'Half Lenin, Half Gandhi' 호치민 평전

'Half Lenin, Half Gandhi'



October 15, 2000

'Half Lenin, Half Gandhi'

A biography of Ho Chi Minh seeks to illuminate the leader who for all his prominence preferred to remain a cipher.



Related Link
First Chapter: 'Ho Chi Minh'
By FRANCES FITZGERALD
HO CHI MINH
By William J. Duiker. 
Illustrated. 695 pp. New York:
Hyperion. $35.



onfucian humanist and Communist revolutionary, the architect of Vietnamese independence and of the successful struggle against the French, the United States and the Saigon government, Ho Chi Minh was one of the most influential political leaders of the 20th century. Yet even after his death in 1969 -- and for all the years the American troops fought in Vietnam -- he remained a shadowy figure, his life and career shrouded in myth and in the myriad guises he assumed during his many years in exile and in the maquis of Vietnam. As the French journalist Jean Lacouture wrote in his 1967 biography, ''Everything known about Ho's life prior to 1941 is fragmentary, controversial and approximate.'' Thanks to William J. Duiker's magnificent new biography, this is no longer the case.

A retired professor of history who served as a United States foreign service officer in Saigon in the mid-1960's, Duiker spent over 20 years gleaning new information from interviews and from archives in Vietnam, China, Russia and the United States. Other Western historians have come closer to Ho as a person and to the cultural context of his revolution, but Duiker has managed not only to fill in the missing pieces of Ho's life but to provide the best account of Ho as a diplomat and a strategist.

The Vietnam War -- as we call it -- was a watershed in 20th-century American history, and we assume it was one in the history of Vietnam. But as Duiker's biography reminds us, the major problem for the Vietnamese, as for many others on this planet, was how to respond to the colonial power and the destruction of traditional society. Ho Chi Minh dedicated his life to this task.

Ho's childhood lay in a world lost in time. Born in 1890, just five years after the French consolidated their control over all of Vietnam, Ho -- whose given name was Nguyen Tat Thanh -- grew up in Nghe An province, on the narrow and mountainous coast of north-central Vietnam. One of the most beautiful regions of the country, it was also one of the poorest and most rebellious. Ho's father, Nguyen Sinh Sac, was a scholar from a peasant family who managed to work his way up through the imperial examination system. Under his tutelage, Ho studied the classical Chinese texts that taught governance as the Dao of Confucius. According to Duiker, Sac was well acquainted with the scholars Phan Boi Chau and Phan Chu Trinh, the most important Vietnamese nationalists in the first two decades of the century. Like many of the patriotic scholar-gentry, Sac refused to serve at court during a time of national humiliation, and by 1905 it had become clear to him that the imperial system, preserved by the French, was inadequate to cope with the new realities. That year he sent Ho off to a Franco-Vietnamese school with the admonition of the 15th-century scholar Nguyen Trai that one must understand the enemy in order to defeat him.

When Ho entered the prestigious National Academy in Hue in 1907, he was already a rebel. The following year he was thrown out of school for lending support to peasants demonstrating against high agricultural taxes and corvee labor. Pursued by the police, he traveled south, taking jobs where he could. In 1911 he signed on as an assistant cook on a steamer bound for France, under the name of Ba -- the first of his 50 or more aliases. ''I wanted to become acquainted with French civilization to see what meaning lay in those words,'' he later told a Soviet journalist.

Ho's travels took him to ports in Asia and Africa, to New York and London. He stayed for some time in New York, working as a laborer and going to meetings of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Trust in Harlem. In London he landed a job as a pastry cook under Auguste Escoffier at the Carlton Hotel. Toward the end of World War I he settled in Paris, the heart of the French empire. While earning his living as a photo retoucher, he formed an association of Vietnamese émigrés and denounced France's treatment of its colonies at gatherings of the French Socialist Party. In 1919 he presented a petition to the Allied governments at the Versailles conference, asking them to apply President Woodrow Wilson's principle of self-determination to Vietnam. Only the French police paid attention to the petition and its author, ''Nguyen Ai Quoc'' (''Nguyen the Patriot''). They followed Ho everywhere, though ''Nguyen the Patriot'' was a penniless scribe, a frail young man in ill-fitting suits who cut a Chaplinesque figure.

Ho came to Marxism in the summer of 1920, via Lenin's ''Theses on the National and Colonial Questions.'' He had read Marxist works before, but, as Duiker explains, Lenin's arguments about the connection between capitalism and imperialism and about the importance of nationalist movements in Asia and Africa to world revolution struck him forcefully, setting him ''on a course that transformed him from a simple patriot with socialist leanings into a Marxist revolutionary.'' When the French Socialist Party split over the issue of joining Lenin's Third International at its 1921 congress, he became a founding member of the French Communist Party. Still writing as Nguyen the Patriot, he argued not only that Communism could be applied to Asia but that it was in keeping with Asian traditions based on ideas of community and social equality.

For three years Ho pressed the new party for action on the colonial question, but the French Communists proved to be ''Eurocentric,'' as Duiker delicately puts it, so in 1924 he went to Moscow at the invitation of the Comintern. The Soviet leadership was, however, preoccupied by its own internal struggles, and it took Ho almost a year to persuade officials to send him to southern China, where an uneasy alliance between the Chinese Nationalists and the Communists would permit him to begin organizing the Vietnamese.

Ho Chi Minh spent the next 15 years working for revolution in Vietnam as an agent of the Comintern. According to Duiker's original and highly detailed account of this period, Ho's emphasis on nationalism and his patient, pragmatic approach to organizing often put him at odds with Moscow. Yet he singlemindedly pursued his own agenda, waiting out periods of adversity and seizing opportunities as they arose. In Canton, Ho published a journal, created the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth League and set up a training institute that attracted students from all over Vietnam. Along with Marxism-Leninism he taught his own brand of revolutionary ethics: thrift, prudence, respect for learning, modesty and generosity -- virtues that, as Duiker notes, had far more to do with Confucian morality than with Leninism. To his students Ho seemed to embody these qualities, and the teaching of his precepts later became a distinguishing feature of the Vietnamese revolution.

In 1927, when Chiang Kai-shek began to crack down on the Chinese left, the institute was disbanded and Ho, pursued by the police, fled to Hong Kong and from there to Moscow. He was sent by the Comintern to France and then, at his request, to Thailand, where he spent two years organizing Vietnamese expatriates. In 1930 he returned to China and worked as he could while hiding out from the Chinese police and the French Sûreté. Arrested in Hong Kong by the British, he spent a year in jail, and had once more to escape to Moscow. But there was little help to be found there. In the midst of Stalin's purges the Comintern repudiated Lenin's theses, insisted that the Asian Communist parties pursue the wholly unrealistic goal of a international proletarian revolution and ordered the Vietnamese to form an ''Indochinese'' Communist Party -- though the word signified nothing more nor less than the French colonial project in the region. Ho was personally criticized, investigated and sidelined.

In 1938 Ho's fortunes changed. With the rise of Nazi Germany the Soviets changed their line on nationalism and called for an alliance of ''progressive forces'' to oppose fascism. At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek created a united front with the Communist Party to resist Japanese aggression. His strategy vindicated, Ho returned to head the Vietnamese movement, and with the Japanese invasion of Indochina, he created a nationalist front of workers and peasants for the independence of Vietnam, the Vietminh. In 1941 he re-entered the country he had not seen in 30 years to set up a guerrilla base in the mountains.

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BOOK EXCERPT
"The time was the late summer of 1945, shortly after the surrender of Japanese imperial forces throughout Asia. The place was Hanoi, onetime capital of the Vietnamese empire, now a sleepy colonial city in the heart of the Red River delta in what was then generally known as French Indochina. For two decades, Nguyen the Patriot had aroused devotion, fear, and hatred among his compatriots and the French colonial officials who ruled over them. Now, under a new name, he introduced himself to the Vietnamese people as the first president of a new country."

-- from the first chapter of 'Ho Chi Minh'

In August 1945, three months after the Japanese deposed the Vichy French administration and just two days after the Japanese surrender to the Allies, the Vietminh moved into Hanoi, and amid cheering crowds Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent country. But that was just the beginning.

Ho Chi Minh did not want war with the French. He did everything he could to prevent it. He courted United States support through the O.S.S. officers he had cultivated during the war -- going so far as to offer the United States a naval base at Cam Ranh Bay. He created a coalition government, reined in the hotheads and agreed to accept a French military presence and membership in the French Union so long as the French agreed to the eventual goal of Vietnamese independence. But after the French humiliations in World War II even the French Socialists could not accept the idea of giving up the colonies. So at the beginning of 1947 Ho went back to the maquis. He had told his friend Jean Sainteny, ''You will kill ten of my men while we will kill one of yours, but you will be the ones to end up exhausted.'' And so it was.

During the French war, as during World War II, Ho and his companions lived in caves or thatched shelters in the mountains, moving frequently to avoid French patrols, often hungry, often suffering from malaria or dysentery. In 1954 the Vietminh won a decisive victory at Dien Bien Phu, but still the war dragged on. Mao Zedong had begun to provide the poorly equipped Vietminh with training and war matériel, and the United States had begun to finance the French war effort. The great powers were now heavily involved in Vietnam, and in 1954 they met in Geneva to negotiate a settlement.

Under pressure from Beijing and Moscow, the Vietminh agreed to a cease-fire and to the division of the country into two regroupment zones at the 17th parallel. By the terms of the accord an election was to be held in two years to unify the country. However, Beijing and Moscow did not guarantee the election, the United States did not sign the agreement and, soon after the conference ended, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles announced that the United States would begin to foster a non-Communist state in the South. In the view of Vietnam's revolutionaries, the Geneva Conference was the first step on the road to the second Indochina war.

In Hanoi, Ho lived almost as simply as he had in the maquis. Refusing to install himself in the governor general's residence, he inhabited the gardener's cottage and then a house on stilts beside a pond. He was President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, but the title he preferred was Uncle Ho. Often he could be seen in his worn khaki uniform and sandals talking with peasants or groups of delighted children. To many foreign observers there seemed to be more than a touch of artifice in his self-presentation. After all, he was a sophisticate who charmed his interlocutors in many languages and a man not immune to praise or the love of women. (While in China he had, Duiker tells us, been married twice, and in Hanoi he fathered a child.) Duiker does not explain Ho's play-acting, but then there is much about Confucianism that eludes him. In the Confucian tradition, the emperor must provide a model of correct behavior. By rejecting imperial extravagance, Ho was demonstrating the Dao of his revolution to his countrymen, its break with the past.

In the late 1950's and early 60's Ho spent much of his time abroad engaged in the delicate negotiations required to bring the Soviet Union as well as China to the aid of his government as the Sino-Soviet split deepened. But his role was increasingly a ceremonial one. Le Duan, a southerner who had spent many years in French prisons, had seized the reins of power and proceeded to marginalize Ho and his long-term companions -- among them Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap. Duiker suggests that Ho's decline in authority began during the brutal land reform campaign of 1955-56, at a time of rising Chinese influence over the revolution. According to Duiker, Ho was not directly involved in the campaign, but ''his prestige as an all-knowing and all-caring leader had been severely damaged.''

During the early 1960's Ho warned his colleagues against launching a premature uprising in South Vietnam and against overemphasizing the military struggle. He wanted to avoid bringing the United States into the war, and until the Johnson administration began bombing the North, he remained hopeful that Washington would withdraw its support for the regime in Saigon. But it was not to be. When American troops began to arrive in Vietnam in 1965, Ho was a 75-year-old man and no longer in charge of his government.

''Ho Chi Minh was half Lenin and half Gandhi,'' Duiker writes. Ho always sought to achieve his objectives without resort to military force and, unlike some of his colleagues, he had a cleareyed view of international and domestic realities, a flexible, pragmatic approach and the patience and subtlety to seek diplomatic solutions. Unfortunately, as Duiker might have added, neither the French nor the American leadership had the sense to respond in kind.


Frances FitzGerald is the author of ''Fire in the Lake: The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam'' and, most recently, ''Way Out There in the Blue.''




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 CHAPTER ONE

Ho Chi Minh
By WILLIAM J. DUIKER
Hyperion

 Read the Review

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IN A LOST LAND

He entered the city quietly, with no fanfare. While his followers roamed the streets, celebrating their victory or accepting the surrender of enemy troops, he settled in a nondescript two-story commercial building in the Chinese section of town. There he spent several days in virtual seclusion, huddled over the battered typewriter that he had carried with him during a decade of travels from Moscow to south China and finally, in the first weeks of 1941, back to his homeland, which he had left thirty years before.

    By the end of the month he had completed the speech that he planned to make to his people announcing the creation of a new nation. Shortly after 2:00 P.M. on September 2, he mounted the rostrum of a makeshift platform hastily erected in a spacious park soon to be known as Ba Dinh Square on the western edge of the city. He was dressed in a faded khaki suit that amply encased his spare emaciated body, and he wore a pair of rubber thongs. Thousands had gathered since the early morning hours to hear him speak. In a high-pitched voice that clearly reflected his regional origins, he announced the independence of his country and read the text of its new constitution. To the few Americans who happened to be in the audience, his first words were startling: "All men are created equal; they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

    The time was the late summer of 1945, shortly after the surrender of Japanese imperial forces throughout Asia. The place was Hanoi, onetime capital of the Vietnamese empire, now a sleepy colonial city in the heart of the Red River delta in what was then generally known as French Indochina. For two decades, Nguyen the Patriot had aroused devotion, fear, and hatred among his compatriots and the French colonial officials who ruled over them. Now, under a new name, he introduced himself to the Vietnamese people as the first president of a new country.

    At the time, the name Ho Chi Minh was unknown to all but a handful of his compatriots. Few in the audience, or throughout the country, knew of his previous identity as an agent of the Comintern (the revolutionary organization, also known as the Third International, founded by the Bolshevik leader Lenin twenty-six years before) and the founder in 1930 of the Vietnamese Communist Party. Now he described himself simply as "a patriot who has long served his country." For the next quarter of a century, the Vietnamese people and the world at large would try to take the measure of the man.

    The forces that initiated his long journey to Ba Dinh Square had begun to germinate in the late summer of 1858, when a small flotilla of French warships, joined by a small contingent from Spain, launched a sudden attack on the city of Da Nang, a commercial seaport of medium size on the central coast of Vietnam. The action was not totally unexpected. For decades covetous French eyes had periodically focused their gaze on Vietnam: missionaries on the lookout for souls to save, merchants scouring the globe for new consumer markets and a river route to the riches of China, politicians convinced that only the acquisition of colonies in Asia would guarantee the survival of France as a great power. Until midcentury, the French government had sought to establish a presence in Vietnam by diplomatic means and had even sent a mission to the imperial capital at Hué, about fifty miles north of Da Nang, in an effort to persuade the Vietnamese emperor to open his country to French influence. When the negotiations stalled, the government of Emperor Louis Napoleon decided to resort to force.

