Nguyễn Sơn (1 October 1908 – 21 October 1956), also known by his Chinese name Hong Shui (), was a Vietnamese military leader who participated in the

Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution was a social revolution, social and political revolution in China that began in 1927 and culminated with the proclamation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The revolution was led by the Chinese C ...

and the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

against the French. Sơn spent much of his early years in China, and was one of the few Vietnamese who had participated in and survived the

Long March The Long March ( zh, s=长征, p=Chángzhēng, l=Long Expedition) was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934 and ...

with the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

. He was awarded the rank of Major General in both the

Vietnam People's Army Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

.Trịnh Tố Long
"Có một vị tướng như thế"
''Tiền Phong'', retrieved on 21 October 2014. He married Lê Hằng Huân, a daughter of the writer Lê Dư, his sisters-in-law being Lê Hằng Phương wife of the writer Vũ Ngọc Phan, and Lê Hằng Phấn wife of the writer Hoàng Văn Chí.

Early life

Nguyễn Sơn was born on 1 October 1908 in Gia Lâm District in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

. He was the son of Vũ Trường Xương. When he was five years old he began to learn French at a Catholic school in Hanoi. When Sơn was fourteen years old he passed the Hanoi Teachers College. He often organizes students from the School of Education and the Guardian School to fight against Westerners in other schools. His parents married him to Nguyễn Thị Giệm four years older than him. He pretended to drink alcohol to causing trouble with his father-in-law and to get rid of his older wife. Sơn was sent to study in

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 ...

, where he met

Ho Chi Minh (born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), colloquially known as Uncle Ho () among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who served as the founder and first President of Vietnam, president of the ...

. At the end of 1924, Sơn, Hoàng Văn Hoan,

Phạm Văn Đồng Phạm Văn Đồng (; 1 March 1906 – 29 April 2000) was a Vietnamese politician who served as Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976. He later served as Prime Minister of Vietnam, following reunification of North and South Viet ...

and more than 30 Vietnamese revolutionary youths, followed Ho Chi Minh to

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

. In March 1926, Sơn was introduced by Li Fuchun, Cai Chang,

Lin Biao Lin Biao ( zh, 林彪; 5 December 1907 – 13 September 1971) was a Chinese politician and Marshal of the People's Republic of China who was pivotal in the Chinese Communist Party, Communist Chinese Communist Revolution, victory during the Chines ...

, Liu Zhidan and others at the Whampoa Military Academy. At the academy, he was introduced to Chen Yimin and joined the

(CCP). After graduating in October 1926, Sơn followed Ho Chi Minh's instructions and continued to work at the Whampoa Military Academy, and joined the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

Revolutionary career

On 12 April 1927, Chiang Kai-shek carried out a purge of thousands of suspected Communists and dissidents in Shanghai, and began large-scale massacres across the country collectively known as the "White Terror". In response, Sơn left the Kuomintang and officially joined the CCP in August 1927. In December 1927, he participated in the Guangzhou Uprising, and after its failure fled to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. With the consent of Ye Jianying and

Nie Rongzhen Nie Rongzhen ( zh , s = 聂荣臻 , p = Niè Róngzhēn , w = Nieh Jung-chen ; December 29, 1899 – May 14, 1992) was a Marshal of the People's Republic of China. He died as the last People's Liberation Army (PLA) marshal. Biography Nie was b ...

, Sơn and

went to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in order to organize overseas Vietnamese to join the revolution. In 1928, he returned to China and joined the

. In 1929, he held the position of company political commissar in the 47th Regiment, and commanded the company in battles near Dong River. During this time, he adopted the name Hong Shui. He was the only foreign officer in the People's Liberation Army. He served as the regimental commissar, and political director of the 34th Division of the

Chinese Red Army The Chinese Red Army, formally the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=中國工農紅軍) or just the Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=紅軍), was the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1928 to 1937. I ...

's 12th Army. Due to his rich practical experience and theoretical background, he was assigned to teach at the newly established Central Military Political School of the Red Army in Ruijin,

Jiangxi Province ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

. At the end of 1932, he also participated in the establishment of the first troupe of the Red Army, and later became leader of the troupe. In January 1934, at the Second National Congress of Delegates of the

Chinese Soviet Republic The Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) was a state within China, proclaimed on 7 November 1931 by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders Mao Zedong and Zhu De in the early stages of the Chinese Civil War. The discontiguous territories of the CSR incl ...

, Sơn was elected a member of the Central Committee of the CCP and as an ethnic minority representative. Because the leftist line prevailed in the CCP, during the period 1933 to 1938, he was expelled from the CCP three times, only to have his membership restored. In October 1934, he participated in the

, a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang army. During this time, he was falsely accused by Zhang Guotao of being a spy and was expelled from the CCP. He was sentenced to be executed, but was saved due to intervention from

Zhu De Zhu De; (1 December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Zhu was born into poverty in 1886 in Sichuan. He was adopted by a wealthy uncle at ...

and Liu Bocheng. The march traversed over 9,000 kilometres (5,600 mi) over 370 days from Jiangxi to

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi is a province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to the west. Shaanxi ...

and Sơn was the only Vietnamese to have successfully completed the march. In December 1935, he returned to

Yan'an Yan'an; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi Province of China, province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several c ...

after being lost for many days. He was later admitted to Chinese Red Army University, where in listened to the lectures by

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

and

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

. In July 1937, at the beginning of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

, he followed Commander-in-Chief of PLA Zhu De and the 115th Division across the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

to Shanxi Province to establish an anti-Japanese base at the Wutai Mountains. He was appointed Party Secretary of Dongye District and Head of the Propaganda Department of the Northeast Shanxi Party Committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Son 1908 births 1956 deaths Chinese communists Deaths from cancer in Vietnam Deaths from stomach cancer Generals of the People's Army of Vietnam Military personnel from Hanoi People from Bắc Ninh province People's Liberation Army generals Recipients of the Order of Ho Chi Minh Viet Minh members Vietnamese communists Vietnamese emigrants to China