Phan Khôi (October 06, 1887 – January 16, 1959) was an

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

leader who inspired a North Vietnamese variety of the Chinese Hundred Flowers Campaign, in which scholars were permitted to criticize the government, but for which he himself was ultimately persecuted by the

Communist Party of Vietnam The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) 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 Vietnam in 1954 and then all of Vietnam after the col ...

Biography

Early life and education

Phan Khôi was born in an elite Confucian family in Bảo An village, Điện Bàn county, Quảng Nam Province. His father was (Second-rank, under Doctorate) Phan Trân, a son of

Nam Định Nam Định () is the capital city of Nam Định province in the Red River Delta of the Northern Vietnam. History From August 18–20 of each year, there is a festival held in Nam Định called the Cố Trạch. This celebration honors Gener ...

Judge Phan Khắc Nhu. His mother was Hoàng Thị Lệ, a daughter of Hà Ninh Governor-general Hoàng Diệu. Phan Khôi learned Chinese characters from a young age and was very well read. He read many progressive writings and developed a belief in

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

and a new society. In 1906, he joined the

Progressive Movement Progressivism is a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform. Adherents hold that progressivism has universal application and endeavor to spread this idea to huma ...

(Duy Tân) led by

Phan Chu Trinh Phan may refer to: * Phan (surname), a Vietnamese family name * Phan District, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand * Phan River, Bình Thuận Province, Vietnam * Phan (tray) Phan (, ) is an artistically decorated tray with pedestal. It is common in T ...

(1872–1926), Huỳnh Thúc Kháng (1876–1947) and

Trần Quý Cáp Trần Quý Cáp (chữ Hán: 陳季恰, 1870–1908), born Trần Nghị, courtesy name Dã Hàng, Thích Phu, pen name Thai Xuyên, was a Vietnamese notable poet and anti-colonialist. He was one among several leading scholars in the including ...

(1870–1906). Phan Khôi moved to Hanoi to learn French and

Quốc ngữ The Vietnamese alphabet (, ) is the modern writing script for the Vietnamese language. It uses the Latin script based on Romance languages like French, originally developed by Francisco de Pina (1585–1625), a missionary from Portugal. The Vi ...

(Vietnamese written in the Latin alphabets). In 1907, he joined the " Đông Kinh Nghĩa Thục" school, founded by Phan Chu Trinh with the help 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 20th century Vietnamese nationalism. In 1904, he formed a revolutionary organization called ...

in teaching materials. Then in 1908 the French cracked down on Progressive Movement, they captured all members, executed the leaders and imprisoned others. Phan Khôi was sent back to prison in

Điện Bàn Điện Bàn () is a Districts of Vietnam, district-level town of Quảng Nam Province in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam. As of 2015 the district had a population of 229,907. The district covers an area of 214.71 km². The district cap ...

. In 1909, being pardoned by the French, he went to Huê and studied at the Pellerin School (1909–11).

Opening school and teaching

In 1912, his grandmother died, Phan Khôi came home for the funeral and stayed at his village, opened his own school and started teaching. 1913, Phan Khôi married the daughter of Lương Thúc Ký (1873–1947). Lương Thúc Ký was a teacher at Dục Anh school at Phan Thiêt. Dục Anh school was founded by Mr. Nguyễn Trọng Lợi, who also was a member of the Progressive Movement.

Journalism

Phan Khôi wrote under the pen name Chương Dân, and was very well known for his new, revolutionary and controversial ideas.''Postcolonial Vietnam: New Histories of the National Past'' - Page 79 Patricia M. Pelley - 2002 "Phan Khôi, for one, urged his colleagues to oppose the elitism of traditional histories because they had merely chronicled the records and actions of mandarins and kings. Instead, he argued, ''new history'', because it was a history of the ..." He contributed to ''Đăng Cổ Tùng Báo'' (1907) of Đông Kinh Nghĩa Thục, ''Nam Phong'' (1918) founded by Phạm Quỳnh, ''Lục Tỉnh Tân Văn'', ''Hà Nội Thực Nghiệp Dân Báo'' (1920), ''Hữu Thanh'' (1921), ''Đông Pháp Thời Báo'' (1923), ''Trung Lập Báo'' (1924), ''Thần Chung'' (1929)

Editorships

Phan Khoi was the editor of ''Phụ Nữ Tân Văn'' (1929), ''Phụ Nữ Thời Đàm'' (1932), ''Tràng An'' (1934).

The Nhân Văn Affair

In 1956, Phan Khôi led the ''Nhân Văn'' - ''Giai Phẩm'' movement in Hanoi, and he served as editor in chief as well as the publisher of the '' Nhân Văn'' (1956). He also contributed to the ''Giai Phẩm'' periodical and ''Văn'', a weekly publication. Some leading Vietnamese intellectuals in the north of the country, like Nguyễn Hữu Đang and

Trần Đức Thảo Trần Đức Thảo (26 September 1917 – 24 April 1993) was a Vietnamese people, Vietnamese philosopher. His work (written primarily in French) attempted to unite Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology with Marxist philosophy. His work had ...

(1917–1993), joined Phan Khoi to express their ideals in the ''Nhân Văn - Giai Phẩm'' Movement, demanding

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

, and

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

. They accused the Communist Party of violating the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

of the

Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it opposed the French-suppor ...

