Nguyễn Tường Tam (;

chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...

: 阮祥三 or 阮祥叄; Cẩm Giàng, Hải Dương 25 July 1906 –

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

, 7 July 1963) better known by his pen-name Nhất Linh (, 一灵, "One Spirit") was a Vietnamese writer, editor and publisher in colonial

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 founded the literary group and publishing house Tự Lực Văn Đoàn ("Self-Strengthening Literary Group") in 1932 with the literary magazines ''Phong Hóa'' ("Customs", or "Mores") and ''Ngày Nay'' ("Today"), and serialized, then published, many of the influential realism-influenced novels of the 1930s. In 1935, Nguyễn published a satirical and fictional travelogue about his time in France, ''Going to the West'' (Đi Tây). His aim was to show that the French colonialists did not grant to the working classes in Vietnam the same rights they accorded to workers in France. In addition to Nhất Linh, scholars have noted that the many Vietnamese westernized elites returning from France had been embracing the French “ideal of progress” as a lens to imagine Vietnam in a modern light of social equality and democracy. In the 1940s he organized a political party, Đại Việt Dân Chính ("Great Viet Democratic Party" DVDC). Tam fled to China where he was arrested on the orders of Zhang Fakui, who at same time had arrested

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 ...

. This faction soon merged with the larger Đại Việt Quốc Dân Đảng ("Great Viet Nationalist Party" DVQDD) and later this too merged into the Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng ("Vietnamese Nationalist Party" VNQDD). After release from China Nhất Linh returned to Vietnam in 1945, to become

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

in the first coalition government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He was chief negotiator with the French in Dalat in April 1946 and was to have led the delegation to France. However fearing Viet Minh assassination he fled to Hong Kong and resided there 1946–1950. On his return to Vietnam, to the South, avoiding politics and concentrated on literary activities. This did not prevent the accusation of the Ngo Dinh Diem regime of involvement in the 1960 attempted coup. Nhat Linh denied this, and the police having found no evidence did not seek to arrest Tam till 1963. Tam committed suicide by ingesting

cyanide In chemistry, cyanide () is an inorganic chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Ionic cyanides contain the cyanide anion . This a ...

, leaving a death note stating "I also will kill myself as a warning to those people who are trampling on all freedom", the "also" probably referring to Thich Quang Duc, the

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

who had self-immolated in protest against Diem's persecution of Buddhism a month earlier.

Works

Novels

*''Gánh hàng hoa'' (The Flower Seller) (with Khái Hưng, 1934) *''Đời mưa gió'' (The Stormy Life) (with Khái Hưng, 1934) *''Nắng thu'' (Autumn Sun) (1934) *''Đoạn tuyệt'' ( The End) (1934-1935) *''Lạnh lùng'' (Estrangement) (1935-1936) *''Đôi bạn'' (Two Friends) (1936-1937) *''Bướm trắng'' (White Butterfly) (1938-1939) *''Xóm cầu mới'' (New Bridge Hamlet) (1949-1957). *''Giòng sông Thanh Thủy'' (Blue River) (1960-1961). *''Ba người bộ hành'' (Three Pedestrians) *''Chi bộ hai người'' (The Cell of Two) *''Vọng quốc'' (Looking Back)

Stories

*''Nho phong'' (Confucian Mannerism) (1924) *''Người quay tơ'' (The Weaver) (1926) *''Anh phải sống'' (You've Got to Live) (with Khái Hưng, 1932 - 1933) *''Hai buổi chiều vàng'' (Two Golden Afternoons) (1934-1937) *''Thế rồi một buổi chiều'' (It Happened One Afternoon) (1934-1937) *''Thương chồng'' (Feeling Sorry) (1961)

Essay

*''Viết và đọc tiểu thuyết'' (Writing and Reading Novels) (1952-1961)

Travelogue

*''Đi Tây'' (Going to the West) (1935)

Translations

*'' Wuthering Heights'' (made 1960, published 1974)Emily Bronte, Đỉnh Gió Hú, Nhất Linh, Nguyễn Tường Thiết dịch
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References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nhat Linh 1906 births 1963 deaths 1963 suicides Suicides in Vietnam Ministers of foreign affairs of Vietnam 20th-century Vietnamese diplomats Vietnamese writers Male suicides People from Hải Dương province Suicides by cyanide poisoning