That is also the nature and characteristics of Marxism-Leninism which was inherited, applied and developed by Ho Chi Minh creatively, harmoniously combining Eastern and Western cultures, imbued with the quintessence of Vietnamese culture, tradition and modernity, nation and era.
Ho Chi Minh's humanity is derived from kindness and tolerance
Humanity means culture, the value system of truth, goodness and beauty, of which human is the highest value. The humanity in Ho Chi Minh's thought crystallizes His intellect, emotion, morality, lifestyle, from His perception to action, exudes from His person, life and career, is expressed in His actions and behavior through relationships everywhere, at all times and among people, which are extremely rich, diverse and expressive.
He is a living embodiment of Vietnamese traditional humanitarianism and humanism whose core values are patriotism, love for people, morality, love and justice, altruism, kindness and tolerance. He is a humanist on the communist stance. True patriotism and national spirit merge into one with communist humanitarianism and humanism bearing Ho Chi Minh's thought, reaching out to the times and enlightened by the thought of the times, striving and sacrificed His whole life for the cause of class liberation (working class), national liberation and social liberation for human liberation.
Ho Chi Minh's thought is the sublimation of the quintessence of Vietnamese thoughts in the nation's history. That is the great stature, creating the great persuasion and attraction of Ho Chi Minh – “the one hundred percent patriot and one hundred percent communist" (1).
So how is the humanity in Ho Chi Minh's thought, person and life expressed in the association between His thought and morality-style (including method)? That is Ho Chi Minh's culture, Ho Chi Minh's humanism in which the bright light has a wide spread and profound effect that is kindness and tolerance.
Let's start with Ho Chi Minh's concept of human. Uncle Ho said: “The word 'human' has many meanings, and the narrowest and most direct meaning is people of the same blood in the family, relatives and kin. The broader meaning is compatriots in a country, and the broadest meaning is mankind, human beings on earth". On the stance of the working class and communism, He conceived “Everywhere is home. Proletarians in the four directions are all brothers". Class friendship and solidarity fighting for communist ideals and goals led to Nguyen Ai Quoc's transition from patriotism and nationalism to socialism and proletarian internationalism of the young communist Nguyen Ai Quoc.
A unique feature of the humanity in Ho Chi Minh's thought is wholeheartedly cherish human values, freedom and dignity, believe that the good things of people will flourish and perfect through education and self-education. In life, people are ordinary people, no one is a god. “Nobody is perfect", everyone has the good and the bad. We have to make the good bloom like spring flowers, and the bad fade away. We have to wake up, have a desire to live and reach for the good. There must be sympathy, sharing, encouragement, help, tolerance and generosity. We must be strict with ourselves and generous with others, that is the noble human attitude of Ho Chi Minh.
In particular, in Ho Chi Minh's view of life, He clearly distinguishes between resolutely opposing individualism and individual – each person is an individual with different interests, strengths and personality. Fighting against individualism to the end because it is a cruel, dangerous, invisible enemy that lurks in people's heart, it breaks from the inside out, damages the personality of cadres, destroys the revolutionary cause, but we must never deny individual, take individual lightly, batter individual when fighting individualism like dogmatists often do. This is the depth, alertness and sobriety of Ho Chi Minh's consistent thinking and actions.
Caring and loving all classes in society
Humanity is the basis in planning education and training of cadres, in cadre policy, and in Ho Chi Minh's way of using people. Throughout His life, He upheld and exemplified the practice of revolutionary morality, industriousness, thrift, integrity, righteousness, justice and impartiality in order to fulfill His duty to serve the Fatherland and the people. He said that personnel work is the original work of the Party. We must educate and train revolutionary cadres in an elaborate and meticulous way like a gardener. Loving cadres goes hand in hand with shaping, criticizing, controlling and protecting cadres. Morality is the root and talent is important. It must have all four virtues (industriousness, thrift, integrity, righteousness) to be a perfect person, without one virtue, one cannot become a person. Therefore, it is necessary to uphold revolutionary morality throughout life and wipe out individualism (2). The training of cadres and successive generations must be paid attention. Using cadres who do not match their talents is also a reason for failure (3). Cadres must be trained in school, in practical life, must be challenged, supported and trusted to have a good, dedicated and responsible staff who are creative and self-motivated, dare to take responsibility. That is the decisive factor in the victory of the revolution.
Ho Chi Minh's humanity is also expressed in a particularly touching way in His love and care for the growth of women, the struggle to protect women's dignity, and His utmost attention to women's liberation, realizing equality between men and women, and respecting and promoting female cadres.
Gathering those noble qualities of humanity in Ho Chi Minh's thought is the attitude towards the people, the public opinion, lifelong close to the people, studying the people, asking the people, and understanding the people to serve the people wholeheartedly. Ho Chi Minh is the leader of the Party, and concurrently the leader of the nation and the people. He taught military cadres and soldiers “Loyal to the Party, pious to the people", “Loyal to the country, pious to the people", “originating from the people, fighting for the people", from generals to soldiers, they must understand that the people are the foundation of the army, the people are the parents of the army, the army and the people are like fish and water (4), etc. With the people's police force, He taught “(you) must be respectful and polite to the people", “The police are the people's friends, serving and protecting the people" (5). Respecting and trusting the people because He understands the important and decisive role of the people in the revolutionary cause, and empathizes with the people's hard and poor life, their noble sacrifice, their moods and aspirations. There are very few leaders who come to the people, mingled with the people, love the people sincerely, devotedly serving the people like Ho Chi Minh. Until the last minute of life, He was still worried about “not being able to leave the people and go". In the “Testament", the last words only regret that “not being able to serve the people much longer and more" (6). It is a noble personality.
