may have produced “disastrous” results
after 1975. Yet the achievements of early generations of Vietnamese officials and
academics in the face of enormous challenges remain undeniable and worthy of
study.

7.6 Language Policy in Higher Education in the RVN

Much like its counterpart to the north, the RVN government sought to create the basis
for an independent, anti-colonial, and national education system. Yet here, change
would be led from below rather than above. Initial progress toward building a truly
post-colonial education system was slow. In 1949, following the establishment of the
State of Vietnam (État du Viêt-Nam), a bilateral cultural agreement on 30 December
1949 resulted in the University of Indochina being renamed the French-Vietnamese
Joint University (Université Mixte Franco-Vietnamienne), also known as University
of Hanoi (Université de Hanoi). Little changed, however. The university was headed
by a French rector directly appointed by the French president. In Saigon, an affiliate
was created under the authority of a Vietnamese vice rector. The teaching staff
was largely French, though the figure for Vietnamese faculty members showed a
considerable increase (Nguyen 1965). After the signing of the Geneva Accords, and
the withdrawal of French and pro-French forces to the south, the French-Vietnamese
Joint University moved to Saigon and merged with its Saigon-based affiliate. On 11
May 1955, the French-Vietnamese Joint University was transferred to the jurisdiction
of the government of the State of Vietnam and renamed the National University
of Vietnam (Viện Đại học Quốc gia Việt Nam). Under the RVN government, in
1957 it was renamed Saigon University (Viện Đại học Sài Gòn). The same year
also saw the establishment of Hue University. Even so, French influence in higher
education remained strong. Decree No. 1 (Nghị định số 1), issued on 20 October
1955, set out the principles of university administration during the transitional period:
in essence, French enrollment policies, the organization of the university-faculty
system, and the examination and grading system remained. Initially, academic staff
were mainly French and would be gradually replaced by French-educated Vietnamese
counterparts (Nguyễn and Lưu 2021; Bộ Quốc gia Giáo dục 1960).
Against the backdrop of gradual change, however, the RVN was establishing the
basic principles of a new national education. The 1956 Constitution generally placed
an emphasis on the universal, compulsory, and gratis nature of South Vietnam’s
general education and created a favorable legal framework for the development of
private universities and professional colleges (Quốc hội lập hiến Việt Nam Cộng hòa
1956). Nonetheless, it was not until under the administration of Minister of National
Education Trần Hữu Thể (1958–1960) that principles of a new education for the Viet-
namese were established. On the occasion of the First Congress of National Education
(Đại hội Giáo dục Quốc gia lần thứ nhất) held in Saigon in 1958, the “humanistic,
nationalistic, emancipatory” motto was introduced, becoming the basic tenets of the
Republic of Vietnam’s educational system. Following the 1963 coup d’état, these
136 H. N. T. Le

guiding principles were modified into “humanistic, nationalistic, scientific” (nhân

bản, dân tộc, khoa học). This modified version was maintained in Article 11 of the
second Constitution of the Republic of Vietnam in 1967 (Quốc hội lập hiến Việt Nam
Cộng hòa 1967). However, the Educational and Cultural Policy (Chính sách văn hóa
giáo dục) published by the Republic of Vietnam’s Council of Culture and Educa-
tion in 1972, returned to the former tenets of education—humanistic, nationalistic,
emancipatory—with clear explanations for each principle (Việt Nam Cộng hòa Hội
đồng Văn hóa Giáo dục 1972).
Whether emancipatory or scientific or both, the question remained how exactly
to translate these ideals into reality and to forge a truly national university system,
taught by Vietnamese in the Vietnamese language. As in the DRV, the problem of
translating foreign scientific vocabulary, in this case mainly French, into Vietnamese
was an enormous challenge. However, unlike in the DRV, the work of translation
would occur largely free from central control. Before 1955, the National University
of Vietnam still used French as the instructional language in all faculties, except the
Saigon College of Literature (Đại học Văn khoa Saigon) and the Teachers College
(Cao đẳng Sư phạm). At the College of Law (Trường Luật), thanks to the efforts
of Acting Dean Professor Vũ Quốc Thúc and his colleagues such as Nguyễn Cao
Hách and Professor Vũ Văn Mẫu, Vietnamese was used as the instructional language
from the 1955–56 academic year (Lê 2010). However, other courses and programs
remained taught in French, often by French professors. To be specific, along with
300 French professors and teachers serving in seven secondary schools (Lycée) and
a community of 17,000 French citizens across the South, forty French professo rs
still taught at universities in Saigon and Hue at least until the late 1950s (Annunziata
1967). The overwhelming influence of French colonial education probably began to
attenuate when the RVN sent its officials and students to the USA, Australia, New
Zealand, and other countries to study (Lê 2011). However, the Ministry of Education
of the RVN continued to delay the switch of languages at the tertiary level until
1961–1962 and required more time for a consensus on translated scientific nouns to
be reached (Bộ Quốc gia Giáo dục Việt Nam Cộng hòa 1965: 2803).
In response, Vietnamese professors and scholars took the lead in building up the
Vietnamese system of scientific nouns. In 1960, the Scientific Vocabulary Compila-
tion Committee (Ủy Ban Soạn Thảo Danh Từ Khoa Học), led by Professor Lê Văn
Thới of the College of Science, Saigon University, was established (Tiểu ban Mỹ
thuật 1973). There were sub-committees for each discipline: mathematics, physics,
chemistry, flora, fauna, etc. As a result, in 1962, the first volume of the series Scien-
tific Vocabulary (Danh từ khoa học), supervised by Professor Lê Văn Thới, was
published. It can be said that it was Professor Lê Văn Thới who furthered the legacy
of Vietnamese progenitors like Hoàng Xuân Hãn and Đào Văn Tiến and established
the general principles for establishing Vietnamese terminology in the RVN.
In 1967, the government finally recognized the work of the Scientific Vocabu-
lary Compilation Committee when it created the Committee for the Compilation of
Specialized Vocabulary (Ủy ban Quốc gia Soạn thảo Danh từ Chuyên môn). This
new committee officialized and extended an earlier body (Tiểu ban Mỹ thuật 1973).
The central committee included twelve disciplinary committees further divided into
7 Another Kind of Vietnamization: Language Policies in Higher … 137

thirty-two sub-committees, with each of the latter responsible for compiling a list of
scientific terms for the relevant discipline. In 1970, Lê Văn Thới and Nguyễn Văn
Dương published a set of guidelines for translating disciplinary terms in the Internal
Jounal of Specialized Vocabulary (Nội san Danh từ Chuyên môn). In this sense,
their publication lagged five years behind the publication of a similar framework by
their counterparts in the DRV. Every week, Committee President Lê Văn Thới, the
two vice presidents, the chairman, and selected outside scholars reviewed a list of
nouns submitted by a panel. The process was described as “very difficult” and that
“Sometimes the committee had to spend hours or the whole meeting to review just
a few nouns” (Ủy ban Quốc gia Soạn thảo Danh từ Chuyên môn 1972).
Altogether, the Committee for the Compilation of Specialized Vocabulary
published nine issues of the Internal Journal of Specialized Vocabulary between
1969 and 1975. Each issue was comprised of various articles on linguistic prob-
lems or the activities of the committee. More importantly, each issue introduced a
list of collectively authorized terms used within a particular academic discipline. At
the same time, the Ministry of Culture, Education, and Youth (known earlier as the
Ministry of Education), together with the Committee for the Compilation of Special-
ized Vocabulary, published three important works: Terminology of Atomics (1969);
Terminology of Pharmacy (1973); and Terminology of Fine Arts (1973) (Ủy ban
Quốc gia Soạn thảo Danh từ Chuyên môn 1975: n.p.). Nevertheless, it must be noted
that much of the committee’s work remained at a preliminary stage. In many disci-
plines, the committee had only completed and published the list of scientific terms
beginning with the letter A. Clearly, a sizable workload remained to be completed.
At the same time that the RVN’s scholars labored in committee rooms to translate
and standardize scientific vocabulary, outside, members of society at large were
taking their own steps to build national education in the Vietnamese language. On 12
January 1950, as part of the demonstrations to mark the killing by French police of
Trần Văn Ơn, a student from the Petrus Ky School, demonstrators called for the use
of Vietnamese in education. Another important event was the founding by prominent
Cochinchinese intellectuals of the Quốc Ngữ Popularization Society (Hội truyền bá
chữ Quốc Ngữ) in 1952, not to be confused with the society with the same name
founded in Hanoi in 1937. This organization led a grassroots movement to spread
the use of quốc ngữ throughout the Cochinchinese population (Hồ 2003).
By 1953, a broad movement of students and teachers, supported by intellectuals
and other elites, was calling on the government to require all education in the Viet-
namese language, ensure the nationalistic and popular character of curricula, and
end years of dependence on foreign culture in education (Hồ 2003, 2001). In part,
student activism stemmed from the high failure rate that resulted from studying and
taking examinations in French, effectively making higher education inaccessible to
all but the children of wealthy families (Hồ Hữu Nhựt, personal communication,
17 December 2019). This helps explain the demonstrations, protests, and declara-
tions that characterized the following years. One of the most significant occurred in
February 1958, when 200 students from fifteen public and private schools in Saigon
marched to the Bureau of Academic Affairs (Nha Giám đốc học vụ) to make demands
138 H. N. T. Le

under three main heads: (1) use Vietnamese as the instructional language at univer-
sity; (2) tackle the problem of the shortage of schools and classes, improve the living
standard of teachers, subsidize poor students, leverage the budget for education; and
(3) modify the curricula to make them more appropriate for an independent and
national education, and conduct democratic reforms in schools (Trần 2017). Nor
was the movement confined to Saigon. Students in Hue founded the Letters and
Arts Group (Nhóm văn nghệ) in 1961 at the College of Literature (Trường Đại học
Văn Khoa), and the Language Change Group (Nhóm chuyển ngữ) in 1960 at the
College of Sciences (Trường Đại học Khoa học) to demand the use of Vietnamese
in university-level education.
Student demonstrations for the use of Vietnamese in higher education were bound
up with politics more generally. The student groups at Hue University were the
outgrowth of “revolution-developing grassroots organizations” (tổ chức cơ sở phát
triển cách mạng) and were effectively communist-controlled (Trần 2017). Amer-
icans as well attempted to turn student activism to their advantage. According to
Nguyễn (2013), the first president of the General Union of Saigon Students (Tổng
hội Sinh viên Sài Gòn), after the coup d’état of 1963 “many political forces behind
the scenes motivated students to do street protests, opposing the neutralization option
and denouncing the cultural domination of the French, particularly the problem of
trường Tây [French-modeled schools].” The attempt may ultimately have backfired,
as it highlighted the issue of cultural imperialism more generally. Nguyễn Hữu Thái
suggested that “opposing French-modeled schools raised the awareness of Viet-
namese students about the issue of national sovereignty” (2013), which later, by the
same token, would motivate Vietnamese students to oppose American involvement
in Vietnamese politics.
Leaving aside the complicated politics behind student activism, the 1960s saw
steady, if uneven progress in the use of Vietnamese in higher education. By the mid-
1960s, only a handful of courses at the Saigon College of Science were still taught
in French (Bình 2016). At the end of 1966, students at the College of Medicine
began agitating for the right to study in Vietnamese at schools, coming up with
the slogan “Vietnamese people learn Vietnamese.” The movement spread to other
universities, colleges, institutes, and schools across South Vietnam. An advocacy
committee was set up at the College of Pedagogy, and a newspaper representing
the movement was established: Language Change (chuyển ngữ). As a result, from
the beginning of 1967, all universities in South Vietnam switched to teaching in
Vietnamese except for the University of Medicine. There, according to Professor Lê
(2010), “the prolongation of the transition was evident with the Medical University
in the last years: the teaching staff included Vietnamese, French, and American
professors. However, some Vietnamese professors still mixed Vietnamese and French
while teaching, and the lectures were written in French, typed, and copied for students
to memorize for year-end exams.” As in the DRV, theory was one thing, practice
another.
In short, while we must acknowledge the complex nature of the student movements
in South Vietnam, student activism undoubtedly played a major role in driving the
Vietnamization of higher education in the RVN. Student activism was matched by
7 Another Kind of Vietnamization: Language Policies in Higher … 139

the efforts of individual professors and scholars to develop a new vocabulary for
teaching in Vietnamese. Over time, the initiative shifted from students and individual
scholars to the state-run Committee for the Compilation of Specialized Vocabulary
as its committees sought to systematize and standardize the translation of scientific
terminology. Despite being left unfinished due to the collapse of the RVN in 1975,
the project demonstrates how the enthusiasm and activism of students and scholars
combined in a bottom-up manner to create the conditions to realize the state’s policy
of adopting Vietnamese as the language of instruction in higher education.

7.7 Conclusion

The project of developing a modern, scientific, national system of education taught

in Vietnamese has its origins in the colonial period. Intellectuals and activists across
the political spectrum, from conservative intellectuals to communist radicals, all
embraced the project of teaching in Vietnamese using the quốc ngữ script. Thanks to
their efforts, by 1945 important progress in general literacy and curriculum develop-
ment had been made, setting the stage for rapid change under postcolonial govern-
ments. Particularly during the period 1945–1975, quốc ngữ can be regarded as the
primary tool of decolonization and nation-building. The DRV’s commitment to the
Vietnamization of education manifested itself from the very first days of indepen-
dence in 1945. Meanwhile, in French-controlled territory, the slow progress of Viet-
namization and the continued use of French in higher education was a source of
popular discontent and protest.
It was after 1954 and the establishment of de facto control by the two governments
over their respective territories that the process of nationalizing education in the two
Vietnams entered a crucial period. Although both governments set out clear principles
for the creation of a national education system, the results varied. In the DRV, the
top-down management of higher education reform and the development of scientific
vocabulary achieved major advances despite the immense challenges presented by
the war. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that at least some of the advances were more
theoretical than real and did not reflect the reality of the classroom. In the RVN, much
of the early impetus for change came from the student struggle movement, combined
with the contributions of South Vietnamese intellectuals and scholars. There, it was
only in 1966–1967 that the RVN government put the idea of an independent national
education into practice by changing its language policy for higher education and
officially supporting the development of Vietnamese terminology. In this way, the
process of Vietnamization in the RVN reflects the greater degree of academic freedom
and the tradition of student activism.
On 30 April 1975, Vietnamization was still very much a work in progress in
both Vietnams. The triumph of the DRV and the dissolution of the RVN marked
a new era in Vietnam’s education, but we should not assume that higher education
in the unified Vietnam was immediately dominated by the system of Vietnamese
terminology developed in the DRV. Many features of the RVN’s educational system,
140 H. N. T. Le

particularly in tertiary and professional education, were perceived as desirable by

communist leaders (Nguyễn 2014). More concretely, articles published in the Journal
of Linguistics (Tạp chí ngôn ngữ học) during the years after 1975 demonstrate the
participation of scholars from the south in debates over new terminology. Arguably,
the standardization of Vietnamese terminology in the reunification era was the result
of discussions and a consensus among all relevant Vietnamese scientists and scholars
regardless of whether they were from the north, south, or center. However, given that
many well-known scholars from the RVN had fled the country, in the end, scholarly
forums were mostly dominated by scholars from the north. In this way, the language
of instruction in Vietnamese universities and colleges today is the outcome of a
complex political process, reflecting in microcosm the complex political process
that has produced the contemporary nation.

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and cultural policy]. Sài Gòn: Nhà xuất bản Sài Gòn.
Vũ, Đình Hòe. 2015. Gương mặt những người cùng thế hệ [Faces of contemporaries]. Hồ Chí Minh
City: Nhà xuât bản Trẻ.
Vũ, Ngọc Khánh. 1985. Tìm hiểu nền giáo dục Việt Nam trước 1945 [Researching Vietnam’s
education before 1945]. Hà Nội: Nhà xuất bản Giáo Dục.

Hieu Nam Trung Le is a historian of international relations in East Asia, with focus on Vietnam
from 1884 to the present. His publications, mostly based on Vietnamese archival documents and
oral histories, have investigated the multifaceted decolonization process in Vietnam and its after-
maths, with greater significance placed upon Vietnamese perspectives. He is based at Duy Tan
University in Danang, Vietnam.

