'Loving the country through To Huu's poetry': Reviving the verses that nurture the desire for freedom

Poet To Huu (1920-2025) is not only a “giant tree” of Vietnamese revolutionary poetry but also a staunch communist soldier, who devoted his whole life to the Fatherland and the People. His poetic legacy is an immortal flame of ideals, illuminating the souls and fostering the faith of many generations.

On October 3, the ceremony to celebrate the 105th anniversary of poet To Huu's birth with the theme "Loving the country through To Huu's poetry" took place at To Huu Museum, D9, Thang Long International Village, Hanoi .

The event is an opportunity to pay tribute to a great poetic talent of the nation, and at the same time recall a heroic historical period, when poetry became a spiritual weapon, nurturing faith and aspiration for freedom.

Poet Tran Dang Khoa shares about the poetic career of poet To Huu. (Photo: Nam Suong/VNA)

The audience experienced emotional memories about the author and the work through the stories of the guests: Major General Ho Sy Hau - former Director of the Department of Economics of the Ministry of National Defense , Vice President of the Vietnam Truong Son Association; poet Tran Dang Khoa; female liaison soldier of Truong Son Ngo Thi Tuyet - Vice President of the Truong Son Association, Head of the Liaison Committee of female soldiers of Truong Son in Hanoi city.

To Huu Museum in collaboration with Viet Stamp Club organized the opening of the exhibition "Stamps & Poetry: To Huu's imprints over the years" to bring a new look at a poetic life completely attached to the revolution and the people.

At the event, attendees were able to immerse themselves in each soft calligraphy stroke and each soaring verse, to once again relive the spirit of "From then on, the summer sun shone brightly in me, the sun of truth shone through my heart" - the youthful aspiration to dedicate oneself to the Fatherland.

Calligraphy exhibition and exchange activities about poet To Huu. (Photo: Minh Thu/Vietnam+)

Mr. Nguyen Vu Phuong, son of poet To Huu, said that this is also an occasion to mark 5 years of operation of To Huu Museum, which originated from a memorial house that Mrs. Vu Thi Thanh - the poet's wife personally designed and built in 2009.

“Over the past 15 years, together with the Museum's collaborators, we have been honored to welcome an increasing number of visitors from near and far, especially young people. This place has gradually become a place for extracurricular activities for students, and at the same time a cultural playground, contributing to nurturing the love of poetry and Vietnamese revolutionary history. This is the driving force for us to continue to persevere in spreading the spiritual heritage of our beloved father,” said Mr. Nguyen Vu Phuong.

Photos at To Huu Museum. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member and Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, reviewed the milestones in the life and career of poet To Huu.

To Huu's real name is Nguyen Kim Thanh, his hometown is Quang Dien district, Thua Thien-Hue province but he was born in Hoi An, Quang Nam (now Da Nang).

In 1936, young man Nguyen Kim Thanh joined the Indochinese Democratic Youth Union; in April 1937, he joined the Indochinese Communist Party and from then on took the name To Huu.

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, from here, To Huu's poetry had an important change, as he later confessed: "All my life, I have strived for the cause of national independence and communist ideals. Along with revolutionary activities, I also wrote poetry for the revolutionary cause. For me: "A hundred years of fate: Party and Poetry."

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang affirmed that along with his glorious political career, To Huu's cultural and artistic career, especially poetry, always followed every step of the revolutionary path.

“When remembering To Huu, many people from generations from the 1930s of the last century until now, always affectionately call him a great cultural figure, a great poet, a leading flag bearer, a leading bird of Vietnamese revolutionary literature and art, or more affectionately and briefly - To Huu, poet of the Country, poet of the People, poet of the Revolution,” Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang emphasized.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member and Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, speaks. (Photo: Nam Suong/VNA)

To Huu Museum in Hanoi and To Huu Cultural Park-Memorial Site in Quang Dien Commune, Thua Thien Hue Province are both attractive and useful cultural addresses that introduce to visitors documents, artifacts, and works associated with To Huu's life and career through the arduous and heroic revolutionary historical periods of the country.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang hopes that cultural figures, intellectuals, artists, especially To Huu's family members and those who love him will continue to contribute more stories, comments, documents, beautiful, touching, and dear memories about comrade To Huu and poet To Huu; creating strong inspiration, belief, and great determination to bring our country into a new era./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/yeu-dat-nuoc-qua-tho-to-huu-song-lai-nhung-van-tho-nuoi-duong-khat-vong-tu-do-post1067928.vnp