Nguyễn Thượng Hiền
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Nguyễn Thượng Hiền ( ; 1865–1925) was a Vietnamese scholar-gentry anti-colonial revolutionary activist who advocated independence from French colonial rule. He was a contemporary of
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 Vietnamese 20th century nationalism. In 1903, he formed a revolutionary organization called ' ...
and Phan Châu Trinh and was regarded as the most prominent northerner of his generation of scholar-gentry activists.Marr, p. 92.


Biography

Hiền was born in the village of Liên Bạt, in Son Lang district of Hà Đông Province. His father was a minister of the Nguyễn dynasty court in
Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...
, and while still in his teenage year, Hien was married to the daughter of
Tôn Thất Thuyết Tôn Thất Thuyết ( 尊 室 説; 12 May 1839 in Huế – 1913 in Longzhou) was the leading mandarin of Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam's Nguyễn dynasty. Thuyết later led the Cần Vương movement which aimed to restore Vietnamese i ...
, who was then the head mandarin of Emperor
Tự Đức Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, 嗣 德, lit. "inheritance of virtues", 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm , also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam; he ruled ...
, Vietnam's last sovereign monarch. In 1884, he passed the regional exams of the imperial examination system, and in 1885 he was successful in passing the metropolitan exams. He would then have been eligible to take the palace exams, the highest in the hierarchy. However, in the same year, his father-in-law, who was the regent of the boy emperor
Hàm Nghi Emperor Hàm Nghi (, vi-hantu, lit. "entirely right", ar, هام نغي; 3 August 1872 – 4 January 1943), personal name Nguyễn Phúc Ưng Lịch, also Nguyễn Phúc Minh, was the eighth emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn dynasty. He reign ...
had planned an uprising against the French colonisation of Vietnam. Thuyết had organised a large arsenal to be accumulated in a forest base outside the capital and then orchestrated for Hàm Nghi and royal entourage to escape to the base before launching an attack on the French garrison in attempt to force the collapse of the colonial structure. However, the attack failed, so Thuyết had to go on the run with Hàm Nghi and a band of nationalist partisans, so Hien could not turn up at the examinations as a family member without risking the possibility that he would be taken hostage. He fled to the northern town of
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 ...
, before returning in 1892 to place second (''hoang giap'') in the palace exams, something that was considered surprising given the political status of his in-laws. At the time, he became a close confidant of Nguyen Lo Trach, another Vietnamese anti-colonial activist intellectual, who advocated "self strengthening". Hien participated in Trach's small group discussions with other scholar-gentry revolutionaries, and read all of Trach's writings. Hiền's first government position was an appointment in the historical Bureau, which possibly gave him access to more Chinese works about anti-colonialism. He was later appointed as the education commissioner (''doc hoc'') of Ninh Bình Province, before being transferred to the corresponding position in
Nam Định Province Nam Định () ( vi, Tỉnh Nam Định) is a province in the southern part of the Red River Delta region of northern Vietnam. It borders Ninh Bình province to the southwest, Hà Nam province to the northwest, Thái Bình province to the northe ...
. Hiền met Châu and Trinh early in the 20th century, and introduced Châu to the writings of Trach. Despite his revolutionary leanings, it was not until the deposing of Emperor
Thành Thái Thành Thái (, vi-hantu, 成 泰; 14 March 1879 – 20 March 1954) born Nguyễn Phúc Bửu Lân (阮福寶嶙), was the son of Emperor Dục Đức and Empress Dowager Từ Minh. He reigned as emperor for 18 years, from 1889 to 1907. Biog ...
by the French colonial authorities that Hien resigned his government position. He then left Vietnam to join Chau and Prince
Cường Để Cường Để (, ; born Nguyễn Phước Dân ( vi-hantu, 阮福民); 11 January 1882 - 5 April 1951) was an early 20th-century Vietnamese revolutionary who, along with Phan Bội Châu, unsuccessfully tried to liberate Vietnam from French colo ...
in Japan, where they were trying to organise anti-colonial movements from abroad. Hiền later went to Canton with Chau for a meeting of expatriate revolutionaries, where the
Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội The Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội (, ''Restoration League of Vietnam'' or ''Restoration Society of Vietnam'') was a nationalist republican militant revolutionary organization of Vietnam that was active in the 1910s, under the leadership of Phan B ...
(Vietnam Restoration League) was formed. This organization cited the rise in the movement for republican democracy in China as a justification for pursuing the establishment of an independent Vietnam as a republic. Hien was named in the "deliberative ministry" of the organization, as the representative for northern Vietnam.Marr, p. 217. After the jailing of Châu, the leadership responsibility fell to Hiền. Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Hiền wrote and organised the printing of an impassioned plea for Vietnamese people to rise against the French colonialists, who were now also having to deal with battle commitments in Europe. He reasoned that the German progress on the Western Front in late 1914 and cited the efforts of
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
in fighting against Allied forces. He ridiculed Vietnamese people in an attempt to provoke action:
Perhaps only the descendants of Hong Bang have skulls without brains, bodies without guts? . . . We still kneel down, bow our heads, kow-tow to the French like gods, revere them like saints, slaves to them all our lives; and, worse yet, we pass this on to our children and grandchildren as well. We're really a bunch of incurable invalids, a hoard of weird animals seldom seen in this world! Our blood is as abundant as water, our people as numerous as trees in this forest. Will we continue to stand around and stomach this shame forever?Marr, pp. 228–229.
He exhorted Vietnamese to avoid French conscription and being sent to the battlefields of Europe and fight on their behalf. Hiền also made contacts with German and Austro-Hungarian consulates in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
, who gave him a small amount of funding to harass French army units in Vietnam, with promises of increased funding contingent on successful attacks. Most of the money was spent of badly prepared attacks on French border posts along the frontier with China, but these caused little military damage and only provoked more infighting within the Quang Phuc Hoi. In April 1915, the French executed 28 men charged with engaging in attacks near
Phú Thọ Phú Thọ () is a district-level town in Phú Thọ Province, 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 ...
. The Germans were not impressed by the activities and no funding increases were made to sustain them and the Vietnamese guerrilla attacks dwindled away.


Legacy

Most cities in Vietnam, regardless of the political orientation of the government, have named major streets after him. Additionally,
Nguyễn Thượng Hiền High School Nguyễn Thượng Hiền High School ( vi, Trường Trung học phổ thông Nguyễn Thượng Hiền) is a public high school in Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam. It was established in 1970 under the name ''Tân Bình High School''. Being one of ...
, one of the most notable high schools in Ho Chi Minh City, was named in honor of him.Erica J. Peters Appetites and Aspirations in Vietnam: 2011 " Phan Bội Châu's associate Nguyễn Thượng Hiền declared: The
rench The Rench is a right-hand tributary of the Rhine in the Ortenau ( Central Baden, Germany). It rises on the southern edge of the Northern Black Forest at Kniebis near Bad Griesbach im Schwarzwald. The source farthest from the mouth is that of the ...
company sells its alcohol at very high prices, and ...


Notes


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Thuong Hien Vietnamese nationalists Vietnamese revolutionaries 1925 deaths 1865 births People from Hanoi