One of the greatest patriot leaders of Vietnam was the Mandarin Phan Dinh Phung. Born in 1847 to an intellectual family in the province of Ha Tinh, Phan Dinh Phung was a naturally intelligent youth who recieved the degree of tien si in the 1877 civil service examinations. He proved to be such a great scholar, and upstanding man, that he was assigned to the Imperial Censorate, the office that regulated ethics in the imperial court and could even legally ridicule the Emperor if his morality lapsed. Phan Dinh Phung was known for being an extremely moral and ethical man who demanded that the government function in a traditional and upright manner. In 1833 he was imprisoned for a short time for his refusal to endorse a successor to Emperor Tu Duc, other than Kien Phuc whom the Emperor had chosen. Legitimacy was important to him as a devoted Confucianist and a man loyal to the monarchy.
In July of 1885 the young Emperor Ham Nghi issued his Can Vuong appeal (save the king/loyalty to the emperor) in which he called on the people to join him in throwing off the colonial rule of the French. Phan Dinh Phung responded to his Emperor's decree by leading his home province in revolt against the French imperialists. The brave and scholarly mandarin gained broad public approval and his revolt soon grew to include several other nearbye provinces. Many of his friends were collaborating with the French and urged Phan Dinh Phung to surrender but he refused. French colonial troops even desecrated his ancestral tombs but he still continued to resist. His soldiers were lacking in almost everything and their shortage of weapons was a severe limit to their effectiveness. However, the French had to employ a large number of soldiers over several years to defend against his forces. In December of 1895 the heroic Phan Dinh Phung died of dysentery and a short time later his resistance collapsed. Still, even in the Communist Vietnam of today, this brave monarchist soldier, who fought for Vietnam and his Emperor is regarded as a great hero of national independence. |
