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The statue of Uncle Ho
in front
of Ho Chi Minh
Museum in Phan
Thiet.
The gate of Duc Thanh School.
The classroom where President Ho Chi Minh gave lessons
in 1910.
Inside the classroom where the President
gave
lessons.
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Duc
Thanh School in Phan Thiet Town (Phan Thiet Province) is famous
nationwide not only for its centenary of existence, but also because
it sheltered President Ho Chi Minh when he worked there as a
teacher.
In 1910, on his way to
the South to find a way abroad and search for ways to save the
country from the French invaders, President Ho Chi Minh lived and
worked as a teacher at Duc Thanh School in Phan Thiet Town. For this
historical value, the School has been preserved, together with other
relics built nearby, to display the showpieces on the life and
revolutionary activities of President Ho Chi Minh, the World's Man
of Culture and a beloved President of the Vietnamese people.
Duc Thanh school
was built a century ago by Nguyen Thong, a poet and patriot at that
time, in a poor fishing village by the Ca Ty River. At first, it was
a small house, called Ngoa Du Sao, for the then local patriots and
men of letters to gather and talk together, read books or recite
poems. Among them were Phan Chu Trinh, Huynh Thuc Khang, Tran Qui
Cap, and others. When Nguyen Thong died, his son, Nguyen Quy Anh,
rebuilt the house into a primary school and named it "Duc Thanh", to
educate the local children and disseminate patriotism among the
young generation.
In 1910, young Nguyen Tat
Thanh (later President Ho Chi Minh), was recommended by a patriot,
Truong Gia Mo, to get a job at Duc Thanh school. At 20, Thanh was
the youngest teacher at the school and he taught Vietnamese, Chinese
and physical exercises, and also French, when the French teacher was
busy.
Thanh had his own way of
teaching. With Vietnamese lessons, he brought the pupils to the
local beauty-spots and told them about their native place's beauty
and potential. In the French class, he explained the lessons through
the verses made in six-eight metre (poems in which the lines are
alternately of six and eight feet) which are easy to remember.
Through the lessons, Thanh taught his pupils to love their
fellow-countrymen and their country. Many of his pupils later became
famous, one of them was doctor Nguyen Kinh Chi, Vice-minister of
Health of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (present-day Socialist
Republic of Vietnam).
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Some
of the President's personal belongings displayed at the
Museum.
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Duc Thanh School
is preserved almost intact to its original design of a century ago.
It includes the classroom wherenbsp;teacher Thanh lectured
; the boarding house where he
and his pupils lived; the house where teacher Thanh used to read
books and progressive newspapers and magazines. There is also a
garden with a carambola tree which Thanh cared for in his free time,
and a brick well nearby. (The inserted photos show some of the
President's personal belongings displayed at the Museum).
On May 19, 1983, on the occasion of President Ho
Chi Minh's 93 birthday, the Ho Chi Minh Museum was commenced in Phan
Thiet, together with several other categories and the construction
was completed three years later, on May 19, 1986. The entire complex
covers an area of 7,000 square metres, including a museum to display
more than 890 showpieces . With historical and cultural values, the site has
attracted many visitors, domestic and foreign, who come for study
and sight-seeing.
To welcome
the President's 115th birthday on May 19, 2005, the site displayed
more valuable showpieces relating to the life and work of the
President, especially those about his youth. This shows the local
people's respect and remembrance for the beloved President and his
great contribution to the country.
Story: Hien Chi -
Photos: Kim Son, Le Cuong
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