Hoàng Văn Chí (1 October 1913 in

Thanh Hóa Thanh Hóa () is the capital of Thanh Hóa Province. The city is situated in the east of the province on the Ma River (Sông Mã), about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Hanoi and 1560 kilometers (969 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City. Thanh ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

– 6 July 1988 in

Bowie, Maryland Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous c ...

, United States) was one of the first Vietnamese political writers, a prominent

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

who was an opponent of

colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...

and later of

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

in Vietnam. He used the pen name Mạc Định. His book, '' From Colonialism to Communism'', was translated into more than 15 languages.

Life

Early life and education

Hoàng Văn Chí was educated according to the French system, attending the

Lycée Albert Sarraut Lycée Albert Sarraut was a French lyceum in Hanoi, Vietnam, during the French colonial period, active from 1919 to 1965. It was one of 69 high schools founded by the French in their colonies worldwide, named for Albert Sarraut. The school offered ...

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

from 1928-35. Then he went on to the University of Indochina, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in Science in 1940. Already in 1926, at the age of 13, the young Hoàng had joined a protest demanding the end of French occupation which took place at

Phan Chu Trinh Phan Châu Trinh (Chữ Hán: 潘周楨, 9 September 1872 – 24 March 1926), courtesy name Tử Cán (梓幹), pen name Tây Hồ (西湖) or Hi Mã (希馬), was an early 20th-century Vietnamese nationalist. He sought to end France's colonial oc ...

's funeral. In 1940 he married Lê Hằng Phấn, daughter of the Vietnamese scholar, Sở Cuồng Lê Dư. He was at this time preparing to enter medical school and had acquired enough knowledge to treat his wife's

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

with an advanced technique: letting the affected side of the lung rest by a controlled

pneumothorax A pneumothorax is an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve i ...

while treating it with

antibiotics An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention o ...

Fighting French colonialism

In 1936, Hoàng Văn Chí joined the Le Travail Movement. From 1937-1939, he actively joined and worked for the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO, a socialist party). It was falsely claimed by CIA official George Carver that he joined the

Việt Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

to fight against the French colonists in Vietnam. In reality, Chí never joined the Viet Minh, instead working as a teacher in Thanh Hoá province from 1950-1955.

Rejection of communism

Hoang originated from a wealthy, landowning background which found itself at odds with the Viet Minh’s ideals, leading him to be antagonistic towards communism. Hoang knew some writers and poets for the ''Nhân Văn'' and ''Giai Phẩm'' papers which in 1956 were suppressed by the

Vietnamese Communist Party The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), also known as the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP), is the founding and sole legal party of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Founded in 1930 by Hồ Chí Minh, the CPV became the ruling party of North ...

. They were all either killed or imprisoned for criticizing

, especially after ''Cải Cách Ruộng Đất'' (

Land reform in Vietnam Land reform in Vietnam began in the political turmoil following World War II in which a civil war pitted the communist Viet Minh against the French colonists and their supporters. At that time a large percentage of agricultural land was owned by l ...

). Their cases later were made known to an international audience in his book, ''

The Nhân Văn Affair ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''. Hoàng came to the conclusion that communism was the wrong choice for Vietnam. In 1954, after the Geneva Agreements, together with another almost 900,000 North Vietnamese, Hoàng left

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

for the South. In 1955, Hoàng joined the government of South Vietnam, under Ngô Đình Diệm. Until 1960, he headed the ''Mặt Trận Bảo Vệ Tự Do Văn Hóa'' ( Congress of Cultural Freedom), speaking up for those he felt were silenced by Communism in the North. He researched and gathered information about life in the North, and published ''Phật Rơi Lệ'' (''Buddha Cries'') (1956) ''The New Class in North Vietnam'', ''

'', and ''Trăm Hoa Đua Nở Trên Đất Bắc'' (''Hundreds of Flowers Competing to Bloom in the North'') (1959). These books were all exposés of the oppression of writers in the North, and of violations of freedom of speech.

Declined position in Ngô Đình Diệm's government

Disappointed with the presidency of Ngô Đình Diệm in the South, he tried to go abroad. Hoàng Văn Chí requested reassignment to India since he had known a student of Mohandas K. Gandhi, Jaya Prakhash Narayan, who was the founder of Congress of Cultural Freedom in India. In 1959, he was appointed to work in the South Vietnamese Embassy in New Delhi. Narayan also helped Chí to obtain a grant of US$2,000 from the Congress of Cultural Freedom in France to work on his studies about the

land reform in Vietnam Land reform in Vietnam began in the political turmoil following World War II in which a civil war pitted the communist Viet Minh against the French colonists and their supporters. At that time a large percentage of agricultural land was owned by l ...

in the North. In 1960, he left the post for France, where he lived until 1965, engaging in writing and cultural activities.

Continued writing and activism

From 1960–1962, Hoàng wrote ''From Colonialism to Communism'', an account of events in Vietnam from the 1940s to 1955, especially the

. The book was published first in 1962, at the same time in New York, London, and New Delhi. This book was well received and was translated into various languages, including

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' The book was translated by Mạc Định (penname of Hoàng Văn Chí) into Vietnamese under the title: ''Từ Thực Dân đến Cộng Sản''. However, it was criticised by Gareth Porter in 1973 because Chi had misrepresented and fabricated evidence in his book. Besides appearing to be an ex-cadre knowledgeable in DRV affairs when in truth he never joined them, he misconstrued evidence about the land reforms such as Giap’s speech acknowledging its issues: “the unjust disciplining of innocent people” was changed to “executed too many honest people”, “repressive measures” as “terror”, and “coercive methods” as “torture” - significantly altering the meaning of the speech, and adding that “torture came to be regarded as normal practice during party reorganisation”, something Giap never said. On top of this, he disseminated manufactured claims, such as the phrase “Better kill ten innocent people than let one enemy escape”, which was acknowledged by Nguyen Van Chau, chief of the psychological warfare department at the time, to be from a “false document” He wrote for and contributed to ''North Vietnam Today'' and ''Vietnam Seen from East and West''. In 1965, the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

invited Hoàng Văn Chí to resettle in the United States, where he continued working for an independent, free, democratic Vietnam. From 1965–69, he worked as news editor for the ''