. In December 1956, the Communist Party forced the papers to close. By 1958, after indecision about what to do about the participants in this dissent, it had arrested numerous participants in the Nhan Van Giai Pham affair, imprisoned some of them, forced some into public self-criticism, and put others on trial. This was reported to the world in the translated book '' The Nhân Văn Affair'' by Hoàng Văn Chí. Since this event till the last day of his life, Phan Khôi was kept prisoner at home, his ideas and writings were suppressed. Phan Khôi died suddenly January 16, 1959 at home in Hanoi.

Published works

* 1936 - Chương Dân thi thoại oems of Chương Dân* 1939 - Trở vỏ lửa ra * 1955 - Việt ngữ nghiên cứu tudies about Vietnamese language* 1932 - Tình già ld Love - Poem written in new format* 1918 - Bàn về tế giao emarks about diplomacy*Ngẫu cảm (thơ chữ Hán) nspiration - poem written in Chinese characters*Viếng mộ ông Lê Chất isiting the grave of Lê Chất - poem in Chinese characters*Ông Năm chuột (truyện ngắn) r. Năm Chuột - short storybr>Phan Khôi - PoemsPhan Khôi: Thánh hiền ta đời xưa chưa hề có tư tưởng dân chủPhan Khôi: Việt ngữ nghiên cứuPhan Khôi: văn học với nữ tánhPhan Khôi: cấm sách, sách cấmPhan Khôi: Tư tưởng Tây phương và Đông phươngPhan Khôi: Học thuyết cũ với vận mạng mới nước TàuPhan Khôi: Mấy lời kết luận về Cô Hồng Minh và cái thuyết Âu châu sắp tan nátPhan Khôi:Thanh niên với tổ quốcPhan Khôi: Chữ quốc ngữ ở Nam kỳ với thế lực của phụ nữPhan Khôi: Cách mạng giảPhan Khôi: Khoa học với văn hóaPhan Khôi: Cái ảnh hưởng của Khổng giáo ở nước taPhan Khôi: Chữ trinh, cái tiết với cái nếtPhan Khôi: Về cái ý kiến lập hội "Chấn hưng quốc học" của ông Phạm QuỳnhPhan Khôi: Về chữ Quốc ngữPhan Khôi: Cách ngôn luận của người Á ĐôngPhan Khôi: Người mở đầu cho luận lý học Á ĐôngPhan Khôi: Trên lịch sử nước ta không có chế độ phong kiến - Lại Nguyên Ân sưu tầm, hiệu đính, giới thiệu

Legacy

Phan Khôi represented a Vietnamese elite class in the transitional time from Chinese education to the new era of Western values. Phan Khôi had made the transition very swiftly not only by himself, but he also took his generation along with him. Being exposed to different cultures from China, Hong Kong, Japan, France, he was able to combine them all to serve his

Vietnamese people The Vietnamese people (, ) or the Kinh people (), also known as the Viet people or the Viets, are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day northern Vietnam and Dongxing, Guangxi, southern China who speak Vietnamese language, Viet ...

. Phan Khôi brought many new ideas to Vietnam, from a new

democratic society Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

with respect to

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and

, to equality for women, to a new trend of poetry. He provided the best spirit to a debate i
Bàn thêm về "bút chiến"
which until today is still the foremost valuable lesson the Vietnamese ought to learn. The Nhân Văn Affair continued to be an inspiration for the Vietnamese intellectuals today. In his writing
Đàn bà với quốc sự
Phan Khôi clearly offered Vietnamese ladies a place of honor in society within the setting of Vietnamese culture. His poem "Old Love" was the first poem written in a new format, opening doors for many young poets to surpass him in a short time. However, he also was very interested in researching the roots of Vietnamese heritage, especially Vietnamese spoken language, which had long been ignored and looked down upon by the elite class in Vietnam. His researc
Phan Khôi: Việt ngữ nghiên cứu
was a well of knowledge for young Vietnamese to follow. One generation before Hoàng Văn Chí, one generation after

, Phan Khôi represented a class of Vietnamese intellectuals caught between

colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. Phan Khôi's progressive spirit and his lifelong effort to raise the Vietnamese people's awareness of human rights, civil rights, and good education were suppressed by the Communist Party with The Nhân Văn Affair since 1956 are being revived in the 2000s by the younger generation of Vietnam.

External links

Hoàng Văn Chí: Trăm Hoa Đua Nở Trên Đất Bắc

BBC - About Phan Khôi

Portrait of the Journalist at the top

References

1. Phan Khoi—''Encyclopædia Britannica'' 2. Nguyễn Quý Ðại - Nhà văn PHAN KHÔI và VỤ ÁN NHÂN VĂN - The Vietnamese Historical and Cultural Performing Arts Foundation: http://www.hungsuviet.org/lichsu/nha_van_phan_khoi.htm 3. http://xuquang.com/dialinhnk/danhnhan/phankhoi.html 4. http://www.gio-o.com/NguyenHueChiThuyKhuePhongVan.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Phan, Khoi 1887 births 1959 deaths People from Quảng Nam province Vietnamese revolutionaries Vietnamese educators Vietnamese male poets Nhân Văn–Giai Phẩm affair 20th-century Vietnamese poets 20th-century Vietnamese male writers 20th-century Vietnamese journalists