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Chapter 8
Not so Honest Relations: Top-Level
Polish-Vietnamese Contacts 1965–1970

Jarema Słowiak

8.1 Introduction

On April 28, 1970, a special Soviet government plane landed in Warsaw, bringing
Lê Duẩn, First Secretary of the Vietnamese Workers’ Party on a sudden semi-official
visit. Usually, such trips were planned and confirmed at least several months ahead.
In this unusual case, the North Vietnamese leader arrived just a few days after his
request was delivered to the Poles. What was even more peculiar was that the visit
was initially supposed to be strictly for leisure, but at the last minute, the Vietnamese
announced that it would instead be a working visit, although they still wanted to
avoid the pomp and ceremony associated with an official visit by a head of state.
Such visits by high-ranking officials of fraternal socialist nations were a feature of
the Cold War. Symbolically, such visits were public confirmation of the close and
friendly relations between fraternal members of the Socialist bloc. And practically,
they were an opportunity to exchange intelligence and to work out the sometimes-
thorny details of economic and political cooperation. As a result, Lê Duẩn’s visit
represents an opportunity to explore the “actually existing Socialist bloc interactions”
of the Cold War.
In the official communist narrative, Polish support for North Vietnam was constant
and indisputable, and the Vietnamese struggle against “American imperialist aggres-
sion” enjoyed the widespread support of the entire Polish society and party authori-
ties. However, the reality of Warsaw-Hanoi relations was complex. Aid for Vietnam,
while dutifully sent from Poland, was a growing burden for the Polish economy. On
the political level, Warsaw dreaded the possibility of a localized war spilling from
Vietnam and turning into a global conflict. Poles also walked a fine line trying to
keep proper relations with the United States, deeming loans and technology from

J. Słowiak (B)
Institute of History at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Kraków, Poland
e-mail: jarema.slowiak@uj.edu.pl

© The Author(s) 2024 145

L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges (eds.), Vietnam Over the Long Twentieth Century, Global
Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3611-9_8
146 J. Słowiak

Washington essential for their economic development. As a result, in the 1960s Poles
tried several times to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table and to reduce
the volume of aid sent to Vietnam. Thus, the rushed organization of Lê Duẩn’s trip, its
evolving agenda over the course of his stay in Poland, and its ultimately ambiguous
outcomes were all symptomatic of the complexity of Polish-Vietnamese relations
from that period.
In this chapter, based on party and diplomatic documents from Polish archives, I
provide a brief outline of top-level meetings between Vietnamese-Polish communist
leadership since 1965. The focus, however, is on the meeting between Gomułka and
Lê Duẩn that took place on 5 May during the latter’s 1970 visit. Lê Duẩn arrived in
Warsaw just days before the start of the US incursion into Cambodia. The expansion
of the war forced the Vietnamese leader to cut short his stay in Poland, and heavily
influenced Lê Duẩn’s meeting with his Polish counterpart, Władysław Gomułka. This
chapter summarizes the main points made by both leaders during their three-hour
conversation, such as the communist evaluation of the ongoing events in Indochina,
American policy, Vietnamese requests for additional Polish support, and the Sino-
Soviet split. I pay particular attention to the communist verbal fencing between
Gomułka and Lê Duẩn, which reveals that Polish-Vietnamese relations were not as
straightforward, i.e., cordial and friendly, as they might appear from the other parts
of the transcript.
Both before and during the war against the United States, the aid provided by
the Warsaw Pact countries was not comparable to the aid provided by the People’s
Republic of China and the USSR. This was due to a combination of factors, such as
political arrangements made in Moscow and Beijing, but also the great geographical
distance and the poor state of the economies of European communist countries, which
was the most obvious factor in the willingness or unwillingness to support a distant
brotherly country in Asia. In a way this is also reflected in the literature on the subject:
while China’s and the USSR’s policy toward Vietnam both before and during the war
against the United States has been the subject of several books in recent decades, by
authors such as Gaiduk (2003), Li (2020) and Zhai (2000), the topic of the DRV’s
relations with smaller European communist countries is still not researched both in
depth and in the broad sense. The few scholars from those countries who deal with
the topic, usually write about very specific subjects, like Grossheim (2014), who
published about East German “Stasi” support for the Vietnamese security apparatus,
Szőke (2010), who wrote about Hungarian diplomatic efforts during the Second
Indochina War, or Kudrna (2010) who published about Czechoslovak members of
the French Foreign Legion fighting in Indochina. Those and other scholars have
produced small pieces of knowledge that are slowly filling the wide gaps in the big
picture of Vietnamese-European communist relations and the aid provided by the
Warsaw Pact countries for Hanoi during its war struggle. I hope this article will offer
another such piece, expanding our knowledge on the subject and bringing light to
the otherwise unknown topic for English-speaking scholars.
This article was prepared thanks to the archival research done as part of research
project 2018/29/N/HS3/02920 funded by the National Science Center, Poland. The
transcript of the 1970 Gomułka—Lê Duẩn meeting, along with transcripts of two
8 Not so Honest Relations: Top-Level Polish-Vietnamese Contacts … 147

other top-level Polish-Vietnamese meetings from 1968 to 1969, were translated and
are available online in the Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Archive in Lubbock,
Texas.

8.2 Before the “American War”

The establishment of a proper state after the 1954 Geneva Conference poised a set of
new challenges for Vietnamese communists, completely different from their guerilla
war against the French. Governing a country proved to be even more challenging
than leading a war against the French, especially in a country so devastated by war
as North Vietnam. In January 1955, Ho Chi Minh addressed those challenges at a
meeting with ambassadors from European socialist countries, asking them to provide
urgent assistance to his fledgling state. This somehow improvised aid later developed
into more stable support, provided by European communist countries to the newest
member of their camp.
The Polish People’s Republic was present in Vietnam since 1954 as a member
of the International Commission for Supervision and Control (ICSC) in Indochina
(along with India and Canada). The work in ICSC added another dimension to Polish-
Vietnamese relations and meant that Poland, at least on a diplomatic level, was
much more engaged in Indochina than other Eastern Bloc countries (Słowiak 2021).
The relations between Poland and Vietnam were not, however, free of tension. In
particular, the events of 1956: the coming to power of Władysław Gomułka, and his
Polish Road to Socialism, led to a cooling of bilateral relations for several years.
Comrade Wiesław (Gomułka’s widely used nom de guerre from World War II)
survived Stalin’s pre-war purge of the Communist Party of Poland as he was jailed
at the time in a Polish prison. During World War II, Gomułka helped to rebuild the
communist party in German-occupied Poland, and after the war, he held several top
party and governmental positions. He was however seen as a rival by the Stalinist
faction in the newly created Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP), and as a result,
he was sacked from all positions, expelled from the party, and finally imprisoned in
1951. Why Gomułka survived remains a matter of debate, but he was released from
prison finally in 1954. In 1956 he returned to the top, being elected by the PUWP
Central Committee for the post of First Secretary during the events that went down
in history as Polish October, after tense negotiations with the Soviet Politburo which
flew to Warsaw as Red Army troops were marching on Polish capital.
The circumstances of Gomułka’s return to power and his consistent emphasis
on the “Polish Road to Socialism,” which included an agreement with the Catholic
Church, cessation of collectivization of Polish agriculture, and enthusiastic accep-
tance of Khrushchev’s Secret Speech, made Hanoi deeply suspicious of the new
Polish leadership. This mistrust was reinforced by the events of the 1956 Hungarian
Revolution and unrest in Vietnam in the aftermath of the excesses of land reform
and the Party’s eventual clampdown on more liberal parts of society. In the internal
148 J. Słowiak

Vietnamese propaganda, the events of the Polish October and Hungarian Revolu-
tion were perceived as anticommunist counterrevolution and subsequent policies of
Gomułka as dangerous deviations from the proper communist path (Słowiak 2022).
Polish-Vietnamese relations were normalized only with the start of the new
decade, both because Gomulka halted liberalization policies in Poland and turned
to a more dogmatic, communist line, but also because Hanoi, gearing up for the
confrontation with Saigon, recognized that it was imperative to obtain support from
whoever it could, even as it continued to look with distrust on certain aspects of the
Polish communist system. However, due to the great distance, Poland’s own poten-
tial, and economic woes, actual material support was not very significant, especially
since Warsaw was keen to keep the trade balance between both countries as equal
as possible. This changed drastically after the American escalation in March 1965.
Poland also hosted Vietnamese students, but until the escalation of hostilities in
Vietnam in 1965, those were not received in high numbers.

8.3 The War Starts

Large-scale aerial bombing of North Vietnam and the American decision to put boots
on the ground in Vietnam in March 1965 were not left unanswered by Moscow,
and consequently, the whole Eastern Bloc. The Kremlin was motivated to provide
significant support to Hanoi not only as a response to American actions but also
because of its growing competition with Beijing about which country was the real
leader of the communist bloc and vanguard of the world revolution. As a result, the
two communist superpowers were in open rivalry with each other in Vietnam, a fact
that was eagerly exploited by Hanoi to obtain more and more aid.
Where Moscow pointed, her European satellites followed, and soon a stream of
economic and military aid flowed to Vietnam. While support provided by individual
countries like Poland or Czechoslovakia might seem negligible when compared to
that provided by the USSR and China, when put together, smaller communist coun-
tries delivered a significant volume of materiel and money. For example, between
1965 and 1970, Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, and
Hungary provided the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with loans amounting to
300 million rubles, almost half of the amount provided in the same period by the
USSR (AMSZ 1). In regard to weapons shipments, in 1970 the same countries,
without Romania, provided military aid worth 43% of what the USSR sent to DRV
(51.5 and 120 million rubles respectively), although it should be noted that Moscow
drastically reduced the number of weapon shipments in that year, compared to 1969
(from 360 to 120 million rubles) (AMSZ 2). It still was a considerable amount,
and therefore it was not surprising that the communist leadership in Hanoi devoted
considerable effort to maintaining and increasing the aid provided by its European
allies.
Poland’s aid to Vietnam took a variety of forms. Before the war it was mostly
loans for the purchase of Polish goods, equipment, and industrial plants, hosting
8 Not so Honest Relations: Top-Level Polish-Vietnamese Contacts … 149

Vietnamese students in Poland, and sending Polish specialists to help with their
know-how in building and operating various industrial plants. For example, in the
first quarter of 1961, eighty-five Polish specialists were present in Vietnam who
carried out the following tasks: construction and commissioning of a sugar refinery,
modernization of power plants, operation of boiler rooms, and geophysical surveys
(AAN 1). Poland also planned to fund and build a large hospital in Vinh in the
early 1960s; however, the project suffered from numerous bureaucratic setbacks and
delays, and was abandoned completed after the start of the air campaign by the United
States. During the war, the half-finished complex was bombed, and Poles returned
to complete this hospital only after the end of hostilities in the 1970s.
Negotiating the terms of European communist support and cultivating the good
relations on which it depended required frequent trips of various technical and
military delegations that negotiated details of military, economic and humanitarian
support, but also visits by high-ranking political leaders who made sure that the
stream of aid for Vietnam would not dry up.
In the Polish case, Warsaw was visited regularly by Lê Thanh Nghị, a Politburo
member of the Vietnamese Workers’ Party and deputy prime minister in charge of
industry. He visited Poland for the first time in 1961 as a member of a delegation
led by prime minister Phạm Văn Đồng. After the escalation of the war in the 1960s,
his trips to Warsaw became more frequent, and he met with the Polish communist
leadership practically every year. According to Polish archival files, Lê Thanh Nghị
visited Poland in January and October 1966, June 1968, and October 1969. His
absence in Poland in 1967 can be explained by the visit of a Polish delegation to
Hanoi, headed by PUWP Politburo member and Central Committee secretary Zenon
Kliszko, that met with Lê Duẩn and other Vietnamese leaders in June of that year.
Poland also received at least two official delegations from the National Liberation
Front of South Vietnam.
Reading through the minutes of those meetings, it is striking how the Vietnamese
were always very careful about cultivating proper relations with their hosts and
underlining their admiration and gratitude for Polish support, both as members of
the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Vietnam, and as allies
and providers of aid. Vietnamese diligence can be explained by several factors. Poland
was the largest Soviet satellite in Europe; Polish ships carried materiel not only from
Poland but also Czechoslovakia; and last but not least, even if the ICSC was becoming
more and more irrelevant with each passing year, it still carried some weight in
international relations and remained one of the many fronts in the diplomatic war
Hanoi was waging against the United States.
Furthermore, the Vietnamese were aware of Polish fears that conflict in Vietnam
would turn into a world war, with potentially catastrophic results for Poland. While
that possibility receded somewhat after the United States engaged in a land war
in South Vietnam but limited itself in North Vietnam and in regard to China, the
Hanoi leadership understood that this fear still lingered in the minds of their Polish
counterparts. Driven by this anxiety, but also Polish state interests toward Western
World, Poles tried several times to broker a direct meeting or negotiations between
150 J. Słowiak

the warring sides, with the most well-known example being the top-secret diplo-
matic maneuvers in 1966 known as Operation Marigold and described in depth by
James Hershberg (2012).
Finally, Poland was deeply entrenched in the peaceful coexistence camp of the
USSR and backed Moscow in its rivalry with Beijing. Since China was an indispens-
able ally of Hanoi, especially in the early period of American intervention, this made
political talks on the subject between the Poles and the Vietnamese a delicate matter.
The Vietnamese however had several advantages, or we could say, tools, at their
disposal in the talks with the Poles. Obviously, they could (and did) raise the issue of
fraternal communist solidarity in the face of American aggression. This was treated
very seriously by Gomułka, who, while being a pragmatist, was at the same time
a devout old-school communist. That meant that while he wasn’t happy about the
conflict dragging on, he perceived it as his unavoidable obligation to deliver aid to a
fellow communist country fighting against external assault.
Vietnamese amplified this argument by invoking parallels in the two nations’ past.
And there were plenty of them: subjugation and long occupation by a foreign power,
attempted cultural domination by the occupier, numerous uprisings, and finally, a
seemingly uneven fight against a stronger enemy culminating in regaining inde-
pendence—all of those resonated strongly with Poles, who recalled vividly similar
pictures from their own past. These sentiments were in fact also exploited by Polish
communists in their internal propaganda about the war in Vietnam. Polish commu-
nist propaganda put special emphasis on parallels between the traumatic experience
of German conquest and occupation during World War II, still vividly remembered
in Polish society, and the American way of waging the war in Vietnam. In popular
books describing Vietnam War, tiger cages were compared to Gestapo torture cham-
bers, American bombings of North Vietnam to German terror bombings in 1939,
and pacification of the Vietnamese countryside which involved resettlement of the
population and demolition of villages to similar operations performed by Germans
in occupied Poland.
This propaganda work was actually made easier by the abundance of photos and
film reels produced by the American media that provided visual context and “proof”
of communist claims. The results of this propaganda campaign are hard to gauge since
communist authorities were not conducting any real opinion surveys, but they had
to have some resonance—in the archival files, there is information about grassroots
social fundraisers and medical personnel volunteering to go to Vietnam (AAN 2).
And lastly, Polish participation in the International Commission for Supervision
and Control, while in many ways beneficial to Poland, also tied Polish international
prestige to the situation in Indochina. This was used both by Hanoi and Washington
to put pressure on Warsaw. For example, in a letter sent to Marian Spychalski (Polish
Chairman of the Council of State) on April 7, 1970, President Richard Nixon wrote
that “as a signatory to the 1962 Geneva Accords and a member of the International
Commission for Supervision and Control, your government, bears a special respon-
sibility with regard to the Laos issue” (AAN 3). In turn, North Vietnamese, despite
the declining relevance of the Commission, consistently emphasized the significance
of the work of Poles in the ICSC and also their deep gratitude for these efforts. This
8 Not so Honest Relations: Top-Level Polish-Vietnamese Contacts … 151

was, of course, not only a genuine expression of appreciation or flattery, but also a
way of pressuring Poles to remain engaged in Vietnam.

8.4 Gomułka—Lê Thanh Nghị Meetings

Lê Thanh Nghị’s talks with Władysław Gomułka reveal certain patterns which would
reemerge in the meeting with Lê Duẩn in 1970. The meetings always started with Lê
Thanh Nghị relaying regards and appreciation from Vietnamese top leaders, party,
and nation to his hosts for their steadfast support. Then he presented the Vietnamese
perspective on current developments in Indochina. It is worth noting that the timing
of the visits was not accidental—in 1966 they related to the expansion of the war
in the South, in 1968 with the aftermath of the Tet Offensive, and in 1969 with the
death of Hồ Chí Minh.
After the presentation of the Vietnamese perspective, Gomułka replied in kind
to the regards and thanks delivered by his guest, assuring him of Polish admiration
for the Vietnamese people and unwavering support for their struggle. After that, he
usually moved to comments and presented the Polish perspective, which usually
included a somewhat broader outlook, for example, an evaluation of events in the
Middle East or Europe. This was followed by a conversation on specific topics, such
as the assessment of the current American policy and objectives in Indochina, Polish
assistance, China’s position, etc.
As already mentioned, the Vietnamese side was always very careful to stress their
appreciation of Polish help, for example always remembering to point out Polish work
in the ICSC, even at a time when the international commission no longer played any
meaningful role. Lê Thanh Nghị usually also highlighted the successes of Poland’s
growth under Gomułka’s leadership. This was always downplayed by the Polish
leader, who pointed to numerous difficulties and challenges in the development of
the national economy. Such reaction was not only simple, more or less genuine
modesty (Gomułka was known for his frugal lifestyle); Comrade Wiesław was
aware that behind every compliment about Polish economic growth lurked a poten-
tial request for additional aid to Vietnam. And since the Polish economy struggled
with its own serious problems in the 1960s, Gomułka was torn between his loyalty
toward fellow communists fighting against imperialistic aggression and the fact that
providing support hampered the development of his own country. For example, to
fulfill their obligations to Vietnam, from around 1968, Poles were forced to direct the
ongoing production of their armaments plants to Vietnam, after depleting existing
stocks of weapons and ammunition. This meant serious delays in the modernization
and replenishing of their own armed forces (AMSZ 2).
Providing his own opinions and evaluations, Gomułka always stressed that Poles
had no desire to influence or force decisions taken by their guests, and underlined
that “comrades probably know their own situation better” as he spelled it during a
meeting with Lê Thanh Nghị in 1969 (VNCA 1). However, the Polish side usually
perceived the Vietnamese depiction of the situation in Vietnam as too optimistic,
152 J. Słowiak

especially since the Polish presence on both sides of the 17th Parallel (the location
of the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from the
Republic of Vietnam) allowed Warsaw to independently verify Hanoi’s claims about
the supposed victories in the South and losses inflicted on the American and Saigon
forces. This is worth emphasising, because despite their claims of honesty, even at
these top-level meetings, the Vietnamese presented a mix of truth and outright propa-
ganda. For example, at a meeting in January 1966, in the reality of the rapid increase
of US forces and the escalation of fighting in the South, Lê Thanh Nghị opened his
statement with “above all, I would like to inform you about the victories achieved
recently by the Liberation Army in South Vietnam” (AAN 4). As already mentioned,
Poles had their own sources of information, but usually did not openly challenge the
propaganda claims of their guests. In one rare instance in 1969, Gomułka disputed the
absurdly high number of American losses provided by his interlocutor, to which Lê
Thanh Nghị defended his statement, claiming that he meant all casualties combined
(killed, wounded, missing) and that the numbers came from “secret US data that we
were able to obtain” (VNCA 1).
Over the course of meetings, Gomułka also expressed his worry about the
apparent disregard of the Hanoi leadership for their own losses, both casualties in the
South, and those inflicted by the bombing of North Vietnam. Long-lasting destruc-
tion inflicted on Poland and its population during the Second World War shaped
Gomułka’s opinions on the matter. In an ironic twist, in one Polish report sent back
to Warsaw, the Vietnamese dismissed the danger posed by the American bombing,
citing Polish experience: “So what if they bomb our cities, from which the popula-
tion was evacuated. The capital cities of Warsaw and Pyongyang were completely
razed and they were rebuilt even more beautiful” (AAN 5). Being aware of such
sentiments, the Polish leader cautioned his guests that they should put serious effort
into preserving both their civilian population and military manpower:
The substance of the nation is the most valuable thing. It takes many years to rebuild it. We
know this from our own experience which shapes our attitude and our policy. We know what
it means to lose qualified cadres, scientists, and intelligentsia. This shows later in the future
and creates a worse position compared to those nations that have lost fewer people. I’m
talking about it because you said military victory is decisive. This is right, but you always
have to calculate how much it costs and how much you have to pay for it (VNCA 1).

