Nguyen Than Hien
Encyclopedia
Nguyễn Thần Hiến was a Vietnam
ese scholar-gentry anti-colonial revolutionary
activist who advocated independence from French colonial rule
. He was a contemporary of Phan Boi Chau
and Phan Chu Trinh
and was regarded as the most prominent southerner of his generation of scholar-gentry activists.
Hien came from a family into the Mekong River Delta province of Hà Tiên
. His father was a district magistrate in the nearby province of Vĩnh Long before coming home to serve as the governor of Ha Tien in the last years of the Nguyễn Dynasty before French colonization. According to a family register, Hien was a quick-learner as a student in his youth, known for his abilities in mastering the classics. By the age of 20, in 1876, he was considered to be ready to enter the imperial examination system. However, southern Vietnam had been colonized by France
in 1867, so his participation exams would not have had any relevance unless he was prepared to leave the south to live in the capital Huế
, or some other place in the north of the country.
Thus, Hien accepted an appointment to a local colonial commission, before resigning to tend a plantation in Ha Tien, which grew pepper. He later relocated his family to Cần Thơ, the main town in the Mekong Delta, where he expanded rice fields to eventually encompass three districts and ten hamlets.
Despite his over involvement in working for the French colonial regime, Hien retained a fiercely anti-colonial ideology and remained a supporter of the Nguyễn Dynasty. This was a common feeling among southerners, even wealthy ones who had benefited from French rule, and is attributed to the role of the area in the establishment of the Nguyễn Dynasty. The dynasty had been founded by Emperor Gia Long
in 1802 and in the previous decades, he had been hiding out in the Ha Tien area, after being forced out of Saigon by the Tây Sơn Dynasty
that ousted and killed his family, the ruling Nguyễn Lords. After a long guerrilla campaign based out of Ha Tien, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh unified Vietnam in its modern state and proclaimed himself Emperor Gia Long.
By 1900, Hien had formed his own clandestine network of anti-French revolutionaries with other scholar-gentry who were like minded. He penned a poem, vowing to dedicate the remainder of his life to the struggle for Vietnamese independence under a resurrection of the monarchy. Hien was one of a generation of southern Vietnamese who had grown up under French rule for longer than his central and northern compatriots, but were more hardline against French rule than their compatriots, clinging to a dream of a revived monarchy long after republicanism had become dominant among other Vietnamese nationalists.
In early 1904, Hien met the leading Vietnamese nationalist of the time, Phan Boi Chau
. Chau had traveled to meet supporters in the Mekong Delta region, where he was introduced to Hien. Hien and his wealthy landowners group agreed to become the dominant financiers of the Dong Du
(Eastern Study) movement, which funded young nationalists in traveling to Japan, where they would study and participate in activism for Vietnam's independence from abroad.
In 1907, he donated a substantial amount of his financial resources to the support of the overseas students, approximated to be around 20,000 piastres. He, Nguyen Quang Dieu and other southerners formed the Khuyen Du Hoc Hoi (Society for the Encouragement of Learning), mainly a s a vehicle for supporting southern students through the process of traveling to Hong Kong
and then onto Japan.
Hien later went to Canton
with Chau for a meeting of expatriate revolutionaries, where the Viet Nam Quang Phuc Hoi
(Vietnam Restoration League) was formed. This organization cited the rise in the movement for republican democracy in China as a justification for pursuing the establishment of an independent Vietnam as a republic. Hien was named in the "deliberative ministry" of the organization, as the representative for southern Vietnam.
The Quang Phuc Hoi over time began to engage in attacks on French colonial institutions and their Vietnamese collaborators. The attacks failed and were met with crackdowns. Hien and his followers in the Hong Kong branch of the movement were captured by British police in 1913.
He was handed over to the French authorities and imprisoned in Hanoi
in an overcrowded prison, where he eventually became quite ill. He was not given appropriate medical treatment, until his fellow anti-colonial prison inmates went on a hunger strike and began to cause problems for the prison authorities. He was taken to a prison hospital, by which time he was already gravely ill. He died in January 1914.
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 –...
ese scholar-gentry anti-colonial revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
activist who advocated independence from French colonial rule
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
. He was a contemporary of Phan Boi Chau
Phan Boi Chau
Phan Bội Châu was a pioneer of Vietnamese 20th century nationalism. In 1903, he formed a revolutionary organization called the “Reformation Society” ....
and Phan Chu Trinh
Phan Chu Trinh
Phan Chu Trinh also known as Phan Châu Trinh was a famous early 20th century Vietnamese nationalist. He also used the alias Tây Hồ. He sought to end France's brutal occupation of Vietnam...
and was regarded as the most prominent southerner of his generation of scholar-gentry activists.
Hien came from a family into the Mekong River Delta province of Hà Tiên
Hà Tiên
Hà Tiên or Ha Tien is a town in Kien Giang Province, Tay Nam Bo of Vietnam. Area: 8,851.5 ha, population : 39,957. The town borders Cambodia to the west....
