Nguyen Chi Thien
Encyclopedia
Nguyễn Chí Thiện, born in 1939 in Hanoi
, Vietnam
, is a dissident poet who spent a total of twenty-seven years in prison.
revolutionaries in his early life. In 1960, however, he challenged the official account of World War II
- that the Soviet Union
had defeated the Imperial Army of Japan in Manchuria, ending the war - while teaching a high school history class. Thien told the class that the United States
defeated Japan
when they dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki.
He was sentenced to two years imprisonment, and served three years and six months in reeducation camp
s. Thien began composing poems in prison and committed them to memory. After a brief release in 1966, he was jailed again for composing politically irreverent poems. He denied the charges, and spent another eleven years and five months in labor camps.
In 1977, two years after Saigon fell, Thien and other political prisoners were released to make room for officers of the Republic of Vietnam. Thien used the opportunity of his release to write out his memorized poems.
Two days after Bastille Day
, on July 16, 1979, Thien dashed into the British
Embassy at Hanoi with his manuscript of four hundred poems. He had prepared a cover letter in French, but the embassy of France was too closely guarded.
British diplomats welcomed him and promised to send his manuscript out of the country. When he got out of the Embassy, security agents waited for him at the gate. He was imprisoned yet again, this time in the "Hanoi Hilton
", Hoa Lo prison for six years, then six more years at other Communist prisons in northern Vietnam.
During his imprisonment, Thien’s poems, translated into English by Huỳnh Sanh Thông
of Yale, won the International Poetry Award in Rotterdam
in 1985. He was adopted as a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International in 1986. Twelve years after bringing his manuscript to the British Embassy, he was released from jail. He lived in Hanoi under close watch by the authorities, but his international following also kept an eye on Thien.
Human Rights Watch
honored him in 1995. That year he also emigrated to the United States
, due to the intervention of Noburo Masuoka, retired Air Force colonel, a career military officer who was drafted into the U.S. Army following internment in Heart Mountain camp for Japanese Americans in 1945.
He immediately wrote Hoa Dia Nguc II, poems composed in his memory (not allowed pen and paper) from 1979 to 1988. They were published in bilingual editions, then complete in Vietnamese in 2006.
In 1998 Nguyen Chi Thien was awarded a fellowship from the International Parliament of Writers. He lived in France for three years, writing the Hoa Lo Stories, prose narrative of his experiences in prison. These were translated and published in English as the Hoa Lo / Hanoi Hilton Stories by Yale Southeast Asia Studies in 2007.
Thien's original manuscript was returned to him in early 2008 by the widow of Prof. Patrick Honey
of the University of London, who had shared the material with many Vietnamese exiles, but always guarded the original work.
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, is a dissident poet who spent a total of twenty-seven years in prison.
Biography
Thien was educated in private academies and was a supporter of Viet MinhViet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
revolutionaries in his early life. In 1960, however, he challenged the official account of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
- that the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
had defeated the Imperial Army of Japan in Manchuria, ending the war - while teaching a high school history class. Thien told the class that the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
defeated Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
when they dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
and Nagasaki.
He was sentenced to two years imprisonment, and served three years and six months in reeducation camp
Reeducation camp
Reeducation camp is the official title given to the prison camps operated by the government of Vietnam following the end of the Vietnam War. In such "reeducation camps", the government imprisoned several hundred thousand former military officers and government workers from the former regime of...
s. Thien began composing poems in prison and committed them to memory. After a brief release in 1966, he was jailed again for composing politically irreverent poems. He denied the charges, and spent another eleven years and five months in labor camps.
In 1977, two years after Saigon fell, Thien and other political prisoners were released to make room for officers of the Republic of Vietnam. Thien used the opportunity of his release to write out his memorized poems.
Two days after Bastille Day
Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the name given in English-speaking countries to the French National Day, which is celebrated on 14 July of each year. In France, it is formally called La Fête Nationale and commonly le quatorze juillet...
, on July 16, 1979, Thien dashed into the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Embassy at Hanoi with his manuscript of four hundred poems. He had prepared a cover letter in French, but the embassy of France was too closely guarded.
British diplomats welcomed him and promised to send his manuscript out of the country. When he got out of the Embassy, security agents waited for him at the gate. He was imprisoned yet again, this time in the "Hanoi Hilton
Hanoi Hilton
Hỏa Lò Prison, later sarcastically known to American prisoners of war as the "Hanoi Hilton", was a prison used by the French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners and later by North Vietnam for prisoners of war during the Vietnam War....
", Hoa Lo prison for six years, then six more years at other Communist prisons in northern Vietnam.
During his imprisonment, Thien’s poems, translated into English by Huỳnh Sanh Thông
Huynh Sanh Thong
Huỳnh Sanh Thông was a Vietnamese American scholar and translator.-Life:He was born to a rice-miller mother and a Francophile primary schoolteacher father in Hóc Môn, close to Sài Gòn...
of Yale, won the International Poetry Award in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
in 1985. He was adopted as a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International in 1986. Twelve years after bringing his manuscript to the British Embassy, he was released from jail. He lived in Hanoi under close watch by the authorities, but his international following also kept an eye on Thien.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
honored him in 1995. That year he also emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, due to the intervention of Noburo Masuoka, retired Air Force colonel, a career military officer who was drafted into the U.S. Army following internment in Heart Mountain camp for Japanese Americans in 1945.
He immediately wrote Hoa Dia Nguc II, poems composed in his memory (not allowed pen and paper) from 1979 to 1988. They were published in bilingual editions, then complete in Vietnamese in 2006.
In 1998 Nguyen Chi Thien was awarded a fellowship from the International Parliament of Writers. He lived in France for three years, writing the Hoa Lo Stories, prose narrative of his experiences in prison. These were translated and published in English as the Hoa Lo / Hanoi Hilton Stories by Yale Southeast Asia Studies in 2007.
Thien's original manuscript was returned to him in early 2008 by the widow of Prof. Patrick Honey
P. J. Honey
Patrick James Honey was an Irish-born Vietnamese language scholar and historian.-Early life and education:...
of the University of London, who had shared the material with many Vietnamese exiles, but always guarded the original work.
External links
- Nguyen Chi Thien at Viet Nam Literature Project
- http://www.rfa.org/vietnamese/in_depth/2006/06/25/PoetNguyenChiThien_NAn/ RFA (Radio Free Asia) report
- http://dactrung.net/tacgia/default.aspx?TacGiaID=QbQS3KJhpp6PfegprbCqAw%3D%3D Literary works of Nguyễn Chí Thiện
- biographical sources and photos at VietAm Review