Poles also thought that their Vietnamese counterparts underestimated American

resolve and the seriousness of Washington’s involvement in Vietnam:
In our opinion, however, neither military spending, although it is large, or considerable loss
of life do not constitute a decisive factor that would force the United States to stop the war,
to withdraw from Vietnam, and to accept a solution based on the ten-point program. (…)
That is why these twenty-thirty billion dollars are not such a burden for the United States
which will break them down and force them to make concessions, lose their prestige, and
surrender. They can bear such burdens for many years, and permanently introduce them into
their budget expenditure… The prestige of the United States is at stake. Total withdrawal
would be a capitulation. This is not even about the loss of Vietnam itself, but about the matter
of the US prestige, which is already torn quite a bit (VNCA 1).
8 Not so Honest Relations: Top-Level Polish-Vietnamese Contacts … 153

One topic that was always a sensitive and a complicated subject for both sides,
was the role of China in the Vietnam War and in the whole communist camp. Beijing
was the most important ally of Hanoi in the first half of the 1960s, and even when the
USSR started to surpass it as the main supplier of military hardware, China remained
influential, providing economic and military aid, anti-aircraft and engineering troops
for protection of the northern parts of DRV, and an ideological position far more in line
with the DRV’s war against the Americans than the peaceful coexistence promoted
by the USSR. While the fact of Chinese support for Hanoi was well known even
during the conflict, the real scale of Beijing’s effort has only recently been revealed
by scholarship about its support—political, economic (Zhai 2000), and especially
military (Li 2020).
In contrast, the People’s Republic of Poland was firmly entrenched in the Soviet
camp. It depended on Moscow’s protection of its western border with Germany,
sincerely advocated the easing of international tensions, and looked with anxiety at
Beijing’s belligerent rhetoric and confrontational attitude both outside and inside of
the communist camp. In Polish-Vietnamese talks, the subject of China came up in
1966, but both sides, understanding their differences on the topic, did not push for
in-depth discussion.
The Tet Offensive in 1968, despite being a military disaster for the communist
side, turned out to be a political and propaganda victory for Hanoi. However, this
success came with a price and a new set of risks. As Pierre Asselin convincingly
argues, the North Vietnamese agreement to start peace talks in 1968 never meant
they actually wanted to negotiate a peace agreement in Paris at that point (Asselin
2018). For Hanoi, those talks were only another diplomatic front that was supposed
to corner the United States and at the same time please Moscow, which has been
trying to persuade the Vietnamese to resolve the conflict diplomatically for a long
time (Gaiduk 1996).
However, it turned out that this charade also carried considerable risks. Beijing
vehemently opposed any kind of diplomatic solution and saw the Vietnamese deci-
sion to open negotiations as a clear sign that Hanoi was leaning into Moscow-style
defeatism. Mao’s suspicions were not alleviated by Vietnamese assurances that the
Paris talks were only a deception to put the United States in a disadvantageous inter-
national position, and in 1969–1970 Beijing reduced the volume of aid and pulled
out from the North Vietnam the bulk of the Chinese anti-air and engineering troops.
On the other hand, inconclusive, drawn-out negotiations were also testing the
patience of Hanoi’s allies from the Eastern Bloc, where most countries, Poland
included, were eagerly waiting for a negotiated end to the war. With each passing
month, their patience—and willingness to contribute to the Vietnamese war effort—
was wearing thinner, especially when it became more and more obvious that the lack
of results in Paris could not be blamed solely on Washington.
Two additional events from 1969 put Hanoi in an even more precarious position.
First was the short but fierce border conflict between the USSR and China in March,
which threatened to divert the world’s attention away from Vietnam and ignite a full-
scale conflict between the two main sponsors of the DRV. The second was the death
of Hồ Chí Minh in September. Although sidelined from actual power by Lê Duẩn
154 J. Słowiak

since 1964, the Vietnamese President was still a potent symbol of the Vietnamese
struggle, especially abroad. His passing dealt a severe blow to the DRV’s cause and
the loss of a formidable diplomatic tool, particularly in regard to communist and
Third World countries.
Considering all the above, it is no wonder that North Vietnamese, Lê Duẩn
included, had to put much more effort into maintaining relations with their allies.
After Moscow decided to slash military aid for North Vietnam in 1970, alarm bells
rang in Hanoi, since the Vietnamese Politburo was painfully aware that any reduction
of USSR aid most likely meant that other Eastern Bloc countries would soon follow
suit. This seems to be the main reason behind the sudden and unexpected arrival of
Lê Duẩn in Warsaw in April 1970.

8.5 Lê Duẩn’s Visit to Warsaw

The Vietnamese Workers’ Party First Secretary was on an official visit in Moscow,
when, on April 25th, the Polish embassy in Hanoi was informed that Lê Duẩn would
like to come to Poland on the 27th or 28th of April for a short vacation. The Viet-
namese asked for discretion, which was interpreted by the Foreign Department of
PUWP as a sign that the visit would have an unofficial character (AAN 6). The Polish
leadership customarily invited Vietnamese leaders to visit Poland for the purpose of
leisure, but this was a courtesy offer the Vietnamese rarely took up, especially on
such short notice.
Still, preliminary plans of the visit were quickly drawn up: they envisaged a
short stay in Warsaw and then sending Lê Duẩn and his entourage to a state-owned
recreational complex in Łańsk, and a draft list was compiled of people who would
welcome Lê Duẩn at the airport and take part in a possible meeting with Władysław
Gomułka. A telegram from the Vietnamese embassy in Moscow followed the same
day, in which Lê Duẩn transmitted thanks for the invitation. He informed his hosts
that he and a delegation of fifteen would most likely arrive on the 28th and stay for
ten days (AAN 7).
Then the events took a curious turn: on the 27th of April, a day before Lê Duẩn’s
scheduled arrival, the Polish embassy in Moscow was suddenly informed by the
Vietnamese that while the visit would remain unofficial, nevertheless it was “not for
leisure but to discuss with our leadership the issues they are interested in” (AAN 8).
Lê Duẩn also asked for a chance to visit several industrial and agricultural facilities.
Considering the late notification and the sudden change of the purpose of the visit,
it seems that the Vietnamese hoped to catch the Polish leadership off guard and to
discuss several important subjects before their hosts would have the time to prepare
themselves substantively to counter possible Vietnamese arguments.
If the Vietnamese had intended to surprise the Poles, it probably had little effect.
Warsaw apparently anticipated the expansion of Vietnamese demands from prior top-
level conversations and planned the visit accordingly. The meeting with Gomułka
was scheduled to take place on 5 May, after several days of Lê Duẩn touring various
8 Not so Honest Relations: Top-Level Polish-Vietnamese Contacts … 155

industrial and agricultural plants and meeting with Vietnamese students in Poland. In
addition, in the meantime, the American invasion of Cambodia started, which forced
Lê Duẩn to cut his visit short and probably disrupted his focus on European affairs.
The meeting between the two leaders took place in the headquarters of the Central
Committee of PUWP in Warsaw and lasted almost three hours. It was also attended
by Zenon Kliszko, a politburo member and Gomułka’s right-hand man, and Józef
Czesak, head of the Foreign Department of the PUWP. They discussed four main
topics: the situation in Cambodia, the United States, China, and Polish support for
Vietnam.
The meeting started with Gomułka’s request for an explanation of the situation
in Cambodia. Lê Duẩn claimed that they were more surprised by the Lon Nol coup
against Prince Norodom Sihanouk in March than the American invasion itself, which
they anticipated for some time. The Vietnamese leader assured his hosts that South
Vietnamese and American thrusts were directed in the wrong places, that they made a
mistake and attacked empty regions. He then claimed that the Vietnamese will “open
the gate, we will let them through, and then we will attack” (VNCA 1). Lê Duẩn
furthermore claimed that the extension of the war to Cambodia was only another
American blunder, that they had suffered a string of defeats in this war and that
this was another mistake that would turn into another disaster. This is a similar line
that Lê Thanh Nghị presented to Gomułka at the beginning of the war and during
their meetings in 1968 and 1969. Although it is understandable that the Vietnamese
wanted to sell the optimistic vision of their struggle, it is still a bit surprising how
dishonest sometimes they were toward their own allies, especially on such a high
level as during meeting with a fellow first secretary. Gomułka did not challenge
Lê Duẩn’s evaluation of the whole war and the ongoing Cambodian incursion, but
from his follow-up questions, we can sense that he wasn’t 100% convinced by the
vision presented by his interlocutor. Gomułka asked several more detailed questions,
which indicated his deeper insight into the subject, but yet concluded on the topic of
Cambodia with the remark “I thank comrade Lê Duẩn very much for such interesting
information. We were not well-versed on how things are developing in Cambodia”
(VNCA 1). Given that the Poles were getting their information through the ICSC in
Saigon and also had their own embassy in Phnom Penh, Gomułka was most likely
as “well-versed” on the topic as it was possible at the time.
Both sides differed in their evaluation of the US. Lê Duẩn presented the opinion
that the war in Vietnam was only a first step in the global American attack on the
whole socialist world, that “planned to shatter the gains of socialism in North Vietnam
and to attack socialist China,” which was prevented only by the heroic defiance of
the DRV. Lê Duẩn was adamant in his opinion that Americans were suffering only
defeats in Vietnam, and that they were not able to sustain the costly war, while North
Vietnam was able to keep fighting for the next four-five years or longer, and that
this would not interfere with its development. The Vietnamese first secretary also
restated the assertion that annual conscription rates for the PAVN far exceeded the
casualties they were suffering in the struggle to liberate the South. Lê Duẩn claimed
annual casualties at the 50–60,000 level, while in North Vietnam they conscripted
150,000 men each year, and as such, Vietnamese casualties were not a problem.
156 J. Słowiak

We can only imagine how such an argument was received by Gomułka, who rarely
missed an opportunity to caution the Vietnamese against the needless loss of life, as
was already pointed out above.
Gomułka was much more cautious in his estimate of both US potential and will,
and cautioned that Nixon still had almost two years to try and force a military solution
of the conflict before the presidential election might push him to seek a diplomatic
solution. Even though he admitted that in the context of Cambodia, “Americans
were wrong in all of their calculations,” he warned that this would not force the
US to pull out, but only to consider other options. Gomułka also cautioned against
overestimating the role of elections in the United States, pointing out that Nixon had
de facto continued the policies of previous presidents. In his opinion, the United States
had invested too much prestige to be able to afford an outright failure in Vietnam, and
as such Lê Duẩn should consider other strategies for ending the conflict. Gomułka
also cautioned his counterpart that airstrikes on North Vietnam could resume at
any time. For Gomulka, Nixon had decided to expand the war to Cambodia simply
because he had the military capacity and because he felt that the divided socialist
camp was no longer a threat. This assertion led naturally to a discussion of China.
The Poles laid the blame for the lack of unity of the socialist camp solely on
Beijing. Gomułka was clearly emotional about the issue, recalling that “we even
took initiatives, comrade Kliszko was in Beijing, but we were met only with insults.”
While the souring of Vietnamese relations with the PRC in 1968 meant that Lê Duẩn
seemed more receptive to the Polish position, nevertheless he refused to condemn
China openly. He agreed that the lack of a united front between the PRC and USSR
benefited the United States and that there was a group in Beijing motivated by an
“anti-Soviet spirit” that sought to prevent a consensus between the two Socialist
nations. Both first secretaries agreed that the Chinese stance on the Warsaw Pact
intervention in Czechoslovakia in 1968 was wrong and that the decision made by
Moscow and its allies was the right one. Clearly frustrated, Gomułka declared at
one point: “Just as your victories in Vietnam are our victories in Europe, our defeats
in Europe are your defeats in Vietnam. Do Chinese comrades not understand this?”
Still, both sides of the conversation tried to find some glimmers of hope in the recent
May Day celebrations in Beijing, during which the critique of Poland and the USSR
was supposedly much milder than in previous years.
Lê Duẩn knew about Polish intentions to reduce the amount of aid sent to Vietnam,
and it is safe to say that one of the main reasons behind his sudden visit to Warsaw
was an effort to prevent this from happening. After Gomułka asked if Lê Duẩn had
any questions, the first secretary complained about various economic difficulties in
North Vietnam and bluntly asked the Poles to design, construct and operate a coal
mine in Vietnam. However, he soon found himself on the defensive. The Poles had
clearly anticipated such a request, and Gomułka quickly cornered his interlocutor
with a series of technical questions and advice provided on the spot. Gomułka was
clearly prepared for this subject to appear and determined to deflect any definitive
commitment, suggesting for example, that Hanoi should seize the opportunity of
investment by Japan mentioned during the talk. In the end, the topic of coal mines
was dropped without any commitment from the Polish side.
8 Not so Honest Relations: Top-Level Polish-Vietnamese Contacts … 157

Lê Duẩn’s other requests for aid, veiled behind praise for various Polish achieve-
ments such as the reconstruction of Warsaw after the city’s destruction during
World War II were not any more successful. Gomułka countered Lê Duẩn’s compli-
ments with showcase modesty, denying Poland deserved such extravagant praise and
underlining the various challenges and difficulties still to be overcome.
Clearly, Lê Duẩn’s meeting with Gomulka had not gone how he hoped for. His
personal, albeit hidden frustration, manifested itself during his closing statements.
While profusely thanking his host for material and moral support, the Vietnamese
leader at one point described that, among many things he saw during his short time
in Poland, was also “how independently [Polish] peasants work.” This seemingly
innocuous remark was actually a jab at his host. Gomulka’s decision to halt the
collectivization of agriculture and the resulting independence of Polish peasants
was perceived as a dangerous deviation from communist norms in other “fraternal
countries” by many communist leaders. Lê Duẩn’s veiled criticism was recognized
and clearly annoyed his host, and Gomulka dismissed the remark as a “subject specific
to us… We have our own policy, adapted to our conditions and capabilities” (VNCA
1). Communist fraternity, it would seem, only went so far.
The verbal sparring of the two leaders reflected the underlying political and
economic realities of relations between the two countries. Despite Lê Duẩn’s personal
appeals, Polish officials proceeded with plans to reduce their aid budget to Vietnam
for 1971. While this ultimately did not happen—Polish aid remained on the level
of the previous year—that was driven by the decision by the USSR to increase its
own support to North Vietnam, making any reduction by its Eastern Bloc allies
impossible.

