Ho Chi Minh Thought


Ho Chi Minh Thought, or Ho Chi Minh Ideology, is a political philosophy that builds upon Marxism–Leninism and the ideology of Ho Chi Minh. It was first formalised by the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1991. Ho Chi Minh Thought is a broad term for political theories and policies that are seen by their proponents as representing Marxism–Leninism adapted to Vietnamese circumstances and specific time periods. The ideology includes views on the basic issues of the Vietnamese Revolution, specifically the application and development of Marxism-Leninism to the material conditions of Vietnam. The contents of Ho Chi Minh Thought was codified and developed by the Communist Party of Vietnam.
The Communist Party of Vietnam defines Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought as a guideline for all actions and victories of the Vietnamese revolution. Ho Chi Minh Thought, while named after the Vietnamese revolutionary and President, does not necessarily reflect the ideology of Ho Chi Minh, rather Ho Chi Minh Thought refers to the official ideology of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Origins

Ho Chi Minh Thought was influenced by Vietnamese culture, the French revolution, and Marxism–Leninism. Similar to Maoism, at the core of Ho Chi Minh Thought is that the peasantry is the revolutionary vanguard in pre-industrial societies, rather than the proletariat.
Ho Chi Minh Thought is rooted in:
Ho Chi Minh, the son of a Confucian scholar, studied Confucianism throughout his life and was a strong critic of Confucian ethics and ideals. Despite this public criticism, scholars have argued that Confucianism remains part of both the personal ideology of Ho Chi Minh, and within Ho Chi Minh Thought, arguing that Confucian morality and the principle of self-cultivation are a central part of the party's platform and the ideology of Ho Chi Minh Thought. The Communist Party rejects this, arguing that this proposition is a distortion of the historical record of both Ho Chi Minh and the Communist Party of Vietnam.
Summarizing 30 years of studying Confucianism, Ho Chi Minh concluded:

Học thuyết của Khổng Tử có ưu điểm của nó là sự tu dưỡng đạo đức cá nhân. Tôn giáo Giêsu có ưu điểm của nó là lòng nhân ái cao cả. Chủ nghĩa Mác có ưu điểm của nó là phương pháp làm việc biện chứng. Chủ nghĩa Tôn Dật Tiên có ưu điểm của nó, chính sách của nó phù hợp với điều kiện nước ta. Khổng Tử, Giêsu, Mác, Tôn Dật Tiên chẳng có những ưu điểm chung đó sao? Họ đều muốn mưu hạnh phúc cho mọi người, mưu phúc lợi cho xã hội. Nếu hôm nay họ còn sống trên cõi đời này, nếu họ hợp lại một chỗ, tôi tin rằng họ nhất định chung sống với nhau rất hoàn mỹ như những người bạn thân thiết. Tôi cố gắng làm người học trò nhỏ của các vị ấy.
The doctrine of Confucius has its advantage of personal moral cultivation. The religion of Jesus has its advantage of great kindness. Marxism has its advantage of a dialectical method. The tenets of Sun Yat-sen has its advantages, its policy being suitable with our country's conditions. Confucius, Jesus, Marx, Sun Yat-sen, what advantage did they share in common? They all want happiness for everyone, striving for the welfare of society. If they were still alive in this world today, if they had gathered together, I believe they would definitely live together perfectly as close friends. I try to be their little student.

Ideology

Ho Chi Minh Thought, as codified by the Communist Party of Vietnam, describes the following as the core of ideological system of Ho Chi Minh Thought:
Central to Ho Chi Minh Thought is the importance of the Communist Party being the center of a national liberation movement. Ho Chi Minh Thought argues that revolutionary violence and humanitarian peace are dialectical opposed to each other, however the synthesis of their conflict would inevitably be the preservation of peace, independence and national liberation.
Related to socialism and economics, Ho Chi Minh Thought details the following about socialist construction and characteristics of a socialist society and economy:
Ho Chi Minh Thought emphasizes a gradual transition to socialism. Similar to Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, Ho Chi Minh Thought places emphasis on the role of the development of the productive forces towards the development of socialism. According to Ho Chi Minh, when entering the period of transition to socialism, the Vietnamese economy was described as a largely outdated agricultural economy that had not yet underwent capitalist development. In particular, Ho Chi Minh paid special attention to the fundamental contradiction of the transition period, which is the conflict between the country's high development needs and the socio-economic situation of the working class. Ho Chi Minh Thought also stresses learning from the experiences of other socialist countries in building Socialism and make use of all the help of international aid and cooperation.
While Hồ Chí Minh supported the position that Vietnam had entered the stage of transition to socialism in 1954, he held the belief that Vietnam was still "a democratic regime in which people are the masters" and not socialist. To reach the socialist stage of development, the development of the state sector was of utmost importance—the lack of which according to Hồ Chí Minh would lead to failure. The platform of the 11th National Congress held in January 2011 stated: "This is a profound and thorough revolutionary process and a complicated struggle between the old and the new for qualitative changes in all aspects of social life. It is essential to undergo a long period of transition with several steps of development and several mixed social and economic structures".
According to the party's General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, during the transition to socialism, socialist factors of development compete with non-socialist factors, which include capitalist factors. Nguyễn said: "Along with positive aspects, there will always be negative aspects and challenges that need to be considered wisely and dealt with timely and effectively. It is a difficult struggle that requires spirit, fresh vision, and creativity. The path to socialism is a process of constantly consolidating and strengthening socialist factors to make them more dominant and irreversible. Success will depend on correct policies, political spirit, leadership capacity, and the fighting strength of the Party".

Morality

A unique aspect of Ho Chi Minh thought is the emphasis on personal morality and ethics. The personal values of Ho Chi Minh are regularly upheld by the Party, and party members are taught to exemplify Ho Chi Minh's personal values: practicing the standard of industriousness, thrift, integrity, uprightness, public-spiritedness and selflessness in serving the country and the people. Central to Ho Chi Minh morality is living a modest and immaterial lifestyle, and devoting oneself to the collective good and the advancement of socialism and self-determination. Ho Chi Minh wrote about morality throughout his entire life, and often criticized individualism, such as in his short essay Raise up Revolutionary Ethics, Eliminate Individuals. The personal values of Ho Chi Minh are a mandatory party of school curriculum throughout Vietnam.

Development

At the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam held in Hanoi in 1991, it was determined that Marxism - Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought were the basis of the ideology of the Party. Since this congress, Ho Chi Minh Thought has been taught in all universities as a compulsory subject for all students of all disciplines. The formal training - and discussion between experts - for this course began in 1997 at Hanoi University.
Domestic researchers and Ho Chi Minh's comrades have written many works on Ho Chi Minh Thought such as Understanding some issues in Ho Chi Minh's thought by Le Mau Han. ; Ho Chi Minh Thought Research by the Ho Chi Minh Institute's authors; The world has changed but Ho Chi Minh thought, Ho Chi Minh thought, Ho Chi Minh thought process of formation and development, Ho Chi Minh thought and the way Vietnamese revolution of Vo Nguyen Giap ; Basic perceptions about Ho Chi Minh thought of Pham Van Dong ; The formation of Ho Chi Minh ideology by Tran Van Giau ; From traditional thinking to Ho Chi Minh thought by Hoang Tung.