HÀ NỘI The Hồ Chí Minh Museum has just received two valuable objects donated by the family of the Mông king in the northern province of Hà Giang.

Vương Quỳnh Xuân, a grandson of Mông King Vương Chí Sình (right) hands the objects to director of Hồ Chí Minh Museum at a solemn ceremony held in Hà Nội on August 2. Photos thethaovanhoa.vn

The objects include a steel sword made by the weapons workshop of the Ministry of Defence according to an order by president Hồ Chí Minh in 1949, which was then sent as a gift to Vương Chí Sình or Vương Chí Thành (1886-1962), king of the ethnic Mông in Hà Giang. The sword cover has eight Vietnamese Nôm ideograph characters written by President Hồ literally meaning "whole-heartedly serve the nation, never accept as a slave".

The steel sword that President Hồ gave to Mông King Vương Chí Sình as a gift.

The other object is a padded cotton waistcoat, a gift from Hải Dương Province’s Việt Nam Women's Union to President Hồ Chí Minh in 1950.

The coat was embroidered with a yellow star and some words: Special Gift to President Hồ - Việt Nam Women's Union Hải Dương Province.

A padded cotton waistcoat, also a gift from President Hồ to Mông King Vương Chí Sình.

After receiving the waistcoat, President Hồ asked his staff to embroider some more letters: Gift to Vương Chí Thành, a member of the National Assembly. Then President Hồ's name was embroidered on the waistcoat.

Vương Chí Sình is the second son of Vương Chính Đức (1865-1947), who acted as King of the Mông in Đồng Văn District in Hà Giang before the August Revolution in 1945. Đức’s reign ruled the north, east and northwest region of 70,000 Mông people, most of whom cultivated poppies.

Before 1945, he hoped to set up a self-ruling kingdom of Mông people in Đồng Văn District, not following the French colonial regime. In 1945, President Hồ invited Vương Chính Đức to Hà Nội to meet. But due to his old age, Đức sent his son Sình to go instead. Sình then worked for the Hồ Chí Minh government. He was a member of the first and second National Assembly, and chairman of Đồng Văn District's People's Committee. 

The objects have been kept as treasures by Vương Chí Sình’s descendants for the past few decades.

“The two holy objects bear a profound message that President Hồ Chí Minh wanted to send to the leader of the Mông ethnic minority people,” said Vũ Mạnh Hà, director of the museum.

“Responding to the trust of President Hồ, Vương Chí Sình shared hardships with the Mông to fight and maintain the sovereignty of Mèo Vạc-Đồng Văn region in the most severe period of the revolution against the French invaders.”

Hà noted that the memorabilia will from now on be kept by the museum and introduced to the public to help people understand the solidarity of president Hồ Chí Minh, the contributions by the Mông to the country as well as on the feelings of Vương Chí Sình and his descendants to President Hồ.

“Many years have passed. The sword and the waistcoat have been kept among my family’s most valuable treasures,” Vương Quỳnh Xuân, a grandson of Vương Chí Sình said at the handing over ceremony held in Hà Nội on August 2.

“We swore to continue to follow our ancestors’ path, follow President Hồ and the Government."  VNS