8.6 Conclusion

In the end, the reduction of aid provided by the Poles, so feared by the Vietnamese,
did not happen. However, this was not the result of Lê Duẩn’s clearly unsatisfactory
talks with Gomułka. Nor was it the effect of Gomułka’s ousting from power after
the 1970 Polish protest in December of that year. It simply turned out that the USSR
instead of reducing, actually increased the aid provided to Hanoi in 1971, and all
Moscow’s European satellites had to follow suit, or at least not reduce the earlier
amount, as was the Polish case.
Yet even if Lê Duẩn’s visit was unsuccessful, in combination with earlier visits
by Lê Thanh Nghị it is still an interesting case study of the way Hanoi managed
its relations with other members of the communist bloc. As it turns out, even a
theoretically close and trusted ally like Poland was not really treated with much
trust. While some of this mistrust can be explained both by the Vietnamese experience
of being exploited by external powers and additional lingering suspicion of Poles
dating back to 1956, it is still surprising that even in the very top-level meetings
Vietnamese often served their partners sometimes blatantly obvious propaganda. This
158 J. Słowiak

tactic makes even less sense if we consider that Poles, being present in Vietnam below
the 17th Parallel, had the means to verify many of Hanoi’s claims.
Despite that, based on archival material, it seems that the North Vietnamese used
propaganda (or to be more precise: victory propaganda) against all of their allies,
Poland included, just as much as they employed it against the rest of the world. Most
likely Hanoi was afraid that showing any sign of weakness or setback would be
used against it, i.e., used by its allies as leverage to force the Vietnamese to accept a
diplomatic solution and robbing them of the fruits of their struggle. In effect, Hanoi
had to maintain the narrative about both constant sacrifice (to ask for aid or for an
increase of it) and a stream of victories (to prove the aid is working and as such,
is still needed). Historical similarities with Poles were from this perspective a very
useful tool to exploit, alongside communist fraternity.
For their part, Poles were in a sort of trap. While they felt genuine sympathy
for the Vietnamese struggle, at the same time the drawn-out conflict was a problem
for them, hurting Poland economically and politically while providing very limited
benefits. But their “fraternal duty” of supporting fellow communist countries and the
scale of this support depended more on decisions taken in Moscow, than by Poles
themselves.
In the end, the Vietnamese knew that Poles could not challenge their propaganda
claims (at least openly) because that would go against the whole communist narrative
about the Vietnam War, and as a cog in the machine of the Warsaw Pact, Warsaw
could not do that. At the same time, the Poles accepted that they would have to send
aid to Vietnam as long as the Kremlin deemed so necessary, but that did not stop
them from searching for ways to reduce the burden, like trying to arrange for peace
negotiations between the warring sides.
Internal differences in communist ideology added an extra layer to those rela-
tions. Socialist countries differed from each other, just like there were no two iden-
tical democracies in the West. Still, for the outside world, the Eastern Bloc usually
tried to present an image of unity and harmony, despite sometimes serious differ-
ences that actually influenced their real relations. In the case of Poland and North
Vietnam, Gomułka’s “deviations from the proper line,” like individual farmers, were
not forgotten even a decade later, as we can see from the jab Lê Duẩn took at his
host in 1970. On the other hand, Poles were not exactly enthusiasts of Vietnamese
war communism, especially their apparent disregard for the loss of human life, and
their close ideological ties with Beijing. However, in the end, despite all those differ-
ences, and probably with a fake or forced smile from time to time, Warsaw and Hanoi
cooperated with each other.
8 Not so Honest Relations: Top-Level Polish-Vietnamese Contacts … 159

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Jarema Słowiak is an assistant professor at the Institute of History at Jagiellonian University in

Kraków, Poland. His main research interests are military history, diplomatic history, and the period
of the Cold War, with a focus on conflicts in Indochina. His last book on Polish participation
in the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Vietnam received an honorable
mention in the sixth edition of the Foreign Minister’s Competition for best publications promoting
the history of Polish diplomacy and Poland.
8 Not so Honest Relations: Top-Level Polish-Vietnamese Contacts … 161

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder.
Chapter 9
New Voices in a New World—Media
Portrayal of the Experiences of German
Reunification in 1990 by Vietnamese
Contract Workers in East Germany

Julia L. Behrens and Nikolai Okunew

9.1 Introduction

2022 marks the thirtieth anniversary of a pogrom in Rostock-Lichtenhagen. In August

of that year, neo-Nazis attacked the “Sunflower house” in the northeastern city of
Rostock which was the home to former Vietnamese contract workers and other
migrants, like Sinti and Roma. Cheered on by local German residents and without
intervention by the police, the attackers not only threw stones but also broke in and
set fire to a house. Thanks only to the skills and calm reaction of the 150 inhabitants,
who were able to make an escape route to a neighboring house, no one was killed.
This incident deeply shaped the experience of the years after reunification of non-
white Germans and migrants. Until now, their perspective has been largely absent
from the historiography of the period.
At the time of what would be called German reunification, around 59,000 Viet-
namese contract workers lived in East Germany (Dennis 2007). Contract workers
originated from “socialist brother states,” mostly from Angola, Mozambique and
Vietnam. Sociologist Steffen Mau described the East German transformation of
1989/1990 as a societal “tsunami” and 1990 as a “year of anarchy” (Mau 2019).
But like natural disasters, the “Wende” (turning point) affected different people
in different ways and the positive sides of the anarchy turned into discriminatory
and racist experiences for others. It comes as no surprise, then, that the experience

J. L. Behrens (B)
VLab Berlin, Berlin, Germany
e-mail: julia.behrens@vlabberlin.de
N. Okunew
Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History in Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
e-mail: okunew@zzf-potsdam.de

© The Author(s) 2024 163

L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges (eds.), Vietnam Over the Long Twentieth Century, Global
Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3611-9_9
164 J. L. Behrens and N. Okunew

of Vietnamese migrant workers in the East, the focus of this paper, differs from
the ones of native-born Germans (Plamper 2019). Today, the latter tend to choose
elegiac terms to describe the dreamlike atmosphere of the “peaceful revolution.”
By contrast, migrant experiences were dominated by a specter of uncertainty and a
collapsing social space while being devoid of any compensatory delight in a posi-
tive narrative of the German nation (Long 2017). 1990 was a turning point in world
history and for “socialist cosmopolite workers” alike (Schwenkel 2014), and with
this paper we seek to contribute to a more diverse re-telling of 1990.
This paper examines the meaning of the changes after the Peaceful Revolution
of 1989 in Germany and beyond for the Vietnamese migrant workers in the East in
their host as well as their sending country through archival work and media analysis.
By analyzing East German (German Democratic Republic; GDR) print media, TV
programming, and the radio show “Tiếng quê hương” (Voice of Home), which was
broadcast in Vietnamese by GDR state radio in the year 1990, we show that the year
of 1990 was a year of displacement, of the renegotiation of citizenship, and a chance
for democratization for the Vietnamese migrant workers. By focusing on the reports
in different media outlets, we show how the experiences of this year by Vietnamese
migrant workers were portrayed, and we draw a conclusion regarding changes in
reporting in a new media landscape. Print media from 1990 and TV reports from 1990
to 1992 illustrate that without the ruling party’s authoritarianism, GDR journalists
contested grandiose claims of international solidarity. Instead, during the “short year
of anarchy” they arrived, for the first time, at programs openly addressing the needs
of Vietnamese migrant workers in the fading state. Ultimately, however, they were
unable, or unwilling, to integrate the experiences and aspirations of Vietnamese living
in Germany into the emerging narrative of the experience of 1990.

9.2 Labor Migration in the GDR and East Europe

Labor migrants played a crucial role in keeping the economy of socialist Europe
running. Migrants came from socialist brother states both within Eastern European
and overseas from places like Vietnam, Mozambique, Cuba, and Angola. In theory,
contract workers were to be a triple win for the sending countries, which would
offload responsibility for educating and qualifying their workers and have fewer
people to feed in times of war and hardship. Further, while they were away, migrant
workers would send much-needed industrial goods and financial aid to their home
countries, and at the end of their contract they would return with newly acquired
skills and expertise. For example, Cuba initially decided not to send workers abroad
to not politically become dependent on the Soviet Union but in the 1970s, joined these
programs in order to reduce unemployment (Bortlová-Vondráková and Szente-Varga
2021).
For the receiving countries, contract workers were a chance to address the lack of
labor in their own countries and find laborers who would do the jobs their own citizens
refused to do. For East Germany and Czechoslovakia, foreign contract workers were
9 New Voices in a New World—Media Portrayal of the Experiences … 165

mainly a solution to the problem of labor shortages after they had already mobilized
internal available groups for labor (students, soldiers, convicts, women) (Klipa 2022).
The GDR suffered from labor shortages from the earliest years of its existence. The
main reason for the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 was exactly to stem the
outpouring of workers. Until 1961, young workers in particular left the GDR for the
West when given a chance (Kohli 1994). In early 1990, this prior movement of East
German laborers would be mirrored by Vietnamese moving to West Berlin, some
3500 in the spring of that year (Doc. 19).
Already in the 1960s, the labor shortage in the GDR was compensated for by
contract workers, but their numbers would grow massively in the 1980s after a policy
shift that prioritized quantity over quality of work due to the changing dynamics of
the Cold War and Poland raising the price for their workers abroad significantly
(Klipa 2022; Weiss 2012). At the same time, economic development had led to an
increase in the qualification of the East German workforce. An adverse effect was
their rejection of low skilled jobs. Thus, an ever-growing shortage of lower-skilled
labor constituted one of the driving forces behind the treaties with Mozambique
and Vietnam. Both debt-ridden countries had labor surpluses which they exported
to East Germany in exchange for state-sponsored education and loans (Paul 1999).
East Germans started moving on from physically demanding jobs, which they left
for the newly arrived migrant workers (Poutrus 2020a). In total, the GDR recruited
about 70,000 Vietnamese workers (Schaland and Schmiz 2015).
The motivation for individuals to become contract workers was emotionally and
economically driven. The Vietnamese contract workers themselves described their
stay abroad as an opportunity to make money and to see the world. Looking back, and
in comparison to the 1990s, many describe their time in the GDR before reunification
as “happy” (Schwenkel 2014). For Mozambiquan workers, long-distance migration
for work became a rite of passage toward adulthood after which they would be able
to contribute in meaningful ways to their home country (Allina 2018; Alamgir 2018).
Alamgir (2018) points out that these motivations but also the commodified flexible
treatment of the workers is similar to the realities of labor migrants in capitalist
countries until today. In both cases precarity and limited welfare provisions are
acceptable risks.
Based on their interests, the sending and receiving states negotiated the employ-
ment conditions of the contract workers, which turned out differently from country
to country, in some cases under the influence of workers’ actions and demands. The
treaty between the GDR and Vietnam was an agreement between the Marxist-Leninist
ruling party, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei
Deutschlands; SED), in East Germany and the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)
in which the German side dictated many of the rules. By contrast, with Czechoslo-
vakia Vietnam had more bargaining power and was therefore able to negotiate better
working conditions: higher wages, safer jobs, maternity benefits equal to the ones
of Czechoslovakian women, all with the help of the pressure that potential strikes of
their workers posed on the ground (Alamgir 2017a). Strikingly, there are indications
that collective actions by the migrant workers were more frequent than previously
thought. When, for example, in early 1989 authorities threatened to tighten export
166 J. L. Behrens and N. Okunew

regulations, Vietnamese workers threatened to strike until the party abandoned these
plans. In Czechoslovakia, Alamgir (2017a) further describes how Vietnamese used
the tactic of unexcused absenteeism to win different work placements. For the future,
it would be rewarding to track down those examples of collective actions in the
scattered sources and place them in the broader context of the last decade of state
socialism in Europe.
In the case of the GDR, although the party’s influence on the ground was waning
(Alamgir 2017a), a number of drastic measures were kept in place. Women were not
allowed to become pregnant, and if they did, they had to choose between deportation
or abortion. Prior to 1989, Vietnamese workers were obliged to live in crowded
workers homes in which they shared rooms with compatriots, only 5 m2 were assigned
per person. The state directly subsidized these homes, which the employers provided
(Arndt 2012). Neither residents nor visitors could enter them without regulation and
record keeping. The same applies to other institutions like state-owned youth clubs.
Many of these pubs and nightclubs refused entry to Vietnamese, who responded by
spending their leisure time in public places like parks, streets, and train stations.
Despite these conditions, around 70,000 workers arrived in the GDR, most of them
in the second half of the 1980s (Dennis 2017).
Before 1990, “international solidarity” was an important discursive element which
not only helped to explain the “comrade of color” to East Germans but also the
existence of the GDR itself and its dependence on the Soviet Union (Schüle 2002).
But this claim of solidarity was over-shadowed by the self-portrayal of the GDR that
saw itself as benevolent and superior to other states by providing a place for labor
instead of sending their people away themselves (Saunders 2003). The GDR citizens
echoed this notion and it would live on, at least in the media-discourse, after 1990.
Furthermore, despite these claims of solidarity, workers suffered from policies of
social segregation and differences in benefits. In the GDR, there was a “Kontaktver-
bot” (contact ban). Private contacts between Vietnamese and Germans were severely
restricted for the interest of both countries, because the GDR authorities focused on
productivity and a successful return to the home country (Zatlin 2007). No German
courses were offered consequently except for designated translators. In contrast,
Hungary and Czechoslovakia provided for compulsory language classes and Hungary
set the same standards and obligations to their own citizens and foreign workers in
wages and benefits (Bortlová-Vondráková and Szente-Varga 2021). However, in the
GDR, limited opportunities for personal exchange, along with different pay scales,
compensation, and benefits all contributed to the othering of migrant workers (Zatlin
2007). Although the political framework for segregation varied, social segregation
and a lack of personal ties was both a reason and a consequence of racism across
all countries. On top of that, racism with its roots in Germany’s colonial past kept
stereotypes about black people and other people of color alive and fueled racism in
the growing skinhead-subculture (Botsch 2012).
A final factor contributing to racism was economic competition. Recent research
has revealed the existence of a transnational Vietnamese migrant economy well
before 1990 (Hüwelmeier 2017; Alamgir 2017a). As part of these transnational
networks, Vietnamese in East Germany spent large sums on consumer goods that they
9 New Voices in a New World—Media Portrayal of the Experiences … 167

then sent to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. They bought certain consumer goods
in Germany, for example, like sewing machines and mopeds, scarcely available at
home, and sent them in bulk to their families. Changing the rules of this part of the
migrant economy threatened the implicit societal contract between foreign workers
and the East German authorities (Dennis 2017; Poutrus 2020a). At the same time,
ordinary Germans often observed foreign workers buying consumer goods like bikes
or hi-fi-equipment, which further strengthened the image of the over-privileged and
undeserving migrant worker (Poutrus 2020a). Similar dynamics were at play with
white East European citizens, above all Polish workers and even tourists, who had
the same access to consumer goods that GDR citizens lacked (Zatlin 2007). Given
that the ability to purchase these products was an important factor in the workers’
decision to work in Europe, policies intended to limit the practice were an object of
contention, both at the level of the sending and receiving states and at the level of
the workers themselves. This would be an ongoing issue in the GDR and to a larger
extent in neighboring Czechoslovakia (Alamgir 2017b).
Contracts for sending workers between European and African and Asian countries
differed from case to case. They were, however, all connected by the goals to create
a win–win-win situation for the sending and receiving countries as well as for the
workers themselves. Overall, the negotiation power of all those three actors was
strong enough to indeed reach a positive outcome for all sides, even if the workers
had to suffer from hardship. Drawing from the living conditions of Vietnamese in
the GDR, it becomes apparent that the claim of solidarity for the contract worker
program was mainly that, a claim, that covered the reality of economic goals that
were at the forefront. This motive rose to the surface during German reunification,
too, when economic concerns from the German side and racism characterized the
experience of Vietnamese contract workers. They in return showed their own agency
and will to negotiate the new political realities both in Germany and in Vietnam as
we will show in this chapter.

9.3 Vietnamese Contract Workers, German Media,

and Tiếng Quê Hương

For most of the GRD’s existence, a public sphere in the narrow sense did not
exist. The state-socialist understanding of journalism muted most voices, including
those of migrant workers. Therefore, Vietnamese voices appear only rarely in offi-
cial discourse. However, the GDRs media landscape changed rapidly during the
autumn of 1989, establishing new modes of public discourse which now included
marginalized groups. It is this expanded public sphere that we set out to explore.
For this chapter, we analyzed sources that together cover television, print media,
and radio. One source was German Television Broadcasting (Deutscher Fernsehfunk,
or DFF) accessed through the television database of the German Broadcasting Service
(ARD or FESAD). The DFF is an artifact of the GDR media system and its transition
168 J. L. Behrens and N. Okunew

to the system of the Federal Republic. During its short existence from 1990 to 1992,
the DFF mainly reported on issues concerning people in East Germany, including
the tens of thousands of migrant workers. In addition to the DDF, we analyzed East
German print media from the same period. Using the ZEFYS portal of the Berlin
State Library we searched the four main GDR newspapers in the years 1989–1992
and found sixty-nine articles covering legal and social issues directly connected
to Vietnamese migrant workers. We analyze those articles qualitatively and cite
twenty-six of them in this paper. We chose lengthy articles that report in depth on
the transformation of the Vietnamese working environment during 1989–1990 and
did not include pieces that refer to or are extractions of the in-depth articles.
Our richest source for the portrayal of Vietnamese contract workers’ experiences
of German reunification, however, was the radio program Tiếng quê hương. The
program was a Vietnamese-language variety program aimed at contract workers
living in East Germany broadcast by the GDR state radio for a short span in 1990.
The show is stored in the GDR broadcast archives in Potsdam-Babelsberg (DRA)
and was found by accident when researching the history of metal music in the GDR.
No written sources on Tiếng quê hương seem to have survived in the DRA. Not being
able to understand the show, even the archivist did not know what it was about. Thus,
we want to express our gratitude to Petra Pham, one of the show’s hosts, for helping
us recreate the history of the program.
Tiếng quê hương aired once a week and each episode lasted about one hour. A
man who introduced himself as Hòa and a woman named Petra were the hosts. This
Vietnamese-German duo symbolized the transnational character of the program,
which covered news and commentary from both the GDR and Vietnam. After
surveying the recordings, we selected five exemplary episodes for transcription and
translation. These episodes deal with issues central to the program and the reporting
on Vietnamese migrant workers in East Germany during 1990–1992.
The following reconstruction of its origins is based on an email exchange with
Petra Pham, the former host of the show. During the summer of 1989, the Vietnamese
embassy approached scholars in the GDR expressing the wish to communicate to
migrant workers in their own language. Through Humboldt University, the officials
found Petra Pham who had graduated in regional studies in 1985 after studying
Laotian. After marrying a Vietnamese resident in Germany, Pham exclusively worked
in fields demanding her to be fluent in Vietnamese, a language that she had not studied
but in which she still became proficient after some time and with the help of her
husband and other Vietnamese friends. Pham recalls how in 1989, the Vietnamese
government wanted to take care of its citizens in the GDR by providing a radio show.
Because GDR planners had already placed all graduates in Vietnam Studies in the
small number of jobs destined for them, this made Pham one of the few people with
the requisite language skills available for the position.
The show was an innovation in the East German media landscape. While it may
not have given full agency to its target group, through its choice of language alone, the
broadcast made space for Vietnamese perspectives on the historic time. The program
was created for a long-neglected target audience and explicitly tried to address its
needs and concerns. Yet the show never took the last step to hand over authority to
9 New Voices in a New World—Media Portrayal of the Experiences … 169