    The country that French warships had attacked was no stranger to war or foreign invasion. Indeed, few peoples in Asia had been compelled to fight longer and harder to retain their identity as a separate and independent state than had the Vietnamese. A paramount fact in the history of the country is its long and frequently bitter struggle against the expansionist tendencies of its northern neighbor, China. In the second century B.C., at a time when the Roman republic was still in its infancy, the Chinese empire had conquered Vietnam and exposed it to an intensive program of political, cultural, and economic assimilation. Although the Vietnamese managed to restore their independence in the tenth century A.D., it took several hundred years for Chinese emperors to accept the reality of Vietnam's separate existence; in fact, this happened only after Vietnam's reluctant acceptance of a tributary relationship with the imperial dynasty in China.

    Vietnam's long association with China had enduring consequences. Over a millennium, Chinese political institutions, literature, art and music, religion and philosophy, and even the Chinese language sank deep roots into Vietnamese soil. The result was a "Confucianized" Vietnam that to the untutored observer effectively transformed the country into a miniature China, a "smaller dragon" imitating its powerful and brilliant northern neighbor. The Vietnamese monarch himself set the pace, taking on the trappings of a smaller and less august Son of Heaven, as the emperor was styled in China. The Vietnamese ruling elite was gradually transformed into a meritocracy in the Chinese mold, its members (frequently known as mandarins) selected (at least in theory) on the basis of their ability to pass stiff examinations on their knowledge of the Confucian classics. Generations of young Vietnamese males were educated in the very classical texts studied—and often memorized—by their counterparts in China. Their sisters, prohibited by rigidly patriarchal Confucian mores from pursuing official careers—or indeed almost any profession—were secluded within the confines of the family homestead and admonished to direct their ambitions to becoming good wives and mothers.

    Vietnam's passage into the Chinese cultural universe was probably not an especially wrenching experience, for the social and economic conditions that had helped to produce Confucian civilization in China existed to a considerable degree in Vietnam as well. Like its counterpart to the north, Vietnamese society was fundamentally agrarian. Almost nine of every ten Vietnamese were rice farmers, living in tiny villages scattered throughout the marshy delta of the Red River as it wound its way languidly to the Gulf of Tonkin. Hard work, the subordination of the desires of the individual to the needs of the group, and a stable social and political hierarchy were of utmost importance. The existence of a trained bureaucracy to maintain the irrigation system and the road network was considered essential, but there was relatively little need for commerce and manufacturing. Although indigenous elements were never eliminated in Vietnamese culture, to untutored eyes the country appeared to be a mirror image in microcosm of its giant neighbor to the north.

    But if the Vietnamese people appeared willing to absorb almost whole the great tradition of powerful China, they proved adamant on the issue of self-rule. The heroic figures of traditional Vietnam—rebel leaders such as the Trung sisters (who resisted Chinese rule in the first century A.D.), the emperor Le Loi, and his brilliant strategist Nguyen Trai, who fought against the Ming dynasty 1400 years later—were all closely identified with resistance to Chinese domination. Out of the crucible of this effort emerged a people with a tenacious sense of their national identity and a willingness to defend their homeland against outside invasion.

    One of the lasting consequences of the Vietnamese struggle for national survival was undoubtedly the emergence of a strong military tradition and a willingness to use force to secure and protect national interests. In the centuries after the restoration of national independence from China in A.D. 939, the new Vietnamese state, which called itself Dai Viet (Great Viet), engaged in a lengthy conflict with its neighbor to the south, the trading state of Champa. Eventually the Vietnamese gained the upper hand, and beginning in the thirteenth century they pushed southward along the coast. By the seventeenth century, Champa had been conquered and the territory of Dai Viet had been extended to the Ca Mau Peninsula on the Gulf of Siam. Vietnamese settlers, many of them ex-soldiers, migrated southward to create new rice-farming communities in the fertile lands of the Mekong River delta. Dai Viet had become one of the most powerful states in mainland Southeast Asia, and the Vietnamese monarch in his relations with neighboring rulers began to style himself not simply as a king but as an emperor.

    But there was a price to pay for the nation's military success, as territorial expansion led to a growing cultural and political split between the traditional-minded population in the heartland provinces of the Red River delta and the more independent-minded settlers in the newly acquired frontier regions to the south. For two centuries, the country was rent by civil war between ruling families in the north and the south. In the early nineteenth century the empire was reunified under a descendant of the southern ruling family bearing the name of Nguyen Anh, who adopted the reign title Gia Long. At first the new Nguyen dynasty attempted to address the enduring legacy of civil strife, but by midcentury regional frictions began to multiply, supplemented by growing economic problems such as the concentration of farmlands in the hands of the wealthy, and exacerbated by incompetent leadership in the imperial capital of Hué.

    The Vietnamese civil war had occurred at a momentous period in the history of Southeast Asia, as fleets from Europe, sailing in the wake of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, began to prowl along the coast of the South China Sea and the Gulf of Siam in search of spices, precious metals, and heathen souls to save. Among the Europeans most interested in the area were the French, and when in the nineteenth century their bitter rivals, the British, began to consolidate their hold on India and Burma, French leaders turned covetous eyes toward Vietnam.

    In 1853 the third emperor of the Nguyen dynasty died, and the Vietnamese throne passed into the hands of a new ruler, the young and inexperienced Tu Duc. It was his misfortune, and that of his people, that on his shoulders was placed the responsibility of repulsing the first serious threat to Vietnamese independence in several centuries. Although well-meaning and intelligent, he was often indecisive and nagged by ill health. When French troops landed at Da Nang harbor in the summer of 1858, Tu Duc's first instinct was to fight. Contemptuously rejecting an offer to negotiate, he massed imperial troops just beyond French defenses on the outskirts of the city. Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly, the French commander, had been assured by French missionaries operating in the area that a native uprising against imperial authority would take place, but it failed to materialize. At first, the admiral hoped to wait out his adversary, but when cholera and dysentery began to thin out the European ranks, he decided to abandon the city and seek a more vulnerable spot farther to the south. Early the following year the French resumed their attack at Saigon, a small but growing commercial port on a small river a few miles north of the Mekong River delta. Imperial troops in the area attempted to counterattack, but their outdated weapons were no match for the invaders, and after two weeks Vietnamese resistance collapsed.

    Although the first reaction of the emperor had been to fend off the aggressors with military force, the defeat in the south left him disheartened. Despite appeals from advisers at court for a policy of continuing defiance, Tu Duc decided to negotiate, and in 1862 he agreed to cede three provinces in the Mekong delta to the French, eventually to be known (with the addition of three more provinces a few years later) as the French colony of Cochin China. The first round had gone to Paris.

    For a few years the imperial court at Hué maintained a precarious grip on independence, but when the French resumed their advance in the early 1880s, launching an attack on the citadel at Hanoi and occupying several major cities in the Red River delta, the court seemed paralyzed. The sickly Tu Duc had died just before the reopening of hostilities, and in the subsequent leadership crisis the court split into opposing factions. Over the next few months several new monarchs, most of them children, were enthroned and unseated in rapid succession. Ultimately, power was seized by the influential regent Ton That Thuyet, who put his own protégé, Ham Nghi, on the throne in hopes of continuing the resistance. In response to a Vietnamese request, the Qing dynasty in China sent imperial troops to aid its vassal, but the Vietnamese were nonetheless unable to prevail. In 1885 China withdrew its armed forces and signed a treaty with France expressly abandoning its longstanding tributary relationship with Vietnam. In Hué, a more pliant emperor was placed on the throne to replace the young Ham Nghi, who fled with his recalcitrant adviser Ton That Tuyet into the mountains in the interior to continue the struggle. In the meantime, the now dominant peace faction at court concluded a new treaty with France conceding to the latter political influence throughout the entire remaining territory of Vietnam. The French transformed their new possession into the protectorates of Tonkin (comprising the provinces in the Red River delta and the surrounding mountains) and Annam (consisting of the coastal provinces down to the colony of Cochin China far to the south). In Annam, the French allowed the puppet emperor and his bureaucracy to retain the tattered remnants of their once august authority. In Tonkin, colonial rule reigned virtually supreme. For all intents and purposes, Vietnam had become a French possession.

    The French conquest of Vietnam was a manifestation of a process of European colonial expansion which had begun after the Napoleonic Wars and accelerated during the remainder of the nineteenth century as advanced Western states began to enter the industrial age. Driven by a desperate search for cheap raw materials and consumer markets for their own manufactured goods, the capitalist nations of the West turned to military force to establish their hegemony throughout the region. By the end of the century, all of the countries of South and Southeast Asia except the kingdom of Siam—later to be known as Thailand—were under some form of colonial rule.

    The surrender of the imperial court did not end the Vietnamese desire for independence. Centuries of resistance to China had instilled in the Vietnamese elite class a tradition of service to king and country as the most fundamental of Confucian duties. Many civilian and military officials refused to accept the court's decision to capitulate to superior military force and attempted to organize local armed forces to restore Ham Nghi to power. In Ha Tinh province, along the central coast of Annam, the scholar-official Phan Dinh Phung launched a Can Vuong (Save the King) movement to rally support for the deposed ruler and drive the French from his native land. When his friend Hoang Cao Khai, a childhood acquaintance who had decided to accommodate himself to the new situation, remonstrated with Phung to abandon his futile effort and prevent useless bloodshed, the latter replied in the lofty tones of the principled Confucian patriot:

I have concluded that if our country has survived these past thousand years when its territory was not large, its wealth not great, it was because the relations between king and subjects, fathers and children, have always been regulated by the five moral obligations. In the past, the Han, the Song, the Yuan, the Ming [four of the most powerful of past Chinese dynasties] time and again dreamt of annexing our country and of dividing it up into prefectures and districts within the Chinese administrative system. But never were they able to realize their dream. Ah! If even China, which shares a common border with our territory and is a thousand times more powerful than Vietnam, could not rely upon her strength to swallow us, it was surely because the destiny of our country had been willed by Heaven itself.

    But the existence of two claimants to the throne created a serious dilemma for all those Vietnamese who were animated by loyalty to the monarchy. Should they obey the new emperor Dong Khanh, duly anointed with French approval at Hué? Or should they heed the appeal of the dethroned ruler Ham Nghi, who from his mountain hideout had issued a call for the support of all patriotic elements in a desperate struggle against the barbarians? The dilemma of choosing between resistance and accommodation was a cruel one and created a division in the traditional ruling class that would not heal for over half a century.

At the heart of the anti-French resistance movement was the central Vietnamese province of Nghe An. A land of placid beaches and purple mountains, of apple green rice fields and dark green forests, Nghe An lies in the Vietnamese panhandle between the South China Sea and the mountains of the Annamite cordillera along the Laotian border to the west. It is a land of hot dry winds and of torrential autumn rains that flatten the rice stalks and flood the paddy fields of the peasants. It is paradoxical that this land, so beautiful to the eye, has often been cruel to its inhabitants. Crowded into a narrow waist between the coast and the mountains, the Vietnamese who lived in this land, over 90 percent of whom were peasants scratching out their living from the soil, found life, at best, a struggle. The soil is thin in depth and weak in nutrients, and frequently the land is flooded by seawater. The threat of disaster is never far away, and when it occurs, it sometimes drives the farmer to desperate measures.

    Perhaps that explains why the inhabitants of Nghe An have historically been known as the most obdurate and rebellious of Vietnamese, richly earning their traditional sobriquet among their compatriots as "the buffalos of Nghe An." Throughout history, the province has often taken the lead in resisting invaders, and in raising the cry of rebellion against unpopular rulers. In the final two decades of the nineteenth century, Nghe An became one of the centers of the anti-French resistance movement. Many of the province's elites fought and died under the banner of Phan Dinh Phung and his Can Vuong movement.

    The village of Kim Lien is located in Nam Dan district, in the heart of Nghe An province, about ten miles west of the provincial capital of Vinh. The district lies along the northern bank of the Ca, the main river in Nghe An province. Much of the land is flat, with rice fields washed by a subtropical sun stretching to the sea a few miles to the east, but a few hillocks crowned by leafy dark-green vegetation rise above the surrounding plain. Clumps of palm trees dot the landscape and provide shade for the tiny thatch huts of the peasants huddled in their tiny hamlets. Within each individual hamlet, banana trees, citrus, and stands of bamboo provide sustenance in times of need and materials for local construction. Still, the farmers of the district were mostly poor in the nineteenth century, for it was a densely populated region, and there was inadequate land to feed the population.

    It was here, in 1863, that Ha Thy Hy, the second wife of the well-to-do farmer Nguyen Sinh Vuong (sometimes called Nguyen Sinh Nham), gave birth to a son, who was given the name Nguyen Sinh Sac. Vuong's first wife had died a few years earlier, after bearing her husband's first son, Nguyen Sinh Tro. To raise his child, Vuong married Ha Thy Hy, the daughter of a peasant family in a neighboring village. By the time Sac was four, his mother and father had both died, and he was brought up by his half brother Tro, who had already taken up farming on his father's land. The farmer's life was difficult for Tro and his neighbors. When a typhoon struck, the land was flooded, destroying the entire harvest; times of drought produced stunted rice plants. As a result, many farmers in the village worked at other tasks as a sideline, such as carpentry, bricklaying, weaving, or metalworking. Yet there was a long tradition of respect for learning in the area. A number of local scholars had taken the Confucian civil service examinations, and several offered classes in the classics as a means of supplementing their meager income.

    At first, the young Nguyen Sinh Sac had little opportunity to embark on his own career as a scholar. Although the family history, carefully carved in Chinese characters on wooden tablets placed, in accordance with tradition, beside the family altar, recorded that many members had successfully taken the civil service examinations in earlier times, apparently none had done so in recent generations. Sac's half brother Tro had little interest in learning. Yet it soon became clear that Sac was eager for education. After leading his brother's water buffalo back from the fields in the late morning, he often stopped off at the school of the local Confucian scholar Vuong Thuc Mau, where he tied up the animal and lingered outside the classroom, listening to the teacher conduct his lessons. In his spare time, young Sac attempted to learn Chinese characters by writing them on the bare earth or on the leaf of a persimmon tree.

    By the time he was an adolescent, Nguyen Sinh Sac's love of learning had become common knowledge throughout the village and came to the attention of Hoang Duong (also known as Hoang Xuan Duong), a Confucian scholar from the nearby hamlet of Hoang Tru who often walked over the mud-packed footpaths to Kim Lien to visit his friend Vuong Thuc Mau. Noticing the young lad on the back of a water buffalo absorbed in reading a book while his friends played in the fields, Hoang Duong spoke with Nguyen Sinh Tro and volunteered to raise the boy, offering him an education through the classes that he taught in his own home. Tro agreed, and in 1878, at age fifteen, Nguyen Sinh Sac moved to Hoang Tru village, where he began formal study in the Confucian classics with his new foster father and sponsor. The event was hardly an unusual one, since it was customary for the talented sons of poor farmers to be taken under the wing of more affluent relatives or neighbors and provided with a Confucian education in a local school. Should the child succeed in his studies and rise to the level of a scholar or government official, relatives and neighbors alike could all bask in the glow of the recipient's prestige and influence.

