Vietnam Reportage 1930 - 1945 Through Tam Lang, Vu Trong Phung and Ngo Tat To

The events that corrupted people, corrupted morality, and destroyed the race. In fact, Vietnam in the early years of the 20th century had important changes in society, politics, economy, and culture that directly and strongly affected people's lives, concepts of life, lifestyles, psychology, and emotions. The two savage colonial exploitations of the French colonialists, the first before the First World War (1914-1918), the second after the First World War in 1919, and lasting until before the world economic crisis (1929-1933), impoverished our people, pushing our country into poverty and backwardness.

But from there, a native bourgeoisie, a petty bourgeoisie and urban class with the need to enjoy and live in a new way were formed. Besides, the Southern Dynasty mandarin class and their henchmen still lived and exploited the peasants, but now they were more sophisticated and cunning. Therefore, to find the cause of the evils and misery of the people is to find it on the foundation of the semi-feudal colonial Vietnamese society that had reached the end of its corruption and decay. A society that Vu Trong Phung commented on in the newspaper Tuong Lai No. 9 published on March 25, 1937: “As for me, I only see this society as miserable: corrupt officials, depraved women, promiscuous men, a group of speculative and cunning writers, whose extravagance and debauchery are truly curses on the society of the peasants and workers who are suffering and exploited. Being optimistic, thinking that life is fun, that there is no need for reform, that this shitty society is good and wonderful, then sitting around putting on makeup and heart-shaped lips to go to horse races, fairs, and dancing, in my opinion, is hypocritical, is deceiving yourself and causing harm to life, if not honestly shameless" ( In response to Today's newspaper: Obscene or not obscene ?)

It is true that society at this time is interwoven and overlapped with painful events, tragicomedies, and absurdities. The reports of Tam Lang, Vu Trong Phung, and Ngo Tat To are not only to answer the 6 questions: Who, What, Where, When, How, Why, but also

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clearly revealed their aesthetic ideological tendencies: attacking injustice, sympathizing with the poor, denouncing the crimes of those in power, exposing evil and showing compassion for the victims of society. So who did the events and incidents in the reports of the three writers above happen to?

The poor workers in the city : the rickshaw driver - horse - man - describe their misery, but the author of I Pull the Cart also clearly states an attitude, a prejudice and also his heart: "Bringing a weak brother down from the position of a man to the position of a horse , giving two wooden arms to the brother and saying: "I sit on it for you to pull", means that you tell the brother "you are not a human".

Being unjustly despised by people of the same race, why should the rickshaw driver have self-respect?

We rob our brothers of their dignity without knowing it. They do inhumane things, how can we still despise them? [16, 94]. The writer believes that among the rickshaw drivers there are many good people that the press once praised: Golden hearts in torn clothes . And he affirmed: “I dare to say boldly that: from the past until now, all the bad things that rickshaw drivers have done, a large part is the fault of our middle and upper class intellectuals. Sitting on someone's back and saying: Eh, nhong nhong !, how can you say that someone can't walk on all fours ?

People let people pull people, people share the same shame.

A horse pulls a cart because God gave it four legs. A man cannot do the work of a horse because God gave him two legs.

That's why I say: "The person who lets others pull others is the one who embraces a common humiliation" [16, 95].

The peasants in the countryside “did not earn enough to have two meals a day. The capital called to them, tempted them. When they left,

They probably did not expect this. They were sure that they would have a glorious job… Perhaps they had been exposed to the sun and rain, begging for every penny, every bowl of rice, until they were at their wits’ end before reaching Hanoi” [16, 117]. Then, in the middle of the eight-layered street, day after day, they had to wait and eat in the yard of a restaurant or on the side of a theater, making a slow-selling product “sometimes not worth the price of an animal”. From the rural areas, they were forced into the city, the world of teachers’ and teachers’ food was slimy, hunger became slavery both physically and mentally. Staying in the countryside, farmers slowly died, died miserably, meaninglessly because of the bad customs of the village affairs in the communal house ( The communal house case ). Just because his wife was pregnant while holding the position of funeral director, Mr. Phuc was blackmailed by the village, had to sell his house and land to pay for the money for pigs, wine, and rice that the village had eaten ( Gaining a son, losing three pigs ). Some people lost their entire career because of a wedding or New sticky rice seeds . Mr. Luy, because of a position in the village chief's office, had to sell his fields and buffaloes, and five days later, Mrs. Cuu had to go to Hanoi to be a nanny. Mr. Phuc had to demolish his house and sell it because of a week's ceremony . A farmer borrowed money to hold his wife's funeral, and had to pay monthly interest, becoming a lifelong debt , "he could never pay off that debt. Now that it's like this, who knows what he'll do when he's old and can't even pull the cart?" [25, 304]. In the Times newspaper on April 5, 1938, Ngo Tat To wrote: "In the countryside, people form factions just for food and a place to sit, causing fights and lawsuits, and people are killed and those who commit suicide are still everywhere. Yet on the outside, we still see large communal houses, loud drums, red flags, purple flags, and fancy hats and clothes. That's just the outer layer covering the rot and filth, and it's truly pitiful! ( Let it die ). But it's not just for food? Of course, there is meat and alcohol everywhere. The author wants to remind readers to go deeper, through eating and drinking in the communal house to see the evil faces of the tyrants who deliberately maintain strange and barbaric customs for their own benefit. They are the village chiefs, village chiefs, magistrates, association chiefs, district chiefs, retired officials... They are the most powerful people, with the most arguments.

