Tăng Tuyết Minh
Encyclopedia
Tăng Tuyết Minh 1905–1991) was the wife of Vietnamese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh
. She was a Chinese Catholic from Guangzhou
(Canton) and married Ho in October 1926. They lived together until April 1927, when Ho fled China following an anti-communist coup. Ho became president of North Vietnam
in 1954. Despite several attempts to renew contact by both Minh and Ho, the couple was never reunited. Her existence has never been acknowledged by the Vietnamese government.
family in Guangzhou in October 1905. She was the youngest daughter in a family of ten children, including seven girls. Her mother's name was Liang Xuxian (梁续弦). Her father, a businessman from Meixian, Guangdong
named Zeng Kaihua (曾开华), died in 1915. As the daughter of a concubine, she was expelled from her father's house when he died. In these difficult circumstances, she was befriended by the wife of Vietnamese communist Lam Duc Thu. She learned to be a midwife at a school in Guangzhou and graduated in 1925 at the age of 20.
Vietnam was at this time part of French Indochina
, with communist and nationalist political activity targeted by the Sûreté
, or French national police. Ho arrived in Guangzhou in November 1924 on a boat from Vladivostok
. He posed as a Chinese citizen named Ly Thuy (Li Shui) and worked as a translator for Comintern
agent and Soviet arms dealer Mikhail Borodin
. In May 1925, Ho participated in the founding of Thanh Nien, or Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association. This group was a forerunner of today's Vietnamese Communist Party.
In 1925, Minh was introduced to Ho by Thụ. Thụ was at this time active in Thanh Niên, although he was later exposed as an informer to the Sûreté. Ho later gave Minh a ruby engagement ring. When Ho's comrades objected to the match, he told them, "I will get married despite your disapproval because I need a woman to teach me the language and keep house." The couple was married on October 18, 1926. The legal witnesses were Thai Suong and Deng Yingchao
, wife of future Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai
. Minh was 21 and Ho was 36. The wedding took place in the same building where Zhou had married Deng earlier. They then lived together at Borodin's residence. Ho was overjoyed when he learned that Minh was pregnant in late 1926. However, Minh obtained an abortion on the advice of her mother, who feared that Ho might be forced to leave China.
On 12 April 1927, KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek
staged an anti-communist coup in Guangzhou and other Chinese cities. Ho went into hiding and fled to Hong Kong
on May 5. Chinese police raided his residence in Guangzhou on the same day. Ho then traveled to various countries, finally arriving in Bangkok
in July 1928. In August, he sent a letter to Minh: "Although we have been separated for almost a year, our feelings for each other do not have to be said in order to be felt. At present, I am taking advantage of this opportunity to send you a few words to reassure you, and also to send my greetings and good wishes to your mother." This letter was intercepted by the Sûreté. Although she was uninterested in politics, Minh is recorded as a member of the (Chinese) Communist Youth League from July 1927 to June 1929. According to one report, Minh visited Ho in the winter of 1929-1930 when he was in Hong Kong. In May 1930, Ho sent a letter asking Minh to meet him in Shanghai
, but her boss hid the letter and she did not receive it in time. Ho was arrested by British police in Hong Kong on 6 June 1931. Unknown to him, Minh attended his court hearing on 10 July 1931, the last time she would see him. To evade a French request for extradition, the British announced in 1932 that Ho was dead and later released him.
In May 1950, Minh saw a picture of Ho in a newspaper and learned that he was now president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which later became the government of North Vietnam. She then sent a message to the DRV ambassador in Beijing. This message was unanswered. She tried again in 1954, but her letter was again unanswered. Representatives of the Chinese government told her to stop trying to contact Ho and promised to provide for her needs. By this time, a cult of personality
had arisen around Ho and the North Vietnamese government had an investment in the myth of his celibacy, said to symbolize his total devotion to the revolution. For his part, Ho asked the North Vietnamese consul in Guangzhou to look up Minh in 1967, but without success. Ho died in September 1969. Minh retired as a midwife in 1977 and died 14 November 1991 at the age of 86.
In 2002, the Vietnamese government suppressed a review of Duiker's book in the Far Eastern Economic Review
.
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
. She was a Chinese Catholic from Guangzhou
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...
(Canton) and married Ho in October 1926. They lived together until April 1927, when Ho fled China following an anti-communist coup. Ho became president of North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
in 1954. Despite several attempts to renew contact by both Minh and Ho, the couple was never reunited. Her existence has never been acknowledged by the Vietnamese government.