    Like many other scholars in the area, Master Duong (as he was known locally) was part teacher, part farmer. The roots of the Hoang family were in Hai Hung province, just to the southeast of Hanoi in the Red River delta, where many members were renowned for their learning. After moving to Nghe An in the fifteenth century, Hoang Duong's forebears continued the tradition of scholarship. His father had taken the civil service examination three times, eventually receiving the grade of tu tai ("cultivated talent," the lowest level of achievement in the examination and the Confucian equivalent of a bachelor's degree in the United States today).

    While Hoang Duong taught his students in two outer rooms of his small house, his wife, Nguyen Thi Kep, and their two daughters, Hoang Thi Loan and Hoang Thi An, tilled the fields and weaved to supplement the family income. Like their counterparts in villages throughout the country, none of the women in Master Duong's family had any formal education, since the arts of scholarship and governing—reflecting timeworn Confucian principles introduced from China—were restricted exclusively to males. In Vietnam, as in China, it was a woman's traditional duty to play the role of mother and housekeeper, and to serve the needs of her husband. This had not always been the case, since Vietnamese women had historically possessed more legal rights than their Chinese counterparts, but as Confucianism became increasingly dominant after the fifteenth century, their position in Vietnamese society became increasingly restricted. Within the family, they were clearly subordinate to their husbands, who possessed exclusive property rights and were permitted to take an additional wife if the first failed to produce a son.

    Within these constraints, Nguyen Thi Kep and her daughters were probably better off than most of their neighbors, since they had absorbed a little literary knowledge. Kep's own family also had a tradition of scholarship. Her father had passed the first level of civil service examination just like her father-in-law had. As the wife of a local scholar, Kep was a respected and envied member of the local community. In most respects, however, her life, and that of her daughters, differed little from their less fortunate neighbors, who spent their days knee-deep in the muddy fields beyond the village hedgerow, painstakingly nursing the rice seedlings through the annual harvest cycle.

    In this bucolic atmosphere, young Sac grew to adulthood. He quickly showed himself adept at Confucian learning, and when he displayed a romantic interest in Master Duong's attractive daughter Hoang Thi Loan, the family eventually consented to arrange a marriage, although Kep was apparently initially reluctant because of Sac's status as an orphan. The wedding ceremony took place in 1883. As a wedding gift, Master Duong provided his new son-in-law with a small three-room thatch hut on a small plot of land next to his own house. A one-room structure nearby served as the family altar, where the males in the family were expected to pay fealty to the family ancestors. The house built for the newlyweds was cozy and clean, with the living space in the front room, the kitchen in the rear, and an outside room for Sac's study. The family was somewhat more affluent than most in the village but did not hire laborers for their rice fields or the small vegetable garden. During the next seven years, while her husband continued his studies, Hoang Thi Loan bore three children—a daughter, Nguyen Thi Thanh, born in 1884; a son, Nguyen Sinh Khiem, in 1888; and then, on May 19, 1890, a second son, Nguyen Sinh Cung, who would later be known as Ho Chi Minh. (In Vietnam, children are given a "milk name" at birth. When they reach adolescence, a new name is assigned to reflect the parents' aspiration for their child).

    While Nguyen Sinh Sac studied in preparation for taking the civil service examinations, his wife, Loan, as was the custom, tended the rice fields and raised the children. According to the recollections of her contemporaries, she was diligent and family oriented, both traditional Confucian virtues, but she was also gifted and intellectually curious. She had some acquaintance with Vietnamese literature and often lulled her children to sleep with traditional folk songs or by reciting passages from Nguyen Du's famous verse classic Truyen Kieu (The Tale of Kieu), a poignant story of two lovers caught in the web of traditional morality.

    In 1891, Nguyen Sinh Sac traveled to the provincial capital of Vinh to sit in candidacy for the tu tai, but he failed to pass. His performance was sufficiently encouraging, however, for him to continue his studies after his return home, and to teach classes to local children in his home to help support the family. When his father-in-law, Master Duong, died in 1893, adding to the family's financial burdens, Sac was forced to delay his preparations for retaking the examination. While his older sister helped with the household chores, little Nguyen Sinh Cung enjoyed himself, playing in the fields or roaming around his father's school. At night, before being placed in his hammock, his grandmother read him local tales of heroism. Cung was intelligent and curious, quick to absorb knowledge.

    In May 1894, Sac took the examinations in Vinh a second time and received the grade of cu nhan, or "recommended man," a level higher than the tu tai and the equivalent of a master of arts degree. The achievement was unusual for a local scholar, and on his return to Hoang Tru village he was offered a small plot of land as a traditional reward given by the community to successful candidates in the civil service examinations. Since he had only three acres of rice land as part of his wife's dowry, Sac accepted, but he refused offers to arrange an expensive banquet in his honor, preferring instead to distribute water buffalo meat to poor villagers.

    It was commonplace for recipients of the prestigious cu nhandegree to seek an official position in the imperial bureaucracy, thus "honoring the self and enriching the family" (vinh thanh phi gia), but Nguyen Sinh Sac preferred to continue his studies while earning a modest income as a local instructor of the classics. In the hallowed Confucian tradition of wifely sacrifice—in the expressive Vietnamese phrase, vong anh di truoc, vong nang theo sau, or "the carriage of the husband goes before, that of his wife after"—Hoang Thi Loan continued to work in the family's rice fields while raising the family.

    In the spring of 1895, Nguyen Sinh Sac traveled to Hué to take the imperial examinations (thi hoi), the highest level of academic achievement in the Confucian educational system. He did not pass but decided to remain in the city in order to enter the Imperial Academy (Quoc tu Giam) in preparation for a second effort. The academy, whose origins dated back to the early years of national independence in Hanoi, served as a training place sponsored by the court for aspiring candidates for the imperial bureaucracy. Sac had no funds to pay his tuition or room and board, but fortunately the school offered a few modest scholarships to help defray living costs and with the assistance of a friend he was able to obtain one. Sac returned briefly to Nghe An to bring Loan and their two sons back to Hué, so that his wife could seek work to help the family meet expenses.

    In those days, the trip from the Nghe An provincial capital of Vinh to Hué was both arduous and dangerous. The journey lasted about a month, and the road wound through dense forest and over mountains infested by bandits. It was quicker and more comfortable to travel by sea, but to poor villagers like Nguyen Sinh Sac, the cost of passage by ship was prohibitive. The family thus decided to make the trip on foot, covering at most about thirty kilometers a day and walking in groups with several other travelers for protection against bandits and wild animals. With his short legs, the five-year-old Cung found it difficult to keep up the pace, so his father sometimes carried him, entertaining him with stories of mythical creatures and the heroic figures of the Vietnamese past.

    Hué, originally known as Phu Xuan, had once been the headquarters of the Nguyen lords who had ruled the southern half of the country during the two centuries of civil war. After the founding of the Nguyen dynasty in 1802, Emperor Gia Long had decided to transfer the capital there from its traditional location in the Red River valley as a means of demonstrating his determination to reunify the entire country under Nguyen rule. A small market town nestled on the banks of the Perfume River about midway between the two major river deltas, it had become an administrative center after becoming the seat of the imperial court, but was still much smaller in size than the traditional capital of Hanoi (then known as Thang Long), and probably contained a population of fewer than ten thousand inhabitants.

    After arriving, undoubtedly exhausted, in Hué, Nguyen Sinh Sac was able to arrange temporary lodgings at the house of a friend. Eventually, however, the family moved into a small apartment located on Mai Thuc Loan Street, not far from the eastern wall of the imperial city, on the northern bank of the Perfume River. The Imperial Academy was located on the southern bank, about seven kilometers west of the city. But Sac seldom attended school, spending most of his time studying at home. In his spare time he taught the classics to his own boys and the children of local officials. Reflecting the intense respect for education that characterized Confucian societies, he put extra pressure on his sons, admonishing them to study hard and pay strict attention to their calligraphy. According to the accounts of neighbors, little Cung had already begun to display a lively interest in the world around him, joining his brother to watch the imperial troops perform their drills and trying to sneak into the imperial city for a closer look inside. Observing a royal procession as it left the palace on one ceremonial occasion, he returned home to ask his mother whether the emperor had injured his leg. When asked why he had posed the question, Cung replied that he had just seen the ruler being carried by bearers in a sedan chair.

    In 1898, Sac failed in his second attempt to pass the metropolitan examination and decided to accept temporary employment as a teacher at a neighborhood school in the hamlet of Duong No, just east of the city. His wife, Loan, remained in the apartment in Hué to supplement the family's meager income by weaving and taking in washing. The school at Duong No had been founded by a well-to-do local farmer, who gave permission for Sac's own two sons to attend the classes. It was apparently at that time that the boys were first exposed to the Confucian classics in the Chinese language.

    In August 1900, Sac was appointed by the imperial court to serve as a clerk for the provincial examinations in Thanh Hoa, a provincial capital almost five hundred kilometers north of the imperial capital. The assignment was considered an honor, since cu nhan were not usually allowed to serve as proctors. Sac's elder son, Khiem, went with him; Cung remained with his mother in Hué. On his return from Thanh Hoa to Hué, Sac stopped briefly in his home village of Kim Lien to build a tomb for his parents.

    The decision was costly. Back in Hué, his wife had given birth to her fourth child, a boy named Nguyen Sinh Xin (from xin, meaning literally "to beg"). But the ordeal weakened her already fragile constitution, and despite the help of a local doctor she became ill and died on February 10, 1901. Neighbors later recalled that during the Têt (the local version of the lunar new year) holidays, the young Cung ran crying from house to house asking for milk to feed the baby, and that for weeks his normally sunny disposition turned somber.

    On hearing the news of his wife's death, Sac returned immediately to Hué to pick up his children and take them back to Hoang Tru village, where he resumed his teaching. For a while, young Cung continued to study with his father, but eventually Sac sent him to a distant relative on his mother's side, a scholar named Vuong Thuc Do. By then, little Cung had begun to make significant progress in his studies. He was able to recognize quite a few Chinese characters—the essential medium for a Confucian education and still used to write the colloquial Vietnamese language—and enjoyed practicing them. It was clear that the boy was quick-witted and curious, but his father was concerned that he sometimes neglected his studies and sought out other amusements. Cung's new instructor may have been some help in that regard. Vuong Thuc Do genuinely loved his students and reportedly never beat them—apparently quite unusual in his day—and he regaled his proteges with stories of the righteous heroes of the past, one of whom was his own older brother, who had fought with Phan Dinh Phung's Can Vuong movement against the French.

    After a few months in Hoang Tru, Sac returned to Hué; his mother-in-law, Nguyen Thi Kep, kept the children. Sac's daughter, Nguyen Thi Thanh, who had stayed in the village with her grandmother when the rest of the family moved to Hué, was now fully grown but had not married, so she remained at home to reduce the burden on the family. Cung helped out in the house and garden, but still had time to play. In summertime he joined his friends in fishing in the local ponds, flying kites (many years later, local residents would recall that when on windless days many of his friends quickly grew discouraged, Cung would still try to keep his kite in the air), and climbing the many hills in the vicinity. The most memorable was Mount Chung, on the summit of which sat the temple of Nguyen Duc Du, a general of the thirteenth century who had fought against an invading Mongol army. It was here, too, where the patriotic scholar Vuong Thuc Mau, at whose doorstep Sac had first discovered his love of learning years before, had formed a band of rebels in 1885 to fight under the banner of the Can Vuong movement. From the heights of Mount Chung, climbers had a breathtaking view of rice fields, stands of bamboo and palm trees, and the long blue-gray line of the mountains to the west. There was only one sad interlude in this, the happiest period of young Cung's childhood. His younger brother Xin continued to be sickly, and died at the age of only one year.

    Back in Hué, Nguyen Sinh Sac applied to retake the imperial examinations and this time he earned the degree of doctorate, second class (known in Vietnamese as pho bang). The news caused a sensation in Hoang Tru, as well as in Sac's native village of Kim Lien. Since the mid-seventeenth century, the villages in their area had reportedly produced almost two hundred bachelor's and master's degree holders, but he was the first to earn the pho bang degree. On his return, the residents of Hoang Tru planned a ceremonial entry into the village, but Sac, whose dislike of pomp and circumstance was now becoming pronounced, again declined the honor. Despite his protests, the village arranged a banquet to celebrate the occasion. At his request, however, some of the food was distributed to the poor.

    According to tradition, the honor of claiming a successful examination candidate went to the home village of the candidate's father. In Sac's case, of course, this meant that the village that could now label itself "a civilized spot, a literary location" (dat van vat, chon thi tu) was his father's birthplace of Kim Lien, rather than Hoang Tru, where he now resided. To reward their native son, the local authorities of Kim Lien had used public funds to erect a small wood and thatch house on public land to entice him to live there. Sac complied, using it as a new home for himself and his three surviving children. It was slightly larger than his house in Hoang Tru, consisting of three living rooms, with one room reserved for the family water buffalo and a small room containing an altar for Hoang Thi Loan. A couple of acres of rice land were included with the house, as well as a small garden, where Sac planted sweet potatoes.

    The award of apho bang degree was a signal honor in traditional Vietnamese society and often brought the recipient both fame and fortune, usually in the form of an official career. Nguyen Sinh Sac, however, had no desire to pursue a career in the bureaucracy, especially in a time of national humiliation. Refusing the offer of an official appointment at court on the grounds that he was still in mourning for the death of his wife, Sac decided to stay in Kim Lien, where he opened a small school to teach the classics. The monetary rewards for such work were minimal, and Sac contributed to his financial difficulties by giving generously to the poor residents in the village. Sac did adopt one concession to his new status, however, taking on the new name Nguyen Sinh Huy, or "born to honor."

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R. M. PetersonTop Contributor: Poetry Books
TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE
4.0 out of 5 starsOne of the most charismatic, and influential, political figures of the twentieth centuryMay 7, 2015
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Ho Chi Minh is one of those figures who lend support to the "great man" theory of history. "Not only was Ho the founder of his party and later the president of the country, but he was its chief strategist and its most inspiring symbol. * * * Ho Chi Minh was half Lenin and half Gandhi." He is a man of myth and legend, and therefore a good subject for a responsible biography that demystifies him.