behind the bamboo hedge, at the same time holding the feudal colonial government apparatus at the grassroots level. Mr. Thuong of Lao Viet village, even at his deathbed, still laments: “Sometimes I am still proud: although I am not smart, I am not stupid. Especially I am not lazy…

- Indeed, from the age of seventeen until now, I have not played a single day, except on sick days. So I plowed hard, traded here and there, and did not hesitate to do anything. There was a time when I went to the Hich mine to struggle with the miners... Whatever I did, no matter what, although it was not successful, it never failed, and I either made a lot or a little profit. Yet all my life I have been poor, destitute, not having enough to eat or wear, and having only one son, I had to let him be ignorant. What do you say is the reason? It is because of the village's responsibility" [25, 215] "I wish that: after I close my eyes, you will expose his crimes to the sunlight" [25, 216].

“For what reason?” The question of the elder Viet at the beginning of the report Village Affairs was seen and described by writer and journalist Ngo Tat To throughout the next 16 chapters of the book. With a deep sympathy: Uncle Mao, in order to take the throne, had to sell one and a half acres of land. The village chiefs set the rules: immigrants had to live for three generations to be “established” meaning to be on par with others, and to be a permanent resident, they had to pay a village feast, pay money to the chief of ceremonies, the chief of the village association, the village chief, the deputy chief of the village association, and even pay money to the district chief… Mr. Luy and Mrs. Luy lost their entire career because they were given the titles of village chief and village chief, but partly because the village chiefs invoked the gods and spirits, not allowing them to postpone the village feast until the rice harvest in October, to avoid having to borrow money at interest. The tyrants colluded with each other, both enticing and threatening Mrs. Tu Ty - a widow with no children and little savings - to ask for a place of inheritance so that when she died the village would burn incense for her, causing her to lose all five fields of rice. Uncle Hai Dac, because he forgot to give the head of the ceremony a heart string, was punished by the old man.

threatened to report him to the authorities, to force him to follow the conditions: one was to kill a pig and invite the village to worship the saint to get a string of entrails to worship him; two was to "compensate" him 100 silver coins. Uncle Suu, the most honest and gentle farmer in the village, was accused by the "bosses" of cursing the "village" and was blackmailed by the village, to the point that he was so angry that he committed suicide...

Women , “bad street girls”, educated but trying to follow the new lifestyle. Girls due to many different circumstances all lead to prostitution: Poor girls to make a living, girls of mandarins because of their declining families, even noble ladies “with beautiful faces and mouths, luxurious clothes like a queen” because they lost money gambling and needed money to pay off debts ( Night on the Perfume River ). Hanoi girls “velvet shirts, purple pants, square skirts, earrings”. “Children from decent families also suffer a few hours of misery for a few coins to be like the young ladies who show off their clothes, buy makeup, perfume, colored shirts, fish-shaped shoes, on the outside like fairies descending to earth but on the inside, filthy beyond measure. Those people have used the two words " canh sop" to call the Canh sop in Hanoi, now there are a lot of them: butchers, vegetable sellers, egg sellers, shrimp sellers, scribes, greedy wives, teachers' children, judges' sisters... They are no different from the fish-carrying shoes they walk on the street, under the velvet hats with glasses that sparkle like diamonds, they also have a face inside that is covered with dirty, sweaty sand" [16, 69]. Women of all ages from many different living environments flocked to Thi Cau, Bac Ninh to marry Westerners, considering it a profession to make a living and earn money. They considered the legionnaires as "money chests", and the legionnaires "married" only for practical purposes: "They were afraid that they would steal when they kept servants, so they would rather have a wife to be ordered around and to have... other things to do" during their enlistment period in Vietnam. Therefore, for them, wives were just "toys for a fairly long time only" ( The Industry of Marrying Westerners ). Among those women were girls who "went to school and were well-educated" and "countless"