Vietnamese let alone contract workers. Early on, East German publication standards
still applied to Tiếng quê hương and so the chief editor had the last word on the
German written script. Put bluntly, remnants of the state media apparatus were still
in charge.
In early episodes, Pham copied reports from the official Vietnamese news agency
mixed in with Vietnamese music from her private tape collection. Additionally, she
conducted interviews with Vietnamese workers like those producing clothes for West-
erns companies like C&A. During the last year of the GDR, censorship loosened,
and Pham introduced a Vietnamese friend in Germany, named Đinh Quang Hòa as
co-host. Further expanding the number of Vietnamese voices, in 1990 they collabo-
rated with official Vietnamese broadcasters to produce several smaller reports from
Vietnam that were sent to Berlin via phone.
Reflecting the almost DIY-approach to the show, the episodes have a rough struc-
ture and vary considerably in terms of content. Usually, an episode would start
with a theme, such as an in-depth report of an event or a current discussion, which
would then be followed by news from both Germany and Vietnam. Pham structured
the episodes with intermittent Vietnamese songs, which ranged from patriotic war
music to traditional music to the newest pop songs. The end of an episode was devoted
to “logistics”: important contacts for people seeking help in East Germany’s trans-
forming society, suggestions for events, asking people to take part in the radio show
by writing letters, etc. Broadly speaking, Tiếng quê hương resembled the majority
of programs broadcast in the GDR during the late 1980s and early 1990s (Stahl
2013). Yet not every episode would follow this structure. For example, one might
only feature music, or another might consist of reading poems written and sent in by
listeners. The hosts justified this break from the usual pattern by citing letters from
the audience demanding a change or by stating that the people also deserved a change
and something happy in times of hardship. In fact, by this time such strategies were
well established in socialist state media which, to compete with Western stations,
sought to create the impression that the audience had an influence on the program
(Arnold and Classen 2004). Tiếng quê hương therefore was a German media tool
with Vietnamese influence.
From our analysis of GDR media, two key themes emerge. First, Vietnamese
contract workers in East Germany had their own experiences of German reunifica-
tion, which were characterized by displacement and by questions of citizenship and
democracy. While these would also have shaped the experiences of East Germans
at the time, for Vietnamese they took on added salience and new meanings because
of their position within and between the home and host country. Second, the period
saw East German media reporting on issues of discrimination and racism that had
previously been taboo. For the first time, Vietnamese were able to speak publicly
about issues that had long structured their existence in the GDR, and which, in the
“year of anarchy” were becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. In what follows,
we discuss these two key topics in detail.
170 J. L. Behrens and N. Okunew

9.4 Displacement

As reunification became a new German reality, two things rapidly became apparent.
First, that reunification would happen on the legal terms of the Federal Republic
of Germany; and second, that concerns of the migrant population in East Germany
were not high on the agenda of political decision-makers (Schmidt 1992; Poutrus
2020b). Since the vast majority of Vietnamese contract workers did not gain GDR
citizenship during their stay, they were thrown into a legal gray-zone: would West
Germany honor the treaties between the GDR and the brother states that brought
Vietnamese and other workers into the country? Not knowing if the government of
the reunified Germany would allow them to stay, and if so under what conditions,
Vietnamese workers found themselves in a legal limbo. “Fear,” as one TV report
from the fall of 1990 put it “had become a constant companion” (Doc. 27).
In short, the legal and social situation of Vietnamese migrant workers in 1990 was
dire, complex, and highly volatile. The uncertainty at the level of the state and the
overall legal status of Vietnamese workers was mirrored at the level of the firm and
the individual. With the rapid collapse of the GDR during and after the autumn of
1989, any oversight of state-owned businesses disappeared. Often for the first time
in their lives managers of these firms had initiative and responsibility. With the status
of Vietnamese workers in theory protected by intergovernmental treaties, GDR busi-
nesses had only limited authority to dissolve working contracts with Vietnamese, the
last of which were valid until 1994. Nevertheless, with German workers threatening
to go on strike or “spill blood” if one German lost their job before the last foreigner
was fired (Doc. 10; Doc. 11), it was inevitable that Vietnamese would be among
the first victims of managers’ desperate efforts to keep their enterprises afloat in a
collapsing economy. One estimate holds that by the end of 1990, sixty percent of all
foreign workers lost their jobs (Sextro 1996). Thus, many of the firings in 1990 were
unlawful (Doc. 8; Doc. 18; Doc. 21).
Additionally, the state stopped subsidizing migrant homes, which caused the busi-
nesses owning these homes to sometimes quadruple the rents asked from migrant
workers (Doc. 17; Doc. 23; Doc. 24). As a result, many workers lost both their jobs
and their homes in a matter of weeks. A considerable number of them began working
at street markets selling falsified consumer goods (see Photo 9.1), many of which
were provided by Vietnamese working in Eastern Europe and arriving in Germany
via pre-existing migrant networks (Doc. 5; Doc. 6; Doc. 15).
In the spring of 1990, it became apparent that West German laws would become
the laws of the land in the former GDR. Yet it was unclear how existing asylum
laws would be applied to the radically new context. West German asylum laws after
1949 originally followed a very liberal approach intended to provide security from
political persecution to refugees. During the Cold War, Western politicians imagined
those refugees as East Germans escaping the oppressive communist dictatorship.
The asylum laws consequently were not drafted to accommodate refugees fleeing
from crises in the global south but to help East Germans fleeing from communism
(Su 2017). By the 1980s, when foreign crises seemed to move closer and closer to
9 New Voices in a New World—Media Portrayal of the Experiences … 171

Photo 9.1 Facing unemployment but relying on transnational networks some Vietnamese opened
illegal street markets. A new phenomenon in East Berlin. Source Doc. 27; TC 17:12:25

the Federal Republic of Germany, the asylum laws became an intensely discussed
subject in the public sphere. The end of the GDR and the arrival of East European
refugees and former Vietnamese migrant workers alike reignited the debate on the
nation’s asylum laws. Those sympathetic to the situation of migrant workers in the
GDR sought to align their legal status with that of Western Germany (Doc. 13).
In the end, the so-called Asylkompromiss, or asylum compromise, of 1993 took the
formerly basic but clear German asylum law and extended it with four full paragraphs
of new restrictions that effectively excluded Vietnamese from claiming asylum status
(Poutrus 2014).
Meanwhile, the collapse of the hegemonic socialist discourse in late 1989 saw
an outburst in racist petitions to the new government. These petitions called on
the state to expel non-Germans such as Cubans, Vietnamese, and Poles, among
others (Rabenschlag 2014). To some East Germans trying to correct forty years
of socialist rule, those workers from former socialist brother states were seen as
remnants of dictatorship to be purged. Mixed with older racist sentiments, these
notions fueled right-wing violence that exploded in early 1990. The timeline of these
attacks contradicts the familiar notion that right-wing violence in East Germany was
the result of years of mass unemployment and other side effects of transformation
(Doc. 8; Doc. 9; Doc. 25). In connection with these attacks, the newly elected GDR
172 J. L. Behrens and N. Okunew

government introduced financial incentives for migrant workers willing to return to

their home countries (Doc. 14). The violence and this policy had the desired effect
of its perpetrators and was a factor for some Vietnamese in their decision to return
to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Berger 2005).
Discussion groups connected to protestant churches, especially in East Berlin,
were among the very few that raised awareness of the precarious situation of Viet-
namese migrant workers during early 1990. These discussion groups had played a
decisive role during the early and middle phases of political opposition in the second
half of the 1980s. Already before the “Wende,” many groups were providing coun-
seling for migrant workers and using their moral authority to bring the situation
of Vietnamese workers into the public sphere (Doc. 1; Doc. 10; Doc. 26). During
1990, pastor and newly appointed GDR commissioner for foreigners Almuth Berger
played a key role in raising public awareness of the difficult situation of Vietnamese
and mounting a response to right-wing violence (Doc. 19). She also sought to estab-
lish contacts between Germans and migrant workers on a personal level since she
identified the lack of contact as one of the main causes for racism and misunder-
standings (Doc. 29; Doc. 30). It was in this context that formerly secret binational
treaties were openly discussed for the first time (Berger 2005), and in May of 1990
the GDR government and East German Protestant pastor Almuth Berger deliberated
for the first time modifying the existing treaties with Vietnam. In exchange for a
temporary “right to stay,” the SRV was to allow GDR businesses to fire Vietnamese
workers.1 Given the rapid changes, the best outcome Berger could hope for was
“damage control” (Doc. 16).
The state-socialist GDR had fixed wages, subsidized accommodations, and, not
least, defined a discursive place for migrant workers. When the regime ended, migrant
workers from Vietnam and elsewhere lost various forms of security (see Photo 9.2),
and as a result, were displaced not only geographically but also legally, politically,
and emotionally (Doc. 2; Doc. 3). East German journalists, still committed to the idea
of internationalism, raised concerns about the fate of Vietnamese migrant workers in
the East and their displacement (Doc. 4; Doc. 7). They asked for a way of providing
help and information (Doc. 18; Doc. 20; Doc. 22). In the spring of 1990, only a few
weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the DFF implored that Vietnamese should be
given “daily practical help in life.” Internationalism and solidarity, it argued should
continue to exist as “basic values in our country” (Doc. 28). Contemporaneously,
issues of discrimination began to be raised for the first time. The Berlin district of
Lichtenberg was an area of industry and of residential homes for workers. It had,
and still does feature, both a large Vietnamese community and an active Neo-Nazi
presence. In the 1990s, right-wing skinhead groups dominated its public spaces.
Beginning at this time, media began to report right-wing violence against foreign
workers in the district (Doc. 32).
Tiếng quê hương was designed to mitigate the impact of these dramatic devel-
opments for Vietnamese living in the GDR. It also marked a break from a socialist

1The legal limbo of Vietnamese migrant workers extended to 1993, then 1995 and only ended in
1997 when sweeping reforms were put into place (Hopfmann 2020).
9 New Voices in a New World—Media Portrayal of the Experiences … 173

Photo 9.2 Women arrested trying to cross the border at the Brandenburg Gate while Germans
passed back and forth. Source Doc. 31; TC 11:08:15

discourse that represented the presence of migrant workers in Germany as a story

of international solidarity and success. In certain respects, Tiếng quê hương was the
product of a state-socialist propaganda machine that had to reinvent itself after 1989.
On the one hand, it found its new role in conveying certain ideals originating in the
GDR, such as anti-fascism and international solidarity. On the other, and sometimes
in tension with these values, the evolving media system was strongly oriented toward
the everyday problems of the population. Programs were no longer solely shaped by
Marxist-Leninist ideology, but rather were intended to help East Germans find their
way in a rapidly changing environment.
Reflecting this evolution of GDR media, Tiếng quê hương sought to help Viet-
namese make sense of and find their way in this changing world. But it became clear
that Vietnamese would follow a very different path than their German counterparts.
One episode features interviews of representatives of the ruling parties of the two
German states concerning the fate of contract workers:
[CDU (Christian Democratic Union, West Germany) Representative]: Concerning the ques-
tion of the further development of relations with Vietnam, we have to say that we as the
party of government of course must stick to signed agreements. We do not have any decision
to change the foreign relations with Vietnam. Looking at the current relationship, I am not
able to say anything as of today. Reality will show how Vietnam will develop. It will depend
a lot on how Vietnam builds its relations with neighboring states. For us it is a priority to
174 J. L. Behrens and N. Okunew

solve international conflicts in a peaceful way. This is how we measure the cooperation
between us and other countries. Concerning the agreements on labor cooperation that exist
with Vietnam right now, I want to say that we will implement fundamental changes, from
a planned economy to a market economy. This means that we will not receive any more
laborers for businesses. The government of the SED [Socialist Unity Party of Germany] has
brought 60,000 people from Vietnam and 30,000 people from Mozambique to the GDR. The
current problem is to find a suitable solution that works for the laborers as well as for the
enterprises. According to my view, we must discuss this together with the Vietnamese side
to see if the laborers can return to Vietnam after their contracts have finished or if it is up to
the workers to decide if they want to stay.
[PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism) Representative]: I believe there is a difference
between asylum for mostly political and partly economic reasons, we currently know that a
few tens of thousands of Vietnamese are working here but have not applied for residence. I
think we must open the door for those people who are here for political reasons. In the past,
we have rarely done so. At the moment, I see that we have to admit mistakes concerning
asylum and we have to follow the law of the federal republic in the future. The limitation
for the Vietnamese, it is a difficult issue. Both governments have to talk to each other.
Vietnam urgently needs a well-educated labor force that can build the country. I wish that
they become well-educated workers who return and contribute to rebuilding the country
(Episode ZI110088-2).

These quotes show that there was broad political consensus for the return of
contract workers and changes to the duration of actual contracts. Instead of champi-
oning international socialist unity and solidarity, the political discourse in the inter-
views effectively others Vietnamese workers. Despite being affected by the same
changes, workers from East Germany and Vietnam were described differently, setting
up radically different experiences of reunification. The news section of the episode
goes on to place the fate of Vietnamese contract workers in Germany alongside
that of migrant workers in the Soviet Union, thereby expanding the space of events
beyond Germany to a global socialist sphere. Approximately 100,000 Vietnamese
were resident in the Soviet Union at the time of its collapse (Hoang 2020: 25). On
one hand, this served to normalize ongoing events in East Germany. On the other,
by highlighting the global nature of events, it raised practical concerns for workers
who worried about their families and social networks in Vietnam and their ability to
continue sending back goods and financial remittances.
Racism and other forms of mistreatment in Germany and in the Soviet Bloc
were also discussed in Tiếng quê hương. This included emotional displacement (see
Photo 9.3) and the violent exclusion from the place of current residence:
[Interviewer]: A number of newspapers in the West bemoan the difficult situation of Viet-
namese workers who are currently in Eastern Europe. We kindly ask the comrade to tell us
the reality of the situation.
[Answer by a Vietnamese government representative]: There are not only fluctuations
in politics but also on the side of economy and society which create difficulties for the
foreign workers. I can, for example, tell you about the following: firstly, old governments are
dissolved in a number of countries and new ones have been founded. The state institutions
and responsible people for the agreements are changing as well. That is why there is no
sufficient basis to protect and enforce the rights of the workers. Even the factories are
looking for ways to lay off workers. Secondly, many have a low income and that is why it is
difficult to buy goods and send them home. Thirdly, because of the change in politics, many
9 New Voices in a New World—Media Portrayal of the Experiences … 175

Photo 9.3 A recurring theme in memory and reporting is the separation between Germans and
Vietnamese in everyday work, such as during the lunch break. Source Doc. 31; TC: 10:21:43 and
10:32:369

organizations and parties have many different opinions about the foreign workers; besides
many right opinions, there are also opinions that are not right at all. There are even awful
words and bad actions which influence the emotional state of our Vietnamese brothers and
sisters (ZI110088-2).

In another episode, the program hosts invited listeners to attend an upcoming

protest, explaining, “On April 24 there will be a protest against racism and xeno-
phobia, at 5 pm at Alexanderplatz. There will also be a Vietnamese speaker who will
talk about the problems of Vietnamese workers in the GDR” (ZI110088-2).
For the most part, the events of the period and their emotional dimension were
filtered through the words of the hosts or of the state officials they interviewed.
Listeners’ poems, however, allowed workers to express their emotions and sense of
connection to the place. In a poem from early 1990, a worker wrote:
When I think about you,
I will surely still go very far.
In the afternoon I hear the wind blowing from afar.
How many directives there have been from the country.
Dearest friend,
The next day is coming, I am returning.
I will forever remember our affection.
For sure we will meet again. (15 February 1990)
(ZI110088-5)

The threat of geographic and emotional displacement put Vietnamese in East

Germany in a state of “in-betweenness.” While this “year of anarchy” was often diffi-
cult, potentially involving unemployment, loss of accommodation, uncertain legal
status, and exposure to discrimination and racially motivated violence, nevertheless
in the coming years, Vietnamese workers would respond by taking matters into their
own hands to secure a living for themselves and their families. While the majority
176 J. L. Behrens and N. Okunew

eventually returned to Vietnam (exact statistics are not available), many of those who
decided to stay in Germany used their entrepreneurial skills to open small businesses
such as Asian bistros, flower shops, and cigarette vending. Their presence shapes
the face of many German cities today and is an important part of the contemporary
cosmopolitan society.

9.5 Citizenship and Democracy

Another central theme in media coverage is the one of citizenship and democracy.
The socialist international movement experienced its gravest defeat during the break-
down of East Germany and the Soviet Union, a decisive moment in global history.
Nonetheless, in the media there remained a commitment to socialist ideals within the
frame of the nation-state that reassured contract workers of their citizenship in the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam even as their right to remain in the GDR was under
threat. Crucially, however, the historical juncture created opportunities to conceive
this citizenship in newly critical and participatory ways. Take, for example, the host’s
comments as part of an episode commemorating the fifteenth anniversary of the
liberation of Saigon.
Fifteen years ago, Hồ Chí Minh with the force of the revolution achieved victory in the South
and the unconditional surrender of the American troops. You all know the historic events of
those days; we do not want to repeat them today…
In the development of the past fifteen years in Vietnam, we had a lot of highs and lows,
mistakes and correction in the areas of politics and the economy (ZI110088-3).

In the present atmosphere, rather than dwell on the past successes of the Party, the
host instead admits its failings since 1975 and identifies the people as the foundation
of future reform. The host goes on to summarize the resolutions of the recent Party
Central Committee meeting.
The eighth meeting of the Party Central Committee decided on a renewal of cooperation
between politics and the people and would like to improve the relationship between the
Party and the population. The meeting acknowledged mistakes and gaps of the Party and the
state in the societal area. The active fight against corruption, against powerful people, who
can block doors, has not yet shown any results. The members of state organizations and the
government have lost the trust of the people and must take responsibility for it. On top of
that, the meeting noted that only the people can implement this renovation (ZI110088-3).