Only in part, however, is HO CHI MINH: A LIFE a biography of Ho Chi Minh -- a/k/a, among others, Nguyen Sinh Cong, Nguyen Tat Thanh, and Nguyen Ai Quoc. The book also is a history of Vietnam over HCM's lifetime (1890-1969). Furthermore, it includes extensive accounts of the internal politics and machinations of various Communist parties (Vietnamese, Indochinese, French, Chinese, and Comintern) -- the necessity of which I question, at least in such mind-numbing detail. As glad as I am that I read this full-blown biography-plus, I would have preferred a shorter biography of Ho Chi Minh aimed simply at providing the generalist reader with a responsible picture of the man. And while it goes quite a ways towards demystifying HCM, I'm not sure it succeeds altogether. Perhaps that's not possible.

The overriding question concerning HCM is whether he was a Vietnamese patriot and nationalist or, instead, a communist/socialist revolutionary. Duiker's HCM is not exclusively either. According to Duiker, HCM certainly was a patriot and nationalist. Beyond that, he was implacably opposed to imperialism and colonialism, not just in Indochina but around the world. That mindset predisposed him against capitalism, as practiced worldwide, and, derivatively, against democracy and republican government. The alternative was socialism/communism, and he provided much evidence of subscribing to the teachings of Lenin. It does not appear, however, that HCM was a "true believer" (or, a fellow traveler).

Even Stalin and Mao at times were skeptical of HCM's bona fides as a Communist. There is an anecdote -- "probably, but not certainly, apocryphal" -- that when HCM went to Moscow to meet with Stalin in 1952, the latter pointed to two chairs in the meeting room and said, "Comrade Ho Chi Minh, there are two chairs here, one for nationalists and one for internationalists. On which do you wish to sit?", and HCM replied, "Comrade Stalin, I would like to sit on both chairs".

That points to what probably was HCM's principal trait as a man of politics: he was a pragmatist. The book contains many tales exemplifying that "Ho Chi Minh was a believer in the art of the possible, of adjusting his ideals to the conditions of the moment."

One point (of many) that was forcefully brought home to me concerns the almost one-hundred-year-long French rule of Vietnam. My high-school world history course emphasized the French "mission to civilize", and since then I have encountered numerous instances in which Frenchmen subscribed to that rationale for the French colonial empire. This book contains much that exposes that grandiose illusion. For example, by the early twentieth century the French had established monopolies on the sale of salt, opium, and alcohol in Vietnam. The salt sold to the peasants brought a 1,000 per cent profit. Around 1915, the Governor-General of Indochina, Albert Sarraut (who later became Prime Minister of France) complained that some Vietnamese villages were free of spirits and opium, and urged French provincial residents to arrange for the construction of alcohol and opium houses throughout Vietnam, so "that we shall obtain the best results, in the best interests of the Treasury".

As for a different sort of perfidy, there is the tale of what the Vietnamese did concerning HCM's wish to be cremated, as expressed in his last testament. Instead, Party leaders embalmed him and then built an elaborate mausoleum (reminiscent of the Lenin mausoleum in Red Square), and when they published HCM's last testament, they deleted those sections that dealt with the disposal of his body.

In a sense William J. Duiker spent nearly his entire career on this book. As he relates in the Preface, he first became fascinated with HCM in the mid-60s while serving as a young foreign service officer at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. He ended up pursuing an academic career, over the course of which he wrote around a dozen books on Vietnam and China. He finally was persuaded that enough information concerning HCM had been released to make a biography possible, and he spent the 1990s researching and writing this book. There are ninety pages of detailed and extensive endnotes, as well as what seems to be a very good index. There also are two sections of photographs. Duiker's HO CHI MINH is reputed to be the best biography of its subject, and after reading it I have no reason to doubt that. Still, the book reflects that it is the work of an historian venturing into the realm of biography.

By the way, I had bought a paperback edition of the book shortly after it was published. When I recently unshelved it to read, it quickly fell apart. I then ordered a new copy of the book in hardcover, but after three hours or so the cover of it detached from the rest of the binding. Thankfully, the 700-plus pages stayed together in one piece. Still, at a price north of $40.00, one should get a sturdier product.

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Sonshi.com
5.0 out of 5 starsMost reliable and balanced biography of Ho Chi MinhMarch 7, 2004
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Dr. William Duiker's book is exceptional. A five-star book with an asterisk for special consideration. It is arguably the most reliable and balanced biography of Ho Chi Minh ever published. First of all, please note the book was dedicated "To the Vietnamese people," similar in many ways as to how Ho Chi Minh himself, amid critics, dedicated his life's work to the Vietnamese people. Regardless of how you feel about this important 20th century political leader, Duiker correctly places him from the most significant point of view -- that is to say, from the Vietnamese people's perspective first, and only then the world.
The biography beautifully melds historical gaps with hard facts. Anyone who was ever presented with such a dilemma would truly appreciate the genius with which the author was able to craft Ho Chi Minh's character and personality. Simply outstanding. Duiker does not deceive the reader into believing that his biography will answer all questions, but it does indeed illuminate one's understanding of how Ho Chi Minh operated and perhaps how he would have acted under different circumstances. A mysterious person becomes less mysterious, albeit not completely understood. As readers, we can't help but be grateful for the opportunity to learn and benefit from 30 years of research.
So impressive was Dr. Duiker's biography that we at Sonshi.com asked the author for an interview. He was open to any and all questions about Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh. From our experience, this is a mark of a true expert, someone who is on top of his or her field of study. Anyone who would like to learn more about Vietnam or Ho Chi Minh will certainly benefit from Duiker. In fact, anyone who is interested in how the 20th century was shaped should read this book, for Ho Chi Minh's influence was not relegated to only Indochina, but it was felt in the top industrialized nations as well.
We highly recommend William Duiker's Ho Chi Minh: A Life.

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Dana Garrett
4.0 out of 5 starsIt's a book that will break your heartJuly 28, 2007
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Although the author, William Duiker, a former foreign services officer for the USA in Saigon during the 1960s, takes no side in the scholarly dispute about Ho Chi Minh's essential orientation as either a nationalist or an ideologically pure Marxist, there is little doubt from the evidence set forth in the book that Ho was first and foremost a nationalist. The evidence couldn't be clearer given the numerous occasions Ho recommended elected coalition governments to rule an undivided Viet Nam, recommendations he made to several USA officials well before the onset of the war with the USA.

I couldn't keep from wondering about the multiple millions of lives that might have been spared if the USA had only listened to its sober analysts in the region who believed Ho instead of hearkening to those caught up in the red scare.

Ho was essentially a pragmatist whose burning passion was for an independent and sovereign Viet Nam. Even his ascription to Marxist Leninism was born from his pragmatism since Marxist Leninism alone purported to provide a model by which the imperialist control of nations could be understood, resisted and broken. Accordingly, it also provided a vision through which ordinary Vietnamese citizens could foresee an end to the French imperialist occupation of their nation. Marxist Leninism was for Ho a means by which Viet Nam could become independent and self-governing.

Duiker's work provides an excellent analysis of Ho's early years leading up to his return to Viet Nam. I felt it was a bit short on content during the last years of Ho's life before the war with the USA ended. But Duiker's depiction of how the USSR and China played Viet Nam off against each other is not to be missed.

This book is worth reading.

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Allen Weintraub
5.0 out of 5 starsA biography everyone should read. The book describes the ...March 15, 2016
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A biography everyone should read. The book describes the complex life of Ho Chi MInh. Almost as an aside, the author introduces us to Ho Chi Minh's relationship with the United States starting with the Treaty of Versailles ending World War,I his contracts with Americans in fighting the Japanese in World War II, and the eventual failure between the two countries starting with the withdrawal of the French in 1954.

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Edward Thilborn
4.0 out of 5 starsVery good but many misspellings in Kindle version.May 20, 2015
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Kindle version often has "r" and "t" mixed up so it is difficult reading. But the book is very good and highly detailed -- almost too much so.

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Sandra
4.0 out of 5 starsand this book answered that question and gave me a great sense of the dreadful war and what it cost ...March 2, 2016
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This name evokes lots of emotions in the US. I wanted to know who he was, and this book answered that question and gave me a great sense of the dreadful war and what it cost the Vietnamese. We all know about US losses - they were minuscule relative to Vietnam.


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Joseph W.
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat Read - Provides Historical and Human PerspectiveDecember 6, 2018
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I read the book as my company is expanding in Vietnam. This gave a great perspective on a key figure in the Vietnam's history and how the country came to its current political reality. I now can visit with a greater cultural and historical perspective and understanding.


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Carlos A. Simmons
3.0 out of 5 starsHo Chi MinhJune 16, 2014
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Very good book. It explored the life of Ho Chi Minh from his birth, childhood, wars he was involved in, friends, enemies, travels, politics, death and the effects of his death on his country as well as his place in history.

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Burfam
5.0 out of 5 starsIf you're wanting an in-depth account, order this book for sure!February 13, 2013
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My dad really likes history and wanted a book about Ho Chi Minh. I ordered this book for Christmas as it seemed to have the highest reviews and they were not wrong. He says the book is extremely well documented. The pictures in it are great, and the amount of info from many different places helps to make sure that what you're reading is accurate. The author really did an amazingly thorough job and you will not be disappointed by this book if you're wanting a lot of facts and a lot of information. If you're looking more for like an easy-read novel, this is most likely a little too technical for you, though it is not too hard to read, just a little dry to me since I was only interested in skimming a few pages. If you're wanting an in-depth account, order this book for sure!

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J R Lankford
5.0 out of 5 starsRemarkableMarch 23, 2009
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This is one of those remarkable biographies that makes history come alive. I bought it as part of my research for a novel. It confirmed my belief that most wars result from either a tragic misunderstanding, or truly monstrous mistreatment of one group by another (or both). Such was the case with The American War, as the Vietnamese call it. We ignorantly backed the French in a heartless brand of colonialism that made slavery look good in comparison. Then America shut its ears to Ho Chi Minh's repeated pleas for our friendship. How many precious lives were lost as a result, no one can accurately count. I only know I can't walk the length of the Viet Nam memorial in D.C. without crying as I see the more than 58,000 names and I'll surely do the same when I go to Viet Nam, the bamboo country, where perhaps 3 million died. Hy sinh, the Vietnamese still call them -- sacrificed. I highly recommend William Duiker's Ho Chi Minh.

J R Lankford

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Ho Chi Minh: A Life

by
William J. Duiker
4.05 · Rating details · 626 ratings · 66 reviews
The magisterial and authoritative biography of one of the towering and mysterious figures of the twentieth century.
Ho Chi Minh's epic life helped shape the twentieth century. But never before has he been the subject of a major biography. Now William Duiker has compiled an astonishing work of history that fills this immense void. A New York Times Notable Book and one of the Los Angeles Times Best Books of 2000 - now in paperback!(less)

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Paperback, 695 pages
Published November 28th 2001 by Hachette Books (first published December 2000)
Original Title
Ho Chi Minh: A Life
ISBN
078688701X (ISBN13: 9780786887019)
Edition Language
English
Characters
Ho Chi Minh


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Mar 25, 2015Kay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
If you're going to pick a communist leader to read a 600-page history about, Ho Chi Minh is your man. I became interested in the Vietnamese patron after we traveled in Southeast Asia on our honeymoon. It's nearly impossible to avoid tributes to him as you travel the country, and I even saw his preserved dead body at the Hanoi mausoleum. This all piqued my interest to learn more about this figure. Especially because the museum devoted to his life assumed a lot of knowledge (and who can blame them -- museums in the states assume you know a lot about our Founding Fathers and national folklore).

This is an extremely well-constructed biography. William Duiker, who served in the U.S. embassy during the Vietnam war, was curious about Ho Chi Minh during his time there and returned to his subject years later. The result is a compelling narrative of his life. Before he became the leader of Vietnam, he was a Confucian scholar, bummed about in France for a time, and eventually became part of the Communist movement in Russia. Through it all, Duiker argues, Minh was more preoccupied with the liberation of Vietnam from French -- and later American -- rule. He believed in communism, but he also saw it as a way to unite his country.

Perhaps the most challenging part about reading this book is that Ho Chi Minh had many aliases throughout his life. Part of this is cultural -- the Vietnamese give their children one name when they are born, and as the child gets older and the parents' hopes for their children's futures have formed, they change the child's name to one more suitable to one's future profession. Of course, this was only the beginning for Minh, who maintained many different names throughout his life, often because he was attempting to travel incognito. It was only later in his life that he rested on the name of Ho Chi Minh.

What's also fascinating is about the degree to which many in the Vietnamese liberation movement hoped to avoid war with the United States. They understood that the popularity of communism in their impoverished country stood to risk war with America, but despite Ho Chi Minh writing a letter to Truman appealing to the United States on the grounds that they, too, once sought liberation from a colonist, the appeals were ignored. Duiker points out that the State Department never forwarded the letter to Truman at all. (Whether that letter was genuine or merely a desperate bid is unknown.) It all begs for an alternate history in which the United States offers assistance to the Vietnamese liberation movement against the French.

What is perhaps most disappointing about this book is that Minh dies in the middle of the war with the United States, so much of my curiosity about how the country developed over the decades to what it is now will have to be fulfilled by another source. (less)
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Jul 17, 2012Michael Gerald rated it liked it
A decent and balanced work on one of the most important figures in Asian history in the twentieth century, it reveals Ho as a man of ambiguity and contradiction, one who was not just a nationalist who asserted his country's sovereignty but also a scheming opportunist and pragmatist who flitted from positions in communist ideology to suit his needs and those of his cause. If he were alive today, I wonder how he would take the situation of Vietnam today: a country that has managed to rise from the ...more
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Aug 06, 2011Mike rated it really liked it
If you want to understand the roots of the Vietnam War and see it through the eyes of the other side -- Read this!
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Oct 12, 2013Jerome rated it it was amazing
A superb biography of a mythic and often misunderstood figure. Ho has always been a difficult figure to understand; he habitually disguised himself and often reinvented his personal history. The book is thoroughly researched and strips away the aura of myth around Ho Chi Minh.

Duiker shows how Ho the long-time Comintern agent and often willing tool of Mao and Stalin often behaved in ways that cast doubt on his belief in communism, versus his ardent nationalism. Ho was pretty much a pragmatist whose aims were always a unified, independent Vietnam; even his communist beliefs were adopted merely because Ho thought they could make such a goal possible.

Toward this end, Ho built up a following from scratch under the loose and often less than interested supervision of the Comintern. The Comintern frequently intervened in the affairs of national parties. Sometimes it was only the latest telegram from Moscow that changed Party policies. In Vietnam, isolated and rather marginal to the interests of the superpowers (at first), Ho was resistant to to Soviet policies, to the extent that the Soviets even gave a crap about Vietnam in the first place. The Chinese had somewhat more influence, although Ho Chi Minh did not look to them as much as he did to the Soviets. This often proved unproductive as the Soviets saw Vietnam as marginal to their interests.