Biography
Minh was born into a CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
family in Guangzhou in October 1905. She was the youngest daughter in a family of ten children, including seven girls. Her mother's name was Liang Xuxian (梁续弦). Her father, a businessman from Meixian, Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
named Zeng Kaihua (曾开华), died in 1915. As the daughter of a concubine, she was expelled from her father's house when he died. In these difficult circumstances, she was befriended by the wife of Vietnamese communist Lam Duc Thu. She learned to be a midwife at a school in Guangzhou and graduated in 1925 at the age of 20.
Vietnam was at this time part of French Indochina
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....
, with communist and nationalist political activity targeted by the Sûreté
Sûreté
Sûreté is a term used in French speaking countries or regions in the organizational title of a civil police force, especially the detective branch thereof.-France:...
, or French national police. Ho arrived in Guangzhou in November 1924 on a boat from Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
. He posed as a Chinese citizen named Ly Thuy (Li Shui) and worked as a translator for Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
agent and Soviet arms dealer Mikhail Borodin
Mikhail Borodin
Mikhail Markovich Borodin was the alias of Mikhail Gruzenberg, a Comintern agent and Soviet arms dealer....
. In May 1925, Ho participated in the founding of Thanh Nien, or Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association. This group was a forerunner of today's Vietnamese Communist Party.
In 1925, Minh was introduced to Ho by Thụ. Thụ was at this time active in Thanh Niên, although he was later exposed as an informer to the Sûreté. Ho later gave Minh a ruby engagement ring. When Ho's comrades objected to the match, he told them, "I will get married despite your disapproval because I need a woman to teach me the language and keep house." The couple was married on October 18, 1926. The legal witnesses were Thai Suong and Deng Yingchao
Deng Yingchao
Deng Yingchao , was the wife of the first Chinese Premier, Zhou Enlai, Chairwoman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from 1983 to 1988 and a member of the Communist Party of China.-Biography:...
, wife of future Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
. Minh was 21 and Ho was 36. The wedding took place in the same building where Zhou had married Deng earlier. They then lived together at Borodin's residence. Ho was overjoyed when he learned that Minh was pregnant in late 1926. However, Minh obtained an abortion on the advice of her mother, who feared that Ho might be forced to leave China.
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
staged an anti-communist coup in Guangzhou and other Chinese cities. Ho went into hiding and fled 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...
on May 5. Chinese police raided his residence in Guangzhou on the same day. Ho then traveled to various countries, finally arriving in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
in July 1928. In August, he sent a letter to Minh: "Although we have been separated for almost a year, our feelings for each other do not have to be said in order to be felt. At present, I am taking advantage of this opportunity to send you a few words to reassure you, and also to send my greetings and good wishes to your mother." This letter was intercepted by the Sûreté. Although she was uninterested in politics, Minh is recorded as a member of the (Chinese) Communist Youth League from July 1927 to June 1929. According to one report, Minh visited Ho in the winter of 1929-1930 when he was in Hong Kong. In May 1930, Ho sent a letter asking Minh to meet him in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, but her boss hid the letter and she did not receive it in time. Ho was arrested by British police in Hong Kong on 6 June 1931. Unknown to him, Minh attended his court hearing on 10 July 1931, the last time she would see him. To evade a French request for extradition, the British announced in 1932 that Ho was dead and later released him.
In May 1950, Minh saw a picture of Ho in a newspaper and learned that he was now president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which later became the government of North Vietnam. She then sent a message to the DRV ambassador in Beijing. This message was unanswered. She tried again in 1954, but her letter was again unanswered. Representatives of the Chinese government told her to stop trying to contact Ho and promised to provide for her needs. By this time, a cult of personality
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...
had arisen around Ho and the North Vietnamese government had an investment in the myth of his celibacy, said to symbolize his total devotion to the revolution. For his part, Ho asked the North Vietnamese consul in Guangzhou to look up Minh in 1967, but without success. Ho died in September 1969. Minh retired as a midwife in 1977 and died 14 November 1991 at the age of 86.
Research and reaction
The claim that Ho had a Chinese wife first appeared in a book by Chinese author Huang Zheng published in 1987. This claim went unnoticed until the book was translated into Vietnamese in 1990. Also in 1990, French author Daniel Hémery found Ho's letters to Minh in the Centre des Archives d’Outre-Mer, the French colonial archive. A newspaper editor in Vietnam was dismissed from her post in 1991 for publishing a story about it. William Duiker's Ho Chi Minh: A Life (2000) presents additional CAOM documentation for the relationship. The government requested substantial cuts in the official Vietnamese translation of Duiker's book, which was refused.In 2002, the Vietnamese government suppressed a review of Duiker's book in the Far Eastern Economic Review
Far Eastern Economic Review
The Far Eastern Economic Review was an English language Asian news magazine started in 1946. It printed its final issue in December 2009. The Hong Kong-based business magazine was originally published weekly...
.