A later episode went still further, reporting on a recent debate held in Berlin among
Vietnamese citizens on the idea of democracy and reform in Vietnam:
In the beginning, all participants of the conference agreed on a simple definition of democ-
racy. Democracy is power for the people. Afterwards, the participants explained their opin-
ions as follows. According to Mr. Khong Doan Hoi, democracy is a long-term project, which
is kept alive by the experiences of many generations. It is not a product of a system; it is
human. Many opinions hold that democracy is the goal, to find solutions for human problems
regarding the many requirements which get worse every day. In philosophy, there is a saying
9 New Voices in a New World—Media Portrayal of the Experiences … 177

that democracy is lent to the people of a society to free the people, so that only then people
can be free and equal. There have been a few opinions about the relation between democracy
and a multi-party system. Mr. Phan Dinh Dieu reminds us that you must respect diverse
opinions and political ideas in a democracy, and that it is a necessary requirement for social
organizations to protect this diversity. Democratic parties and diversity must be protected
by law. According to Mr. Nguyen Chinh, we should not be too quick to criticize capitalist
democracy and dismiss it. If we dismiss it, then people will still feel attracted to it and when
we look at reality, then socialist countries will miss a point in the race. Democratic socialism
cannot compete with capitalist democracy (ZI110088-6).

Although some of the discussions and ideas brought up in the radio segment might
not be consistent and easy to follow anymore, the fact that a public debate was held
and then its contents broadcast on Tiếng quê hương shows how an important part of
the “year of anarchy” involved the opening of new spaces for debate, criticism, and
political engagement, not only outside but also inside Vietnam as well. The program’s
episodes reveal the complex circulation of experiences, ideas, and aspirations across
borders of all sorts: cultural, ideological, spatial, and temporal, from the capitalist
West to the Socialist East, from Germany to Vietnam, and back again. They show
that Vietnamese contract workers understood the events of 1990 as truly global
developments, and that despite their differences, Vietnamese and Germans were
participating in the same flow of ideas and engaging in similar discussions about
identity, politics, and democracy. In this way, the experiences of Vietnamese living
in Germany in the 1990s were global as much as local, reflecting developments in
Vietnam as much as in Germany itself.

9.6 Conclusion

This is just a brief glimpse into the important developments of 1990, the different
ways Vietnamese contract workers in East Germany experienced them, and how they
were portrayed in the East German media. By analyzing the contents of the radio
show Tiếng quê hương and considering German print media and TV reports, we
show that 1990 was a “year of anarchy” not just for Germans, but for Vietnamese
contract workers as well, characterized by insecurity and fear because of the strong
economic motivation to drive contract workers out of the country and a clear lack
of solidarity, and also by new forms of agency as people created new livelihoods
under the most difficult of circumstances. Vietnamese contract workers experienced
1990 as year of displacement, both from the German state which saw Vietnamese
migrants as an additional economic burden during the reunification process and
from German citizens who showed blatant racism toward the migrant communities,
thereby contributing to emotional displacement. Thirty years after the racist attacks
on the Sunflower House in Rostock Lichtenhagen, the issue of racism remains and
although the East German media landscape changed in 1990 by allowing critical
reports and by publicizing the growing problem of racism, the development in the
178 J. L. Behrens and N. Okunew

reunified media landscape since then still lacks a truly representative reporting about
realities of people of color and other migrant communities to this day.
At the same time, 1990 and its political earthquake was an opportunity for Viet-
namese in Germany to participate in important debates about citizenship and democ-
racy in a changing Vietnam and shape their new livelihoods in the new Federal
Republic of Germany. In the long-run, these new possibilities paved the way for
moving families from Vietnam to Germany or founding new families.
Similar processes happened across Eastern Europe in the former Soviet Bloc
where Vietnamese workers returned in great numbers to Vietnam, but the ones who
decided to stay started independent lives by setting up their own business, having
children, etc., while at the same time maintaining a strong connection to their home-
lands. The coherence and the level or connection within the communities as well as
to the mainstream society would differ in each country. Meanwhile, the experiences
in the socialist Eastern European countries and after their fall were similar, but as we
can see from the different contract conditions, not the same.
The material presented in this paper is limited because we focus on media reports
and not, for example, accounts of oral history. In addition, it is limited because we
focus on only one group of Vietnamese in Germany. How the refugees residing in
West Germany experienced 1990, for example, would be another interesting topic
for further research. It is our hope that in the future, researchers will explore other
new sources and adopt new perspectives, and, together with the present chapter,
contribute to the literature of (post-)migrant experiences of the twentieth century
and the writing of a more diverse and inclusive account of German history.

References
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Tiếng quê hương episodes in order of broadcast with reference to its file name in the GDR broadcast
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ZI110088-2
ZI110088-3
ZI110088-5
ZI110088-6
Print Media: Although the reports are available, some information on the authors can be missing
from the database. The lack of information is therefore not due to our carelessness, but to gaps
in the records.
Doc. 1. 1989. Christliches Engagement in Kirche und Gesellschaft: Gedankenaustausch mit
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Doc. 4. Reinert, Jochen. 1989. Künftig offen für alle Bürger. Mehr Nachdenklichkeit über Anzeichen
von Ausländerfeindlichkeit angemahnt [In a future open to all citizens. Call for more reflection
on signs of xenophobia]. Neues Deutschland [New Germany], December 15: 6.
Doc. 5. 1990. Verbotener Handel mit unverzollten Waren [Prohibited trade with undutied goods].
Berliner Zeitung [Berlin newspaper], December 19: 17.
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Doc. 7. Knack, Axel. 1990. Ausländer kann jeder werden. Für mehr Sensibilität oder: Beschw-
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Doc. 8. Oschlies, Renate. 1990. Radikale Schlägertrupps machen Jagd auf Ausländer. Asylbewerber
aus aller Welt treffen in der Ex-DDR auf Ablehnung und Gewalt [Radical thug squads hunt down
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Doc. 9. 1990. Regierung reagiert auf absehbare Überbeschäftigung [Government reacts to
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Doc. 14. 1990. Neue Regelungen für Vietnamesen in DDR [New regulations for Vietnamese in
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Doc. 15. Aulich, Uwe. 1990. 34 kriminelle Spekulanten am Alexanderplatz zugeführt. Problem des
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newspaper], May 19: 16.
Doc. 16. Richter, Claudia. 1990. Rauswurf mit Verzögerung [Eviction with delay]. Berliner Zeitung
[Berlin newspaper], May 15: 1.
Doc. 17. Audersch, Karl-Heinz. 1990. Gewalt, Ungerechtigkeiten, Betrug nehmen zu [Violence,
injustices, fraud increase]. Neues Deutschland [New Germany], July 10: 7.
Doc. 18. 1990. Ausländische Mitbürger in der DDR sind oftmals die ersten Opfer hiesiger Mark-
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economy]. Neues Deutschland [New Germany], July 31: 6.
Doc. 19. von Aster, Ernst-Ludwig. 1990. Angst um die Zukunft bedroht die ausländischen Arbeit-
skräfte [Fear for the future threatens foreign workers]. Neue Zeit [New times], April 24:
5.
Doc. 20. 1990.Mahlke, Stefan. Lieber Italiener als Polen in unserem Land? [Italians rather than
Poles in our country?]. Neues Deutschland [New Germany], May 12: 10.
Doc. 21. 1990. 5500 Ausländer von Entlassungen bedroht [5500 foreigners threatened with layoffs].
in: Neue Zeit [New times], September 15: 216.
Doc. 22. Lenz, Susanne. 1990. Benutzt und fallengelassen. Ausländerinnen in der DDR [Used and
abandoned. foreign women in the GDR]. Berliner Zeitung [Berlin newspaper], September 22:
3.
Doc. 23. Schlebeck, Heide. 1990. 675 DM Miete für ein Zimmer. Manche Betriebe zahlen Auslän-
dern keine Zuschüsse mehr für das Wohnheim [675 DM rent for a room. Some companies
180 J. L. Behrens and N. Okunew

no longer pay foreigners subsidies for the dormitory]. Berliner Zeitung [Berlin newspaper],
September 28: 15.
Doc. 24. Treffinger, Elvira. 1990. “Das ist moderner Menschenhandel.” Vietnamesen in der DDR
haben Angst vor der Zukunft [“This is modern human trafficking.” Vietnamese in the GDR fear
the future]. Neue Zeit [New times], September 22: 17.
Doc. 25. 1990. Keine Hilferufe von Ausländern empfangen [No distress calls received from
foreigners]. Berliner Zeitung [Berlin newspaper], October 4: 16.
Doc. 26. Initiative für Frieden und Menschenrechte [Initiative for Peace and Human Rights]. 1990.
Hilfsangebot für Ausländer. Mittwochs Beratung im Haus der Demokratie [Assistance offer for
foreigners. Consultation on Wednesdays at the House of Democracy]. Berliner Zeitung [Berlin
newspaper], October 31: 13.
Doc. 27. 1990. Ausgenutzt und dann abgeschoben. Vietnamesen in Berlin. (Elf 99, 106) [Exploited
and then deported. Vietnamese in Berlin. With contributions from Rainer Griebler and Peter
Jachmann (Elf 99, 106)]. Deutscher Fernsehfunk [East German television broadcasting], October
19.
Doc. 28. Mittwoch, Birgit and Horst Rudolph. 1990. Forum zur Ausländerproblematik an der
Humboldt-Universität Berlin (Aktuelle Kamera) [Forum on foreigner issues at Humboldt
University Berlin (East German evening news)]. Deutscher Fernsehfunk [ East German
television broadcasting], January 19.
Doc. 29. Kaben, Nils and Jürgen Retzlaff. 1990. Situation ausländischer Gastarbeiter in der DDR
(Aktuelle Kamera) [Situation of foreign guest workers in the GDR (East German evening news)].
Deutscher Fernsehfunk [East German television broadcasting], January 18.
Doc. 30. Schuster, Dieter. 1990. Wie weiter mit den Ausländern? Unter Mitarbeit von Dieter
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(Controvers)]. Deutscher Fernsehfunk [East German television broadcasting], August 8.
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(Controvers) [Foreigners in distress. With contributions from Siegfried Melzer (Controvers)].
Deutscher Fernsehfunk [East German television broadcasting], December 7.

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Julia L. Behrens is a Southeast Asian scholar with a special focus on Vietnam. Her research
mainly investigates the nexus of environment, development and state–society relations. In addi-
tion, she has produced publications on Vietnamese communities in Germany, including as an
editor, the anthology Ist Zuhause da, wo Sternfrüchte süß sind? [Is home where star fruits
taste sweet?] (Regiospectra, 2020). She has co-founded the social enterprise VLab Berlin that is
working on cultural exchange between Germany and Vietnam.
9 New Voices in a New World—Media Portrayal of the Experiences … 183

Nikolai Okunew is an historian and post-doctoral researcher at the Leibniz Centre for Contempo-
rary History in Potsdam. His research interests are the pop and media history of the late GDR and
East Germany in the 1990s. His dissertation on heavy metal in the GDR was published in 2020.
He is currently researching the transformation of television and lifeworlds in East Germany.

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
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the copyright holder.
Chapter 10
JICA’s Legal Technical Assistance
Projects in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
Since the 1990s

Nobumichi Teramura

10.1 Introduction

Laws of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are significant study subjects for legal
academics. Thus, they have authored in English various literature on the legal and
judicial systems of these countries (The MLS Academic Research Service 2021).
However, it is rare that English academic literature addresses the history of law in
the former French Indochina region, as we know from the general lack of interest in
this topic among the contributors of a core research handbook of legal history (Dubber
and Tomlins 2018). Some reference materials nonetheless address how the law has
developed in the region (Grabowsky 2009; Nicholson 2009; Seng 2009), which we
can summarise as follows: (1) Before the arrival of French colonialism in the Mekong
Subregion, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were governed by their traditional legal
systems and customary norms influenced by Buddhism and/or Confucianism. (2)
Under French colonial rule between the late 19th and mid-twentieth centuries, many
laws and institutions modelled after the French civil law system were established. (3)
After the Second World War and during the Cold War, communism dominated the
former French Indochina region. This resulted in the introduction of socialist legal
systems in Vietnam and Laos. Cambodia started practising the Vietnamese socialist
justice system when Vietnamese armed forces drove the Khmer Rouge out of Phnom
Penh. (4) From the late 1980s onwards, these countries undertook substantial law
reforms to adopt market-oriented legal systems for economic recovery and develop-
ment. This view of the regional legal history has shaped a perception among Western
government officials and legal experts that the three countries continue to be under
the dominant influence of French and Soviet civil law traditions (Forsaith 2016: 73;
Harrington 2016: 161; US Department of State 2021a, b, c).

N. Teramura (B)
Institute of Asian Studies at Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
e-mail: nobumichi.teramura@ubd.edu.bn

© The Author(s) 2024 185

L. C. Kelley and G. Sasges (eds.), Vietnam Over the Long Twentieth Century, Global
Vietnam: Across Time, Space and Community,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-3611-9_10
186 N. Teramura

However, the post-Cold War legal history of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos is
more complicated than it seems. These countries reformed their legal systems with
support from foreign donors who belonged to different legal traditions, including
the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)—Japan’s national ODA agency.
However, less is known about how the law reforms have been influenced by Japanese
legal ideas through JICA’s legal technical assistance projects.1
In the 1990s, facing the need to update their laws to ones suitable for market-
oriented economies, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos requested Japan to provide them
with legal technical assistance for reforming their law codes and the training of
lawyers in the use of those codes (MOJ n.d.a, n.d.b, n.d.c). In response to the requests,
JICA launched legal technical assistance projects (JICA Projects), with support from
Japanese governmental agencies such as the International Cooperation Department
(ICD) of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) (MOJ n.d.d).2 JICA ensured that the Projects
would not result in Japanese experts’ intervention in the local legal systems, like the
replacement of local customs by imported Japanese legal models (Kaneko 2008: 50;
Taylor 2012: 240). Thus, JICA gave due weight to the opinions of local legal officers,
adopting consensus-based decision-making processes (ICD 2020a: 3). Nonetheless,
the reformed codes and rules culminating from the Project were inevitably affected
by Japanese legal ideas as Japanese law experts and local lawyers trained in Japan
carried out and supervised the law reform processes (Kaneko 2019; Taylor 2005;
Teramura 2021a: 26–27).
However, there is a paucity of English literature discussing Japanese law’s influ-
ence on the legal norms of the host countries.3 This is most likely because many
essential documents, such as commentaries and textbooks, are available in local
and Japanese languages only (Teramura 2021b: 202). As a consequence, western
commentators do not perceive Japan as the source of legal ideas useful in the coun-
tries along the Mekong River.4 This refers to the importance of a more comprehensive
and systematic study assessing the implementation of JICA Projects in the former
French Indochina region that takes into account contributions written in Japanese
(Taylor 2001; Taylor 2009; Teramura 2021a).
Against this backdrop, this chapter examines the role of JICA in the legal devel-
opment of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, consulting both English and Japanese
documents. The chapter proceeds as follows. First, it critically examines JICA’s
contribution to the rule of law in those countries, focussing on the implementation of

1 English writing commentators pay little attention to the influence of Japanese private law in those
countries. See, for example, (Forsaith 2016: 73; Harrington 2016: 161; Melwani 2016: 415).
2 Other Japanese institutions involved in JICA Projects include: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

(JICA’s parent ministry), the International Civil and Commercial Law Centre (MOJ’s satellite orga-
nization), the Supreme Court, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Japan Federation of Bar Associa-
tions (Nichibenren), the Japanese Federation of Industries (Keidanren) and Japanese university law
faculties (ICD 2020a: 2).
3 When writing about JICA Projects, commentators often focus on specific issues and narrow topics

(Teramura 2021a: 20).

4 For example, Kischel (2019: 55, 689, 699, 728–735) refers to Japan as a vehicle for disseminating

a modern German-style legal system to its neighbouring Asian countries.

10 JICA’s Legal Technical Assistance Projects in Vietnam, Cambodia … 187

JICA Projects (Sect. 10.2). Second, it considers whether the Japanese soft power as
manifested by JICA and other Japanese government agencies complements or is at
cross-purposes with legal aid projects of other donors (Sect. 10.3). Third, it evaluates
the extent to which JICA Projects are currently attuned to and/or might be made more
responsive to the social and economic aspirations of the host countries (Sect. 10.4).
Note that this chapter only addresses JICA’s initiatives for developing private law, a
branch of the law dealing with relations between individuals or institutions. It does
not examine public law, the law of relations between the state and the general public.

10.2 The Legal and Judicial Development Projects of JICA

JICA Projects aim to offer host countries: “(1) Assistance in the drafting of basic
laws; (2) [a]ssistance in the establishment of judicial institutions for the operation of
enacted laws; and (3) [a]ssistance in the capacity building of legal professionals” (ICD
2020a: 3). To achieve these goals, JICA has been conducting law and development
cooperation activities in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos for around 30 years. This
section overviews the nature and scope of such activities, examining Japanese law
experts’ commitment to local legal development.