Sometimes the book gets unnecessarily detailed; for example there’s more pages devoted to Ho’s choice of clothing than on the climactic battle of Dien Bien Phu. The Vietcong’s severe defeat during the Tet offensive is also somewhat minimized. But, in all, quite an interesting book. (less)
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Dec 11, 2009Jacob added it
There are very few biographies that I can say, yes, I've been to see the preserved of corpse of this guy. Well, this is one. Uncle Ho, as the locals call him, lies preserved in a glass coffin in a stone mausoleum surrounded by guards, in a complex with a pretty little stilt house and a wandering garden attached to a nice museum and some cafes and a pagoda perched on one pillar, all of it fenced in together just off of Ngoc Ha and Doi Can streets, right near the botanical garden, a market, some b ...more
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Jun 24, 2015Quan rated it really liked it
Shelves: changed-how-i-see-the-world
A comprehensive read about Ho Chi Minh and modern Vietnam history. I have a whole new amount of respect for Ho Chi Minh after reading this. And no it's not because I think he was a saint as painted by the authority.

We can spend all day debating whether Ho is a communist or a nationalist, but for me, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. Given the resources and circumstances, he did what he thought was the right thing to do and made the most out of it. He did achieve his goal, gaining independence for his country, even at the expense of million deaths. But who am I to judge ?

(less)
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Sep 15, 2013Scott Holstad rated it it was amazing
I’ve always been fascinated by Ho Chi Minh, one of history’s most mysterious yet prominent figures. I’ve read what little there is on him over the years, and then finally came across this book, William Duiker’s Ho Chi Minh: A Life. What a thoroughly researched and detailed book! Duiker does a truly admirable job of piecing together information from archives and sources from all over the world to give us the best possible picture of Ho, and he does it in a reasonably objective way.

Ho Chi Minh was ...more
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Oct 14, 2018Hoang Trang rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: history, non-fictions, favorites
Needless to say, at school we learn plenty about Ho Chi Minh, and yet I learned nothing. The official history text simplistically portraits him as a patriotic man who sacrificed his life to bring about national independence and pave to way for Vietnam to a become a socialist utopia. I always have deep respect for him, but dislike the fact that every year his image is overused in government campaigns to educate the mass about Ho Chi Minh thought and justify the tight power grip of the Communist Party.

But Ho Chi Minh is much more than that. To quote one of my favorite sentences in the book, "Ho Chi Minh's image was part Lenin and part Gandhi, with perhaps a dash of Confucius." His ideology is a mix of nationalism and socialism. An advocate of peaceful resolution, and yet he opted for militant tactics when needed. A man of simple and earthly manner, but he so artfully balanced against different superpowers' interests in Vietnam and the held together fractious elements within his party.

This book also touches on many of my what-if scenarios. While it's hard to know the counterfactual, I believe that the decisions he made during his lifetime were the optimal given the circumstances. I can always wish that certain things could have been different, but perhaps instead of wishful thinking, it's better to learn from the past and focus on the future. (less)
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------------------


호치민 평전   
윌리엄 J. 듀이커 (지은이),정영목 (옮긴이)푸른숲2003-04-01원제 : Ho Chi Minh








































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국내도서 > 역사 > 아시아사 > 동남아시아사
국내도서 > 사회과학 > 정치학/외교학/행정학 > 정치인
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이벤트


5월 특별 선물! 알라딘 타월/티셔츠!

이 시간, 알라딘 굿즈 총집합!




알라딘 리뷰
"반은 레닌, 반은 간디"
책을 쓰기 위해서 이십여 년이 걸린 셈이라고 서문에 밝혔는데, 틀린 말은 아닌 듯싶다. 중국, 러시아, 미국 등의 문서 보관함 속에 잊혀졌던 기억들을 꺼내고, 당시의 사진들, 호치민이 남기거나 호치민을 평했던 많은 글과 편지들을 책에 담아냈다.

치우침이 없이, 이념적인 색깔을 들어내지 않고 담담하게 서술해 가는 글 속에서 우리가 떠올리는 것과는 조금 다른 호치민의 모습을 발견하게 된다. 열렬한 투쟁자로만 기억한다면, 아마 우리는 그의 반쪽을 놓치게 될 것이다.

물론, 호치민은 열렬한 공산주의자였다. 하지만 우리가 기억해야 할 것은 그에게 이념보다 우선이었던 것은 '베트남' 조국이었다. 베트남 사람 누구나 평등하게 대접받고, 자유롭게 자신의 삶을 누릴 수 있는 사회를 만들어 내는 일이 그에게 중요했고, 그러기 위해서 무엇보다 독립을 지켜내기 위해 평생을 싸웠다.

"모든 인간은 평등하게 창조되었다. 그들은 창조주로부터 양도할 수 없는 권리를 부여받았다. 생존, 자유, 행복의 추구 등이 그러한 권리이다. 지상의 모든 민족들은 날 때부터 평등하며, 모든 민족은 생존의 권리, 행복과 자유의 권리를 가지고 있다."

하나된 베트남, 모든 베트남 민중이 인간답게 사는 나라를 만들기 위해서 대화와 설득으로, 때로는 강대국간의 힘의 논리사이에서 줄타기 외교를 하며, 그래도 안될 때는 직접 무기를 손에 들고 투쟁을 하는 방법으로 베트남의 독립을 위해 평생을 투쟁했다.

프랑스로부터의 허울뿐인 독립, 실질적인 독립을 얻어내기 위한 프랑스와의 전쟁, 이념에 따른 남과 북의 분단, 미국의 침공과 끈질긴 전쟁. 그 험난한 세월을 보내지만, 끝내 베트남이 하나 되는 모습을 보지 못하고 호치민은 눈을 감는다.

나이가 들어서 호치민은 '호 아저씨'라고 불렸다고 한다. 노인부터 아이들에 이르기까지 국민 모두에게 사랑받았고, 그 자신도 누구보다 베트남을 사랑했던, 온화한 미소의 호치민을 발견해본다.

"평화가 회복되면 농업세를 1년 간 면제하여 베트남 인민이 전쟁 동안 겪은 곤경에 보답하고, 피로 얼룩진 기나긴 전쟁 동안 인민이 보여준 노력과 희생에 당이 직접 감사해주기를 바란다..." - 윤성화(2003-03-26)


목차


서문
머리말
조직 일람표

1장 빼앗긴 땅에서 (1890 ~ 1911)
2장 성난 말 (1911 ~ 1923)
3장 견습 혁명가 (1923 ~ 1924)
4장 용의 아들 (1924 ~ 1927)
5장 마법의 검 (1927 ~ 1930)
6장 붉은 응에 틴 (1930 ~ 1931)
7장 광야로 (1931 ~ 1938)
8장 곽보의 동굴 (1938 ~ 1941)
9장 불어오른 강물 (1941 ~ 1945)
10장 격동의 8월 (1945)
11장 재건과 저항 (1945 ~ 1946)
12장 호랑이와 코끼리 (1945 ~ 1950)
13장 디엔 비엔 푸 (1951 ~ 1954)
14장 두 전쟁 사이 (1954 ~ 1957)
15장 모두 전선으로 (1959 ~ 1969)

에필로그 - 신화에서 인간으로
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책속에서



아니, 가능성이 없지 않을 것입니다. 어렵고 절망적이겠지만, 우리는 이길 수 있습니다. 우리는 모든 면에서 최신식 대포만큼 강한 무기를 가지고 있습니다. 바로 민족주의입니다! 그힘을 과소평가하지 마십시오. - lonefox
˝응우옌 아이 쿠옥(호치민)이 보기에 아시아인들은 서구인들이 보기에는 후진적이지만, 현대 사회의 전면적 개혁의 필요성을 서구인들보다 더 잘 이해하고 있었다.˝(p133) - 겨울호랑이
˝자본주의는 식민지를 통해 자신을 부양하고, 여러분과 싸우는데, 여러 동지들은 왜 식민지를 무시합니까?˝(p174) - 겨울호랑이
˝여러분이 이 작은 그룹 내에서도 단결을 유지하지 못한다면, 조국으로 돌아간 뒤에 어떻게 대중을 단결시켜 식민주의자들과 싸우게 하고 나라를 구하는 일에 나서게 할 수 있겠는가?˝(p333) - 겨울호랑이



저자 및 역자소개
윌리엄 J. 듀이커 (지은이)
저자파일
최고의 작품 투표
신간알림 신청

베트남 현대사와 호치민의 생애를 깊이 있게 연구해온 예외적인 역사학자이다. 1997년 펜실베이니아 주립대학 역사학과 교수직에서 퇴임했다. 저서로 <성스러운 전쟁 Sacred War : Nationalism and Revolution In A Divided Vietnam>, <베트남 Vietnam : Nation in Revolution>, <베트남에서의 승리 Victory in Vietnam : The Official History of the People's Army of Vietnam>등 베트남 관련 연구서 10여 권이 있다.


최근작 : <호치민 평전> … 총 204종 (모두보기)

정영목 (옮긴이)
저자파일
최고의 작품 투표
신간알림 신청

서울대학교 영문학과를 졸업하고 동 대학원을 졸업했다. 전문번역가로 활동하며 현재 이화여대 통역번역대학원 교수로 재직중이다. 지은 책으로 『완전한 번역에서 완전한 언어로』 『소설이 국경을 건너는 방법』, 옮긴 책으로 『인간성 수업』 『혁명의 기술에 관하여』 『레닌의 유산: 진리로 나아갈 권리』 『텍스트의 포도밭』 『바르도의 링컨』 『로드』 『말 한 마리가 술집에 들어왔다』 『밤은 부드러워라』 『책도둑』 『미국의 목가』 『에브리맨』 『울분』 『포트노이의 불평』 『굿바이, 콜럼버스』 『네메시스』 『죽어가는 짐승』 『달려라, 토끼』 『제5... 더보기


최근작 : <소설이 국경을 건너는 방법>,<완전한 번역에서 완전한 언어로>,<21 1=""> … 총 301종 (모두보기)


출판사 소개
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최근작 : <희망 대신 욕망>,<정세현 정청래와 함께 평양 갑시다>,<나는 오늘도 교사이고 싶다>등 총 189종
대표분야 : 한국사회비평/칼럼 2위 (브랜드 지수 167,457점), 음식 이야기 10위 (브랜드 지수 8,418점) 





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친구같았고, 아버지 같았고 옆집아저씨 같았던 호아저씨 평생을 검소하게 살았으며, 정말 본받을것이 많은 인물 
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호치민(胡志明)에게 공산주의는 무엇이었을까?  







"많은 동료들이 그가 죽은 뒤에도 기억하는 것은 그의 개인적인 품성, 선량하고 소박한 이미지, 불굴의 낙관주의, 대의에 대한 진지하고 헌신적인 태도였다."(p225)




본문에 나오는 호치민에 대한 그의 동료들 평가다.




어린 시절 반공(反共)교육을 받고 자란 나에게 호치민은 북한의 김일성, 중공의 모택동, 캄보디아의 폴 포트와 더불어 공산주의 시대의 독재자 중의 한 사람이었다. 지금으로부터 불과 12년 정도 전까지도 이러한 인식은 크게 달라지지 않았었다.




2004년 정도의 일이었던 것 같다. 성당 후배 중에서 운동권 출신의 똑부러진 후배가 있었다. 평소 에는 다소 맹한 구석도 있지만, 사회문제에 있어서는 눈을 반짝이며 다른 사람으로 변하는 그런 똑똑한 후배였다. 어느 날인가 이 후배가 무슨 어이없는 이야기를 했던 것 같다. 나는 가볍게 이 후배에게 "이런 호치민 같은..." 이라고 농담삼아 말했다. 별 생각없이 던진 농담에 후배는 정색을 하면서 칭찬을 해줘서 고맙다고 하는 것이 아닌가. 호치민에게 별 관심이 없었지만, 그 후배의 뜻밖의 반응에 호치민이 어떤 인물인가에 대한 궁금증이 생겼다. 그리고, 12년이 지난 지금에야 그에 대해 조금 알게 되었다.




<호치민 평전>은 베트남의 민족 지도자 호치민에 대해 미국인 윌리엄 J. 듀이커가 저술한 평전이다. 베트남전의 적국이었던 미국인의 시점에서 서술된 책이기에 한계점이 있다. 만약, 일본인이 <안중근 평전>을 썼다면 그 내용에 대해 전적으로 신뢰하기는 어려울 것이다. 이 책에서도 그런 한계가 존재한다. 프랑스와 일본, 중국의 베트남 지배 야욕에 대해서는 냉정하게 분석을 하면서, 호치민을 민족해방을 위해 노력하는 투사의 모습이 비춰지는 것에 반해, 미국과의 전쟁 시기 호치민의 모습에는 독재자의 그림자가 나타난다. 또한, 이미 날조된 것으로 알려진 "통킹 만 사건" 등에 대해서도 명확한 설명이 없이 넘어가는 등 저자의 미국인으로서의 한계가 나타난다. 이러한 편향된 저자의 시선을 독자가 자연스럽게 느끼게 된다는 것이 이 책의 아쉬운 부분이라 생각된다.




호치민이 유학자였던 아버지의 영향을 받았고, 프랑스, 소련에 가서 공산주의 사상을 공부하고 이후 반(反)제국주의 투쟁을 했으며, 검소한 생활 등으로 유명한 베트남 지도자라는 사실은 이미 우리에게도 잘 알려진 사실이다. 이 사실을 다시 알고자 950페이지에 달하는 평전을 읽는다는 것은 아쉬움이 남는다. 그래서, 나는 평전을 읽으면서 '호치민에게 공산주의는 목적이었을까, 아니면 수단이었을까?' 하는 질문을 던지게 되었다. 아마도 이에 대한 답이 그가 '베트남의 국부(國父)'로 추앙받는 이유 중 하나가 될 것이기도 하리라.




이러한 질문과 관련해서 그가 1922년 프랑스 장관과 나눈 대화가 답이 될 수 있을 것 같다.




"내 삶에서 중요한 것, 나에게 가장 필요한 것은 우리 동포의 자유입니다. 이제 가도 됩니까?"(p146)




그의 이러한 사상은 당시 공산혁명의 맏형이었던 소비에트 연방 주도하의 코민테른(Communist International), 공산주의 인터내셔널, 제3인터내셔널)의 지침과 맞지 않는 것이었다.




"레닌은 당대의 도덕률이 혁명적 행동 규약과 거의 관계가 없고, 실제로 둘 사이에 화해 불가능한 모순이 일어나기도 한다고 가정했다. 반면 응우옌 아이 쿠옥(호치민)의 행동규범 목록은 전통적인 유교 도덕을 연상시키는 면이 강했다. 검소해야 한다, 다정하면서도 공정해야 한다, 잘못은 단호하게 고쳐야 한다, 신중해야 한다, 배움을 존중해야 한다, 공부하고 관찰해야 한다, 오만과 자만을 피해야 한다, 관대해야 한다."(p224)




호치민은 베트남의 전통사상에 기반하여 자신의 의지를 관철시키려 했다. 이러한 그의 모습은 주위에서 코민테른의 지침을 제대로 이해하지 못한다는 오해를 사게 되었음에도 불구하고, 그는 일반 대중의 눈높이에 맞춰 '베트남 해방'이라는 목표를 향해 간다.




