Đông Du (, , ''journey to the east''; ) was a Vietnamese political movement founded by

Phan Bội Châu Phan Bội Châu (; 26 December 1867 – 29 October 1940), born Phan Văn San, courtesy name Hải Thụ (later changed to Sào Nam), was a pioneer of 20th century Vietnamese nationalism. In 1904, he formed a revolutionary organization called ...

at the start of the 20th century that encouraged young Vietnamese to go east to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

to study, in the hope of training a new era of revolutionary independent activists to rise against French colonial rule. Other notable proponents of Dong Du include Phan Châu Trinh and Prince

Cường Để Cường Để (, ; born Nguyễn Phúc Dân ( vi-hantu, 阮福民); 11 January 1882 - 5 April 1951) was an early 20th-century Vietnamese revolutionary and nationalist who, along with Phan Bội Châu, unsuccessfully tried to liberate Vietnam from ...

of Nguyễn house. In 1906 there were only 20 students in Japan, but October 1907, there were over 100 students in Japan, more than half from the South.Philippe M. F. Peycam – The Birth of Vietnamese Political Journalism: Saigon, 1916–1930 2012– Page 56 "During Chiêu's trial, the French discovered that he had been a central agent for an underground movement called the Association for the Modernization ... funds for the Đông du movement but also to promote these changes for their own sake."

History

At the beginning of the 20th century,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

had suppressed almost all revolutionary movements. Yên Thế Insurrection lead by Hoàng Hoa Thám, at the time, had narrowed the scope of operations and fully suppressed in 1913. In 1903,

, a patriotic scholar from Nghệ An traveled through the whole

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

to contact other scholars to establish a revolutionary party, which later be

Duy Tân Hội Duy Tân Hội (chữ Hán: 維新會, Association for Modernization) was an anti-French and pro-independence society in Vietnam founded by Phan Bội Châu and Prince Cường Để in 1904. Its aim was "defeat the French invaders, restore the Vie ...

The establishment of Duy Tân Hội

file:Phan_Boi_Chau_va_Cuong_De.jpg, 326x326px,

(left) and

in Japan Early 1904, after coming back from French Cochinchina, on April 4th,

, together with

(one of the descendants of Prince Nguyễn Phúc Cảnh) and around 20 other nationalists met at Nguyễn Thành's house, located in Quảng Nam to establish Duy Tân Hội, a secret revolutionary movement. After discussion, the association's founding conference set out three immediate tasks, which were: *Developing the association's power in terms of both human resources and finances. *Promoting preparations for the uprising and other tasks after the uprising began. *Determining the policy for seeking help abroad, and how to carry it out. The above two items were assigned to all members, while the third item was entrusted to Nguyen Thanh and Phan Boi Chau to discuss in secret and then carry it out, without the other members knowing.

References

20th century in Vietnam Vietnamese independence movement Phan Bội Châu Vietnamese expatriates in Japan {{Vietnam-stub