10.2.1 Vietnam

JICA has delivered the following law and development programmes in Vietnam: the
Legal Technical Assistance Project from 1996 to 2007 (First Project), the Legal and
Judicial System Reform Project from 2007 to 2015 (Second Project) and the Project
for Harmonised, Practical Legislation and Uniform Application of Law Targeting
Year 2020 from 2015 to 2020 (Third Project) (JICA n.d.a).
On the First Project, JICA’s English website reads that “[the First Project] achieved
certain results, for example, revised Civil Code (June 2005), revised Civil Procedure
Code (November 2004) and manuals for legal practitioners that were jointly made by
Japanese experts and partner organisations” (JICA n.d.a). However, Japanese experts’
contribution to the preparation of those products was likely modest. This is because
Japan had never provided legal technical assistance before, and because the Viet-
namese government took the lead on the law reform processes. For instance, the Viet-
namese government commenced revising the Civil Procedure Code in 1993. JICA
started sending Japanese law experts to the country in 1997, to hold seminars and
training programmes for Vietnamese legal experts working at the Ministry of Justice,
the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuracy (Maruyama 2004:
4). These capacity-building opportunities arguably facilitated Vietnamese experts’
discussion on the civil procedure law reform (Maruyama 2004: 4). Japanese legal
experts got more directly involved in the law reform in 2002 when the Vietnamese
188 N. Teramura

government issued a resolution prompting the Drafting Committee of the Civil Proce-
dure Code to complete its mission expeditiously.5 Then, the Vietnamese government
requested JICA and other donors to comment on the “seventh” draft of the new Civil
Procedure Code,6 which the Drafting Committee prepared based on the past Civil
Procedure Codes of the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union (Yoshimura
2005: 11).
JICA appointed Japanese legal experts as advisors to the First Project and the
Drafting Committee. These advisors formed a research group with senior Japanese
scholars and practitioners to review the draft and submit recommendations to the
Vietnamese government (Maruyama 2005: 5). Nevertheless, not all their proposals
were reflected in the revised Civil Procedure Code because the Drafting Committee
and the National Assembly of Vietnam had the final authority to decide whether and
to what extent the proposals were to be adopted (Iseki 2005: 59; Yoshimura and Iseki
2005). Moreover, the Drafting Committee expected the Japanese experts to advise on
specific topics and issues extracted from the draft Code (Maruyama 2005: 8). In other
words, the Committee in advance framed the Japanese commentators’ discussions
on the law reform. In spite of such a modest expectation of Vietnamese lawyers, the
Japanese experts often spotted in the draft Civil Procedure Code problems that were
not covered by the Committee’s request for advice, and they proposed solutions for
such problems (Iseki 2005: 59; Yoshimura and Iseki 2005: 44).
According to a legal instructor working for the First Project, JICA avoided drafting
its version of the Civil Procedure Code as it believed that doing so would not only
undermine Vietnamese lawyers’ motivation towards the law reform but also bring
about negative consequences to their capacity building (Maruyama 2005: 8). JICA
opted for a similar approach in assisting the reform process of the 1995 Civil Code,
which the National Assembly of Vietnam officially launched in 2000. Professor
Morishima of Nagoya University formed a joint research group for the law reform,
inviting Japanese legal experts and Vietnamese law officers. The group issued various
recommendations, and the Drafting Committee accepted the working group’s sugges-
tions on the fundamental principles of private transactions, such as equality between
the parties, party autonomy and respect for private rights (Lien 2006: 12–13). Accord-
ingly, the Japanese legal experts indeed contributed to the reform of the 1995 Civil
Code (and the establishment of the 2005 Civil Code). However, the process was
initiated by the Vietnamese government not to overhaul the 1995 Civil Code compre-
hensively but to modify some aspects of the Code that were based on the Civil Code
of the Russian Federation (Morishima 2006: 17). Therefore, the assistance of JICA
in preparing the 2005 Civil Code and the 2004 Civil Procedure Code was specific
and targeted but non-comprehensive.

5 The Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Politburo Resolution (08-NQ/TV):

(Kawashima 2019: 104, noting that the Drafting Committee was formed in 1993).
6 For example, the experts sent by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) commented

on the fourth draft of the Code, and the STAR Project of the United States from time to time held
workshops on civil procedure law (Maruyama 2005: 7; Yoshimura 2005: 11).
10 JICA’s Legal Technical Assistance Projects in Vietnam, Cambodia … 189

Building upon its experience of the First Project, JICA launched the Second
Project in 2007. JICA invested more resources into the capacity building of legal
officers with different backgrounds. The capacity building methodology was unique
in that JICA adopted a bottom-up approach aiming to improve the quality of Viet-
namese legal practice from local level authorities (Kikegawa 2008; Morinaga 2008:
15–18). The Vietnamese government and JICA chose Bắc Ninh Province as a pilot
zone, and JICA offered training programmes to local judicial officers, legal officers
and legal practitioners working for the People’s Court and the People’s Procuracy,
as well as agencies of the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice in the Province (Morinaga
2008: 15–18). The idea was for JICA to identify those institutions’ problems and
challenges and explore plausible solutions for such issues. Whether those solutions
worked or not, JICA shared the outcomes of its attempts with the central level author-
ities,7 for the latter to take advantage of this information in their future law reform
projects (Morinaga 2008: 18–19).
Despite this shift to capacity building, JICA continued helping Vietnam update
legislation. For example, the Civil Judgement Enforcement Act was established in
2008. JICA had organised several workshops where the members of the Drafting
Committee of the Act and court execution officers could discuss with Japanese legal
experts about early drafts of the Act (Public Policy Department at JICA 2010: 12).
The Vietnamese experts responded favourably to the Japanese experts’ suggestions to
strengthen the independence of law enforcement agencies, increase the transparency
and efficiency of judgement enforcement proceedings, and improve procedures for
the attachment, evaluation, and auction of property.8 Thus, the Drafting Committee
reflected those comments in the final draft of the Act (Public Policy Department
at JICA 2010: 140). Unfortunately, JICA’s long-standing support for drafting the
Real Property Registration Act, which was reportedly highly valued by the local
experts drafting the Act (Public Policy Department at JICA 2010: 127, 136–137),
was not rewarded due to the National Assembly’s cancellation of the legislative
project (Public Policy Department at JICA 2015: 27). Notwithstanding this setback,
JICA organised a series of workshops for the knowledge development of Vietnamese
experts drafting the Decree on the Registration of Secured Transactions, introducing
them relevant Japanese laws and practice (Public Policy Department at JICA 2015:
9). The workshops were reportedly helpful for preparing the final draft of the Decree.
Further, the amendments of the 2004 Civil Procedure Code and the 2005 Civil Code
were adopted by the National Assembly in 2011 and 2015, respectively (Tatara 2012:
48; Tsukahara 2018: 41). JICA worked with the drafting committees for these Codes
by organising seminars to comment on the amendment proposals that were elaborated
by the Vietnamese law experts (Public Policy Department at JICA 2015; Kawashima
2019: 120; Joint Research Group on the Civil Code of Vietnam 2015).

7 The central authorities were the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice (VMOJ), the Supreme People’s
Court (SPC), the Supreme People’s Procuracy (SPP) and the Vietnam Bar Federation (VBF): (JICA
2021).
8 See comments from Mr. Le Tuan Son of the Law Enforcement Department at the Ministry of

Justice, who was a member of the Drafting Committee: (Public Policy Department at JICA 2010:
140).
190 N. Teramura

The Third Project commenced in 2015, hoping to improve the capacity and skills
of legal and judicial institutions for the consistent and efficient application of legal
instruments (Industry Development and Public Policy Department at JICA 2018:
59ff). JICA kept offering support for legislative drafting but avoided setting short-
term objectives. For example, JICA held several workshops to build the foundation
of the codification of private international law, which would hopefully take place at
some point (Industry Development and Public Policy Department at JICA 2018: iv–
v).9 Therefore, the aim of the Third Project was to help the Vietnamese government
develop human resources that would enable them to craft consistent and coherent
legal and legislative documents in the foreseeable future (Kawanishi 2015: 9–14;
Matsumoto 2015).

10.2.2 Cambodia

For the development of private law in Cambodia, JICA has been implementing the
Legal and Judicial Development Project since 1999. We can divide the Project into
three periods. Between 1999 and 2012 (First Period) were the Phases 1–3 of the
Project in which JICA collaborated with the Cambodian Ministry of Justice (CMOJ)
in establishing the Civil Code, Civil Procedure Code, and relevant rules almost anew
(JICA 2012a: 3ff). Between 2012 to 2017 (Second Period) is Phase 4, in which JICA
aimed to equip Cambodian legal elites with the knowledge and skills that enable
them to lead the future reforms of those Codes and rules without support from
foreign donors (JICA 2012b). From 2017 to 2022 (Third Period) has been Phase 5,
whose primary objective has been to build a solid foundation of legal practice that
complies with those Codes and rules (JICA 2017).
During the First Period, Japanese experts committed heavily to drafting the main
bodies of Cambodian private law—the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Code.
The cause of this outstanding involvement was the shortage of human resources in
the legal sector of Cambodia, which was triggered in the 1970s by the nationwide
atrocity and destruction by the Khmer Rouge regime (Teramura 2021b: 202). The
regime turned the country into a (near-)complete legal vacuum by burning law books,
demolishing libraries and exterminating trained lawyers (Phallack 2012: 8; Vickery
1986: 120). Hence, the Japanese legal experts were exceptionally determined to take
leadership in JICA Projects operating in Cambodia, balancing this initiative with the
local ownership of law reform. For instance, JICA established in Japan the Civil Code
Working Group (CCWG) and the Civil Procedure Code Working Group (CPCWG)—
each composed of Japanese experts in the field, to make these groups to draft the
Codes in Japanese (JICA 2001: 6–7). Correspondingly, the CMOJ established in

9 In 2021, JICA undertook the new Project for Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Law Enforce-
ment and Legal Development in Vietnam, whose major focus was on dealing with inconsistencies
in various legal instruments and thereby reducing inefficiencies in the enforcement of these legal
instruments: (ICD 2020b).
10 JICA’s Legal Technical Assistance Projects in Vietnam, Cambodia … 191

Cambodia the study groups for those Codes consisting of Cambodian judges, CMOJ
officials and other legal experts, to define legal terminologies and finalise the draft
Codes in their language—Khmer (JICA 2001: 6–7).
The CCWG drafted the Civil Code as follows (Morishima 2003: 7).10 First, each
group member worked on a specific part of the Civil Code, tracing the structure of the
Japanese Civil Code. Second, the members prepared the proposals of the assigned
sections of the Cambodian Civil Code for their internal and informal discussion.
The proposals took into account relevant rules in the old Cambodian Civil Code and
the civil laws of Japan, Germany, and France, among others. Third, the members
travelled to Cambodia in rotation to explain the draft proposals to the study group in
the CMOJ and obtain feedback. From time to time, Cambodian legal experts were
invited to Japan to share their views on Cambodian civil law with the CCWG. Fourth,
the CCWG drafted the Civil Code in Japanese, reflecting inputs from the Japanese
and Cambodian experts. Fifth, the study group in the CMOJ translated the draft Civil
Code into Khmer, with the support of JICA staff who were fluent in both Khmer and
Japanese (Sakano 2003). The CPCWG adopted a similar approach in drafting the
Civil Procedure Code (Takeshita 2003). The cooperation of Cambodian and Japanese
lawyers culminated in the promulgations of the Civil Procedure Code in 2006 and
the Civil Code in 2007. Further, JICA guided the Cambodian legal professionals in
drafting and finalising the Law on Non-Contentious Case Procedures, the Law on
Personal Status Litigation, the Law on Implementation of the Civil Code, the official
commentaries and textbooks of the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Code, and so
on (JICA 2012a: 5–12).11
During the Second and Third Periods, JICA concentrated on the capacity building
of Khmer legal practitioners. For instance, Phase 4 of the Legal and Judicial Devel-
opment Project was designed to enhance the understanding of those new legal
instruments among Khmer legal experts at the CMOJ, Royal Academy for Judi-
cial Profession (RAJP), the Bar Association of Kingdom of Cambodia (BAKC), and
the Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE) (JICA 2012b). Special training
courses were organised by experienced instructors—most of them were Japanese
law experts, and each Cambodian institution was tasked to nominate members who
would participate in the training courses. In addition, JICA continued to support
legislative drafting, which led to the promulgation of the Inter-Ministerial Prakas
(Regulation) Concerning Real Rights Registration Procedure Pertaining to the Civil
Code in 2013 (JICA n.d.e.).
The Third Period started in 2017, with the aim of helping Cambodian legal practice
strictly follow the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Code. Phase 5 led to preparing
document templates for legal proceedings and new judgment publication initiatives
for greater legal certainty and transparency (Chheng 2021; JICA 2017). JICA also

10 Morishima notes that the CCWG was formed by twelve civil law professors from top Japanese
universities.
11 In particular, the value of the commentaries and textbooks may not be underestimated in

Cambodia, where the courts do not strictly follow the doctrine of precedent and where those
authoritative sources are often considered as quasi-sources of law: (Teramura 2021b: 203).
192 N. Teramura

intended to update laws and regulations related to those Codes (with the initiatives of
Cambodian elite lawyers), reflecting on needs in the Cambodian legal sector (JICA
2017).

10.2.3 Laos

JICA has implemented three projects to reinforce the rule of law in Laos: the Legal
and Judicial Development Project between 2003 and 2009 (JICA 2020), the Project
for Human Resource Development in the Legal Sector between 2010 and 2018 and
the Project for Promoting Development and Strengthening of the Rule of Law in the
Legal Sector of Lao P.D.R. between 2018 and 2023 (JICA n.d.b,n.d.c,n.d.d). We can
classify the achievements of these projects as follows.
The first category is the capacity development of local legal practitioners to
obtain effective skills for handling civil cases. JICA intended to achieve this goal
through collaboration between Japanese experts and local practitioners in preparing
and publishing core legal resources, such as commentaries and textbooks. As such
materials were not always available in Laos in the early 2000s (Tabe 2007: 14–16),
the JICA experts considered that the collaboration would help Lao lawyers deepen
their understanding of private law (Matsuo 2007: 41; Nakahigashi et al. 2007). The
resources Japanese and Lao experts published through JICA Projects include a hand-
book for judicial writing, a glossary for legal terminology, a legal database, textbooks
on civil law and commercial law and civil litigation handbooks (JICA 2009: 2–4;
Nakamura 2014: 5–6). Seminars and workshops targeting small and large audiences
were also held by JICA to familiarise Lao legal experts with these new publications
and disseminate them among Lao lawyers and government officers (JICA 2009:
43–117). Note, however, that JICA and its Lao partners produced such materials to
address ambiguities in existing laws and harmonise the interpretation of these laws.
Therefore, the influence of Japanese private law on those resources is unlikely to be
outstanding.
The second category is the provision of support for drafting the first Lao Civil
Code. The backdrop of the support is as follows. In the 2000s, the Lao government
ordered the Lao Ministry of Justice (LMOJ) to establish a working group for civil
law reform. The working group looked into the civil law of Laos with Japanese law
experts, participating in various capacity-building activities organised by JICA. At
that time, Laos did not have a civil code, and what lawyers called “civil law” was
18 individual statutes governing different areas of private disputes (Ito 2017: 60).
These statutes had been updated from time to time. However, the working group
concluded that repeating partial reforms and amendments would not be useful for
addressing duplications and contradictions in the statutes and making the statutes
compatible with the rapidly progressing society of Laos. Accordingly, the working
group recommended that the Lao government combine those separate statutes into
a single statutory body—the Civil Code. The Lao government approved the recom-
mendation in 2012. Then, the LMOJ officially requested JICA to support drafting
10 JICA’s Legal Technical Assistance Projects in Vietnam, Cambodia … 193

the new Civil Code as it realised that JICA acquired the knowledge and information
of Lao private law through those capacity-building initiatives for Lao lawyers (Ito
2017: 60; Savankham 2016).
JICA had not anticipated such a request but agreed to work with the LMOJ on
the law reform (Ito 2020). The two organisations established the Civil Code Drafting
Committee. The members of the Committee were local legal officers recruited from
the LMOJ, the People’s Supreme Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the
National University of Laos, the National Assembly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Irie 2020: 65). Correspondingly, JICA
established in Japan the Civil Law Advisory Group for Laos that consisted of
Japanese law professors and lawyers working for JICA (Irie 2019a: 29). The Advi-
sory Group, with a group of JICA officers being resident in Laos, offered to the
Drafting Committee instructions and consultancy for completing the new Code by
the proposed deadline in 2015 (Irie 2019a: 30). The Advisory Group refrained from
dominating the drafting process because it was keen on witnessing the creation of
“Lao Civil Code by the [Lao] People, of the [Lao] People, for the [Lao] People”.12
The Group respected the leadership of the Drafting Committee and limited its role to
a facilitative general advisor who responded to enquiries from the Committee, and
who lectured to the Committee about various topics, including basic legal concepts
and foreign legal systems (Irie 2019a: 31).13 The Drafting Committee managed to
prepare the first complete draft of the Civil Code by 2015, but it took until 2018 for
the National Assembly of Laos to promulgate the Code. The three-year gap was spent
on improving the draft further, based on public comments from legal and business
sectors (Irie 2019a: 31–32). Finally, the Code came into effect in 2020 (MOJ 2020).

10.3 Legal Development Projects of Other Donors

JICA is not the only institution that has offered legal development aid projects
to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. International organisations such as the United
Nations (UN) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), as well as foreign countries’
national ODA agencies, like the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) and Agence Fançaise de Développement (AFD), have also implemented
law reform projects in the former French Indochina region. Their law and develop-
ment initiatives have sometimes overlapped with JICA Projects, which have resulted
in tensions and contradictions. This section discusses competitions between JICA
and other donors operating in the region. It also considers JICA’s regional standing
in the development of private law.