Dedication, sacrifice – outstanding values that make Ho Chi Minh's humanistic beauty
The humanity in Ho Chi Minh's thought permeates deeply into His life, lifestyle and personality, prominently His simplicity, sacrifice and He sacrificed his private life to take care of the happiness of the whole nation and the people. Responding to the Cuban journalist, comrade Marta Rojas at the end of His life, He said “I dedicate my life to my people" (7). He has done that noble and sacred thing throughout His life. “The South is always in my heart", because the South has not been liberated, He has not had a good meal, nor a peaceful sleep. He was in pain as if His intestines were torn when each soldier died, each person had to shed blood. He had no family of his own, no wife and children, no property of his own, and lived frugally to the point of austerity to set an example and to take care of the people. Our country's young men and women were His descendants. Our country's women were His sisters. Those are the true words of His heart. The humanity from Ho Chi Minh's thought to actions is a model of human culture and in life, this is a complete and perfect model of commitment, sacrifice and incarnation into the people and the country.
Through the life of Ho Chi Minh, a HUMAN BEING with capital letters (as said by the great Russian writer Maksim Gorky), truth, goodness and beauty appeared, simple but great, that is life, faith, love and hope, aspiration but also reality of people in this life. It is a life committed to fighting and dedicating to the people, for the independence and freedom of the Fatherland, for the people's happiness.
Ho Chi Minh's humanity is showed extremely touching, has the power to move the hearts of millions of people, and has the power to shine in millions of people's souls, when we repeat the words He said from His heart to His compatriots, comrades and friends around Him.
That is His thanks to the compatriots for wishing Him a long life on the occasion of His birthday. He said “So far, I've been a member of the compatriots, from now on and forever, I still belong to the compatriots".
That is His confiding from His heart to the nationwide compatriots, to the South: “Each person, each family has its own suffering. All of those sufferings combined are my own suffering".
That's when he responded a foreign journalist about His relationship with the people: “Ho Chi Minh is an inseparable part of his people. He thinks what his people think. He acts what his people do."
Thus, history is truth and truth is history. The Communist Party of Vietnam, the nation and the people of Vietnam are forever proud of and grateful to Ho Chi Minh. Ho Chi Minh's thought and heritage are crystallized in national treasures – 5 works of His lifetime are our baggage in the cause of innovation, international integration, firmly on the great road of history to the bright future – Ho Chi Minh's path. It is not only our national treasures but also our Dharma.
As female American History Professor, Ms. Josephine Stenson said: “Ho Chi Minh is a great personality of the times" (8). That truth becomes a sacred value, an intense motivation for us to believe and act worthy of Ho Chi Minh, the nation and humankind.
The scientific, revolutionary and humanistic values in Ho Chi Minh's thought have been verified and tested over time like a jewel, the more it is sharpened, the brighter it gets.
Therefore, those who distort in order to obscure Ho Chi Minh's light and light source only reveal their dark and murky mind in front of the light of truth and morality that Ho Chi Minh has always been a brilliant symbol. The malicious and infamous distortions that reactionary and anti-Vietnamese forces aimed at Ho Chi Minh could never shake the faith and love of a hundred million Vietnamese hearts for Ho Chi Minh – the image, quintessence and mettle of the Vietnamese nation.
Professor, PhD. HOANG CHI BAO (Senior expert, former Member of the Central Theoretical Council)
--------------------------------------------------
(1) Pham Van Dong, Ho Chi Minh – Quintessence and mettle of the nation, CTQG, H.2012, p.375.
(2) Ho Chi Minh, volume 5 “Modify the way of working", volume 15 “Raise revolutionary morality, wipe out individualism" and “Testament".
(3) Ho Chi Minh, volume 5 “Modify the way of working", volume 15 “Raise revolutionary morality, wipe out individualism" and “Testament".
(4) Ho Chi Minh Complete Collection, cited book, volume 14, p.435; volume 6, p.264; volume 5, p.485, 406.
(5) Ho Chi Minh, cited book, volume 5, p.498-499; volume 6, p.387.
(6) Ho Chi Minh, cited book, volume 15, p.623.
(7) Ho Chi Minh, cited book, volume 15, p.674.
(8) Josephine Stenson, Speaking at the international scientific conference held in Hanoi, May 1990, President Ho Chi Minh's 100th birthday anniversary (Vietnamese Soul Magazine, No. 156, 3/2021, p.4-7).
According to the People's Army newspaper online
https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-chong-tu-dien-bien-tu-chuyen-hoa/bai-4-nhan-van-nguon-sang-lam-nen-tam-voc-tu-tuong-ho-chi-minh-tiep-theo-va-het-695183