"개인적으로 볼 때 그토록 매력있고 성격이 미묘한 사람이 어떻게 글에서는 그렇게 단조롭고 단순한 모습을 보여주는지 의아하게 생각한다. 그러나 바로 여기에 그의 인격과 그가 오랜 세월에 걸쳐 유지한 정치적 영향력의 비밀이 숨어 있다. 응우옌 아이 쿠옥(호치민)은 다른 많은 마르크스주의 지도자들과는 달리 자신의 청중이 지식인이 아니라 보통 사람들-노동자, 농민, 병사, 사무원-이라고 생각했다. 그는 자신의 지적인 총명함으로 독자에게 감명을 주고 싶은 마음이 없었다. 대신 그는 단순하지만 생생한 말로 그들을 설득하여 자신의 세계관과 변화를 성취하는 방식을 공유하고자 했다."(p140)




마오쩌둥과 마찬가지로 그는 폭력 투쟁가보다는 교육을 통해 전사들을 양성하고, 일반 대중에게 다가가는 그의 노력은 적에게는 '위험한 선동가'로서, 일반 대중에게는 따뜻한 '호 아저씨'의 모습으로 비춰지게 되었다. 그는 대중에게만 따뜻하게 대했던 것이 아니라, 자신을 반대하는 사람들도 포용하는 모습을 보여준다.




1945년 베트남을 지배하던 일본의 패망 이후, 호치민은 응오 딘 디엠(훗날 남베트남의 대통령, 고딘 디엠)의 석방을 명령하는 등 공산주의 혁명과 배치되는 사상을 가진 사람들과도 협력하는 모습을 보이는 등 해방 이후 혼란을 최소화하기 위해 많은 노력을 한다.(p520)




평전에 서술된 이러한 기록을 통해서 호치민에게 공산주의는 '목적'이 아닌 '수단'이었다는 생각을 하게 된다. 그에게 진정한 목적은 '독립'과 '해방'이었다. 호치민에게 식민지를 통해 유지되는 제국주의에 맞서는 길은 식민지 제국에 대해 관심을 가지고, 원조를 해주는 공산주의 세력과의 연대였으리라. 이런 관점에서 볼 때, 그는 공산주의자라기 보다는 독립투사였고, 민족주의자였다.




사상, 이데올로기보다 조국의 해방을 우선시 하는 그의 모습 속에서 우리 나라의 독립투사들의 모습을 발견한다. 그리고, 우리의 현실에 대해 생각하게 된다. 우리는 독립투사들이 항일(抗日) 투쟁에서 공을 세웠음에도 불구하고, 공산주의자라는 이유로 인정을 받지 못하는 현실속에서 살고 있다. 한국전쟁이라는 후대의 사상적 대립의 기준으로 당연히 인정해야할 그들의 공훈이 묻히고 있는 것은 아닌지 잠시 생각하게 되었다.




처음에 호치민이라는 개인에 대한 관심으로 책을 읽었지만, 어느 순간부터는 '베트남의 역사'에 대해 더 많은 생각을 하게 되었다. 그것은 두 나라가 가지고 있는 공통된 분모 때문인 것 같다.

우리나라와 베트남은 오랜 시간 중국(中國)과의 대립, 공통된 유교(儒敎)문화의 영향, 제국주의 시대의 식민지 경험, 해방 후 분단되었던 조국 등 공통된 역사를 가지고 있다. 반면, 지금도 분단된 우리의 현실과 통일된 베트남은 다른 역사를 가진다.

어떤 것이 우리에게는 분단을, 그들에게는 통일을 가져왔을까? 호치민이라는 한 사람에 대해 조금 알게 된 지금 더 많은 생각할 과제를 부여받은 느낌이 든다.




<호치민 평전>은 저자의 편향된 시각이라는 한계에도 불구하고, 왜 호치민이 지금도 베트남 사람들에게 '호(胡)아저씨'로 불리는지를 알려주고, 갈수록 밀접한 관계를 맺고 있는 '한국-베트남'의 역사, 관계 등에 대해 다시 생각할 수 있게 해주는 의미있는 책이라 생각된다.







˝응우옌 아이 쿠옥(호치민)이 보기에 아시아인들은 서구인들이 보기에는 후진적이지만, 현대 사회의 전면적 개혁의 필요성을 서구인들보다 더 잘 이해하고 있었다.˝(p133)



˝자본주의는 식민지를 통해 자신을 부양하고, 여러분과 싸우는데, 여러 동지들은 왜 식민지를 무시합니까?˝(p174)



˝여러분이 이 작은 그룹 내에서도 단결을 유지하지 못한다면, 조국으로 돌아간 뒤에 어떻게 대중을 단결시켜 식민주의자들과 싸우게 하고 나라를 구하는 일에 나서게 할 수 있겠는가?˝(p333)



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호치민 평전 서평  




(이제는 반공 이데올로기적인 시각에서 벗어나야!)



1945년 9월 2일 하노이의 바딘광장에서 50대 중년 남성이 베트남의 독립을 선언했다. 그는 빛을 바랜 카키색 양복과 고무 슬리퍼 차림이었지만 대중 앞에서 자신이 준비한 독립선언문을 읽기 시작했다. 놀랍게도 그가 읽은 베트남 독립선언문의 시작은 1776년 토마스 제퍼슨의 작성한 미국의 독립선언문의 시작과 같았다. 소수를 제외한 일반 대중들은 그의 연설을 듣기 전까지 그가 1930년 베트남 공산당을 창당한 애국자 응우옌 아이 쿠옥이라는 사실을 모르고 있었다. 그는 연설을 통해 자신이 베트남의 전설의 독립운동가이자 애국자인 응우옌 아이 쿠옥이라는 사실을 밝혔다. 그가 바로 호치민이다.



68혁명 당시 베트남의 독립영웅 호치민은 쿠바 혁명을 성공시킨 체게바라, 1949년 중화인민공화국을 건국한 마오쩌둥과 더불어 신좌파들의 우상이었다. 1968년 5월 프랑스 파리의 젊은이들은 호치민의 사진을 들고 거리로 나왔고 서독, 영국, 이탈리아, 미국의 깨어있는 젊은이들 또한 마찬가지였다. 이렇듯 호치민은 한때 서구의 젊은이들의 우상이기도 했다.



68혁명시기 체게바라 마오쩌둥과 더불어 신좌파들의 우상이었던 호치민은 과연 어떠한 인물일까?



1.호치민 일대기



호치민은 1890년 5월 19일 킴리엔에서 응우옌 신 삭의 아들로 태어났다. 그가 11살이 되던 해인 1901년 어머니는 병으로 사망했다. 1907년 호치민은 프랑스의 국립학교인 국학에 들어가 공부했다. 당시 베트남은 프랑스의 식민지였기에 수많은 베트남 사람들은 프랑스 사람들에게 멸시받고 착취당했다. 이에 부조리를 느끼게 된 호치민은 1908년 조세반대 시위에 나섰다가 국학에서 퇴학당했다. 국학에서 퇴학당한 이후 호치민은 베트남을 돌아다니다가 1911년 6월 사이공에서 프랑스의 기선 아미랄 라투셰 트레빌 호를 타고 베트남을 떠나 2년간 유럽, 아시아, 아프리카, 남아메리카 등 세계 곳곳을 돌아다녔다. 1911년에는 프랑스에서 정원사로 일하기도 했었고 1912년에는 미국에 머물면서 노동자로 일하며 흑인 활동 조직에 참가했다. 1914년 호치민은 런던에 거주하면서 청소부 요리사 보조 등 온갖 일을 하며 노동조합 활동에 관여했다. 그러다 1917년 파리로 돌아와 노동자들을 선동하는 일을 하기도 했었다. 1919년 호치민은 파리강화회의 때부터 베트남 독립을 청원했고 안남애국자연합을 결성하여 1919년 6월 베르사유 회의 당시 베트남 대표로 참가했다. 그러나 강대국들은 호치민의 청원을 무시했고 이는 호치민이 프랑스 사회당에 가입하게 되는 계기가 되었다. 1920년 프랑스 공산당 당원이었던 호치민은 코민테른에 가입했고 1922년에는 <르 파리아>를 창간 한 뒤 프랑스의 제국주의적인 정책을 비판하는 언론활동을 했다. 그러던 1923년 6월 모스크바로 넘어가 코민테른 극동국에서 근무했고 12월부터 스탈린 학교에서 교육받았다.



1924년 11월 호치민은 중국 광저우로가 1925년 베트남 혁명 청년회를 결성한 뒤 교사로 활동했다. 1926년에는 <혁명의 길>을 집필했다. 1927년 5월에는 중국국민당의 공산주의자 숙청을 피해 블라디보스토크로 도피했다가 11월 파리 베를린에서 머물며 12월 반제국주의 동맹 집행위원회에 참석했다. 1928년에는 태국 방콕에서도 활동했다. 1930년 호치민은 베트남의 사회주의 조직을 합친 베트남 공산당을 창당했다. 1930년 베트남에서 프랑스의 착취에 반대하여 통킹 지역에서 반란이 일어났다. 프랑스 제국주의자들은 통킹 반란을 무자비하게 진압했고 독립운동세력을 무자비하게 탄압했다. 심지어 그 반란을 진압하기 위해 프랑스는 비행기까지 동원했다. 1931년 호치민은 홍콩에서 체포되었다. 그러나 코민테른 요원의 도움으로 1932년에 석방되었다. 1934년 호치민은 다시 모스크바로 건너갔다. 모스크바 레닌 대학에 입학했고 1935년 스탈린 학교에서 교사로 활동했다. 1938년에는 중국 팔로군 지역본부에서 기자 일을 하면서 보건 담당 간부로 일하기도 했었다.



1939년 제 2차 세계대전이 일어났다. 1940년에는 프랑스가 나치독일에게 점령당했다. 나치 독일의 동맹국인 일본은 인도차이나 반도를 점령했다. 1940년 호치민은 운남성에서 팜 반동과 보 응우옌 지압을 만났다. 1941년 호치민은 30년 만에 베트남으로 돌아와 비엣 박에 베트민 사령부를 만들었다. 1941년 일본이 진주만을 기습공격 하자 미국은 2차 세계대전에 참전했고 전 세계적으로 반파시즘 전선이 형성되었다. 호치민은 1942년 중국의 도움을 얻기 위해 중국으로 갔다가 스파이로 오인 받아 중국 경찰에게 체포되었고 감옥생활을 하면서 <옥중일기>를 집필했다. 오인으로 인한 체포였기에 호치민은 1943년 9월에 석방됐다. 1944년 호치민은 중국 남부에 혁명 운동 기지를 만들었고 12월에는 베트남 해방군을 창설하여 일본군에 맞서 게릴라전을 전개했다. 1945년 호치민은 미국의 OSS와도 협력관계를 형성하여 일본과의 전면전을 준비했었다. 1945년 8월 일본이 항복 한 뒤 호치민은 전국적으로 총봉기를 일으켰고 9월 2일 하노이 바딘 광장에서 독립을 선언 했다.



2차 세계대전 이후 베트남은 일본군 무장해제를 한다는 명분으로 북에는 중국 국민당군이 들어왔고 남에는 영국군이 들어왔다. 중국군은 그냥 철수 했지만 영국군은 프랑스를 앞세운 뒤 철수 했다. 프랑스는 베트남을 식민지화 하려고 했다. 1946년 호치민은 평화회담을 통해 프랑스를 몰아내려 했지만 1946년 11월 하이퐁에서 프랑스군과 베트민군이 충돌하면서 제1차 인도차이나 전쟁이 발발했다. 전쟁 초반에는 프랑스군이 유리했다. 1947년 10월 프랑스군은 비엣 박을 공격함으로써 베트민 본부를 점령했으나 호치민을 체포하지는 못했다. 1949년 국공내전이 모택동이 이끄는 공산당의 승리로 끝났다. 중국이 베트민군을 도우면서 전세는 베트민군에게 유리해지기 시작했다. 1950년 9월 베트민 부대들은 국경지역 전체에 걸쳐 프랑스군을 공격했고 홍 강 삼각주 지역 전체를 손에 넣었다. 1951년 베트민군은 프랑스 군에게 총공격을 가했지만 프랑스군은 미국으로부터 지원받은 네이팜탄을 동원하여 총공격을 막아냈다. 제1차 인도차이나 전쟁은 1954년 프랑스군이 라오스 국경지대에 있는 디엔 비엔 푸에서 보 응우옌 지압이 이끄는 베트민군에게 대패하면서 호치민의 승리로 끝났다.



디엔 비엔 푸 전투 이후 제네바 협약에 따라 베트남은 북위17도선을 기점으로 남북으로 분단되었다. 제네바 협약에 따르면 2년 이내 통일을 위한 선거를 치러야 했다. 그러나 민중의 80%가 호치민을 지지한다는 사실은 안 미국은 도미노 이론을 내세워 남베트남의 응오딘지엠 정권을 지속적으로 지원하며 통일을 불발로 끝내버렸다. 결국 호치민과 공산당은 1956년 토지개혁이 마무리한 뒤 1959년 남부통일을 최우선 목표로 삼았다. 1960년 남베트남에서 응오딘지엠의 독재에 맞서 남베트남민족해방전선(베트콩)이 자생적으로 만들어졌다. 남베트남의 응오딘지엠 정권은 자신이 가톨릭이라는 이유로 가톨릭만 우대하며 민중의90%라 할 수 있는 불교도를 무자비하게 탄압했다. 1963년 6월 사이공에서 틱광둑이라는 스님이 소신공양을 했다. 이를 계기로 응오딘지엠 정권은 전 세계적으로 비난 받았고 결국 CIA의 지원을 받은 쿠데타로 무너졌다. 아이젠하위 정부 때부터 남베트남을 지원해오던 미국은 케네디 정부에 와서는 군사고문단을 파견했고 1964년 린든존슨 정부시기 통킹만 사건을 계기로 베트남 전에 전면적으로 개입했다.