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

'', specializing in North Vietnam. From 1970–79 he worked for

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

, teaching culture and philosophy to classes of diplomats, U.S. State Department staff, and in universities. He especially enjoyed holding seminars about many different topics related to culture and education for young students in America, Canada and Australia. From 1975, with waves of

boat people Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...

leaving Vietnam, Hoàng and his wife actively supported the

Boat People SOS Boat People SOS (BPSOS) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization devoted to Vietnamese-American civic and political activism. It is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia. BPSOS' mission is to "empower, organize, and equip Vietnamese individuals and ...

organization, organizing many fund-raising activities and helping newcomers to resettle. In 1987, Hoàng was invited to Paris, France, to speak about Vietnam at the Paris Peace Accords conference. In the 1980s, Hoàng started to work on his passion: formulating a direction to help Vietnam change from Communism to an independent, free, and democratic country. He had finished the last chapter of ''Duy Van Su Quan'' ("

Humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and Agency (philosophy), agency of Human, human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical in ...

") in 1988 when he suffered a heart attack and died, aged 74.

Views

Hoàng Văn Chí represented a class of Vietnamese intellectuals caught between

, nationalism, communism and capitalism, in a society traditionally run by Confucianism with totalitarianism. Similar figures were Phan Khôi and Nguyễn Tường Tam (whose pen-name was Nhất Linh). During the fight for independence from the French colonialism, these intellectuals had tried to find new directions for Vietnam. The ideals of democracy, Egalitarianism, equality, human rights and civil rights led them into conflict with the Vietnamese governments of both North and South. Phan Khoi and his Nhan-Van Giai Pham group were oppressed and imprisoned by the communists in North Vietnam. Nguyễn Tường Tam committed suicide the day before Ngô Đình Diệm summoned him to a court hearing due to his political writings. Hoàng Văn Chí was able to escape from both the North and South Vietnamese governments during this time to continue his search for a new direction.

Humanism and heritage

Hoàng's answer to communism was ''Duy Văn Sử Quan'' or

, defined as preservation of the beauty in humanity and heritage. He believed that harmony of mind and emotion, developed in the right environment (an appropriate mix of political-economic and cultural foundations) would produce the best results and benefit the people and the country, as well as taking their culture to another level of power. Hoàng believed that this preservation of humanity and heritage in a free and democratic society was the way to counteract what he saw as the destruction caused by communism in Vietnam.

Preserving a traditional Vietnamese lifestyle

While he spent most of his time devoting to writing, researching, and teaching, Hoàng and his wife maintained a simple traditional Vietnamese lifestyle. In the early 1970s, he built a greenhouse where he grew Vietnamese herbs and vegetables. Most remembered by his community are the white eggplants, a part of the traditional North Vietnamese daily meal. In 1979, Hoàng and his wife founded the Vietnam Food and Drink Company in

, in order to promote Vietnamese food and drink. The first successful product was “Tương Cự Đà”, a sauce made by a fermentation process using soybeans and sweet rice. The second product was “Thính Quê Hương”, a Vietnamese spice made from roasted rice powder, used in Vietnamese cooking to add flavor to roast beef (''bò tái'') and shredded pork (''bì''). These two products enjoyed international sales at a time when Vietnam was still closed to the outside world. The Vietnam Food and Drink Company delivered products to Asian and Vietnamese supermarkets in the United States and worldwide, as well as by mail order.

Publications

''From Colonialism to Communism''

''From Colonialism to Communism: A Case Study of North Vietnam'' describes North Vietnam from 1940–55, during the transition from the French colonial rule to communism. It also documents the

in 1954. The book was written in exile in India and France, between 1960-1962. The first edition was published in 1962, in New York, London, and New Delhi. Between 1962 and 1964, foreign language editions were published in Japanese, Urdu, Spanish, Arabic and Vietnamese.''Từ Thực Dân đến Cộng Sản''. Trans. by Hoàng Văn Chí, using the pen name, ''Mạc Định''.

Select bibliography

*1956 - ''Phật Rơi Lệ'' (“Buddha Cries”) *1959 - ''Trăm Hoa Đua Nở Trên Đất Bắc'' (“A Hundred Flowers Bloom in the North”) *1959 - ''The New Class in North Vietnam'' *1959 - ''The Nhân Văn Affair'' *1964 - ''From Colonialism to Communism'' *1990 - ''Duy Văn Sử Quan'' (“Humanism”), published posthumously by his son, Dr.Hoàng Việt Dũng, in association with Cành Nam Publishers

References

External links

Hoàng Văn Chí - Trăm Hoa Đua Nở Trên Đất BắcHoàng Văn Chí - Từ Thực Dân Đến Cộng SảnHoàng Văn Chí - Duy Văn Sử Quan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoang, Van Chi Vietnamese journalists Vietnamese non-fiction writers Vietnamese revolutionaries 1913 births 1988 deaths Vietnamese anti-communists Vietnamese nationalists Vietnamese politicians Vietnamese expatriates in the United States Vietnamese writers French Section of the Workers' International politicians Vietnamese male writers 20th-century male writers 20th-century Vietnamese writers People educated at Lycee Albert Sarraut 20th-century journalists Male non-fiction writers