. His father was a district magistrate in the nearby province of Vĩnh Long before coming home to serve as the governor of Ha Tien in the last years of the Nguyễn Dynasty before French colonization. According to a family register, Hien was a quick-learner as a student in his youth, known for his abilities in mastering the classics. By the age of 20, in 1876, he was considered to be ready to enter the imperial examination system. However, southern Vietnam had been colonized by France
Colonization of Cochinchina
The French conquest of Cochinchina – which was the European name for the southern part of Vietnam – occurred in two phases between 1858 and 1867.-Historical background:...
in 1867, so his participation exams would not have had any relevance unless he was prepared to leave the south to live in the capital Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
, or some other place in the north of the country.
Thus, Hien accepted an appointment to a local colonial commission, before resigning to tend a plantation in Ha Tien, which grew pepper. He later relocated his family to Cần Thơ, the main town in the Mekong Delta, where he expanded rice fields to eventually encompass three districts and ten hamlets.
Despite his over involvement in working for the French colonial regime, Hien retained a fiercely anti-colonial ideology and remained a supporter of the Nguyễn Dynasty. This was a common feeling among southerners, even wealthy ones who had benefited from French rule, and is attributed to the role of the area in the establishment of the Nguyễn Dynasty. The dynasty had been founded by Emperor Gia Long
Gia Long
Emperor Gia Long , born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh , was an emperor of Vietnam...
in 1802 and in the previous decades, he had been hiding out in the Ha Tien area, after being forced out of Saigon by the Tây Sơn Dynasty
Tây Son Dynasty
The name of Tây Sơn is used in many ways to refer to the period of peasant rebellions and decentralized dynasties established between the eras of the Later Lê and Nguyễn dynasties in the history of Vietnam between 1770 and 1802...
that ousted and killed his family, the ruling Nguyễn Lords. After a long guerrilla campaign based out of Ha Tien, Nguyễn Phúc Ánh unified Vietnam in its modern state and proclaimed himself Emperor Gia Long.
By 1900, Hien had formed his own clandestine network of anti-French revolutionaries with other scholar-gentry who were like minded. He penned a poem, vowing to dedicate the remainder of his life to the struggle for Vietnamese independence under a resurrection of the monarchy. Hien was one of a generation of southern Vietnamese who had grown up under French rule for longer than his central and northern compatriots, but were more hardline against French rule than their compatriots, clinging to a dream of a revived monarchy long after republicanism had become dominant among other Vietnamese nationalists.
In early 1904, Hien met the leading Vietnamese nationalist of the time, Phan Boi Chau
Phan Boi Chau
Phan Bội Châu was a pioneer of Vietnamese 20th century nationalism. In 1903, he formed a revolutionary organization called the “Reformation Society” ....
. Chau had traveled to meet supporters in the Mekong Delta region, where he was introduced to Hien. Hien and his wealthy landowners group agreed to become the dominant financiers of the Dong Du
Dong Du
Đông Du was a Vietnamese political movement founded by Phan Boi Chau at the start of the 20th century that encouraged young Vietnamese to go east to Japan to study, in the hope of training a new era of revolutionaries to rise against French colonial rule. Other notable proponents of Dong Du...
(Eastern Study) movement, which funded young nationalists in traveling to Japan, where they would study and participate in activism for Vietnam's independence from abroad.
In 1907, he donated a substantial amount of his financial resources to the support of the overseas students, approximated to be around 20,000 piastres. He, Nguyen Quang Dieu and other southerners formed the Khuyen Du Hoc Hoi (Society for the Encouragement of Learning), mainly a s a vehicle for supporting southern students through the process of traveling to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and then onto Japan.
Hien later went to Canton
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
with Chau for a meeting of expatriate revolutionaries, where the Viet Nam Quang Phuc Hoi
Viet Nam Quang Phuc Hoi
The Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội, sometimes known simply as Quang Phuc Hoi was a nationalist republican militant revolutionary organization of Vietnam that was active in the 1910s, under the leadership of Phan Boi Chau and Prince Cường Để...
(Vietnam Restoration League) was formed. This organization cited the rise in the movement for republican democracy in China as a justification for pursuing the establishment of an independent Vietnam as a republic. Hien was named in the "deliberative ministry" of the organization, as the representative for southern Vietnam.
The Quang Phuc Hoi over time began to engage in attacks on French colonial institutions and their Vietnamese collaborators. The attacks failed and were met with crackdowns. Hien and his followers in the Hong Kong branch of the movement were captured by British police in 1913.
He was handed over to the French authorities and imprisoned in Hanoi
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...
in an overcrowded prison, where he eventually became quite ill. He was not given appropriate medical treatment, until his fellow anti-colonial prison inmates went on a hunger strike and began to cause problems for the prison authorities. He was taken to a prison hospital, by which time he was already gravely ill. He died in January 1914.