베트남 전쟁에 개입한 미국은 남베트남에 더 많은 군대를 파견했고 1968년이 되어서는 남베트남에 주둔하고 있는 미군 숫자가 50만을 넘었다. 1965년부터 67년까지 미국은 베트남 전쟁에서 약 2만 명이나 되는 병사들이 죽었음에도 불구하고 국민들에게 “현재 베트남 전쟁에서 이기고 있다.”라고 거짓말을 했다. 이런 미국의 거짓말에 찬물을 끼얹는 사건이 1968년에 발생했다. 구정공세가 바로 그것이다. 1968년1월 31일 북베트남군과 베트콩은 남베트남 전역에서 총공세를 가했다. 구정공세 당시 사이공의 미 대사관 1층이 공병과 자살특공대에게 점령당했고 구정공세 1달 동안 미군 2천명 이상이 사망했다. 구정공세 이후 미국 내에서 반전 분위기가 높아졌고 결국 그해 11월 북폭을 일시적으로 중단하고 파리에서 평화회담을 하게 되는 계기가 되었다. 1969년 9월 2일 호치민이 사망했다. 미국은 1969년부터 베트남에서 군대를 단계적으로 철수하기 시작했지만 1970년에는 캄보디아를 침공하고 1971년에는 라오스를 침공했으며 1972년 마지막 수단으로 크리스마스 폭격이라 하여 대규모의 폭탄공세를 퍼부은 뒤 1973년 1월 파리평화협정을 맺고 베트남에서 철수했다. 1975년 북베트남군과 베트콩은 3월부터 남베트남을 공격했고 4월 30일 사이공을 함락시키면서 통일을 이룩했다.



2.민족주의자? 사회주의자?



스탈린이 물었다. “호치민 동지, 여기 의자 두 개가 있소. 하나는 민족주의자들을 위한 의자이고 다른 하나는 국제주의자들을 위한 의자요. 동지는 어디에 앉고 싶소?” 그러자 호치민은 이렇게 대답했다고 한다. “스탈린 동지, 나는 두 의자에 다 앉고 싶습니다.” (p621)



“자본주의는 식민지를 통해 자신을 부양하고, 여러분과 싸우는데, 여러 동지들은 왜 식민지를 무시합니까?” (p174)



“자유와 독립보다 소중한 것은 없다.”



“나를 이끈 원동력은 공산주의가 아닌 애국심이었다.”



호치민에 대한 평가 중에 가장 논란이 많은 평가는 그가 민족주의자냐 혹은 사회주의자냐 하는 것이다. 필자의 개인적의 견해를 얘기하자면 호치민은 사회주의자성향이 있긴 했지만 기본적으로 민족주의자라고 생각한다. 호치민이 과거 프랑스 공산당과 모스크바 극동국 그리고 공산당을 이끌었던 이유는 “베트남 독립” 오직 그거 하나였다. 호치민은 베트남 독립을 위해서라면 자본주의 국가와 협력할 생각이 있었다. 그 대표적인 예가 제2차 세계대전 당시 호치민과 베트민이 미국의 OSS와 협력하여 대일전을 준비했다는 사실이다. 거기다 2차 대전 당시 호치민을 만난 미군들(찰스 스펜, 아키메데스 패티, 토마스)은 처음에는 그를 공산주의자로 의심했다가 그를 민족주의자이자 애국자로 평가했다.



호치민은 프랑스 공산당에서 활동할 당시에도 공산주의 사상보다는 식민지해방운동에 관심을 가졌다. 마치 한국의 독립운동가들이 조선독립의 방향을 사회주의에서 찾았듯이 말이다. 즉 호치민의 사상은 기본적으로 식민지해방운동에 기반을 두었던 것이다. 몇몇 사람들은 호치민이 중국과 소련의 지원을 받았다는 이유 때문에 호치민을 철저한 공산주의자로 인식하는 경우가 있다. 결론부터 말하자면 2차 세계대전 이후 제1차 인도차이나 전쟁과 베트남 전쟁에서 중국과 소련의 지원을 받았던 건 베트남 독립과 통일을 위한 한 가지 방법이었지 일부의 주장대로 그가 철저한 공산주의자여서가 아니다.



호치민 평전의 저자 윌리엄J듀이커는 호치민을 반은 간디 반은 레닌이라 했다. 책의 저자 말대로 호치민은 간디처럼 민족주의 성향도 있었고 레닌처럼 사회주의 성향도 있기에 반은 간디 반은 레닌이라 할 수 있다. 중요한 것은 호치민은 민족주의와 사회주의를 적절하게 사용하여 독립을 쟁취하고자 노력했고 그 결과 프랑스와 미국의 침략에 맞서 이길 수 있었다는 사실이지 그가 민족주의자냐 사회주의자냐 하는 사실이 아니다. 따라서 호치민이 민족주의자냐 사회주의자냐 하는 논쟁은 그다지 의미 없는 논쟁이다.



3.호치민의 한계



아무리 훌륭한 인물이나 성인군자라 해도 사람은 누구에게나 한계가 있다. 호치민 또한 마찬가지다. 호치민도 한계가 있었다. 그의 한계를 얘기하자면 하나는 1954년부터 56년까지 북베트남에서 진행되었던 토지개혁이고 다른 하나는 트로츠키주의자 숙청일 것이다.



호치민이 토지개혁에 대한 계획을 생각하고 있던 건 1950년대 부터였다. 호치민과 공산당이 토지개혁을 실행에 옮긴 것은 1954년 부터였고 1954년부터 56년까지 토지개혁의 여파로 북베트남에 거주하던 80만 명(이들 중 60만 명은 가톨릭 교도였다)이 월남하는 사태가 벌어졌다. 당시 토지개혁을 너무 급진적으로 추진한 결과 대략 1만5천에서 2만 명이나 되는 사람이 부르주아로 몰려 처형당했다. 물론 이런 상황을 호치민이 바랬던 건 아니었기에 호치민은 1956년 당내에서 철저한 자아비판을 했다. 분명한 사실은 월남한 60만 명의 가톨릭교도들은 프랑스 식민지 시기 프랑스가 내세운 꼭두각시 바오다이 정권과의 커넥션이 있는 경우가 비일비재 했다. 그렇지 않은 가톨릭들도 적잖게 있었으나 토지개혁시기 그들도 북베트남 정부로부터 박해를 받았다. 이는 부인할 수 없는 사실이다. 그래도 토지개혁시기 월남하지 않고 북베트남에 남아있던 90만의 가톨릭교도들은 토지개혁 이후 신앙의 자유를 북베트남 공산당으로부터 보호받았다.



어쨌든 1950년대 북베트남에서 진행되었던 호치민의 토지개혁은 무자비했고 수많은 사람들이 월남했으며 목숨을 잃기도 했다. 그래도 호치민은 자신의 실책을 자아비판을 통해 철저히 인정했다. 따라서 높은 지휘에 있음에도 자신의 실책을 인정한 호치민은 훌륭한 인물이라 할 수 있다. 몇몇 사람들은 호치민의 최대 실수인 토지개혁을 가지고 그를 악랄한 인물로 평가하는데 이는 올바른 평가가 아니다. 설사 호치민이 토지개혁이라는 실책이 있다 하더라도 말이다.



호치민의 또 다른 한계인 트로츠키주의자 탄압 밑 숙청은 또 하나의 비판의 대상의 될 수 있다. 베트남 내에서 트로츠키파의 영향력이 가장 강했던 곳은 사이공을 비롯한 코친차이나 지대였지만 베트남 독립운동에 적잖은 영향을 미쳤었다. 1930년대는 소련에서 스탈린이 정권을 잡으면서 사회주의자들 사이에서 트로츠키주의자들이 이단취급을 받게 되던 시기였다. 호치민도 공산당이나 베트민을 이끌면서 베트남 내에 있는 트로츠키주의자들을 탄압했지만 스탈린이 소련에서 트로츠키주의자들을 숙청하던 방식(대숙청)대로 아주 비열하고 무자비하게 했던 건 아니다. 1930년대 호치민과 공산당은 일국사회주의를 천명하는 스탈린과 소련의 지원이 절실히 필요했다. 따라서 호치민 또한 소련의 눈치를 어느 정도 봐야했기에 트로츠키주의자들을 배척했던 것이다. 물론 탄압과 배척 숙청 그 자체는 옳은 일이라고 할 수는 없지만 1930년대의 상황을 인식할 필요가 있다.



호치민이 토지개혁과 트로츠키주의자 숙청을 비롯한 한계가 있었지만 그 한계가 호치민에 대한 전반적인 평가가 될 수는 없다. 즉 이런 한계가 있더라도 호치민은 베트남의 독립영웅으로써 많은 사람들에게 존경받을 수 있다.



4.한국과 베트남전쟁 그리고 월남패망



호치민 하면 우리나라 얘기도 빼 놓을 수가 없다. 베트남 전쟁은 한국 현대사에 있어서 빼놓을 수 없는 사건이다. 1964년 통킹만 사건을 계기로 전면전에 돌입한 미국을 따라 한국의 박정희 정권은 베트남에 전투부대를 보냈다. 총32만 명이 참전했고 전쟁기간 동안 한국은 남베트남에 항상 5만 이상의 병력을 주둔시켰다.



베트남 전쟁으로 인한 한국의 경제성장은 어마어마했다. 좋든 싫든 한국은 베트남 전쟁에 참전함으로써 엄청난 외화를 벌 수 있었고 그 대가로 엄청난 경제 성장을 할 수 있었다. 그러나 베트남 전쟁 시기 미국의 지원한 남베트남 정권은 과거 프랑스 식민지시기 프랑스에 부역하여 민족을 배반한 민족반역자 정권이었고 부정부패가 극에 달한 정권이었다. 심지어 남베트남의 관료들은 미국으로부터 지원받은 장비와 무기를 북베트남군과 베트콩에게 팔아먹을 정도로 부정부패가 심했다. 남베트남은 정통성에서도 북베트남에게 밀렸다. 그에 비해 미군의 적이었던 호치민을 비롯한 북베트남군과 베트콩의 지도자들은 과거 프랑스 식민지 시기 프랑스 제국주의에 맞서 독립운동을 전개했던 항불 애국지사들이었다.



베트남 전쟁 시기 한국군은 빈호아, 퐁니 퐁넛, 하이마을과 같은 민간인 학살을 저질렀고 약 1만 명에서 3만 명이나 되는 라이따이한들이 전쟁기간 동안 태어났다. 베트남 전쟁에 참전했을 당시 한국은 한국전쟁이 끝난 지 얼마 되지 않은 시점이었기에 5.16쿠데타로 정권을 잡은 박정희 정권은 베트남 전쟁을 “자유민주주의를 지키기 위한 전쟁 혹은 반공성전”으로 미화했다. 사실상 국회에서도 여야 할 거 없이 베트남 전쟁의 참전을 크게 반대하지 않았었다. 1975년 4월 30일 사이공이 함락함으로써 베트남 전쟁의 승리는 북베트남의 승리로 끝이 났다. 박정희 정권은 이 사건을 빌미로 삼아 긴급초지 9호를 발동했고 민주주의를 탄압했다. 따라서 한국군의 만행과 한국군이 상대했던 적이 “자유와 독립 그리고 민족해방이라는 기치아래 맞서 싸웠던 독립운동세력이자 민족해방 세력이었다.”는 사실은 오랜 시간 동안 철저히 감춰졌다.



당시 베트남 전쟁의 진실을 알리고자 했던 리영희 선생은 1976년 반공법에 의해 구속되었다. 박정희 정권은 정부가 제시한 베트남 전쟁에 대한 관점과 다른 생각을 하는 이들을 허용하지 않았다. 그랬기에 오랜 시간동안 대한민국에서는 호치민을 “공산주의자 혹은 빨갱이”로 인식해 왔고 베트남 전쟁은 “자유민주주의를 지키기 위한 전쟁 혹은 돈이 되는 전쟁”으로 인식되어 왔다. 2003년 부시가 이라크를 침공했을 때 “이라크 전쟁을 제2의 베트남 전쟁”으로 인식하며 이라크전 한국군 참전을 강하게 주장했던 한나라당의 의원들만 봐도 한국사회가 인식하는 베트남 전쟁과 호치민에 대한 수준이 어느 정도 인지 알 수 있다.



<전환시대의 논리>와 <베트남 전쟁>을 집필하여 한국에서 베트남 전쟁의 진실을 알리고자 했던 리영희 선생은 다음과 같이 얘기했다.



"한국인들이 베트남전쟁을 이해할 때 허심탄회한 심정으로 대해야 할 일이에요. 미국과 한국정부나 국민들이 소위 ‘자유민주주의 반공국가’라며 어떤 동질감으로 군대를 파견했던 사이 공정권의 모든 분야의 지배세력과 개인들은, 100년에 걸쳤던 불란서 식민지 시기와 태평양전쟁 당시 일본지배 아래에 있던 4년 동안, 그리고 그 후 미국의 반식민지가 된 시기에, 거의 예외 없이 불란서 식민당국과 일본 식민당국에 빌붙었던, 한국식으로 말하면 ‘친일파 반민족행위자’들이었어. 실례로 200만 사이공정권의 소위 ‘자유반공 군대’의 장교단에서, 과거 불란서와 일본 식민지시대에 민족독립해방운동을 한 사람은 육군 중령 한사람이 있었을 뿐이야. 이 중령에 관한 얘기를 미국 극비문서 속에서 봤는데, 지금 그 이름은 기억이 안 나는구먼. 어쨌거나 남베트남 군대는 실질적으로 외세의 용병이나 괴뢰 군대였어.



이와는 반대로 우리가 흔히 남베트남의 저항세력을 ‘베트콩’이라고 부르는 ‘민족해방전선’(FLN)군과 호지명 휘하 베트공 세력의 중추 지휘부인 민족해방전선 중앙위원회 31명은 한 사람의 예외도 없이 항불·항일 그리고 물론 현재의 항미 독립투사였어! 그 인적 구성을 보면, 정통적인 독립운동가들이 있는가 하면, 대학교수, 여성운동가, 간호사, 각급학교 교사 등 지난날의 민족해방투사들뿐이에요. 그들 31명의 경력을 보면 한 사람도 식민지시대에 형무소를 가지 않은 사람이 없어!



이 사실 하나만을 두고 보더라도, 베트남 인민이 소위 외세의존, 반공주의 사이공정권과 민족해방세력 사이에서 어느 쪽에 더 민족적 동질감을 느끼며, 어느 쪽에 더 충성을 보낼 것인가 하는 것은 자명한 일이 아니겠어요?"



글을 마치며



호치민은 프랑스 독립운동, 사회주의 운동, 항일투쟁, 제1차인도차이나 전쟁 그리고 베트남 전쟁까지 20세기 역사의 격동의 현장 속에서 베트남 민중들을 위해 그리고 독립을 위해 투쟁해온 사회주의자이자 민족주의자다. 비록 토지개혁에서의 숙청과 트로츠키주의자 탄압이라는 한계도 존재하지만 호치민은 사심 없이 한평생을 베트남의 독립을 위해 바쳐왔다. 무엇보다 호치민은 자신이 높은 위치에 올랐음에도 불구하고 사악한 독재자로 흑화하지 않았다. 이것이야 말로 호치민의 가장 위대한 점일 것이다.