12Comment by Professor Hiroshi Matsuo, the Chairman of the Advisory Group: (Irie 2019a: 31).
13High-ranking Lao government officials positively evaluated JICA’s approach. For example, see
(Umemoto 2017).
194 N. Teramura

10.3.1 Vietnam

The institutions that have and have been providing Vietnam with legal technical
assistance (apart from JICA) since the 1990s are USAID, Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), AusAID, the Canadian International Devel-
opment Agency (CIDA), the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA),
the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Maison du droit
by France, the European Union (EU), the World Bank, ADB and the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), among others (Edagawa 2020).14 These organ-
isations have worked on diverse legal development aid projects for many years.
Since the conclusion of the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in 2001,
USAID has delivered the Support for Trade Acceleration (STAR) Project from 2001
to 2013 and the Governance for Inclusive Growth (GIG) Program from 2014 to
2018. The purpose of these initiatives was to help Vietnam meet the commitments
under the US-Vietnam BTA and become a member of the World Trade Organisation
(WTO). In the area of commercial law, USAID had assisted Vietnam until 2006 in:
(1) developing 93 laws and regulations that conform with the US-Vietnam BTA; (2)
promoting law reforms through organising 290 seminars and workshops for 20,400
local state officials and business leaders; and (3) publishing and distributing refer-
ence materials to local political, legal and business stakeholders (Coon 2012). These
projects arranged by the US were inevitably at cross-purposes with JICA Projects
because USAID intended to reform laws and regulations on commerce and trade,
and because JICA updated the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes—the bodies of law
governing relationships between private parties generally—and laws closely related
to these Codes. The coverage of the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes is broad in
that these Codes provide foundational rules dealing with differences among diverse
private individuals, including merchants. As the number of aid donors working in
Vietnam has been outstanding, it is highly likely that the development projects of
other donors have also intersected with JICA Projects.
Nevertheless, Vietnam has managed to coordinate these competing donors effec-
tively. For example, in reforming the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes and relevant
laws, the Vietnamese government bestowed control of the drafting processes on the
committees and working groups consisting of local government officials and lawyers.
Occasionally, the members of these committees and groups sought foreign legal
experts for advice on their draft legislation. However, they avoided fully depending on
recommendations from one donor. This attitude is conceivable based on JICA’s expe-
rience preparing the 2004 Vietnamese Bankruptcy Law. According to JICA’s record,
Vietnam first worked with ADB on the reform of its bankruptcy law. However, ADB
ceased to provide law reform support before completing the final draft (Morinaga

14 According to Edagawa, the organisations still offering such legal development support to Vietnam
as of September 2020, other than JICA, were Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA),
EU, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, UNDP, UNICEF, United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Bank.
10 JICA’s Legal Technical Assistance Projects in Vietnam, Cambodia … 195

2008: 10). Accordingly, the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam which was respon-
sible for the law reform project, requested JICA to take over the advisory role from
ADB (Kono 2021: 25; Morinaga 2008: 10). JICA agreed and started being involved
in the reform project in 2000. It invited authorities of Japanese bankruptcy law to be
expert advisors on the project.15 These advisors commented on the second, third and
seventh drafts of the 2004 Bankruptcy Law but refrained from forcing Vietnam to
follow their law reform model (Kaneko 2006: 13–14). The Japanese experts report-
edly put forward a legislative model that designed the 2004 Bankruptcy Law as a
system for fair and equitable debt collection from companies insolvent. The idea of
this legislative model was to establish a set of rules that enable insolvent companies
to complete liquidation and leave the market expeditiously. The third draft of the
Bankruptcy Law adopted this legislative model. However, the seventh draft focussed
on the salvation and restructuring of businesses facing financial stress, prioritising
business continuity over strict debt collection. Like Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy
Code, the new draft of the 2004 Bankruptcy Law permitted the sacrifice of credi-
tors’ rights for corporate rescue and reorganisation (Kaneko 2006: 15; 2021). Kaneko
suggests that this policy shift was inspired by the active promotion by the World Bank
and ADB of their US-style legislative models.16 The National Assembly of Vietnam
adopted the seventh draft without significant revisions, rejecting JICA’s legislative
model emphasising debt collection.
It is conceivable from Vietnam’s law reform projects with USAID, ADB, the
World Bank and JICA that the country has not conferred JICA special status compared
with other donor organisations. Because many donor institutions were operating in
Vietnam, the country had the luxury of comparing diverse legislative proposals from
different donors, assessing economic and financial incentives that would likely follow
these proposals. If it found recommendations from other donors more appealing, the
Vietnamese government would not hesitate to decline suggestions from JICA, as in
the case of the 2004 Bankruptcy Law reform. JICA has contributed to improving
private law in Vietnam, which does not connote that its contribution has always
been more profound than other donor agencies’. Hence, the position of JICA and
Japanese law experts in developing Vietnamese private law has been relative to other
aid institutions. Vietnam treated JICA’s legislative models as “comparable” to those
from other donors.

15 These advisors include Professor Yasuhei Taniguchi, the Professor Emeritus in Civil Procedure
Law of Kyoto University, who was formerly a member of the Appellate Body of the WTO Dispute
Settlement Body.
16 See, respectively, the World Bank’s 2001 Principles and Guidelines for Effective Insolvency and

Creditor Rights Systems and the ADB’s 2000 Good Practice Standards for Insolvency Law (Kaneko
2006: 15). See also (Kaneko 2021: 66), noting that the driving force behind the promotion of the
US-style legislative models by the World Bank was large US law firms in New York, to whom the
World Bank outsourced many legal aid projects.
196 N. Teramura

10.3.2 Cambodia

No discernible record shows the precise number of cooperation agencies that have
engaged in legal development projects in Cambodia. However, the number is unlikely
to be small, considering the history that the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK),
led by Pol Pot, almost entirely abolished the legal and judicial systems of the
Kingdom. The new Cambodian government established in the 1990s was eager
to fill this legal vacuum because to do so was a condition for receiving financial
aid support from international institutions and foreign governments. The support
was crucial for Cambodia due to its high poverty rate, destroyed infrastructure and
economy damaged by the civil conflict. Accordingly, the Cambodian government
was open to any aid support proposed by foreign institutions. However, unlike in the
case of Vietnamese law reform, the Cambodian government was often reluctant to
take initiatives in its law reform projects. This passive attitude caused tensions among
donor institutions. JICA has experienced such tensions at least twice, as discussed
immediately below.
The first case was on the Civil Code. Since 1999, JICA had worked with the
CMOJ on drafting the Code until its promulgation in 2007.17 The purpose of the
Code was to define the basic rights of citizens—private rights—such as personal
and property rights. Naturally, early drafts of the Code contained various rules on
immovable property. On the other hand, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban
Planning and Construction (MLMUPC) had been undertaking the Land Management
and Administration Project (Industry Development and Public Policy Department at
JICA 2012: 40), with support from ADB, the World Bank, and GIZ.18 As part of this
project, the East-West Management Institute (EWMI), a US not-for-profit organisa-
tion for the promotion of the rule of law, had been working on reforming the 1992
Land Law, based on its consultancy contract with ADB. When the revised Land Law
was promulgated in 2001, it became clear that some provisions of the new Land
Law conflicted with the draft Civil Code prepared by JICA and the CMOJ (Industry
Development and Public Policy Department at JICA 2012: 39–41). The point of
controversy was whether to adopt the Torrens title system—a land registration and
transfer system operating on the principle of “title by registration” rather than “reg-
istration of title”—derived from the common law of South Australia (Kaneko 2006:
18).19 For instance, Article 69 of the 2001 Land Law read that “the transfer of owner-
ship of [land or a real property] shall be considered as valid upon the registration of
the contract of sale with the Cadastral Registry Unit” (MLMUPC 2002). In contrast,
the draft Civil Code required registration as perfection of property rights against a
third party (i.e. an additional step required to be taken to make ownership rights
effective against a third party), stating that the transfer of land ownership took place

17 See Sect. 10.2.2 above.

18 For the details of the Land Management and Administration Project, see (The World Bank 2022).
19 For the details of the Torrens system, see (State Government of Victoria n.d.), noting that the

countries using the system include Australia, New Zealand, England and Wales, Ireland, Malaysia,
Singapore, Iran, Canada and Madagascar.
10 JICA’s Legal Technical Assistance Projects in Vietnam, Cambodia … 197

upon the meeting of the minds between parties (e.g. a seller and a buyer) (Industry
Development and Public Policy Department at JICA 2012: 39–41).
According to JICA, this draft rule on ownership transfer emerged from its discus-
sion and consensus with the CMOJ and the General Department of Cadastre and
Geography. Nevertheless, ADB and EWMI started opposing the adoption of the
Civil Code, insisting that the Code would be an obstacle to the 2001 Land Law
coming into force. The opposition caused an inter-ministerial controversy between
the CMOJ and the MLMUPC, which escalated to an inter-donor debate among the
World Bank, ADB and JICA (Industry Development and Public Policy Department
at JICA 2012: 39–41; Trzcinski and Upham 2014). Suggesting the subject was highly
technical, the Council of Ministers of Cambodia requested these donors to settle the
difference by themselves. In 2004, the three donors held a two-day conference at the
headquarters of the World Bank in Washington, DC. JICA agreed to partially modify
the draft Civil Code to make it compatible with the 2001 Land Law because the
latter was already promulgated.20 After JICA made the modification, no opposition
to the Civil Code was expressed by the MLMUPC, ADB, and the EMWI (Industry
Development and Public Policy Department at JICA 2012: 39–41).
The second case concerned the Civil Procedure Code (CPC). In 2003, the Cambo-
dian Ministry of Commerce (CMOC) published the draft of the Commercial Court
Law (CCL) that it prepared with CIDA. The idea of the CCL was to establish a special
first instance court in Phnom Penh that would be capable of dealing with commercial
cases fairly and efficiently under “fast track” rules diverged from the draft CPC for
the Kingdom to improve its business environment and attract more foreign investors
(Industry Development and Public Policy Department at JICA 2012: 51).
The preliminary draft was not acceptable to the CMOJ and JICA, who had been
preparing the CPC since 1999, because (1) the procedure for the appointment of
judges under the CCL violated the Constitution of Cambodia, and (2) the jurisdiction
of the proposed Commercial Court was so broad that it could water down the CPC
and other procedural norms (Takeshita 2004).
On (1), the draft law provided that each tribunal in the Commercial Court consist of
two career judges and one advisory judge (or one associate judge) (Takeshita 2004:
25). The appointment of the advisory judge was planned to be made by an inter-
ministerial commission comprising of officers who belong to the CMOJ, CMOC,
Ministry of Economy and Finance, National Bank of Cambodia and Cambodia
Chamber of Commerce (Industry Development and Public Policy Department at
JICA 2012: 51; Takeshita 2004: 25). However, the Constitution stated that the
appointment of judges in Cambodian courts was to be made by the King as per
recommendations by the Supreme Council of the Magistracy—a judicial organ to
maintain the independence of the judiciary.21 Thus, having such an advisory judge in
a tribunal would contradict the judicial independence guaranteed by the Constitution.
On (2), the draft law intended to confer the Commercial Court broad exclusive
jurisdiction to hear matters related to commercial transactions, mixed contracts (i.e.,

20 As a result, Articles 135 and 336(2) were newly established in the draft Civil Code.
21 See Article 21 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
198 N. Teramura

contracts between merchants and non-merchants), negotiable instruments such as

stocks and bonds, commercial enterprises, insolvencies, banking, financial institu-
tions, foreign exchange, product and service liability, maritime disputes and compe-
tition, among others (Takeshita 2004: 25–26). This broad authority implied that
the Commercial Court could bypass the CPC (and even the Criminal Procedure
Code prepared by France) on many occasions. The CMOJ and JICA hence issued
comments criticising the draft CCL. The CMOC ultimately decided to modify the
draft CCL to reduce the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commercial Court, agreeing
to mandate the Court to apply the CPC where applicable. ADB and UNDP later
joined CIDA to offer legal technical assistance to the CMOC in updating the draft
CCL (Industry Development and Public Policy Department at JICA 2012: 51–52).
However no discernible material suggests that the CCL has been promulgated, and
the government still likely plans to establish the Commercial Court (Kunmakara
2021; Vanyuth 2021).22

10.3.3 Laos

Few cases have been reported about overlaps between JICA’s and other donors’ legal
technical assistance projects in Laos. This is likely because JICA has delivered law
and development initiatives that supplement the works of other donors. For example,
JICA published legal education materials to help local practitioners learn about laws
and rules established by Lao experts and foreign donors. JICA also drafted the Civil
Code with Lao lawyers and government officers, but the foundation of the Code was
18 statutes that had been created by local and foreign experts (Irie 2019a: 33ff). The
only noticeable event reported by JICA as an overlapping case is one that occurred
in relation to a matter raised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the
World Bank Group. In late 2017, when the drafting committee of the Civil Code was
in the final stage of its mission, the IFC sent a notice to the committee, demanding the
committee rewrite the rules on secured transactions in the Civil Code (Irie 2019a: 32).
The IFC argued that the committee should make the Code more convenient for those
using the Registry Office for Security Interests in Movable Property. This centralised
computer registry allegedly allowed registered individuals and institutions to record
their financial interest in moveable and personal property.23 The IFC developed the
system with the Ministry of Finance of Laos (Irie 2019a: 32), to record (if possible)
all secured transactions in personal property on the unified and transparent online
system for the promotion of such transactions in the country (Irie 2019b: 42). To
this end, the IFC insisted on making various changes in the Civil Code, including
but not limited to the prohibitions of “pledge on movable property” and “setting up

22 Presumably, the rejuvenated move was inspired by the recent (proposed) establishment of
international commercial courts around the world: see, e.g., (Teramura et al. 2021).
23 The registry is available at: https://www.mof.gov.la/str/en_index.html (However, the registration

to the system is not open to the public.)

10 JICA’s Legal Technical Assistance Projects in Vietnam, Cambodia … 199

pledge with documents” (Irie 2019a: 32), despite these being widely used among
Lao people (Irie 2019b: 47). The IFC urged the committee that noncompliance with
the advice would result in Laos going down in the World Bank’s annual Ease of
Doing Business Rankings (Irie 2019b: 41–42). However, the drafting committee
opted to follow the IFC’s notice only minimally because it found that the unified
registration system was not useful for ordinary transactions among Lao private parties
(Irie 2019b: 46–50). The committee pointed out that the purpose of the Civil Code
was to regulate ordinal private transactions, not business ones, so it rejected most of
the IFC’s recommendations (Irie 2019a: 32).

10.4 Conclusions: JICA’s Commitment to Law Reforms

in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos

This chapter has examined how JICA has shaped part of legal pluralism in the former
French Indochina countries over the last three decades. Based on the assessment, one
may rank the level of JICA’s commitment to civil law reforms in the three countries
as follows: (1) Cambodia, (2) Laos and (3) Vietnam. In Cambodia, JICA has played a
leading role in drafting principal codes and laws from almost scratch, filling the lack
of human resources in the Cambodian legal sector. The leadership was crucial for
the promulgations of the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Code, which formed the
foundation of the Cambodian legal system.24 Indeed, the drafting process of these
Codes caused tensions between JICA and other donors such as ADB, the World Bank,
GIZ and CAID. However, Cambodian legal elites did not make decisions that might
turn JICA’s long-term efforts in vain, respecting JICA’s proposals as practically
as possible. Even where the elite lawyers observed occasional conflicts between
different legal models, as in the case of the Land Law reform, they requested JICA to
consult directly with other donors. They did not unilaterally discard the plan of JICA,
so the Japanese law experts were not forced to rewrite their legislative models. Thus,
JICA’s achievements in the Kingdom are comprehensive and outstanding. In Laos,
JICA delivered Civil Code-centred supervisory support, relying on other donors’ past
legal technical assistance projects. Put differently, JICA Projects in Laos focussed
on improving the legal environment by supplementing past law reforms initiated
by other donor agencies. Hence, JICA’s accomplishments in developing Laos civil
law are significant but supplementary. In Vietnam, JICA’s role has remained to be
one of many aid donors who provide on-demand advice and support to Vietnamese
lawyers. JICA has provided drafting assistance to the Vietnamese government from
time to time and in a piecemeal fashion. Some essential proposals by JICA have been
rejected by Vietnamese legal experts, as in the case of the Insolvency Law reform in
the 2000s. Therefore, JICA contributed to varying degrees of legal development in
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

24 Section 10.2.2 above.

200 N. Teramura

Whether JICA’s Projects are attuned to the social and economic aspirations of
the three countries may not be determined solely based on the research conducted
for this chapter. Nevertheless, Cambodia and Laos have maintained the legislative
models that JICA developed with local legal experts, despite occasional interference
from other influential donors. This may imply Cambodian and Lao lawyers’ basic
endorsement of JICA Projects. In contrast, it is unclear to what extent Vietnamese
legal elites have positively evaluated JICA Projects. These elites have often limited
the role of JICA to an advisor and have not let the agency play an outstanding role
in the development of Vietnamese private law. Thus, JICA Projects have possibly
been in accord with Cambodia’s and Laos’ social and economic ambitions but not
strictly with Vietnam’s. Hence, the time has probably come for JICA to critically
reflect on its commitment to the Vietnamese legal system and to decide whether and
how it will continue to provide Vietnam with legal technical assistance. Hopefully,
the reflection will open up new possibilities for both JICA and Vietnam.

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Nobumichi Teramura is an assistant professor at the Institute of Asian Studies at Univer-

siti Brunei Darussalam and an affiliate at the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the Univer-
sity of Sydney (CAPLUS), specialising in business law, with a particular interest in arbitration,
private international law, contract law and Asian law. Nobumichi is the author of Ex Aequo et
Bono as a Response to the Over-Judicialisation of International Commercial Arbitration (Wolters
Kluwer, 2020), which is based on his doctoral thesis from the University of New South Wales in
Australia that received a Ph.D. Excellence Award when completed in 2018. He has taught private
international law and commercial law as a lecturer at the Adelaide Law School, Australia (2019).
He has also lectured at Tañada-Diokno School of Law at De La Salle University in the Philippines
in 2016, 2017 and 2019 on international arbitration and trade law.

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