girls from decent families, sometimes even girls from noble families” and not only Vietnamese women, there were also Chinese girls, girls from “heaven’s children” who also worked as prostitutes in large hotels on Hang Buom and Hang Long streets, there were also small Japanese prostitutes with single eyelids [9; 100-101], there were also Western women, either married or unmarried, forming a sect that transmitted venereal diseases… That was enough for the whole world of women. So the profession of prostitution was soon “internationalized”. Not only stopping at reflecting, the writers of the reportage went into depth to explain the cause of this disease, the cause that led to the “internationalization” of this strange profession. First of all, it was due to extreme poverty. “The profession of prostitution everywhere has the same path. Poverty is the starting point of that path as well as the starting point of hundreds of thousands of other dark paths flooded with filth” ( Darkness on the Perfume River ). Poverty is the cause that pushes women into prostitution. They need to live, need money to live. Most of them are unemployed country girls: “Women of all ages, ragged, dirty clothes, covered with lice and lice. On their faces and bodies there are signs of syphilis, not to mention nothing else. They usually judge themselves, so they sell themselves so cheaply that they no longer have to fear any price-gouging competition. On Ma May Street, people rent a small room and a woman gets two cents. On Duong Thanh Street, Cua Dong Street, in the deep holes around the barracks or in the wild grass fields adjacent to the railway… the price is only five cents or if there is bargaining, it is only three cents” [9; 106-107]. There is also a class of prostitutes who become temporarily poor, these are the corrupt women who have a profession or a certain position in society but have fallen. Poor female students want jewelry. Others worry about wasting money on gambling or longing to “buy something frivolous” [9; 104]. Some married women “marry low-paid officials who still want to live a luxurious life” [9; 123]. And the ladies, the Western girls, “the real prostitutes

Often protected by some job, some shop, or by some playboy, or by some powerful patron, to the point that just seeing their faces, the police girls or even the military police, are afraid, and then turn a blind eye rather than cause any big trouble" [9; 123].

Reports also pointed out another cause: the product of Westernization. “A wave of Westernization has recently arisen among the youth, flooding the corrupt masses and like a wave of gray hair has overthrown (even if only superficially) the altar of the old man and swept away thousands of years of morality and customs” [9; 114]. “All experts condemn the wave of material civilization, that is, the Westernization of young men and women” [9; 124].

The swindlers and gamblers with their founder Am B, the “boss of the gambling party”, who was of “family lineage”, together with Ca Un and his henchmen, Am B created a “spider web” of a “gambling industry”. Tham Ngoc (Xuan), Ky Vu, Ba My Ky, My Boi, Van… were spinning under the evil hands of the old boss. Through that, we can see the state and speed of the debauchery of the lower class petty bourgeoisie and the urban poor in Vietnam in the 1930s. Some people were idlers (Van). Some people were poor and had to worry about food for every meal, and also worried about medical expenses for their sick old mother (Ky Vu). Some people were originally fake gold plating workers, did well in business, then became Am B’s disciples and became “a swindler” who fell into a pit of cruel “lessons” and became seriously ill (Ba My Ky). There was a man, who was a servant, so cunning (Xuan) that his master was even impressed: he gave him clothes, a large capital of twenty silver coins, and opened two doors to free him to "travel the world". At that time, Xuan was only 15 years old. "When he was a student, when he was a country boy, he had rolled around in the crowd, the valetaille before coming into contact with the workers and teachers.

At first, people called him "thang", then they promoted him to "uncle". Then it was "teacher", and finally, "sir". Being a clever person, Xuan considered life as a classroom. Politeness is found in communication, knowledge is contributed.

picked up in the press, the guy Xuan knew how to play all kinds of dramatic roles on the stage of life" [28; 635]. Then, disguised as Mr. Tham Ngoc, he went to high-class intellectual places, and was able to touch on the dark side of the League of Nations" [28; 635].

All those people, those actions are due to the following reasons: poverty, economic hardship, “hard times, making money” “In the end, it’s all about the economy” [28; 651]. And the social evils of the rich and the poor all want to be “red, black”, so respectful of the “Red and Black Religion” that Van, writing to the author (me, Uncle Ph …): “You must know - the Muong and Man people in the mountains now also know how to play cards, they are very civilized” [28; 645].

So the hunger and poverty, the horse-human situations, the corrupt customs, the miserable lives, the swindling and cheating, the selling of oneself to make a living… are all caused by society. “This society, in fact, is a miserable and miserable society. Poverty, material decay as well as spiritual decay” [9; 105]. My Boi, who was the owner of a gold and silver shop, became a disciple of Am B…’s philosophy: “Being kind and gentle in this day and age cannot survive, sir. This is the time of… Tyranny, do you realize that?” [28; 653]. Even Am B…, the silver-cheating advisor, had to confess and explain: “Why did I, a noble family, do this… indecent profession? Sir, if I am really worthless, it is not my own fault, I have been harmed by the bad circumstances of society. But I only have myself to blame and should still blame society” [28; 580].

In the report I Pull the Cart , Tam Lang also affirmed:

“- In Annam society, who is at fault for having people who drag others down?

…If you are at your wits' end, I am sure you must be telling the truth:

- It's society's fault" [16; 93].

And through all the reports of Ngo Tat To, we finally pursue the crimes of those who, in the name of "village", run the social apparatus in the countryside: the village chiefs and village elders.

Vietnam Reportage 1930 - 1945 Through Tam Lang, Vu Trong Phung and Ngo Tat To - 14

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