필자는 윌리엄J듀이커의 호치민 평전을 지금으로부터 6개월 전인 작년 추석 때 읽었었다. 그리고 이번 달에 처음부터 끝까지 이 책을 다시 한 번 읽었다. 호치민 평전을 읽으면서 한국의 역사와 베트남의 역사가 굉장히 유사한 부분이 많다는 사실을 알 수 있었고 베트남 전쟁 시기 미국에 맞서 싸웠던 북베트남군과 베트콩을 이끄는 사람들이 프랑스 식민지 시기부터 꾸준히 독립운동을 해온 애국지사들이라는 사실을 알 수 있었다. 무엇보다 한평생을 베트남의 독립을 위해 살아온 호치민의 일대기가 너무나도 감동적이었다.



필자가 위에서 쓴 “한국과 베트남 전쟁 그리고 월남패망”에서도 얘기했지만 오랜 세월 동안 한국에서는 베트남 전쟁을 단순히 자유민주주의를 지키기 위한 전쟁으로 인식되어 왔기 때문에 호치민에 대한 중립적인 평가가 이단 취급 받았었다. 최근 태극기 집회에서는 “박원순 서울 시장이 호치민을 좋아하는 종북좌파 빨갱이”라는 근거 없는 인신공격을 하기도 했다. 이런 태극기 집회를 보면 알 수 있듯이 대한민국 사람들이 내리는 호치민에 대한 평가는 반공이데올로기적인 색채가 아직까지도 남아있다. 필자는 이런 이데올로기적 관점이야 말로 “호치민에 대해 전반적인 평가를 하는데 있어서 방해가 되는 매우 잘못된 관점이자 편향된 관점”이라 얘기하고 싶다.



지난 3월 문재인 대통령은 하노이에 있는 호치민 묘와 호치민 주석 집무실을 들리며 “호치민 주석은 전 인류를 통틀어서도 위대한 인물”이라며 매우 극찬했고 베트남 방문에서 한국군의 만행에 대해 유감의 표시를 밝혔다.



이번 문재인 대통령의 베트남 방문은 정말 의미가 있다. 그래서 그런지 이 책을 읽으면서 책의 내용이 더 와 닿았던 것 같기도 하다. 무튼 내 주변 사람들에게 정말 추천해주고 싶은 책이다. 호치민을 아는데 있어서 이 책은 필수일 것이다. 이 책을 읽어보기를 추천하고 앞으로 한국과 베트남의 관계가 더 좋아져 호치민에 대한 양심적인 평가가 국내에서 전반적으로 이루어짐에 따라 많은 사람들이 반공이데올로기적인 관점에서 벗어나기를 바라며 이 글을 마친다.


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Nam Gi Kim 2018-04-10 공감(22) 댓글(4)
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강철의지 앞에서는 높은 산도 몸을 낮춘다  


900 쪽이 넘는 두꺼운 책을 읽고 난 뒤에도 선뜻 책소개가 망설여지는 건 단순히 그 부피가 주는 중압감 때문만은 아니었다. 베트남에 대해, 호치민에 대해 권위를 내세울 만한 1차 자료가 별로 없는 우리 현실에서 윌리엄 듀이커의 책 <호치민 평전>은 분명 그 없음을 보충해주는 훌륭한 사료로서의 역할을 할 수 있는 책이다.

그러나 지은이가 '30년에 걸쳐 '호치민이 한 식구로 느껴질 정도로' 그 인물과 베트남을 연구해온 동기 자체가 '객관적'이지는 않으며, 미국인의 입장을 의식하지 않으려 한다는 것 자체도 의식하는 한 방식'이라고 할 수 있다는 옮긴이의 말처럼 책의 군데군데 덧칠되어 있는 미국인의 시각을 만나는 일은 그리 유쾌한 일은 아닐 것이다.

특히 1965년 통킹만 사건 이후의 대미항전의 시기에 대한 서술은 900여 쪽의 방대한 분량임에도 불과 30쪽도 채 되지 않는다. 미국의 아픈 상처를 건드리는 게 두려웠던 것일까? 꺼내보이고 싶지 않은 상처입은 자존심의 발로? 이 '의도된' 통킹만 사건으로 인해 미국이 본격적으로 베트남 전쟁에 개입했고, 북베트남에 대한 무차별적인 폭격을 퍼부었던 도발적 행위를 생각한다면 이는 분명 지은이의 의도가 의심스러운 대목이다.

그렇다면 이 책의 장점은 없는 것일까? 아니다. 미국인이라는 어쩔 수 없는 한계에서 오는 이런 시각의 왜곡을 읽어낼 수 있다면 이 책은 그 어떤 호치민에 관한 전기보다 풍부하고 방대한 자료를 제공한다. 20년에 걸친 방대한 자료수집이라는 지은이의 말에 진실이라는 힘을 실어줄 정도로 오랜 비밀 활동으로 인해 잘 알려지지 않은 부분이 많았던 1945년 이전 호치민의 삶을 정교하게 복원한 것만 해도 이 책의 가치는 충분하다.

호치민. 19세기의 막바지에 태어나 유학과 신학문을 고루 접한 아버지의 영향으로 유교적 교양을 쌓은 인문주의자이자 공산주의 혁명가이며, 베트남 독립을 설계하고 프랑스와 미국이라는 초강대국과 대항한 투쟁에서 승리한 민족주의자.

듀이커는 이런 호치민의 이력의 이면에 있는 모습을 비교적 담담하게 그려낸다. 유교적 소양을 쌓으며 어린 시절을 보낸 호치민은 스물한 살 때 프랑스 식민지배에 대한 저항활동으로 수배된다. 그는 할 수 없이 조국 인도차이나를 떠나 여객선의 요리사 보조 노릇을 하며 유럽,아시아,아프리카,남아메리카 등 세계 곳곳을 떠돈다. 호치민의 혁명적 삶의 초석은 바로 이 시기에 마련된 것이라 할 수 있다.

또한 호치민이 베트남 공산주의 운동의 지도자로 부각되는 과정, 쉰 번이나 이름을 바꿔가며 혁명을 배우고 선전하던 시절, 수감과 탈출, 베트남의 초대 주석에 올라 분열을 일삼던 동지들을 화해시키고 모습. 한 나라의 지도자가 된 뒤에도 '아저씨'라 불릴 정도로 검소한 옷차림과 소박한 말투와 따뜻한 미소를 잃지 않았던 베트남 인민들의 '호 아저씨'.

이제 그가 죽은 지 30여 년이 지났고, 조국 베트남도 새로운 사회체제의 시험 속에 있지만 <호치민 평전>을 읽고 있노라면 그의 갸날픈 몸매와 긴 턱수염이 오늘의 세계정치 상황과 자꾸만 '오버랩'되는 것은 필자만의 감상일까?

'천년고도' 바그다드의 점령군으로 세계 유일의 초강대국으로서의 지위를 맘껏 누리고 있는 미국의 현재의 모습은 혹 30년 전 인도차이나 반도의 한 모퉁이에서 상처받았던 지난날의 역사에 대한 보복은 아닐까? '칼로 일어선 자 칼로 망한다'는 다소 '진부한' 역사의 교훈을 무시한다면 말이다.

아마도 미국이나 미국인들에게 비친 호치민의 모습은 이 책의 지은이인 듀이커의 시선 만큼이나 당혹스러웠을 것이다. 그 당혹스러움이 다음과 같은 그들의 헌사로 나타나는 것이리라.

1969년 9월 호치민이 죽었을 때 <타임>지가 '민족지도자 가운데 그만큼 오래 적의 총구 앞에서 버틴 사람은 아무도 없다'고 쓴 것은 헌사일까 자기위안일까? 호치민에 관한 또다른 전기를 쓴 바 있는 미국인 찰스 펜 또한 리비우스가 영웅 한니발에게 바친 묘비명을 다시 호치민에게 바치고 있다. '그의 강철의지 앞에서는 높은 산도 몸을 낮춘다.'

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내오랜꿈 2003-04-18 공감(15) 댓글(0)
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베트남 독립의 아버지, 호치민  




역사의 전개에 있어서 특정 개인의 역할이 얼마나 중요한지 가늠해보고 싶다면, 어쩌면 호치민 평전을 읽어보는 것이 유익이 아닐까 싶은 생각마저 든다. 영웅에 대한 맹목적 숭배나 신격화가 역사를 왜곡하고 퇴보시킬 수 있다는 우려에도 불구하고, 호치민이 걸어온 인생을 읽다보면, 집념으로 뭉친 인간의 끝없는 전진 앞에서 전율하지 않을 수 없다.



프랑스의 지배에서 벗어나 베트남의 독립을 쟁취해야겠다고 마음먹었던 젊은 청년이 소련에서 열린 코민테른에서 식민지가 된 아시아 국가들의 독립을 의제화시키려는 노력은 가히 눈물겹다. 아무도 돌아보지 않는 문제를 앞에 두고 절차와 순서를 뛰어넘어 의제화해나가는 과정은 사명감이 아니면 달리 설명할 길이 없을 것 같다. 동조하고 뭉쳐가며 세를 확장해야하는 조직의 틈바구니에서 그는 가야할 길을 결코 잊지 않았다.



숱한 위장과 탈출, 극한 긴장과 도망이 연속된 삶이었지만, 경직된 사고가 아니라 유연하고 실용적인 태도를 견지한 점은 호치민의 반대편에 선 이들에게도 존경심을 불러일으키는 이유가 되었다.



책을 읽으며 베트남 전쟁의 이면을 다시 한번 생각하게 되었다. 중국과 소련의 공산주의 두령을 향한 경쟁과 경계, 사이공 정권의 무능, 아이젠하워, 케네디, 린든 B 존슨, 닉슨 대통령으로 이어지는 미국의 실책, 호치민과 레두안 등 북베트남의 차세대 권력 지형의 변동, 한국전쟁과 분단 등이 얽히고 섥히며 만들어낸 사안들을 읽으면서, 단견으로 역사를 이해하는 것의 위험성을 다시 한번 각성하기도 했다.



호치민을 공산주의자로 볼 것인가, 민족주의자로 볼 것인가는 간단한 문제는 아닌 것 같다. 공산주의의 이데올로기를 실현하기 위해 베트남의 독립을 지향했다기보다는 베트남 독립을 위해 공산주의를 이용한 측면이 있는데다, 단순한 민족주의자로 치부하기에도 뭔가 아쉬움이 남는다. 애국심을 고취하거나 베트남 민족의 우월성을 드러내는 데도 일부 열중했지만, 국제적 공산주의 연대를 구상하는데도 상당히 열심을 냈기 때문이다.



호치민에게 배울 것은 '베트남 독립'이라는 목표 앞에서, 끊임없이 현장과 현실을 돌아보는 한편 국외적으로는 냉정한 평정심을 바탕으로 유려한 외교를 펼쳤으며, 안으로는 소탈한 지도자로서 국민들의 마음을 하나로 묶어내는 리더십을 발휘하는 균형감각을 보여줬다는 점이다.



이 책의 미덕은 사료를 바탕으로 호치민을 영웅화하거나 윤색하는 대신 그의 행적을 쫓으며 인간과 역사의 관계를 덤덤히 그려냈다는 점일테다. 사심 없이 민족을 위해 일평생을 바친 호치민 같은 지도자가 우리에게도 있었더라면 한반도의 역사는 어떻게 바뀌었을까, 읽는 내내 가슴에 묵직한 돌을 얹은 것 같은 느낌이었다.




아니, 가능성이 없지 않을 것입니다. 어렵고 절망적이겠지만, 우리는 이길 수 있습니다. 우리는 모든 면에서 최신식 대포만큼 강한 무기를 가지고 있습니다. 바로 민족주의입니다! 그힘을 과소평가하지 마십시오.


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lonefox 2015-10-19 공감(7) 댓글(0)
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호치민 평전  






어제 [호치민 평전]을 다 읽었습니다. 무려 4개월이 넘게 걸렸습니다. 게으름 때문이긴 하지만, 1천 페이지가 넘는 방대한 분량이어서 진도가 더디게 나갔습니다.

이 평전을 쓴 사람은 베트남의 적이었던 미국인입니다. 그것도 베트남의 미국대사관에서 일하던 사람이었죠. 그는 베트남이 미국을 상대로 조금도 굴하지 않고 싸우는 원인이 무엇일까 찾다가 베트남의 영웅 호치민 때문이라는 것을 알았다고 합니다.

그후 거의 평새을 바쳐서 호치민과 관련된 자료를 찾았고, 그 결과물이 [호치민 평전]으로 출판된 것입니다.

이 책은 우선, 방대한 자료와 팩트에 입각한 기술이 돋보입니다. 호치민의 행적을 좇아 프랑스, 미국, 소련, 중국, 싱가폴 등 거의 전세계를 다 돌아다니면서 호치민과 관련된 사실을 기술하고 있습니다.

게다가 미국인이었기 때문에 더욱 냉정한 시각으로 베트남 공산당의 역사를 바라보고 있습니다. 호치민이 베트남 최초로 공산당 조직을 건설하고 소비에트와 정치적 관계를 지속하는 과정, 호치민이 중국과 소비에트를 오가며 베트남의 독립을 위해 애쓰는 모습이 자세하게 그려지고 있습니다.

평전의 덕목이랄수 있는 ‘객관적 시각’에서는 상당히 높은 점수를 줄 수 있을 것 같습니다.

하지만, 역시 미국인의 시각으로 본 것이기 때문에 베트남 공산당 조직과 호치민과 그의 동지들이 독립을 위해 투쟁한 역사를 상당히 많이 깎아내리고 있는 것이 사실입니다. 미국이 베트남에서 저지른 전쟁 범죄에 대해서는 거의 기술하지 않고, 의도적으로 베트남을 침공한 통킹만 사건에 대해서도 왜곡하고 있습니다.

베트남 전쟁-미국과의 전쟁-에서 베트남인은 군인, 민간이 포함해서 1백만명이 죽었고 약 5백만명이 다쳤다고 합니다. 하지만 미군은 5만 5천명이 죽었습니다. 한국군도 5만명 가까이 죽었죠. 베트남은 소비에트와 중국의 도움을 받아 전쟁을 치를 수 있었고 마침내 조국을 통일했습니다.

호치민은 지금도 베트남 독립과 통일의 아버지로 존경받는 인물이고, 그의 헌신, 겸손, 검소함 등은 베트남 지도자의 기준이 되고 있습니다. 베트남은 지금 도이모이(혁신, 개혁) 과정에 있고, 다른 권력들처럼 부패 현상이 나타나지만, 그래도 상당히 건강하게 발전하고 있는 국가 가운데 하나라고 봅니다.

우리나라에서도 베트남에 용병으로 참가한 것에 대한 용서와 사죄를 구하는 행사가 있었고, 이런 행동이 베트남 국민들에게 아주 좋은 인상을 주었다고 봅니다. 가해자가 먼저 솔직하게 반성하고 용서를 구할 때, 진정한 화해가 있을 것입니다.

가난하고 힘없는 국가를 외세의 침략에서 구하고 독립과 통일을 이룬 호치민은 충분히 존경할만한 사람이라고 생각합니다.


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마루프레스 2012-10-06 공감(5) 댓글(0)
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